We’ve all heard about dwindling biodiversity across the planet, but it turns out scientists have a difficult time actually verifying it. Because it’s impossible to continually count every species in every location at the same time in the same way, studies on biodiversity are highly non-uniform, and they rarely look at one large area over a long period of time. Add in that biodiversity includes more than just how many species there are (it can also measure things like physical traits and genetic variation), and it becomes challenging to paint a picture of global biodiversity over time, said Marta Jarzyna, assistant professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology at The Ohio State…
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Scientists program proteins to pair exactly
While the Ohio State Buckeyes and Washington Huskies prepared to butt heads in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, researchers at the two universities collaborated to create proteins that zip together in much the same way DNA molecules zip up to form a double helix. The first-of-its-kind scientific breakthrough could enable the development of protein nanomachines that could help diagnose and treat disease, allow for more exact engineering of cells and perform a wide variety of other tasks. “This technique makes it possible for you to design proteins so they come together exactly how you want them to,” said Zibo Chen, a graduate student at the University of Washington and lead author…
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Machine learning helps predict endangered plant species
There are many organizations monitoring endangered species such as elephants and tigers, but what about the millions of other species on the planet — ones that most people have never heard of or don’t think about? How do scientists assess the threat level of, say, the Torrey pine tree? Currently, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature — which produces the world’s most comprehensive inventory of threatened species (the “Red List”) — more or less works on a species-by-species basis, requiring more resources and specialized work than is available to accurately assign a conservation-risk category to every species. Of the nearly 100,000 species currently on the Red List, plants…
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A close-up look at the whirlpool around gigantic black hole
Imagine if you could see something the size of a coin at the distance of the moon. That’s roughly the equivalent of what an international team of astronomers did by combining four of the most powerful telescopes in the world — the Very Large Telescopes at the European Southern Observatory in Chile — in a super-instrument called GRAVITY and directing it at the quasar 3C 273, which is about 2.5 billion light-years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo. For the first time, the scientists were able to observe the motion of gas clouds swirling around the supermassive black hole at the center of the quasar. Doing so allowed them…
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Ohio State team helps map the Arctic like never before
Some portions of the Arctic are so remote and barren, they seem like another planet. In fact, until recently, there were more detailed maps of Mars and the moon than certain parts of the Arctic. But with climate change occurring more rapidly in the Arctic than anywhere on Earth, there has been an increasing need for high-quality maps that can track geographic changes in the region, said Ian Howat, professor of Earth sciences, director of the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (BPCRC) and a principal investigator on the ArcticDEM project, which has created the first high-resolution digital elevation maps (DEMs) of the Arctic. The public-private initiative — formed in 2015…
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Physicists uncover new behavior of elusive Higgs boson particle
It’s been six years since scientists confirmed the existence of a long-theorized particle called the Higgs boson, finally providing an explanation for how other particles acquire mass. Conditions on Earth make it extremely difficult to detect this mysterious particle, which is why discovering it took the world’s single largest machine — the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) — and thousands of scientists from more than 100 countries. Eager for more answers about the deep hidden structure of nature, physicists at CERN have been searching nonstop for further clues about the Higgs boson and how it interacts with other particles. Years of data and trillions…
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Venom researchers making powerful discoveries
For wild animals, life is all about survival. And most don’t have the luxury of cheetah-fast speed or shark-like strength. But nature has equipped a select group with an unusually powerful weapon — venom. While venom is most often associated with creepy, crawly creatures like scorpions, snakes and spiders, this naturally occurring biological weapon is used by an extremely diverse set of species across the animal kingdom. From caterpillars to cone snails to short-tailed shrews, venom serves as a quick, efficient way to subdue prey, as well as a potent defense tactic. Venom can paralyze the respiratory system, destroy muscle tissue and prevent blood from clotting, among other physiological effects…
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Ohio State astrophysicists involved in stellar discovery
Scientists are finding galaxies billions of light years away from Earth, yet there are still discoveries to be made right next door. In January, data from the Dark Energy Survey — which utilizes an 8,000-pound camera mounted on an equally powerful telescope in the Andes Mountains to see deep into space — revealed 11 previously unknown stellar streams orbiting the Milky Way galaxy. Stellar streams mostly reside on the outskirts (or “halo”) of the Milky Way, and they represent remnants of dwarf galaxies and star clusters that passed by the galaxy too closely and got torn apart by its gravitational pull. Only about 20 stellar streams had been identified in the Milky…