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Today โ€” 25 May 2025Fuels

El Niรฑo and La Niรฑa climate swings threaten mangroves worldwide

New international research demonstrates global-scale patterns in how El Ni o-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influences mangrove growth and degradation. Previously, impacts had only been documented at individual sites, such as a dramatic die-off in northern Australia in 2015 when more than 40 million mangrove trees perished along a 1,200-mile stretch of coastline.

Modulation of antiviral response in fungi via RNA editing

The molecular pathways involved in antiviral defenses and counter-defenses in host-pathogen systems remain unclear. Researchers have used Neurospora crassa as a model organism to explore how RNA editing influences fungal antiviral responses. They identified two neighboring genes -- an RNA-editing enzyme (old) and a transcription factor (zao) -- that regulate virus-induced gene expression. Their findings show how the old-zao module controls both asymptomatic and symptomatic infections, providing new insight into conserved antiviral mechanisms in fungi.

When the sea moves inland: A global climate wake-up call from Bangladesh's Delta

As sea levels climb and weather grows more extreme, coastal regions everywhere are facing a creeping threat: salt. Salinization of freshwater and soils adversely affects 500 million people around the world, especially in low-lying river deltas. A new study sheds light on how rising oceans are pushing saltwater into freshwater rivers and underground water sources in the world's largest river mouth -- the Bengal Delta in Bangladesh.
Yesterday โ€” 24 May 2025Fuels

Assembly instructions for enzymes

In biology, enzymes have evolved over millions of years to drive chemical reactions. Scientists have now derived universal rules to enable the de novo design of optimal enzymes. As an example, they considered the enzymatic reaction of breaking a dimer into two monomer molecules. Considering the geometry of such an enzyme-substrate-complex, they identified three golden rules that should be considered to build a functional enzyme.

Mystery of 'very odd' elasmosaur finally solved: fiercely predatory marine reptile is new species

A group of fossils of elasmosaurs -- some of the most famous in North America -- have just been formally identified as belonging to a 'very odd' new genus of the sea monster, unlike any previously known. This primitive 85-million-year-old, 12 meter-long, fiercely predatory marine reptile is unlike any elasmosaur known to-date and hunted its prey from above.

Different phases of evolution during ice age

Cold-adapted animals started to evolve 2.6 million years ago when the permanent ice at the poles became more prevalent. There followed a time when the continental ice sheets expanded and contracted and around 700,000 years ago the cold periods doubled in length. This is when many of the current cold-adapted species, as well as extinct ones like mammoths, evolved.

Why Europe's fisheries management needs a rethink

Every year, total allowable catches (TACs) and fishing quotas are set across Europe through a multi-step process -- and yet many fish stocks in EU waters remain overfished. A new analysis reveals that politically agreed-upon catch limits are not sustainable because fish stock sizes are systematically overestimated and quotas regularly exceed scientific advice. In order to promote profitable and sustainable fisheries, the researchers propose establishing an independent institution to determine ecosystem-based catch limits that management bodies must not exceed.

Breakthrough AI model could transform how we prepare for natural disasters

From deadly floods in Europe to intensifying tropical cyclones around the world, the climate crisis has made timely and precise forecasting more essential than ever. Yet traditional forecasting methods rely on highly complex numerical models developed over decades, requiring powerful supercomputers and large teams of experts. According to its developers, Aurora offers a powerful and efficient alternative using artificial intelligence.

Biological markers for teen depression

Using a novel lab method they developed, researchers have identified nine molecules in the blood that were elevated in teens diagnosed with depression. These molecules also predicted how symptoms might progress over time. The findings of the clinical study could pave the way for earlier detection, before symptoms worsen and become hard to treat.

Can plants hear their pollinators?

When pollinators visit flowers, they produce various sounds, from wing flapping during hovering, to landing and takeoff. Scientists studied these vibroacoustic signals to develop noninvasive and efficient methods for monitoring pollinator communities and their influences on plant biology and ecology. The researchers found that the bee sounds led the snapdragons to increase their sugar and nectar volume, and even alter their gene expression that governs sugar transport and nectar production.
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