VW says will pay 1 bn euro German fine over emissions cheating
Auto giant Volkswagen said Wednesday it would pay a one-billion-euro ($1.2 billion) fine imposed by German prosecutors over its diesel emissions cheating.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-vw-bn-euro-german-fine.html
Organics on Ceres may be more abundant that originally thought
Last year, scientists with NASA's Dawn mission announced the detection of organic material—carbon-based compounds that are necessary components for life—exposed in patches on the surface of the dwarf planet Ceres. Now, a new analysis of the Dawn data by Brown University researchers suggests those patches may contain a much higher abundance of organics than originally thought.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-ceres-abundant-thought.html
Genetic soil prospecting yields wealth of potential antibiotics
Soil, the source of our best antibiotics, can be more thoroughly mined for new drugs and other useful chemicals with the help of metagenomics, according to University of California, Berkeley, scientists.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-genetic-soil-prospecting-yields-wealth.html
Seawater yields first grams of yellowcake: Yarn-like material collects largest amount of uranium to date
For the first time, researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and LCW Supercritical Technologies have created five grams of yellowcake—a powdered form of uranium used to produce fuel for nuclear power production—using acrylic fibers to extract it from seawater.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-seawater-yields-grams-yellowcake-yarn-like.html
Seeking new relationships with invasive species
With summer nearly here in North America, we often hear about invasive plants popping up in undesirable locations, "colonizing" different areas. But what if we shifted how "non-native" species are perceived? A Dartmouth study with two indigenous nations provides new insight into how the concept of "native" species is associated with colonialism, and how such framing runs counter to the lenses through which many indigenous peoples view their relationship with the world. Published in Sustainability Science, the study presents alternatives that challenge the native-non-native framework found in scientific discourse.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-relationships-invasive-species.html
Researchers found novel structure in the 'antennae' of light-sensing neurons
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine and Radboud University Medical Center in the Netherlands have discovered that the antennae-like structures on light-sensing neurons, called photoreceptors, have a unique feature not observed in the 'antennae' or cilia of other types of cells. The study, published in the Journal of Cell Biology, reveals that this novel functional zone plays a structural role that is essential for the function of the photoreceptors and also helps explain why mutations on certain cilia proteins, although present throughout the body, only affect cilia on photoreceptors, causing non-syndromic blindness.
Source: https://phys.org/news/2018-06-antennae-light-sensing-neurons.html
Source: https://phys.org/