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Scientists at Ca' Foscari University of Venice, in collaboration with researchers from Japan, China, Switzerland, and Italy, have developed an innovative method to produce and rapidly analyze a vast array of macrocyclic peptides, molecules increasingly used in modern medicine. The research, published inNature Communications, harnesses the familiar brewer's yeast, turning billions of these tiny organisms into miniature fluorescent factories, each capable of creating a unique peptide with potential therapeutic applications.

Macrocyclic peptides are promising drugs because they combine precision targeting, stability, and safety, offering fewer side effects than traditional drugs. However, conventional methods for discovering and testing these peptides are often complex, difficult to control, slow, and environmentally unfriendly.

To overcome these limitations, the researchers engineered common brewer's yeast cells to individually produce different macrocyclic peptides. Each yeast cell acts like a tiny factory that lights up when prod-ucing the compound, allowing scientists to swiftly identify promising peptides. Using advanced fluorescence-based techniques, the team screened billions of these micro-factories in just a few hours, a process that is significantly faster and more ecofriendly than existing methods.

Sara Linciano, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at Ca' Foscari's Department of Molecular Sciences and Nanosystems, explains: "We manipulated yeast cells so that each one functions as a 'micro-factory' that becomes fluorescent when producing a specific compound. This allowed us to analyze 100 million different peptides rapidly and effectively."

Ylenia Mazzocato, co-leader of the study, highlights the sustainability of their approach: "By exploiting the natural machinery of yeast, we produce peptide molecules that are biocompatible and biodegradable, making them safe for health and the environment, a truly 'green pharma' approach."

The team also clarified how these peptides precisely bind to their targets. Zhanna Romanyuk, who contributed to the structural analysis, says: "Using X-ray crystallography, we demonstrated the excellent binding properties of these peptides, confirming their precision and potency."

This new method offers significant advancements for drug discovery, especially for challenging targets that conventional drugs cannot easily address. Alessandro Angelini, associate professor and study coordinator, emphasizes: "We are pushing the boundaries of this technology to create macrocyclic peptides that can deliver advanced therapies directly to specific cells, potentially revolutionising treatments. This could greatly benefit patient health and have substantial scientific and economic impacts."

This work was part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), supported by the European Union's Next Generation EU initiative, involving multidisciplinary teams from Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Kyoto Institute of Technology (KIT), Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Padova, and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), including experts in chemistry, biophysics, biochemistry, and computational sciences.

Part of this technology has already been patented by Ca' Foscari and was recently acquired by the startup Arzanya S.r.l. "Seeing our technology gain international recognition makes me proud," Angelini concludes. "I I hope Arzanya S.r.l. can provide our talented young researchers with the opportunity to pursue their passions here in Italy, without necessarily needing to move abroad."

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Spinal cord injuries are currently incurable with devastating effects on people's lives, but now a trial at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland offers hope for an effective treatment.

Spinal cord injuries shatter the signal between the brain and body, often resulting in a loss of function."Unlike a cut on the skin, which typically heals on its own, the spinal cord does not regenerate effectively, making these injuries devastating and currently incurable," says lead researcher Dr Bruce Harland, a senior research fellow in the School of Pharmacy at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Before birth, and to a lesser extent afterwards, naturally occurring electric fields play a vital role in early nervous system development, encouraging and guiding the growth of nerve tissue along the spinal cord. Scientists are now harnessing this same electrical guidance system in the lab.An implantable electronic device has restored movement following spinal cord injury in an animal study, raising hopes for an effective treatment for humans and even their pets.

"We developed an ultra-thin implant designed to sit directly on the spinal cord, precisely positioned over the injury site in rats," Dr Harland says.

The device delivers a carefully controlled electrical current across the injury site. "The aim is to stimulate healing so people can recover functions lost through spinal-cord injury," Professor Darren Svirskis, director of the CatWalk Cure Program at the University's School of Pharmacy says.

