Whitlock gathered some of these good bacteria, which neutralize dangerous organisms and hazardous substances on the skin, and made them into a spray that he’s been using since for his daily hygiene. Among other things, it breaks down ammonia: the compound that makes human sweat stink in the first place.
A new study from the University of Portsmouth looked at how wildlife in the area had coped over the past 29 years. The team found that a huge range of plants and animals weren’t just surviving, but actually thriving. The research was published in the journal Current Biology.
Exomedicine refers to the research and development of medical solutions in the microgravity environment of space for applications on Earth, Kimel said.
He said that one major revelation from space travel is that humans know relatively little about living systems and disease processes outside of Earth. But the thing is, microgravity presents a great potential to uncover insights into better ways to treat and prevent disease.
The results produced an interesting picture: face recognition could be explained in large part by genes, but for the most part, they weren’t the same genes as the ones affecting general object recognition or the ones that influence general cognitive ability.
As the AGI news agency reports, multi-layer CT scans conducted on 18 plaster cast human remains show that inhabitants of the city had “perfect teeth,” and that those examined likely died from head injuries rather than asphyxiation following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
That’s the opposite way round to how many other geneticists work. They often start with the trait and try to find relevant genes. Nielsen, however, started by finding genes that evolution had already flagged as being important, and then worked out what traits those genes influence. “First, we find the bit of the haystack where the needle might be,” he explains. And his team did the same thing in Tibet and Ethiopia, identifying genes that help local people cope with air that has 40 percent less oxygen than what most of us inhale.
Mars is basically a pretty arid place, so it’s pretty astonishing that the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was able to spot signs of liquid water on the planet’s surface.
But even more astonishing in a way is that one of the places where signs of water was spotted is a mere 50 kilometers from where NASA’s Curiosity rover has been exploring. After all, Mars is a pretty big planet, and signs of water have been spotted in only a handful of places.
These are the instruments that brought down polio, smallpox and diphtheria—diseases that in the past two centuries have killed thousands annually. By the end of the 20th century, however, mass vaccination programs have completely eradicated or brought these diseases under control both in the United States and abroad.
Many people have some level of colour deficiency but an island where a tenth of the population is totally colour-blind gives us some fascinating insights, writes Michael Mosley.