- Cage, Book, and PrismThe array of hydrogen bonds governing the extended structure of liquid water is so intricate that chemists have often sought to understand it by studying simpler clusters. Even so, it … [Read more]
- Water-Assisted Proton DiffusionProton diffusion on metal oxide surfaces can play an important role in many catalytic processes. The presence of water is thought to accelerate proton diffusion. Merte et al. (p. 889) … [Read more]
- Mechanisms in Methanol CatalysisThe industrial production of methanol from hydrogen and carbon monoxide depends on the use of copper and zinc oxide nanoparticles on alumina oxide supports. This catalyst is “structure sensitive”; its … [Read more]
- Radioactive ResonanceNuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and its spatially sensitive cousin, magnetic resonance imaging, have found widespread application in chemical and biological characterization studies. For the most part, these studies take … [Read more]
- Keep Your DistanceConspecific negative density dependence (CNDD), whereby the abundance of a species is limited by negative interactions between individuals of the same species, is thought to have an important influence on … [Read more]
- Bring In the InspectorsIn order to assess the impact of occupational and health practices in the state of California, Levine et al. (p. 907) compared more than 400 uninspected firms with a matched … [Read more]
- Ultimate BlockadeA Rydberg atom has an electron in a highly excited energy state, close to being set free, but not quite. Ensembles of such atoms interact strongly, sometimes leading to blockade … [Read more]
- Accounting for LacWhen Escherichia coli expresses the lac operon, it needs to balance the potential increase in growth rate conferred through having the encoded proteins (which help it to take up and … [Read more]
- The Hibernating RibosomeWhen bacteria enter stationary phase, their ribosomes are inactivated. In Escherichia coli, ribosome modulation factor (RMF) causes dimerization of the 70S ribosome and the dimer is stabilized by, hibernation promotion … [Read more]
- An Aspirin a Day?The protein kinase AMPK (adenosine monophosphate–activated protein kinase) directly monitors cellular energy stores as reflected by changes in cellular concentrations of AMP, adenosine diphosphate (ADP), and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Through … [Read more]
- Suicidal B cellsIn response to an infection, immunological B cells undergo a maturation process that results in the production of immunoglobulin (Ig) that is better able to bind and clear the invading … [Read more]
- Deep BreathingLiving microbes have been discovered many meters into marine sediments. On a cruise in the North Pacific Gyre, Røy et al. (p. 922) discovered that oxygen occurred for tens of … [Read more]
- Color and MovementFrom humans to insects, color and motion information are thought to be channeled through separate neural pathways for efficient visual processing, but it remains unclear if and how these pathways … [Read more]
- Distinguishing Epigenetic MarksMethylation of the cytosine base in eukaryotic DNA (5mC) is an important epigenetic mark involved in gene silencing and genome stability. Methylated cytosine can be enzymatically oxidized to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC), … [Read more]
Loading ...