Unlike humans, rats have a greater capacity for spontaneous recovery after spinal cord injury, which allowed researchers to compare natural healing with healing supported by electrical stimulation.

After four weeks, animals that received daily electric field treatment showed improved movement compared with those who did not.

Throughout the 12-week study, they responded more quickly to gentle touch.

"This indicates that the treatment supported recovery of both movement and sensation," Harland says. "Just as importantly, our analysis confirmed that the treatment did not cause inflammation or other damage to the spinal cord, demonstrating that it was not only effective but also safe."

This new study, published inNature Communications, has come out of a partnership between the University of Auckland and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

"Long term, the goal is to transform this technology into a medical device that could benefit people living with these life-changing spinal-cord injuries," says Professor Maria Asplund of Chalmers University of Technology.

"This study offers an exciting proof of concept showing that electric field treatment can support recovery after spinal cord injury," says doctoral student Lukas Matter, also from Chalmers University.

The next step is to explore how different doses, including the strength, frequency, and duration of the treatment, affect recovery, to discover the most effective recipe for spinal-cord repair.

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Parts of New Orleans and its surrounding wetlands are gradually sinking, and while most of the city remains stable, a new study from Tulane University researchers suggests that sections of the region's $15 billion post-Katrina flood protection system may need regular upgrades to outpace long-term land subsidence.

The study, published inScience Advances, used satellite radar data to track subtle shifts in ground elevation across Greater New Orleans between 2002 and 2020. The study found that some neighborhoods, wetlands and even sections of floodwalls are sinking by more than an inch per year — with some areas experiencing up to 47 millimeters (nearly 2 inches) of elevation loss annually.

"In a city like New Orleans, where much of the land is already near sea level, even minor drops in elevation can increase flood risk," said Simone Fiaschi, lead author of the study and a former researcher with Tulane's Department of River-Coastal Science and Engineering, now employed at TRE-Altamira.

The findings underscore how both natural and human-driven forces are reshaping the city's landscape. Causes of the sinking — known as subsidence — include natural soil compaction, groundwater pumping, industrial development and the legacy of wetland drainage for urban growth.

The study used a remote sensing technique called InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar), which detects millimeter-scale changes in land surface elevation by comparing satellite radar images taken over time. This allowed the researchers to build the most detailed map yet of vertical land motion in New Orleans — including areas like wetlands that had previously lacked reliable data.

Among the most troubling findings: some of the concrete floodwalls and levees built to protect the city after Katrina are themselves sinking. In a few cases, parts of the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System (HSDRRS) are losing elevation faster than sea levels are rising, reducing their capacity to block storm surges.

"These results are a wake-up call," said co-author Prof. Mead Allison, also of Tulane. "We need ongoing monitoring and maintenance to ensure that our flood defenses don't lose their level of protection beneath us."

The study also found pockets of sinking around industrial sites, the airport and newer residential developments — areas where soil compression and groundwater withdrawal are likely contributors. In contrast, some areas such as parts of Michoud showed modest land uplift, likely due to the halt of industrial groundwater pumping and recovery of the water table.

Wetlands east of the city, long known for their ecological importance, are also sinking rapidly in places. In some spots, the loss of elevation could transform marshes into open water within a decade if trends continue. This has implications not just for wildlife but also for storm protection, as wetlands help buffer storm surges.

New Orleans, much of which lies below sea level, relies on an elaborate system of levees, pumps and drainage canals to keep water out. As sea levels rise and the ground sinks, the margin for error narrows.

Experts say that without sustained monitoring, including satellite data and ground-based measurements, it's difficult to know where to reinforce levees or how to plan for future storms.

"This research shows that land movement isn't uniform, and understanding these patterns is crucial for protecting lives and property in a city where inches truly matter," Fiaschi said. "However, it's crucial to remember that our results still require careful ground-truthing. This is especially true for critical areas like the floodwalls, where on-site verification was not possible during this project."

