Good morning. It’s officially baseball season, so you know what that means — it’s time for the crack of the bat, overpriced hot dogs, another Oakland Athletics fan protest and PHYSICS! Did you know that the red seams on a baseball aren’t just decorative? They’re actually for reducing drag (air resistance) on the ball. Feel free to drop that knowledge the next time you’re enjoying America’s Pastime.

Watch: The Physics of Baseball

Now, let’s explore what cool discoveries emerged from science’s bullpen this week:

CHEMISTRY

Sunlight welcomes a new sustainable fuel to town

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s… a new method of producing methanol, paving the way for more green fuel sources? That’s right, researchers have successfully transformed CO2 into methanol by shining sunlight on single atoms of copper — a discovery that opens the door for new sustainable energy and gives all that pesky CO2 in our atmosphere a new purpose.

How does it work?

Scientists nested copper atoms in a structure made of carbon nitride (C3N4) that allows electrons to move from the carbon nitride to CO2 when sunlight is introduced. That movement of electrons is an essential step in creating methanol from CO2.

But what’s the big deal?

This new invention provides a new way to convert CO2, the greatest contributor to climate change, into something more useful! Methanol can be used as an alternative biofuel for engines, rather than more traditional fossil fuels.

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45730-0

BIOLOGY

Proteins from tardigrades could help slow the human aging process

In case you haven’t heard of these guys before, tardigrades, also known as water bears, are microscopic organisms that are capable of surviving in unbelievable conditions. We’re talking high radiation, extreme temperatures and even the vacuum of space! Their unique ability to enter a state of cryptobiosis, where they slow down their metabolism to almost undetectable levels, allows them to endure harsh environments.

But what about us?

To enter their state of suspended animation, tardigrades use proteins that form gels inside their cells and slow down life processes. Researchers recently asked, “what if we put those proteins in human cells?”. So they did. And surprisingly, it worked! When they introduced these proteins into human cells, they slowed down metabolism when under stressful conditions, just like in tardigrades. And even better, the process is reversible. When the extreme conditions were removed, the gels dissolved and the human cells “woke up”.

So what comes next?

This discovery comes will all sorts of exciting possibilities. At the cellular level, tardigrade proteins could help prolong storage, like for transplants. And at the whole organism level, researchers believe tardigrade proteins could unlock technologies that slow the aging process…

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07043-6

ENGINEERING

Making a virus particle kebab

Keeping surfaces sterile is important, especially in places like labs, hospitals and operating rooms. Recently, a research team has designed and manufactured a virus-killing surface made of tiny nanospikes that skewer viral particles on contact. But to the human eye, it looks like a flat black mirror.

Does it work?

Lab tests with the hPIV-3 virus, which causes bronchitis and pneumonia, showed 96% of the viruses were either ripped apart or damaged to the point where they could no longer replicate to cause infection. Now, scientists are hoping to incorporate it into commonly touched devices and surfaces to prevent viral spread and reduce the use of disinfectants. It all goes to show — when in doubt, just stab it!

Read more: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03464

GENETICS

The sweet taste of successful genome mapping

Modern sugarcane is one of the most harvested crops on the planet, used to make products including sugar, molasses and bioethanol. This week, there’s big news for anyone with a sweet tooth — scientists have successfully mapped out sugarcane’s genetic code. Until now, sugarcane’s complicated genetics made it the last major crop without a complete and highly accurate genome.

But what makes a genome “complex”?

Sugarcane’s genome is extremely large and contains more copies of chromosomes than a typical plant, which is called polyploidy. Sugarcane has about 10 billion base pairs, the building blocks of DNA — for comparison, the human genome has about 3 billion.

Now what?

With the new map, researchers were able to find specific locations that code for resistance to diseases. With this knowledge, we may be able to develop improved breeding strategies to increase crop yield and better protect sugarcane harvests.

Read more: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07231-4

PHYSICS

1 fish, 2 fish, 3 fish, schooling fish

Ever wondered how many fish it takes to create a school? Well a bunch of scientists did, and they decided to solve the mystery the only way they knew how — with methods from multi-particle physics.

How’d they do it? What did they find?

The physicists fitted an aquarium with synchronized cameras to track the swim trajectories of zebrafish and recorded various group sizes — two, three, four and fifty fish. They wanted to know the minimum group size needed for the movement patterns of individuals to change and become a coordinated group movement. And the answer — three zebrafish! Now, the researchers are aiming to apply their findings to people and how they behave at parties or mass gatherings…

Read more: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46426-1

TOP HEADLINES

Science in the News

• A new study connects the consumption deep-fried foods with neurodegeneration.

• MIT researchers are engineering household robots to have common sense.

• Astronomers discovered 49 new galaxies in under three hours.

• A new therapeutic target has been identified for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Scientists have developed an AI model that predicts and improves the taste of beer.

• The tiniest “starquake” ever has been recorded.

• Research has uncovered how naked mole-rats avoid heart attacks with their unique metabolism.

• Implantable batteries that run on the body’s own oxygen have been invented.

CHECK THIS OUT

A new photo of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy

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