Many people are trying to reduce their plastic use, but some tea manufacturers are moving in the opposite direction: replacing traditional paper teabags with plastic ones. Now, researchers have discovered that a soothing cup of the brewed beverage may come with a dose of micro- and nano-sized plastics shed from the bags. Possible health effects of ingesting these particles are currently unknown, the researchers say.
Read moreIf scientists could give living cells magnetic properties, they could perhaps manipulate cellular activities with external magnetic fields. But previous attempts to magnetize cells by producing iron-containing proteins inside them have resulted in only weak magnetic forces. Now, researchers have engineered genetically encoded protein crystals that can generate magnetic forces many times stronger than those already reported.
Read moreThree new studies highlight the relationship between air pollution and mental health in children.
Read moreA Mediterranean wide study has found that 71% of sampled recreational boats hosted alien marine species. Over half carried an alien species that was not yet present in the marina the boat was visiting.
Read moreOcean-based actions have greater potential to fill in gaps in climate change mitigation than previously appreciated.
Read moreResearchers have identified two key proteins, ASC and NLRP3, in the maintenance of the innate immune homeostasis in the airway. These proteins do so by a caspase-1-independent mechanism, suggesting that there may be multiple mechanisms involved in protection against microbial infections.
Read moreA research team has revealed a new fundamental mechanism by which a cell can make necessary changes in its chromatin structure in response to different DNA-associated processes such as gene expression and DNA damage repair.
Read moreUsing anew method called Net-CAGE, researchers identified as many as 20,000 new enhancers in humans. They found that while promoters are activated in a variety of cell types, enhancers tend to function in just 1 cell type, thus showing an important difference between the 2 types of region.
Read moreA new type of degradable synthetic polymer was prepared by Rh-catalyzed three-component polymerization of a bis(diazocarbonyl) compound, bis(1,3-diketone), and tetrahydrofuran. The resulting polymer was highly sensitive to mild acidic conditions and degraded into a combination of well-defined low molecular weight compounds. With this unique degradability, the polymer could be utilized as an environmentally friendly polymeric material.
Read more