Bacteria that can degrade beta blockers in the environment – wanted!
Beta blockers are a group of drugs used mainly in circulatory diseases. Remains of these substances are not removed in sewage treatment plants and enter the environment, posing a threat to plants and animals. A biologist from the University of Silesia is looking for bacteria that can degrade them.
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New archaeological finds in Cave Raj
The bones of a cave lion, a mammoth and reindeer antlers have been discovered by archaeologists working in Cave Raj (Świętokrzyskie). The aim of the research project is the analysis and detailed reconstruction of climatic and environmental changes that occurred in prehistory in southern Poland.
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Flexible knots and links in particles under better control
Researchers from the University of Warsaw and the University of Wrocław have developed a method for constructing flexible molecular knots and links. Flexibility enables the formation of entangled regions in protein or nucleic acid molecules.
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Where did wings come from? Early plumage may have been used by dinosaurs to rouse prey
Dinosaurs could have used the feathers on their forelimbs and tails to rouse and chase their prey, suggest Professor Piotr Jabłoński and a team from Korea. To confirm this hypothesis, the researchers built a robot - Robopteryx that scares insects - and examined the neurons of grasshoppers.
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Biodiversity changes in Asia are far-reaching and often beyond control
In Southeast Asia, population growth and the demand for agricultural land are causing significant changes in biodiversity, resulting in an increasing epidemiological risk. This risk concerns viruses such as coronaviruses, bird flu virus, MERS, USUTU, Zika, dengue and malaria, says Dr. Aneta Afelt from the University of Warsaw.
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Rewetting peatlands brings real economic benefits, says hydrologist
The vast majority of wetlands in Poland and Europe have already been drained for various purposes. Meanwhile, draining peatlands and, for example, introducing forest in their place brings much lower economic benefits than rewetting them. A team of scientists with the participation of Polish researchers have shown that in Lithuania, rewetting drained forest peat bogs would bring profits of up to EUR 170 million per year.
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Polish scientists discover unusual fish from 365 million years ago
Polish scientists have discovered an over two-meter-long predatory armoured fish with an extremely elongated lower jaw in rock sediments from 365 million years ago in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. The remains do not resemble any other animals from the Devonian.
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Bacteria and their viruses: Arms race halted for millennia
Well-preserved DNA of several hundred species of bacteriophages from over a thousand years ago - viruses that infect bacteria - have been found in samples of human faeces and in the guts of an ancient mummy. It turns out that the genome of one of the species is almost the same as that of modern viruses. Why has the evolution of this species halted for so long?
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Body size of monomorphic ants does matter
It turns out that the body size of monomorphic ants does matter and affects their behaviour, say biologists from Kraków. Their latest research on a species living in the Błędów Desert shows that in the case of rescue behaviour, small workers are more persistent.
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Scientists investigate the physics of mouse interactions
What are the dynamics of mouse behaviour when the animal is alone and when the mouse is in a group? How long does it take on average before a mouse starts looking for company or escapes from a place that is too crowded? The physics of such mouse interactions has been modelled by scientists from a Polish-French team.
