Authors:Badr El Mahrad, Alice Newton, Nicholas Murray Abstract: Coastal lagoons are parts of the Earth’s coastline, where the ocean meets the land. They are important zones both for living things and for our economy. Coastal lagoons contain various kinds of habitats that provide homes for many animals and plants. Thus, they provide many valuable natural resources to people living and working in those areas. In this article, we describe what makes coastal lagoons attractive and important to plants, animals, and people. We also give examples of human activities and pressures that disrupt the lagoons close to where people live. Despite the damage human activities can cause to coastal lagoons, if countries respond with the right management measures, we have hope that the condition of coastal lagoons can improve, so that they will exist long into the future. PubDate: 2022-06-27T00:00:00Z
Authors:Álvaro Cruz-Carrión, Ma Josefina Ruiz de Azua, Francisca Isabel Bravo, Begoña Muguerza, Manuel Suárez, Anna Arola-Arnal Abstract: Do you think that eating fruit in summer has the same effect on your body as does eating it in winter' Scientific evidence says no. Fruits contain polyphenols, which are substances produced by plants in response to the growing conditions. When animals eat these fruits, polyphenols signal animals’ bodies to adapt to the seasons. For example, bears eat berries in late summer because these fruits provide essential substances needed during hibernation. It has been observed that the effect of these fruit substances is affected by biological rhythms, which are chemical cycles that animals’ bodies follow that vary throughout the year. Thus, eating fruit in- or out-of-season generates different effects in your body. Eating fruit in-season is associated with optimal health effects. Hence, we must eat fruits in-season so that the rhythms of our lives are synchronized with the seasons. PubDate: 2022-06-24T00:00:00Z
Authors:Artur Rydosz, Agnieszka Pregowska, Magdalena Osial Abstract: Recently, there has been a lot of talk about diabetes in children. Have you ever wondered what diabetes is and where it comes from' Diabetes is a disease with a long history. It causes a high sugar level in the blood, which is dangerous for many organs including the heart and kidneys. Diabetes also damages blood vessels and the nervous system. Unfortunately, diabetes is often detected by accident during tests for other diseases or by standard blood tests performed during a check-up. The earliest symptoms of diabetes that a person might notice include increased hunger and thirst, tiredness, or frequent urination. If you experience these symptoms, do not take them lightly—have a doctor check your blood sugar level. PubDate: 2022-06-24T00:00:00Z
Authors:Jake L. Weissman, Shengwei Hou, Jed A. Fuhrman Abstract: Bacteria are single-celled organisms that live out their lives at a microscopic scale. We can find bacteria everywhere we look for them, including inside of our own bodies. Bacteria are incredibly diverse and come in many shapes and sizes. They also vary widely in how they live and grow. Some bacteria grow very quickly and others grow slowly. We wanted to measure the growth of many different types of bacteria in the environment. Unfortunately, some species of bacteria are very difficult to grow in the laboratory. To get around this, we designed a method to predict how fast a type of bacteria can grow, just from its DNA. This way, if we have the DNA of a bacterial species, we can measure its growth even if we cannot get it to grow in our laboratory. PubDate: 2022-06-24T00:00:00Z
Authors:Andrew J. Hartley, Ayesha Tandon Abstract: Global warming has already caused our planet to heat up by around 1°C. This warming is causing a huge range of impacts. For example, heat waves are becoming more severe and affecting humans and animals; in some places, rivers are flooding more frequently due to heavy rainfall; droughts in other parts of the world are affecting crops. These changes can have a huge effect on people, making it difficult to grow food, find shelter, and avoid dangerous weather such as storms and heat waves. Many people have needed to leave their homes to search for safer places to live because the climate has changed so much. While all countries are affected by climate change, different countries face different impacts. By understanding these impacts and how vulnerable people are to climate changes, it is much easier to prepare for future changes and protect against them. PubDate: 2022-06-23T00:00:00Z
Authors:Diego Mariano, Lucianna Helene Santos, Luana Parras Meleiro, Leonardo Henrique França de Lima, Luis Fernando Marins, Raquel Cardoso de Melo-Minardi Abstract: Petroleum is the most-used energy source in the world. However, as you probably know, petroleum is a fossil fuel that is very harmful to the environment, in addition to not being renewable. Biofuels are a type of fuel produced from plant material. Biofuels are considered an excellent alternative energy source because they are less polluting than fossil fuels. However, biofuel production is expensive. Therefore, scientists are working on many strategies to reduce biofuel costs, particularly using computers to discover new biotechnological products, or improve existing ones, to produce more biofuel with fewer costs. In this article, we will tell you how computers can be used to improve biofuel production. PubDate: 2022-06-23T00:00:00Z