The study highlights the potential of satellite monitoring to guide infrastructure maintenance and urban planning, not just in New Orleans but in coastal cities worldwide facing similar challenges.

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Bright colors, fruit imagery, and labels like "locally made" or "vegan" might seem harmless — but when used on cannabis edibles, they can send misleading messages to teens.

That's according to a new Washington State University-led study examining how adolescents perceive the packaging of cannabis-infused products such as gummies, chocolates and sodas. Despite regulations barring packaging that targets youth, many teens in the study found these products appealing — often likening them to everyday snacks or health foods.

The research, conducted in collaboration with Public Health – Seattle & King County, is part of a broader effort to reduce accidental cannabis exposure among teens. The findings could help shape new rules aimed at limiting underage appeal.

"What surprised us was how often these products were interpreted as healthy or natural," said Jessica Willoughby, associate professor in WSU's Murrow College of Communication and co- author of the study, published in theJournal of Health Communication. "When you combine that with vibrant packaging and familiar fruit flavors, it's easy to see how these items start to look like snacks — not something potentially harmful or illegal for teens."

Researchers conducted virtual focus groups and interviews with 28 Washington teens, ages 13 to 17, using real product photos from stores to prompt discussion. With parental permission, participants shared which packaging elements caught their eye and why.

The teens consistently pointed to bright, colorful designs and packaging that resembled healthy snacks as particularly appealing. Some said they'd display the packaging in their rooms or use it in social media posts. Others said terms like "locally made" and "vegan" made the products feel more aligned with their personal values — even if they knew the items contained cannabis.

"Our findings suggest that teens are drawn not just to the look of these packages, but to what the design represents," said Stacey Hust, a professor in WSU's Murrow College and the study's lead author. "They saw these products as trendy, natural and aspirational — qualities that resonate with their identities and beliefs."

The study also showed that teens with greater familiarity with cannabis — either through personal use or family exposure — were more likely to notice warning labels and dosage information. Those with less knowledge often overlooked health warnings or didn't recognize cannabis symbols at all.

The results raise concerns for health educators and policymakers as cannabis edibles become more prevalent. The researchers recommend incorporating teen perspectives into regulatory discussions and increasing cannabis literacy through targeted education efforts.

"Teens are telling us what speaks to them — and sometimes it's not what adults expect," said Sarah Ross-Viles, youth cannabis prevention manager with King County and study co-author. "If we're serious about making cannabis packaging less appealing to youth, we need to use their insights to guide smarter, more effective regulations."

The WSU team recently worked with Public Health – Seattle & King County health officials and the Washington State Liquor & Cannabis Board to conduct a follow-up quantitative study exploring how packaging elements correlate with perceived teen appeal and intent to use.

While broad changes like plain packaging may ultimately be difficult to implement, the researchers say practical updates — such as clearer warnings and limiting branding that mimics health food — could help reduce youth attraction.

"We're not calling for a marketing ban," Hust said. "We're asking for thoughtful regulations that balance the rights of adult consumers with the need to protect kids."

Ross-Viles agreed: "This is about ensuring cannabis packaging serves its real purpose — informing adult consumers — without confusing or enticing teens. And now, for the first time, we are getting direct feedback from Washington youth to help make that possible."

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Astronomers have uncovered a vast cloud of energetic particles — a 'mini halo' — surrounding one of the most distant galaxy clusters ever observed, marking a major step forward in understanding the hidden forces that shape the cosmos.

The mini-halo is at a distance so great that it takes light 10 billion years to reach Earth, making it the most distant ever found, doubling the previous distance known to science.

The discovery demonstrates that entire galaxy clusters, among the largest structures in the universe, have been immersed in high-energy particles for most of their existence.

Such a mini-halo consists of highly energetic, charged particles in the vacuum between galaxies in a cluster, which together emanate radio waves which can be detected from Earth.

Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, with the pre-print version of the paper published today. the findings show that even in the early universe, galaxy clusters were already shaped by energetic processes.

The international team of researchers behind the discovery was co-led by Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo of Université de Montréal and Roland Timmerman of the Institute for Computational Cosmology of Durham University, in the U.K.

The researchers analysed data from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope, a vast network of over 100,000 small antennae spanning eight European countries. While studying a galaxy cluster named SpARCS1049, the researchers detected a faint, widespread radio signal.They found that it did not emanate from individual galaxies, but from a vast region of space filled with high-energy particles and magnetic fields.

Stretching over a million light-years, this diffuse glow is a telltale sign of a mini-halo,a structure astronomers have only been able to observe in the nearby universe up until now. "It's as if we've discovered a vast cosmic ocean, where entire galaxy clusters are constantly immersed in high-energy particles," said Hlavacek-Larrondo.

Added Timmerman: "It's astonishing to find such a strong radio signal at this distance. It means these energetic particles and the processes creating them have been shaping galaxy clusters for nearly the entire history of the universe."

There are two likely explanations behind the formation of the mini-halo.

One is that there are supermassive black holes at the hearts of galaxies within a cluster that can eject streams of high-energy particles into space. However, astronomers are still trying to understand how these particles would be able to migrate away from the black hole to create such a gigantic cloud of particles, while maintaining so much of their energy.

The second explanation is cosmic particle collisions. This is when charged particles within the hot plasma of the galaxy cluster collide at near-light speeds, smashing apart into the highly energetic particles that can be observed from Earth.

This new discovery provides a rare look at what galaxy clusters were like just after they formed, the astronomers say.

It not only shows that galaxy clusters have been infused with these high-energy particles for billions of years more than previously known, but it also allows astronomers to study where these high-energy particles come from.

It suggests that black holes and/or high-energy particle collisions have been enriching the environment of galaxy clusters much earlier than expected, keeping them energized over billions of years.

With newer telescopes being developed such as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), scientists will be able to detect even fainter signals and further explore the role of magnetic fields, cosmic rays, and energetic processes in shaping the Universe, the astronomers say.

"We are just scratching the surface of how energetic the early Universe really was," said Hlavacek-Larrondo. "This discovery gives us a new window into how galaxy clusters grow and evolve, driven by both black holes and high-energy particle physics."

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A University of Queensland-led project has developed a tool to standardize genetic testing of koala populations, providing a significant boost to conservation and recovery efforts.

Dr Lyndal Hulse from UQ's School of the Environment said the standardized koala genetic marker panel provides a consistent method for researchers nationwide to capture and share koala genetic variation, enabling improved collaboration and data integration across studies.

"Koalas in the wild are under increasing pressure from habitat loss, disease and vehicle strikes, forcing them to live in increasingly smaller and more isolated pockets with limited access to breeding mates outside their group," Dr Hulse said.

"Population inbreeding can mean detrimental effects on their health.

"A standardized panel for directly comparing genetic markers enables researchers, conservationists and government agencies to better understand the genetic diversity of koala populations, allowing for greater collaboration to ensure their survival."

Saurabh Shrivastava, Senior Account Manager at project partner the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF Ltd), said the new screening tool was a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array that used next-generation sequencing technologies.

"The Koala SNP-array can accommodate good quality DNA, so is suitable for broad-scale monitoring of wild koala populations," Mr Shrivastava said.

"Importantly, it is available to all researchers and managers."

Dr Hulse said ideally the tool could help guide targeted koala relocations across regions.

"There are very strict rules about relocating koalas, but this could be key to improving and increasing the genetics of populations under threat," she said.

"These iconic Australian marsupials are listed as endangered in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT – and in 50 years we may only be able to see koalas in captivity.

"Understanding the genetic diversity of different populations of koalas is crucial if we're going to save them from extinction."

The project included researchers from the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group at the University of New South Wales.

