Treegraphic

Astronomers are borrowing principles applied in biology and archaeology to build a family tree of the stars in the galaxy. By studying chemical signatures found in the stars, they are piecing together these evolutionary trees looking at how the stars formed and how they are connected to each other. The signatures act as a proxy for DNA sequences. It’s akin to chemical tagging of stars and forms the basis of a discipline astronomers refer to as Galactic archaeology.

It was Charles Darwin, who, in 1859 published his revolutionary theory that all life forms are descended from one common ancestor. This theory has informed evolutionary biology ever since but it was a chance encounter between an astronomer and an biologist over dinner at King’s College in Cambridge that got the astronomer thinking about how it could be applied to stars in the Milky Way.

Richard Moriggl and his team identified activation of the leukemia factor STAT5 being connected to the modified metabolism of cancer cells. (Photo: Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft)

The metabolic state of tumor cells contributes to signals that control the proliferation of tumor cells. Already the German biochemist and Nobel Prize laureate Otto H. Warburg observed in the 1920s that tumor cells radically change their metabolism. This process was termed "Warburg Effect", however neglected until recently by cancer research, but the latest results show it is indeed of fundamental importance for the development of aggressive tumors. Richard Moriggl and his co-workers have now published in the journal Leukemia how the tumor promoter STAT5 integrates metabolic signals that contribute to oncogenic transformation. Researchers from the VetmeduniVienna, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Cancer Research and Meduni Wien may have thus identified a new target to tackle cancer.

Since 1980, populations of warm-dwelling species in Germany, e.g. some bird species, have increased. Copyright: Wolfgang Henkes

Since 1980, populations of warm-dwelling species in Germany have increased. The trend is particularly strong among warm-dwelling terrestrial species, as shown by the most comprehensive study across ecosystems in this regard to date. The most obvious increases occurred among warm-dwelling birds, butterflies, beetles, soil organisms and lichens according to the study published recently in the scientific journal “Nature Ecology & Evolution” led by Senckenberg scientists. Thus, it appears possible that rising temperatures due to the climate change have had a widespread impact on the population trends of animals in the past 30 years.

Nella risoluzione approvata giovedì 16 febbraio, i deputati chiedono norme UE nel campo della robotica, un settore in rapida evoluzione, ad esempio per far rispettare standard etici o per stabilire la responsabilità civile in caso di incidenti che coinvolgono un’auto senza conducente. I deputati chiedono alla Commissione europea di proporre norme in materia di robotica e di intelligenza artificiale per sfruttarne appieno il potenziale economico e garantire un livello standard di sicurezza e protezione. Sottolineano che in diversi Paesi sono previsti standard normativi per i robot e sottolineano che spetta all’UE prendere l'iniziativa su come impostare questi standard, in modo da non essere costretti a seguire quelli eventualmente stabiliti da Paesi terzi.

Swordfish auction in the fish market of Vigo (Spain). / José Antonio Gil Martínez

Researchers from the University of Burgos (Spain) have developed a fluorescent polymer that lights up in contact with mercury that may be present in fish. High levels of the metal were detected in samples of swordfish and tuna. According to the conclusions of another Spanish study, mercury exposure is linked to reduced foetal and placental growth in pregnant women. The presence of the toxic metal mercury in the environment comes from natural sources, however, in the last decades industrial waste has caused an increase in concentrations of the metal in some areas of the sea. In the food chain, mercury can be diluted either in organic form as methylmercury (MeHg+) or as an inorganic salt, the cation Hg2+.

Giacomo Balla: Designing the Future

Organised in collaboration with the Biagiotti Cigna Collection, this major exhibition presents a career-spanning retrospective of one of Italian Futurism's most important and consistently inventive artists. Encompassing his early Divisionist imagery, iconic Futurist paintings and examples of his distinctive work in the sphere of the applied arts, it will offer a comprehensive survey of Balla's multifaceted activity between the years 1895 and 1958, including many works rarely seen outside Italy.

Trigeminal neuralgia: A glimmer of hope for patients – thanks to a newly tested substance. (Picture: Center of Dental Medicine; UZH)

Trigeminal neuralgia is characterized by sharp, lancinating pain in the teeth or facial area. The standard treatment for this chronic nerve pain can cause burdening side effects. A novel substance inhibits the pain effectively and is well tolerated, as documented by the initial results of an international study involving the Center of Dental Medicine at the University of Zurich. The sharp pain shoots to the face or teeth and seriously torments patients. Known as trigeminal neuralgia, it is one of the worst chronic nerve pains. The bouts are triggered by touch, such as shaving, putting on make-up, showering, talking and tooth brushing, or even a gust of wind. The cause is usually an irritation of the trigeminal nerve, the cranial nerve responsible for the sensory innervation of the facial area, parts of the scalp, and the oral cavity.

Megaslumps in fluvially incised hummocky moraine, Peel Plateau, northwestern Canada.

In bitter cold regions like northwestern Canada, permafrost has preserved relict ground-ice and vast glacial sedimentary stores in a quasi-stable state. These landscapes therefore retain a high potential for climate-driven transformation. In their open-access GEOLOGY article published online on 7 Feb. 2017, Steven Kokelj of the Northwest Territories Geological Survey and colleagues write that climate-driven renewal of deglaciation and potential postglacial permafrost landscape evolution has major implications for predicting the nature and trajectories of northern landscape change and the cascade of downstream impacts.

Lo strumento a raggi X e ultravioletti, imbarcato sul satellite geostazionario GOES-16 della NASA, ha seguito il brillamento del 21 gennaio scorso. I suoi dati, elaborati dal centro di meteorologia spaziale americana, saranno utili per migliorare la nostra conoscenza delle attività solari e mettere in atto strategie di prevenzione

Il dolmen di Monte Bubbonia

La Sicilia ha avuto una Preistoria talmente intricata, che risulta difficile orientarsi nel guazzabuglio di “Culture” che si sono succedute; e ciò per la sua posizione geografica, al centro del Mediterraneo, che le ha assicurato per millenni un ruolo alquanto dinamico, fatto di frequenti ondate migratorie da cui traspare sempre l'impatto tra due influenze: una mediterranea, di chiara matrice orientale, e l'altra europea, proveniente da nord-ovest e dalla stessa penisola italica.

Questo eterogeneo panorama si fa più chiaro a partire dalla fine del III millennio a.C., quando l'isola viene investita da un ulteriore movimento proveniente dall'Egeo e dalle coste anatoliche, che vi apporta nuove concezioni sociali, artistiche e spirituali. I segni di questo cambiamento si riconoscono nella necropoli di “Castelluccio” (tra Noto e Siracusa), che dà nome alla facies culturale più conosciuta e diffusa della Sicilia del bronzo antico (fine III millennio/prima metà II millennio a.C.). Le numerose tombe a “grotticella” scavate nelle pareti rocciose dei monti circostanti, documentano il culto dei morti, la pratica dell'inumazione collettiva, la devozione alla Madre terra.