What can an exoplanet falling into its own star tell astronomers about the formation and evolution of planetary systems? This is what a recent study publis | Space
Category: evolution
Astronomers tallying up all the normal matter—stars, galaxies and gas—in the universe today have come up embarrassingly short of the total matter produced in the Big Bang 13.6 billion years ago. In fact, more than half of normal matter—half of the 15% of the universe’s matter that is not dark matter—cannot be accounted for in the glowing stars and gas we see.
New measurements, however, seem to have found this missing matter in the form of very diffuse and invisible ionized hydrogen gas, which forms a halo around galaxies and is more puffed out and extensive than astronomers thought.
The findings not only relieve a conflict between astronomical observations and the best, proven model of the evolution of the universe since the Big Bang, they also suggest that the massive black holes at the centers of galaxies are more active than previously thought, fountaining gas much farther from the galactic center than expected—about five times farther, the team found.
Here in this video today we will explore something that has been demanded by viewers of the channel for quite sometime, the Xeelee rings, one of the largest megastructures in fiction. We first have to take a look at the universe we are discussing about. So, The Xeelee Sequence is a series of science fiction novels and short stories by British author Stephen Baxter, exploring the grand scale of the universe from the Big Bang to its ultimate end. The series follows humanity’s evolution over billions of years, its conflicts with alien species, and the mysterious, hyper-advanced Xeelee, who are engaged in a cosmic war against the enigmatic dark matter entities known as the Photino Birds. The books blend hard science fiction with cosmic wonder, delving into themes of time travel, black hole physics, alternate universes, and the limits of human potential. Major works in the series include \.
Viral oncogenes, viruses, and cancer: a third-generation sequencing perspective on viral integration into the human genome
Posted in biotech/medical, evolution | Leave a Comment on Viral oncogenes, viruses, and cancer: a third-generation sequencing perspective on viral integration into the human genome
The link between viruses and cancer has intrigued scientists for decades. Certain viruses have been shown to be vital in the development of various cancers by integrating viral DNA into the host genome and activating viral oncogenes. These viruses include the Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Hepatitis B and C Viruses (HBV and HCV), Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), and Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus (HTLV-1), which are all linked to the development of a myriad of human cancers. Third-generation sequencing technologies have revolutionized our ability to study viral integration events at unprecedented resolution in recent years. They offer long sequencing capabilities along with the ability to map viral integration sites, assess host gene expression, and track clonal evolution in cancer cells.
In a new Nature Physics study, researchers have provided evidence of universal conformal invariance in living biological cells. They show that a universal feature in the collective behavior emerges in groups of living cells.
The researchers studied four cellular systems to find evidence of universal conformal invariance. Despite being separated by billions of years of evolution, the researchers found that all four systems generated vortex-like flow patterns with identical statistical properties.
Phys.org spoke to one of the study’s co-authors, Dr. Amin Doostmohammadi, an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen.
Explore the world of scientific models and their effectiveness in explaining reality, from Einstein’s Theory of Relativity to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Discover why some argue that these models are true explanations, while others view them as superfluous to the theories of science.
What can merging star clusters teach scientists about the formation and evolution of dwarf galaxies, which are smaller galaxies than our Milky Way and orbi | Space
The biological research of UC Santa Cruz’s Needhi Bhalla to determine the molecular motions at the heart of heredity has yielded a new discovery: The proper transfer of genetic materials depends on two key proteins that choreograph the delicate dance between chromosomes when sexual-reproduction cells divide.
When cells split to create eggs and sperm, they must undergo a crucial process called “meiotic crossover recombination.” This mechanism ensures that genetic material is properly shuffled between chromosomes, preventing errors that could lead to disorders such as miscarriages, infertility, birth defects, and even cancer.
This process also results in the endearing transfer of traits that parents see in their children. And beyond contributing to parental pride, Bhalla says meiotic crossover recombination is fundamental for human evolution by promoting genetic diversity. That’s why the identification of two specific proteins that play central roles in controlling how and where these crossovers happen is so significant.
Viruses infecting bacteria (bacteriophages) represent the most abundant viral particles in the human body. They participate in the control of the human-associated bacterial communities and play an important role in the dissemination of virulence genes. Here, we present the identification of a new filamentous single-stranded DNA phage of the family Inoviridae, named Ralstonia Inoviridae Phage 1 (RIP1), in the human blood. Metagenomics and PCR analyses detected the RIP1 genome in blood serum, in the absence of concomitant bacterial infection or contamination, suggesting inovirus persistence in the human blood. Finally, we have experimentally demonstrated that the RIP1-encoded rolling circle replication initiation protein and serine integrase have functional nuclear localization signals and upon expression in eukaryotic cells both proteins were translocated into the nucleus. This observation adds to the growing body of data suggesting that phages could have an overlooked impact on the evolution of eukaryotic cells.
Scientists have discovered a new phylum of microbes in Earth’s Critical Zone, an area of deep soil that restores water quality. Ground water, which becomes drinking water, passes through where these microbes live, and they consume the remaining pollutants. The paper, “Diversification, niche adaptation and evolution of a candidate phylum thriving in the deep Critical Zone,” is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “We know more about the movement of celestial bodies than about the soil underfoot.” James Tiedje, an expert in microbiology at Michigan State University, agrees with da Vinci. But he aims to change this through his work on the Critical Zone, part of the dynamic “living skin” of Earth.
“The Critical Zone extends from the tops of trees down through the soil to depths up to 700 feet,” Tiedje said. “This zone supports most life on the planet as it regulates essential processes like soil formation, water cycling and nutrient cycling, which are vital for food production, water quality and ecosystem health. Despite its importance, the deep Critical Zone is a new frontier because it’s a major part of Earth that is relatively unexplored.”