AGRF Ltd isanot-for-profit organization advancing Australian genomics through nationwide access to expert support and cutting-edge technology across a broad range of industries including biomedical, health, agriculture and environmental sectors.

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Atmospheric rivers are responsible for most flooding on the West Coast of the U.S., but also bring much needed moisture to the region. The size of these storms doesn't always translate to flood risk, however, as other factors on the ground play important roles. Now, a new study helps untangle the other drivers of flooding to help communities and water managers better prepare.

The research, published June 4 in theJournal of Hydrometeorology, analyzed more than 43,000 atmospheric river storms across 122 watersheds on the West Coast between 1980 and 2023. The researchers found that one of the primary driving forces of flooding is wet soils that can't absorb more water when a storm hits. They showed that flood peaks were 2-4.5 times higher, on average, when soils were already wet. These findings can help explain why some atmospheric river storms cause catastrophic flooding while others of comparable intensity do not. Even weaker storms can generate major floods if their precipitation meets a saturated Earth, while stronger storms may bring needed moisture to a parched landscape without causing flooding.

"The main finding comes down to the fact that flooding from any event, but specifically from atmospheric river storms, is a function not only of the storm size and magnitude, but also what's happening on the land surface," said Mariana Webb, lead author of the study who is completing her Ph.D. at DRI and the University of Nevada, Reno. "This work demonstrates the key role that pre-event soil moisture can have in moderating flood events. Interestingly, flood magnitudes don't increase linearly as soil moisture increases, there's this critical threshold of soil moisture wetness above which you start to see much larger flows."

The study also untangled the environmental conditions of regions where soil moisture has the largest influence on flooding. In arid places like California and southwestern Oregon, storms that hit when soils are already saturated are more likely to cause floods. This is because watersheds in these regions typically have shallow, clay-rich soils and limited water storage capacity. Due to lower precipitation and higher evaporation rates, soil moisture is also more variable in these areas. In contrast, in lush Washington and the interior Cascades and Sierra Nevada regions, watersheds tend to have deeper soils and snowpack, leading to a higher water storage capacity. Although soil saturation can still play a role in driving flooding in these areas, accounting for soil moisture is less valuable for flood management because soils are consistently wet or insulated by snow.

"We wanted to identify the watersheds where having additional information about the soil moisture could enhance our understanding of flood risk," Webb said. "It's the watersheds in more arid climates, where soil moisture is more variable due to evaporation and less consistent precipitation, where we can really see improvements in flood prediction."

Although soil moisture data is currently measured at weather monitoring stations like the USDA's SNOTEL Network, observations are relatively sparse compared to other measures like rainfall. Soil moisture can also vary widely within a single watershed, so often multiple stations are required to give experts a clear picture that can help inform flooding predictions. Increased monitoring in watersheds identified as high-risk, including real-time soil moisture observations, could significantly enhance early warning systems and flood management as atmospheric rivers become more frequent and intense.

By tailoring flood risk evaluations to a specific watershed's physical characteristics and climate, the study could improve flood-risk predictions. The research demonstrates how flood risk increases not just with storm size and magnitude, but with soil moisture, highlighting the value of integrating land surface conditions into impact assessments for atmospheric rivers. "My research really focuses on this interdisciplinary space between atmospheric science and hydrology," Webb said. "There's sometimes a disconnect where atmospheric scientists think about water up until it falls as rain, and hydrologists start their work once the water is on the ground. I wanted to explore how we can better connect these two fields."

Webb worked with DRI ecohydrologist Christine Albano to produce the research, building on Albano's extensive expertise studying atmospheric rivers, their risks, and their impacts on the landscape.

"While soil saturation is widely recognized as a key factor in determining flood risk, Mari's work helps to quantify the point at which this level of saturation leads to large increases in flood risk across different areas along the West Coast," Albano said. "Advances in weather forecasting allow us to see atmospheric rivers coming toward the coast several days before they arrive. By combining atmospheric river forecast information with knowledge of how close the soil moisture is to critical saturation levels for a given watershed, we can further improve flood early warning systems."

