Deconstructing the Infectious Biological Weaponry of the COVID-19 Virus
Scientists collaborate to model the complex protein responsible for SARS-CoV-2 replication, revealing its potential weak spots for drug development. In February 2020, a trio of…
Biophysics News
Thermogenic Leaking: How Otters’ Muscles Enable Their Cold, Aquatic Life
Texas A&M researchers found that the small mammals are internally warmed by thermogenic leaking from their skeletal muscle, which elevates their metabolic rate. Sea otters…
5D Imaging of Ultrafast Phenomena With Spectral-Volumetric Compressed Ultrafast Photography
Spectral-volumetric compressed ultrafast photography simultaneously captures 5D information in a single snapshot. Information-rich optical imaging can provide multidimensional information to enable observation and analysis of…
Electric Signals Between Individual Cardiac Cells Regulate Heartbeat – “Nature Is Much, Much Smarter Than Human Beings”
Cells are connected by gap junctions, which are vital for a healthy heart. The rhythm in a working heart is regulated by electrical impulses. Disturbances…
Surprising Stripes: Turing Patterns Link Tropical Fish and Bismuth Crystal Growth
Scientists prove Turing patterns, usually studied in living organisms and chemical systems, also manifest at the nanoscale in monoatomic bismuth layers. One of the things…
Turning Plastic Into Foam to Combat Pollution: New Method to Reuse Previously Nonrecyclable Plastic
Scientists develop a method to reuse previously non-recyclable plastic. Biodegradable plastics are supposed to be good for the environment. However, because they are specifically made…
How the Surfaces of Silicone Breast Implants Affect the Immune System – Scarring, Inflammation, and Other Complications
Implant surface topography can influence the development of scarring, inflammation, and other complications, researchers find. Every year, about 400,000 people receive silicone breast implants in…
COVID-19: Sneeze Cam Reveals Best Fabric Combos for Cloth Masks
During the COVID-19 pandemic, cloth face masks became a way to help protect yourself and others from the virus. And for some people, they became…
Toward Safer Breast Implants: How Implant Surfaces Affect Immune Response
Six-year effort includes researchers from Rice, MD Anderson, Baylor College of Medicine. Rice University bioengineers collaborated on a six-year study that systematically analyzed how the…
Understanding Frustration Could Lead to Better Medications
Rice scientists’ atomic resolution protein models reveal new details about protein binding. Knowing precisely where proteins are frustrated could go a long way toward making…
Weird Spider Hair Discovery May Inspire Powerful – Yet Reversible – Adhesives
Engineers impressed by the functional great diversity of hairs on spider legs. Just how do spiders walk straight up — and even upside-down across —…
Scientists Uncover New Details of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Interactions with Human Cells
In order to infect cells, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, needs to insert itself into the membrane of human cells; new molecular models show…
Scientists Discover Exactly How COVID-19 Wreaks Havoc on Human Lungs
New structure shows how virus envelope protein hijacks cell-junction protein and promotes viral spread; findings could speed the design of drugs to block severe effects…
Bowl-Shaped Nanoparticles Help Untangle Alzheimer’s Disease Amyloid Beta Plaques
New research shows that the protein that causes Alzheimer’s Disease’s hallmark brain plaques clings to certain bowl-shaped nanoparticles, allowing researchers to better understand the disease…
Who’s to Die and Who’s to Live: Mechanical Cue Is at the Origin of Cell Death Decision
Hydraulic Instability Decides Who’s to Die and Who’s to Live In many species including humans, the cells responsible for reproduction, the germ cells, are often…
Lighting the Way to Folding Next-Level Origami: Transforming Proteins Into Custom-Made Structures
Recent findings by Slovenian and German scientists artfully explore potential to transform proteins into custom-made structures. Origami may sound more like art than science, but…
New Research Shows Face Masks Effectively Limit COVID-19 Transmission
New research shows how face masks reduce the effective reproduction number of COVID-19, and why their efficacy varies between different environments under virus-limited and virus-rich…
Bats’ Surprising “Supersense” of Time: They Know the Speed of Sound From Birth
A new Tel Aviv University study has revealed, for the first time, that bats know the speed of sound from birth. In order to prove…
