For decades, scientists have largely relied on painstaking trial and error to coax proteins into crystalline forms. Crystallization enables scientists to determine the molecular structures of proteins, which can provide a blueprint for designing drugs, engineering enzymes and understanding disease.
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Illustration of Platypterygius australis and its final meal Dr Peter Trusler
Around 100 million years ago, it seems an ocean-dwelling ichthyosaur’s final meal was an unexpected creature – a pterosaur that ruled the skies. Soon after, the ichthyosaur met its own demise, being ripped apart by a massive pliosaur.
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Ethanol is an alcohol used in a vast number of industrial and household applications. When dehydrogenated—in this case, stripped of some of its hydrogen atoms—it yields another important compound: acetaldehyde, which is used to make resins, dyes, perfumes and synthetic flavors, among many other products. But currently available catalysts for ethanol dehydrogenation suffer from deactivation, poor performance over time and unwanted side reactions.
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The taste of a madeleine famously sent French writer Marcel Proust back into vivid memories of childhood. New research suggests that this kind of recollection may involve more than the brain alone. Signals from the digestive system may also help determine which food-related experiences become memories.
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More than 4 in 5 physicians and dentists believe applicants who disclose a history of substance use on medical or dental school applications risk hurting their chances of admission, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
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When brands spend millions every year to transport Super Bowl audiences back in time during commercials, what happens if they choose the wrong era? Knowing who prefers which part of history is valuable marketing knowledge, and a new tool developed at the University of Arizona offers a way to measure which era evokes the most nostalgia.
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Social amoebae are unicellular organisms that act in concert, requiring extensive communication. Pierre Stallforth and colleagues studied modes of communication among cells of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum, using fluorescent labeling and various imaging techniques.
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The jaguar, known as Gaspar, having his GPS collar fitted Leandro Silveira
A male jaguar has made an unprecedented trek, skirting 2100 kilometres of the southern edge of the Amazon rainforest. The journey – which crossed highways, farms, ranches and other human-modified landscapes – expands our knowledge of what these big cats are capable of.
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Quantum computers process information in a fundamentally different way from conventional computers, using quantum bits, or qubits, that can exist in multiple states at once. This could allow them to tackle problems beyond the reach of today's machines, from simulating new materials to optimizing complex systems.
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Rice is the most popular food in the world, providing sustenance to more than 3.5 billion people each day.
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