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A cosmic particle detector in Antarctica has emitted a series of bizarre signals that defy the current understanding of particle physics, according to an international research group that includes scientists from Penn State. The unusual radio pulses were detected by the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment, a range of instruments flown on balloons high above Antarctica that are designed to detect radio waves from cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere.

The goal of the experiment is to gain insight into distant cosmic events by analyzing signals that reach the Earth. Rather than reflecting off the ice, the signals — a form of radio waves — appeared to be coming from below the horizon, an orientation that cannot be explained by the current understanding of particle physics and may hint at new types of particles or interactions previously unknown to science, the team said.

The researchers published their results in the journal Physical Review Letters.

"The radio waves that we detected were at really steep angles, like 30 degrees below the surface of the ice," said Stephanie Wissel, associate professor of physics, astronomy and astrophysics who worked on the ANITA team searching for signals from elusive particles called neutrinos.

She explained that by their calculations, the anomalous signal had to pass through and interact with thousands of kilometers of rock before reaching the detector, which should have left the radio signal undetectable because it would have been absorbed into the rock.

"It's an interesting problem because we still don't actually have an explanation for what those anomalies are, but what we do know is that they're most likely not representing neutrinos," Wissel said.

Neutrinos, a type of particle with no charge and the smallest mass of all subatomic particles, are abundant in the universe. Usually emitted by high-energy sources like the sun or major cosmic events like supernovas or even the Big Bang, there are neutrino signals everywhere. The problem with these particles, though, is that they are notoriously difficult to detect, Wissel explained.

"You have a billion neutrinos passing through your thumbnail at any moment, but neutrinos don't really interact," she said. "So, this is the double-edged sword problem. If we detect them, it means they have traveled all this way without interacting with anything else. We could be detecting a neutrino coming from the edge of the observable universe."

Once detected and traced to their source, these particles can reveal more about cosmic events than even the most high-powered telescopes, Wissel added, as the particles can travel undisturbed and almost as fast as the speed of light, giving clues about cosmic events that happened lightyears away.

Wissel and teams of researchers around the world have been working to design and build special detectors to capture sensitive neutrino signals, even in relatively small amounts. Even one small signal from a neutrino holds a treasure trove of information, so all data has significance, she said.

"We use radio detectors to try to build really, really large neutrino telescopes so that we can go after a pretty low expected event rate," said Wissel, who has designed experiments to spot neutrinos in Antarctica and South America.

ANITA is one of these detectors, and it was placed in Antarctica because there is little chance of interference from other signals. To capture the emission signals, the balloon-borne radio detector is sent to fly over stretches of ice, capturing what are called ice showers.

"We have these radio antennas on a balloon that flies 40 kilometers above the ice in Antarctica," Wissel said. "We point our antennas down at the ice and look for neutrinos that interact in the ice, producing radio emissions that we can then sense on our detectors."

These special ice-interacting neutrinos, called tau neutrinos, produce a secondary particle called a tau lepton that is released out of the ice and decays, the physics term referring to how the particle loses energy as it travels over space and breaks down into its constituents. This produces emissions known as air showers.

If they were visible to the naked eye, air showers might look like a sparkler waved in one direction, with sparks trailing it, Wissel explained. The researchers can distinguish between the two signals — ice and air showers — to determine attributes about the particle that created the signal.

These signals can then be traced back to their origin, similar to how a ball thrown at an angle will predictably bounce back at the same angle, Wissel said. The recent anomalous findings, though, cannot be traced back in such a manner as the angle is much sharper than existing models predict.

By analyzing data collected from multiple ANITA flights and comparing it with mathematical models and extensive simulations of both regular cosmic rays and upward-going air showers, the researchers were able to filter out background noise and eliminate the possibility of other known particle-based signals.

