Calculations inscribed on a clay tablet helped ancient people document property boundaries, new research suggests.

At the University of Oxford, scientists have developed a nanopore technology that can identify three different post-translational modifications (PTMs) in individual proteins, even deep within long protein chains. The scientists asserted that their technology “[lays] the groundwork for compiling inventories of the proteoforms in cells and tissues.”

The technology was introduced in Nature Nanotechnology, in a paper titled, “Enzyme-less nanopore detection of post-translational modifications within long polypeptides.” The paper noted that single-molecule proteoform identification requires knowledge of the architecture of long polypeptide chains, knowledge that has proven elusive. Although there are methods for translocating folded proteins through solid-state nanopores or protein nanopores of large sizes, these methods have yet to locate PTMs within a polypeptide sequence. The methods that have detected PTMs have been able to do so only within short peptides.

In their paper, the Oxford scientists described their approach: We use electro-osmosis in an engineered charge-selective nanopore for the non-enzymatic capture, unfolding, and translocation of individual polypeptides of more than 1,200 residues. Unlabeled thioredoxin polyproteins undergo transport through the nanopore, with directional co-translocational unfolding occurring unit by unit from either the C or N terminus. Chaotropic reagents at non-denaturing concentrations accelerate the analysis.

How a Swedish skier was basically frozen—but lived.

Matthias G. Fischer et al., 2023/bioRxiv.

A report suggests that our planet is home to 10³¹ viruses, and they are probably the most powerful beings in terms of population. They come in all kinds of shapes and forms, however, some are more bizarre than others.

The animals were thought to have gone extinct before the dinosaurs arrived on the scene.

Brian Kennedy, one of the lead scientists of NOAA’s deep sea expedition, said the stalked crinoid “are these big beautiful flower looking animals, but they grow on this long stalk. They’re called sea lilies, and that’s really what they look like a lot of times.”

“These were thought extinct, we thought they were a relic of pre-dinosaur times, and now we find they are one of the most common organisms in the deep sea.”

Apple CEO Tim Cook says he isn’t afraid of criticism. Here’s how he’s learned to handle negative feedback.

Twitter may have gotten an iOS App Store exception.

Musk has said the social media platform cofounded by Dorsey is little more than an accelerant he bought to help realize his ambitions of an everything app called X.com.

Year 2022 😗😁

New reserach shows fungi and mushrooms create electrical pulses and may be communicating with each other, or talking to each other.