When certain species of wild birds and primates discover new ways of finding food in the wild‚ it can serve to measure their flexibility and intelligence.

In a recent study published in Molecular Plant‚ researchers have elucidated the mechanism underlying the increased susceptibility to necrotrophs during fruit ripening and have developed a rapid strategy to improve tomato fruit resistance to necrotrophs without compromising fruit quality.

Unlike most animals that rely on visual senses‚ bats navigate and locate prey or obstacles through echolocation. By emitting sounds and comparing them to the reflected echoes‚ bats can "visualize" movement in the environment. When sound waves encounter a moving object‚ they can undergo changes such as a Doppler shift in frequency or experience a delay‚ which the bat can sense. However‚ it is unclear which acoustic characteristics bats rely on to detect moving objects.

Molecules often have a structural asymmetry called chirality‚ which means they can appear in alternative‚ mirror-image versions akin to the left and right versions of human hands. One of the great mysteries about the origins of life on Earth is that virtually all of the fundamental molecules of biology‚ such as the building blocks of proteins and DNA‚ appear in just one chiral form.

Using the unprecedented capabilities of the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope‚ an international team of scientists has obtained the first spectroscopic observations of the faintest galaxies during the first billion years of the universe. These findings‚ published in the journal Nature‚ help answer a longstanding question for astronomers: What sources caused the reionization of the universe? These new results have effectively demonstrated that small dwarf galaxies are the likely producers of prodigious amounts of energetic radiation.

It's been a warm day‚ maybe even a little humid‚ and the tall clouds in the distance remind you of cauliflower. You hear a sharp crack‚ like the sound of a batter hitting a home run‚ or a low rumble reminiscent of a truck driving down the highway. A distant thunderstorm‚ alive with lightning‚ is making itself known.

A first-of-its-kind study led by researchers at the University of Oklahoma highlights a crucial biosphere feedback mechanism and its effects on releasing soil carbon into the atmosphere.

When a tree is surrounded by many similar individuals‚ its mortality increases‚ which is probably caused by specialized pathogens or herbivores. This effect occurs in forests all over the world‚ but is more pronounced in rare tropical tree species‚ which could contribute to the astonishing tree species diversity of tropical forests.

For centuries‚ coronaviruses have triggered health crises and economic challenges‚ with SARS-CoV-2‚ the coronavirus that spreads COVID-19‚ being a recent example. One small protein in SARS-CoV-2‚ the membrane protein‚ or M protein‚ is the most abundant and plays a crucial role in how the virus acquires its spherical structure. Nonetheless‚ this protein's properties are not well understood.

African apes are already being exposed to climate change impacts‚ and will experience extreme events such as wildfires‚ heat waves and flooding more frequently in the next 30 years‚ according to a study published February 28 in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Razak Kiribou at Haramaya University in Ethiopia and colleagues.