Breakup of a single chemical bond measured
Using advanced microscopy techniques, researchers have recorded the breaking of a single chemical bond between a carbon atom and an iron atom on different molecules.
Science & Technology
When blood pressure needs more control, what’s better: An additional drug or more of the same?
Nearly 34 million Americans have blood pressure that’s still too high even though they take medicine to control it. A new study may help them and their doctors decide whether to increase the dose of one of their existing drugs, or add a new one, to bri…
Linker histones tune the length and shape of chromosomes
A new study finds that proteins known as linker histones control the complex coiling process that determines whether DNA will wind into long and thin chromosomes, made up of many small loops, or short and thick chromosomes with fewer large loops.
Exposure to deadly urban heat worldwide has tripled in recent decades, says study
A new study of more than 13,000 cities worldwide has found that the number of person-days in which inhabitants are exposed to extreme combinations of heat and humidity has tripled since the 1980s. The authors say the trend, which now affects nearly a q…
Cell ‘quakes’ may help cells respond to the outside world
New computer simulations reveal that sudden restructuring of the cytoskeleton, or scaffolding, inside animal cells is caused by the slow buildup and rapid release of mechanical energy. Called cytoquakes, these disturbances may help the cell respond rap…