Authors:Carolyn A. Carlson, Jane E. Carlson Abstract: Have you ever spied on a treefrog' These nocturnal creatures can be hard to observe, cloaking their lives in mystery. They hatch as legless swimmers but quickly transform into adults with camouflaged skin for daytime hiding and sticky toepads for hunting in tree branches by night. Yet even the most secretive, high-climbing treefrog cannot escape from pollution, new enemies, and habitat loss. Scientists want to know how treefrogs are coping with these threats, so we spy on them in a clever way: we hang small plastic pipes from trees, which mimic the dark cavities where treefrogs love to rest. Since 2011, we have counted treefrogs inside thousands of pipes, yet with so many mysteries, our work will continue for years. One pipe at a time, treefrogs are sharing their secrets about which threats harm them most, helping us better protect and manage the beautiful trees and waters they call home. PubDate: 2022-06-23T00:00:00Z
Authors:Joyce Lysanne Van Zwet, Jule Schretzmeir, Sabine Hunnius, Tobias Grossmann, Marlene Meyer Abstract: What do you think your friends are thinking when they get a compliment' How do they feel when they get a good grade at school' Thinking about other people and what they know, believe, or want is called social cognition. Certain parts of the brain are important for social cognition, and those parts work together in a network to allow us to think about others. How do we develop these social skills, starting as babies' In this article, we will introduce the parts of the brain that are important for social cognition, and we will explain how the network of brain regions that perform social cognition develops over the years, from a new-born baby to an adult. PubDate: 2022-06-23T00:00:00Z
Authors:ZiYan Britt, Zaenab Sanadiki, Vani Senthil, Jay Hegdé Abstract: Did you know Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a worldwide leading cause of disability and death in later life' Patients with AD usually can not recognize their own families or take care of themselves. Often called “the long goodbye,” AD is a heartbreaking struggle for both patients and their caretakers. For a long time, doctors were helpless in treating AD patients. Even now, there is no cure for AD. But fortunately, brain scanning techniques have recently advanced enough to help AD patients a great deal. These techniques are ways for doctors to see the inner workings of the living patient’s brain, without surgery. Thus, brain imaging techniques are valuable tools that can help doctors catch AD early, provide customized care for each patient over the course of the disease, and guide future research toward finding a cure. Thanks to these developments, the prospects for AD patients are slowly but steadily improving. PubDate: 2022-06-22T00:00:00Z
Authors:Meng Hong Cheah, Hanafiah Fazhan, Rusydi Rozaimi, Khor Waiho Abstract: Male and female mud crabs may look alike at first glance, but clear differences in physical characteristics exist. These variations between sexes are known as sexual dimorphism. Sexual dimorphism may help species to survive in their environments. We found that three mud crab species (orange, green, and purple mud crabs) showed similar patterns of sexual dimorphism. Males generally have larger body and claw sizes, whereas females have larger abdomens. Orange mud crabs also have a unique body shape variation compared to green and purple mud crabs. All mud crabs have spines along the top edge of their shells, and scientists have numbered these spines to identify them. Unlike the green and purple species, orange mud crabs are wider at spine 8 than spine 9. Sexual dimorphism in crabs might be linked to how they reproduce and where they live. PubDate: 2022-06-22T00:00:00Z
Authors:David K. Swanson Abstract: In the Arctic, the ground is frozen most of the year. Only the top layer of soil thaws each summer. This frozen ground, called permafrost, contains a lot of frozen water (ice). There are many small lakes in the Arctic, in low spots formed from melted ice. But melting ice does not just create lakes, it can destroy them too. Melting permafrost can create gullies that let the water drain out of a lake. Most lakes in the Arctic are far from where people live, so we watch them using pictures taken from satellites. Recently, we have seen the water drain out of many lakes, which can affect plants and animals. We measure the number and size of drained lakes caused by thawing permafrost to understand how the Arctic is changing. PubDate: 2022-06-22T00:00:00Z
Authors:Thomas Roder, Grégory Pimentel, Cornelia Bär, Ueli von Ah, Rémy Bruggmann, Guy Vergères Abstract: Huge numbers of bacteria live in the human gut. We know those bacteria are important to our health, so we need to treat them well. We wanted to know whether it was possible to design new yogurts that can introduce special bacteria into the gut, to improve our well-being. We studied hundreds of types of bacteria isolated from cheese and yogurt and found that 24 of these bacterial species can perform most of the important bacterial functions that happen in the human gut. Therefore, there is exciting potential for designing new, gut-healthy yogurts. PubDate: 2022-06-21T00:00:00Z
Authors:Gylis Booz Sosa, Ashley Weller, Catalina Lozano, Justin Kesler, Annika C. Mosier Abstract: Have you heard of bacteria and viruses' They are a part of a field of science called microbiology, which is the study of small organisms that cannot be seen with the naked eye. These tiny organisms are often called microbes or microorganisms. The scientists who study them are called microbiologists. Microbes are important to study because there are many living in us and around us. Some microbes can make people sick, but the majority do not harm us, and some can even help us. Some microbes can also help the environment and others can be used to treat and prevent diseases. Since we cannot see these small creatures, there are special tools scientists use to study them. In this article, we will discuss how scientists can study microbial DNA to make advances in medicine and environmental science. PubDate: 2022-06-21T00:00:00Z
