Scientists zoom in on HIV inside a test tube, find critical steps in infection

 Posted on June 7, 2023  |  7 minutes  |  1348 words  |  Trudie Dory

Scientists have finally recreated the initial steps of HIV infection in a test tube, offering an incredibly zoomed-in view of the virus in action. The amazing images show a cone-shaped shell of geometric tiles, called the capsid, that sits at the virus's center and contains its genetic material, known as RNA. Before infiltrating a cell, the capsid is surrounded by an envelope of fatty molecules; this envelope fuses to the host cell to let the capsid inside, where it then carries the RNA to the cell's nucleus. [Read More]

Simply Strange: The Story of a Tiny Parasite

 Posted on June 7, 2023  |  6 minutes  |  1180 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

First they were fungi, then protists — and now they are fungi again. Once thought to be primitive, it now seems they have evolved backward, becoming simpler rather than more complex. Microsporidia — single-celled parasites that include bugs implicated in the disappearance of honey bees — are strange. So far, about 1,300 species have been formally described, according to Patrick Keeling, a professor at the University of British Columbia who studies them. [Read More]

'The Martian': What Would It Take to Grow Food on Mars?

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  5 minutes  |  1005 words  |  Arica Deslauriers

NASA has laid out plans to send people to Mars in the 2030s, but don't expect these Red Planet visitors to landscape the rocky sphere with fresh produce the way astronaut and botanist Mark Watney does in "The Martian." (Spoiler alert) In the movie, when Watney (played by Matt Damon) gets stranded on Mars, he plants potatoes in a greenhouse using Martian soil and his own "metabolic waste." And it works: He's able to stay alive for more than a year living largely on potatoes. [Read More]

Asteroid Impact That Killed the Dinosaurs: New Evidence

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  744 words  |  Trudie Dory

The idea that a cosmic impact ended the age of dinosaurs in what is now Mexico now has fresh new support, researchers say. The most recent and most familiar mass extinction is the one that finished the reign of the dinosaurs — the end-Cretaceous or Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, often known as K-T. The only survivors among the dinosaurs are the birds. Currently, the main suspect behind this catastrophe is a cosmic impact from an asteroid or comet, an idea first proposed by physicist Luis Alvarez and his son geologist Walter Alvarez. [Read More]

Can Stephen Colbert Really Run for President?

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  2 minutes  |  405 words  |  Patria Henriques

Stephen Colbert may make a last-minute attempt to enter the Republican presidential primary in South Carolina, his home state. The political news satirist announced Thursday night (Jan. 12) on his late-night talk show, "The Colbert Report," that he was transferring control of his super PAC, or political action committee, to fellow comedian Jon Stewart. Because campaigning politicians are legally prohibited from overseeing their own fundraising organizations, the transfer paved the way for Colbert to enter the Republican race. [Read More]

Chimps Learned Tool Use Long Ago Without Human Help

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  500 words  |  Trudie Dory

Chimpanzees learned to make and use stone tools on their own, rather than copying humans, new evidence suggests. And this means that chimps and humans likely inherited some of their sophisticated stone tool-use behaviors from a common ancestor, a report on the evidence claims. The handheld hammers were found at a chimpanzee settlement in the Ivory Coast and date back 4,300 years. Chimpanzees have been observed using similar tools for the past few centuries, but scientists assumed the intelligent apes were simply copying local people cutting open fruit nearby. [Read More]

Confusion and chaos surround coronavirus testing in the US

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  9 minutes  |  1808 words  |  Fernande Dalal

Her symptoms didn't feel like a "normal" cold or flu.  A couple of days ago, Caitlin Sweeney, a 34-year-old woman who lives in Brooklyn, New York, developed a dry cough, a sore throat, fatigue and slight nasal congestion. Sweeney, who is 22 weeks pregnant, worried that some of her symptoms, such as her dry cough, resembled those of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The number of COVID-19 cases in New York City is rising, so even though her symptoms were mild, she decided to seek medical advice. [Read More]

Did 'Nutcracker Man' Give Us Genital Herpes?

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  4 minutes  |  828 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

The ancestors of modern humans may have gotten genital herpes from the now-extinct relative of humanity commonly known as Nutcracker Man, a new study suggests. Analyzing the DNA of the viruses, bacteria and other life-forms that can infest people reveals not only the origins of human disease but also valuable hints about the lifestyles of past humans and their ancestors. For example, a 2007 study revealed that humans caught pubic lice, aka " [Read More]

Dread the Gym? Exercise with Friends Puts People in a Better Mood

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  437 words  |  Mittie Cheatwood

BOSTON — If exercise isn't your idea of fun, maybe you should invite some friends: A new study suggests people enjoy physical activity more when they're with others, according to new research presented here on Tuesday (Nov. 5). For the study, researchers asked 117 people ages 27 to 73 to carry small mobile phones with them for four days. Eight times a day, participants received a prompt on their phone that asked them what they were doing, who they were with, where they were, and if they were outdoors, how much " [Read More]

Emotional Effects of Bullying Written in Genes

 Posted on June 6, 2023  |  3 minutes  |  559 words  |  Trudie Dory

School-aged children often are victims of bullying. While victimization is common its consequences are often extremely serious. In fact, the recent suicide death of a Massachusetts teen prompted state lawmakers to pass one of the most far-reaching anti-bullying laws within the United States Time will tell if such legislative actions will lessen physical or emotional distress among school peers. However, a team of researchers from Duke University and Kings College London have discovered a genetic variation that moderates whether victims of bullying will go on to develop emotional problems. [Read More]