The researchers then cross-referenced signals from other independent detectors like the IceCube Experiment and the Pierre Auger Observatory to see if data from upward-going air showers, similar to those found by ANITA, were captured by other experiments.

Analysis revealed the other detectors did not register anything that could have explained what ANITA detected, which led the researchers to describe the signal as "anomalous," meaning that the particles causing the signal are not neutrinos, Wissel explained. The signals do not fit within the standard picture of particle physics, and while several theories suggest that it may be a hint of dark matter, the lack of follow-up observations with IceCube and Auger really narrow the possibilities, she said.

Penn State has built detectors and analyzed neutrino signals for close to 10 years, Wissel explained, and added that her team is currently designing and building the next big detector. The new detector, called PUEO, will be larger and better at detecting neutrino signals, Wissel said, and it will hopefully shed light on what exactly the anomalous signal is.

"My guess is that some interesting radio propagation effect occurs near ice and also near the horizon that I don't fully understand, but we certainly explored several of those, and we haven't been able to find any of those yet either," Wissel said. "So, right now, it's one of these long-standing mysteries, and I'm excited that when we fly PUEO, we'll have better sensitivity. In principle, we should pick up more anomalies, and maybe we'll actually understand what they are. We also might detect neutrinos, which would in some ways be a lot more exciting."

The other Penn State co-author is Andrew Zeolla, a doctoral candidate in physics. The research conducted by scientists from Penn State was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The paper contains the full list of collaborators and authors.

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Mycorrhizal fungi help regulate Earth's climate and ecosystems by forming underground networks that provide plants with essential nutrients, while drawing carbon deep into soils. Scientists and conservationists have been racing to find ways to protect these underground fungi, but they keep finding dark taxa – species that are known only by their DNA sequences that can't be linked to named or described species.

It is estimated that only 155,000 of the roughly 2-3 million fungal species on the planet have been formally described. Now, a review published inCurrent Biologyon June 9 shows that as much as 83% of ectomycorrhizal species are so-called dark taxa. The study helps identify underground hotspots of unknown mycorrhizal species occurring in tropical forests in southeast Asia and Central and South America, tropical forests and shrublands in central Africa, Sayan montane conifer forests above Mongolia, and more. This discovery has serious implications for conservation.

Names are important in the natural sciences. Traditionally, once a species is described, it is given a binomial – a name made of two Latin words that describe the species and genus. These names are used to categorize fungi, plants, and animals, and are critical identifiers for conservation and research. Most mycorrhizal fungi in the wild are found using environmental DNA (eDNA) — genetic material that organisms shed into their surroundings. Scientists extract fungal eDNA from soil and root samples, sequence that DNA, and then run those sequences through a bioinformatics pipeline that matches a sequence with a described species. For dark taxa there are no matches – just strings of As, Gs, Cs, and Ts.

"We are a long way out from getting all fungal DNA sequences linked to named species," says lead author Laura van Galen, a microbial ecologist working with the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN) and ETH University, Switzerland. "Environmental DNA has enormous potential as a research tool to detect fungal species, but we can't include unnamed species in conservation initiatives. How can you protect something that hasn't yet been named?"

Ectomycorrhizal fungi are one of the largest groups of mycorrhizal fungi and form symbiotic partnerships with about 25% of global vegetation. Ectomycorrhizal fungi facilitate the drawdown of over 9 billion tons of CO2annually (over 25% of yearly fossil fuel emissions) and help Earth's forests function by regulating nutrient cycles, enhancing stress tolerance, and even breaking down pollutants.

The researchers' work has uncovered that dark taxa of ectomycorrhizal fungi are not spread evenly across the Earth. "There are hotspots of high dark taxa around the globe, but particularly they are concentrated in tropical regions in Southeast Asia and parts of South America and Africa," says van Galen. "Most of the research on ectomycorrhizal fungi has been focused in the North, but mid-latitude and southern-hemisphere regions show signs of being home to many unknown species. This means there is a mismatch in resources and funding. We need to bridge this gap and facilitate more tropical researchers and those from southern-hemisphere regions to focus on identifying these super-important fungi."