Authors:Soren Emerson, Ricky Granger Abstract: Cocaine is an illegal and addictive drug. It causes addiction by hijacking small molecules called chemical messengers that the cells in the brain use to communicate and work together. Most scientists have studied how cocaine affects three chemical messengers, called serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, but cocaine may also affect a fourth chemical messenger called acetylcholine. To understand whether cocaine affects acetylcholine, we used the egg-laying “brain” of small worms to determine how cocaine works in humans. We found that cocaine makes these worms lay eggs, but only when the acetylcholine message is working properly. This tells us that cocaine acts in part through acetylcholine. Our study provides a first step in understanding the interaction between cocaine and acetylcholine. Treatments for cocaine addiction depend on our understanding of how the drug works, so learning how cocaine affects acetylcholine could lead to the development of effective treatments for cocaine addiction. PubDate: 2022-06-17T00:00:00Z
Authors:Leila Ordukhani, Andrea Firrincieli, John L. Freeman, Sharon L. Doty Abstract: Have you ever seen black smog come out of cars' Or noticed an unnatural oily film on water puddles in parking lots' Humans have polluted practically every corner of our planet and most of it is invisible to our eyes. Sadly, Earth suffers the consequences of this pollution. But scientists have recently found a simple way to restore contaminated soils back to health. In this article, we will talk about how plants and bacteria team up to restore our polluted world! PubDate: 2022-06-17T00:00:00Z
Authors:Ashika D. Kuchhangi, Ethan D. Buhr Abstract: Have you ever wondered why you are active during the day and sleepy at night' Why are some animals like owls and mice the opposite' A big reason for this is called circadian photoreception, which is the way we synchronize the body’s internal, 24-h clock to the light cycle outside. This process starts in the eye. In this article, we discuss the characteristics of circadian photoreception and the scientists that helped us understand this process. We explore the key parts involved in circadian photoreception: photopigments, which are the pigments in the eye that change when they absorb light and are each found in their own cells. Last, we examine ganglion cells, which are special cells in the eye that send information to the brain. PubDate: 2022-06-16T00:00:00Z
Authors:Hope Townsend, Avery Imes, Xin Wang Abstract: In photosynthesis, plants use energy from sunlight to turn carbon from CO2 in the air into a solid form of carbon that can build the plant’s body. Photosynthesis consists of two portions: the reactions that absorb sunlight energy and another set of reactions called the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle. When the plant “wakes up” in the morning, after a night of darkness, these two processes do not wake up at the same pace, which can damage the plant cells. However, plant cells prevent this problem by regulating these two processes carefully. To understand how photosynthetic organisms switch from night to day, a type of photosynthetic bacteria called cyanobacteria were used to explore how another pathway, called the oxidative pentose phosphate (OPP) pathway, helps with this dark-to-light transition. Our research found that the OPP pathway can help photosynthesis quickly reactivate when light is available and can prevent cell damage from too much light. PubDate: 2022-06-16T00:00:00Z
Authors:John Paul Schmit, Kathryn Miller, Elizabeth R. Matthews, Andrejs Brolis Abstract: National Parks were created to help protect nature. But does that protection really matter' Are forests inside parks actually any better off than nearby forests outside of parks' How could you even tell' To find out, we studied thousands of trees inside of parks. We measured every tree’s diameter to see how big it was and returned 4 years later to see how they had changed. Then we compared the trees in parks to thousands of other trees that had been measured in similar unprotected forests nearby. It turns out that there are more trees growing in parks, and large trees are much more common. Trees in parks are less likely to die, but due to their large size, they grow more slowly. Parks even have more dead trees and dead wood on the forest floor. All of these things are signs of a healthy forest. PubDate: 2022-06-13T00:00:00Z
Authors:Makenzie T. Nord, Samuel K. Wolff, Tanner Rookard, Kyriakos C. Stylianou Abstract: Burning fossil fuels for energy produces greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases cause climate change, which harms the environment and all living things. Hydrogen fuel can be used as an energy source instead of fossil fuels. We can produce hydrogen using two natural resources: sunlight and water. Hydrogen fuel is renewable, meaning it will not run out, and environmentally friendly because no greenhouse gases are produced. Materials called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can speed up the reaction that produces hydrogen gas. With the help of sunlight, MOFs can break apart water molecules to produce hydrogen gas. We can also break down pollutants if we use dirty water in this reaction. Using MOFs, we can purify water and produce hydrogen gas at the same time! Combining MOFs with sunlight can help solve two global problems: climate change and water pollution. PubDate: 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z
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