DE SCIENCE DISCOVERY

Toxic tiger rattlesnake venom advances genetic science techniques Biologist Mark Margres with an Eastern diamondback rattlesnake on Caladesi Island, Florida. January 26, 2021 The tiger rattlesnake possesses the simplest, yet most toxic, venom of any rattlesnake species. Now new research led by a University of South Florida biologist explains the genetics behind the predator's fearsome bite. The research is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. USF biologist Mark Margres and his colleagues sequenced the genome of the tiger rattlesnake to understand the genotype of the venom trait. Despite the simplicity of the rattlesnake's venom, Margres says it is roughly 40 times more toxic than the venom of the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake in Florida. The U.S. National Science Foundation-funded work is the most complete characterization of the venom gene regulatory network to date, the researchers say. The identification of key mechanisms in...

GO HUNT YOUR DREAM Dream That's a powerful word. You will get knocked down many times chasing your dreams. You will feel like you don't have energy to get back up. You don't have the strength to get back up. You will feel like GIVING UP is the only option. When you're hit When you've been KNOCKED DOWN by Life, that's when it's time to HIT BACK. THAT'S WHEN IT'S TIME TO HIT BACK! Many people get hit by life but they NEVER hit back. ARE YOU GOING TO STAY DOWN ❓ OR are you going to DECIDE TO GET BACK UP ❓ It takes COURAGE. It takes CONFIDENCE. It takes a STRONG MINDSET to get back up when NOBODY believes in you. There's a LION inside all of us. But some people decide to never let that lion out. Many people keep that lion locked in it's cage. Are you HUNGRY for that dream❓ Are you willing to FIGHT for that dream❓ LET THE LION OUT  GET HUNGRY for your DREAM GO HUNT YOUR DREAM Talking about that dream won't take you far. WORKING WIL...

Butterfly wing clap explains mystery of flight The fluttery flight of butterflies has so far been somewhat of a mystery to researchers, given their unusually large and broad wings relative to their body size. Now researchers at Lund University in Sweden have studied the aerodynamics of butterflies in a wind tunnel. The results suggest that butterflies use a highly effective clap technique, therefore making use of their unique wings. This helps them rapidly take off when escaping predators. The study explains the benefits of both the wing shape and the flexibility of their wings. The Lund researchers studied the wingbeats of freely flying butterflies during take-off in a wind tunnel. During the upward stroke, the wings cup, creating an air-filled pocket between them. When the wings then collide, the air is forced out, resulting in a backward jet that propels the butterflies forward. The downward wingbeat has another function: the butterflies stay in the air and do not fall t...

Immune system mounts a lasting defense after recovery from COVID-19, researchers find As the number of people who have fought off SARS-CoV-2 climbs ever higher, a critical question has grown in importance: How long will their immunity to the novel coronavirus last? A new Rockefeller study offers an encouraging answer, suggesting that those who recover from COVID-19 are protected against the virus for at least six months, and likely much longer. The findings, published in  Nature , provide the strongest evidence yet that the immune system "remembers" the virus and, remarkably, continues to improve the quality of antibodies even after the infection has waned. Antibodies produced months after the infection showed increased ability to block SARS-CoV-2, as well as its mutated versions such as the South African variant. The researchers found that these improved antibodies are produced by immune cells that have kept evolving, apparently due to a continued exposure to the...

A Practical Reason Why Cats Love Catnip Cats love catnip and silver vine; the cat-attracting plants are treats that make cats excited and happy. Big cats also feel the effects of these plants. The active component in catnip has been shown to be nepetalactone, which is in a class of compounds called iridoids. These molecules also have an insect-repelling effect. Researchers have now learned more about the active compound in silver vine, which is very similar to catnip. The findings have been reported in Science Advances. A cat responds to silver vine leaves. Credit Masao Miyazaki & Reiko Uenoyama. "The first appearance of silver vine ("Matatabi" in Japanese) as a cat attractant in literature in Japan dates back to more than 300 years ago. A folklore Ukiyo-e drawn in 1859 shows a group of mice trying to tempt some cats with a smell of silver vine. Still, benefits of the cats' response had remained unknown," noted one of the study leaders, Professor...

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Study of flowers with two types of anthers solves mystery that baffled Darwin Some flowers use a clever strategy to ensure effective pollination by bees, doling out pollen gradually from two different sets of anthers Most flowering plants depend on pollinators such as bees to transfer pollen from the male anthers of one flower to the female stigma of another flower, enabling fertilization and the production of fruits and seeds. Bee pollination, however, involves an inherent conflict of interest, because bees are only interested in pollen as a food source. "The bee and the plant have different goals, so plants have evolved ways to optimize the behavior of bees to maximize the transfer of pollen between flowers," explained Kathleen Kay, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz. In a study published December 23 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Kay's team described a pollination strategy involving flowers with two distinct set...