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Ice scouring is one of the strongest agents of disturbance in nearshore environments at high latitudes. In depths, less than 20 m, grounding icebergs reshape the soft-sediment seabed by gouging furrows called ice pits. Large amounts of drift algae (up to 5.6 kg/m2) that would otherwise be transported to deeper water accumulate inside these features, representing an underestimated subsidy. Our work documents the distribution and dimensions of ice pits in Fildes Bay, Antarctica, and evaluates their relationship to the biomass and species composition of algae found within them. It also assesses the rates of deposition and advective loss of algae in the pits. The 17 ice pits found in the study area covered only 4.2% of the seabed but contained 98% of drift algal biomass, i.e., 60 times the density (kg/m2) of the surrounding seabed.

💡 LastestPaper.

📚 🔗 https://brnw.ch/21wPhFj.

🧑🏻‍🔬 By Ms. Cloe García Porta, Dr. Kashif Mahfooz, Mr. Joanna Komorowska, Dr. Sara Garcia-Rates and Dr. Susan Greenfield.


During development, a 14mer peptide, T14, modulates cell growth via the α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7 nAChR). However, this process could become excitotoxic in the context of the adult brain, leading to pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent work shows that T14 acts selectively via the mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1). This pathway is essential for normal development but is overactive in AD. The triggering of mTORC1 has also been associated with the suppression of autophagy, commonly observed in ageing and neurodegeneration. We therefore investigated the relationship between T14 and autophagic flux in tissue cultures, mouse brain slices, and human Alzheimer’s disease hippocampus.

In a groundbreaking development, researchers at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, have made a remarkable leap in understanding the fundamental forces of nature. For the first time, they have observed quantum entanglement between top quarks—the heaviest elementary particles—at unprecedented energy levels. This discovery not only pushes the boundaries of particle physics but also opens the door to new possibilities in the quest to understand the universe.

At the heart of this discovery is quantum entanglement, one of the most puzzling and fascinating phenomena in the realm of quantum mechanics. Entanglement occurs when two or more particles become linked in such a way that the state of one particle instantaneously influences the state of another, regardless of the distance between them. This defies our classical understanding of the world, where objects should only interact when they are physically close to one another.

Imagine you have two particles, each spinning in a specific direction. Normally, if one particle changes its state, the other should remain unaffected. But with quantum entanglement, a change in the spin or state of one particle immediately alters the other, even if they are light-years apart. It’s as if the particles are communicating across vast distances without any delay.

Scientists in Australia have gathered evidence that our universe is constantly vibrating. They used the largest gravitational wave detector to confirm the earlier reports that there is an ongoing rumble which is likely caused by black holes at the centre of galaxies colliding with each other.

The detector looked at several rapidly spinning neutron stars across the galaxy and discovered that the gravitational wave background might be louder than previously thought, The Conversation reported.

The study carried out by Matthew Miles, Swinburne University of Technology and Rowina Nathan, Monash University, was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.