The researchers have suggestions of how we can start bringing these fungi out of the shadows. "One way to reduce the dark taxa problem is to collect, study and sequence mushrooms and other fungi," says co-author Camille Truong, a mycorrhizal ecologist at SPUN and research scientist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Australia. "Conversely, there are mushrooms that have been sitting for decades in collections of botanical gardens. These should be urgently sequenced so that we can, hopefully, start matching them up with some of these dark taxa."

Many of the unidentified fungal species are associated with plants that are themselves endangered. "We're at risk here," says van Galen. "If we lose these host plants, we might also be losing really important fungal communities that we don't know anything about yet."

The technology is available – what's missing is attention. "We really need to pay so much more attention to fungi in the soil so that we can understand the species and protect them and conserve them before we lose them," says van Galen. The team hopes that conservation organizations will use the information to protect hotspots of underground biodiversity, even if these species remain nameless.

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Scientists have shed new light on the evolution of an important species of wasp – and believe that the findings could help improve the effectiveness of natural pest control.

Dr Rebecca Boulton, from the University of Stirling, has shown, for the first time, thatLysiphlebus fabarum- a tiny species of wasp – can reproduce with or without a mate. This discovery challenges the previous assumption that asexual females could not mate and produce offspring sexually.

Significantly, the wasps lay their eggs inside small sap-sucking insects called aphids before consuming their host from the inside out — meaning that they are natural pest controllers.

Lysiphlebus fabarumis known to have both sexual and asexual populations but, until now, it was not known whether asexual females could reproduce sexually with males. The discovery opens up new possibilities for improving biological pest control.

Many species of parasitoid wasps are mass-reared and released as a natural alternative to pesticides because they lay their eggs on or in other species, many of which are pests, before the developing wasp larvae consumes their host, killing it in the process.

Asexual reproduction makes it easy to produce large numbers of wasps, but these need to be suitably adapted to local pests and environments to be effective. Currently,Lysiphlebus fabarumis not used commercially despite being found worldwide and naturally targeting aphids.

Developing an understanding of how the species reproduce could help boost genetic diversity in commercially reared lines, making future biocontrol agents more resilient and better adapted.

Dr Boulton, a lecturer in Biological and Environmental Sciences at the University's Faculty of Natural Sciences, led the study. She said: "In an evolutionary sense, facultative sex seems like a perfect strategy – asexual reproduction is highly efficient, and takes away the costs of finding a mate as well as the risks of failing to find one.

"But sex is really important for evolution. When females reproduce asexually they don't mix their genes up with any others which limits the potential for evolution to happen.

"If the environment changes, asexual species may be unable to adapt in the same way that sexuals can.

"Facultative sex brings the efficiency of asexual reproduction with the evolutionary benefits of sex and so has been touted as the best of both worlds.

"The results of my study show that there might be hidden costs to facultative sex though as it reduces female wasps' reproductive success, and this might limit how frequently it occurs in nature.

"The wasps that I studied are an important natural enemy of aphids, they aren't currently commercially reared, but they are found globally.

"My findings could be used to develop new biocontrol agents that can be used to control aphids throughout the world, harnessing their natural reproductive behavior to ensure that they are adapted to the hosts and environments that are specific to different regions."

Dr Boulton reared the wasps in a Controlled Environment Facility (CEF) at the University and had initially planned to put asexual and sexual wasps together, in direct competition, to see which parasitized the most aphids.

However, in the early stages of these experiments she realized the female asexual wasps were behaving unexpectedly and were mating with males from the sexual population.

This led to a change in strategy, as she started to record this behavior in more detail, before carrying out wasp paternity testing to see whether the asexual females were just mating or actually fertilizing eggs.

Once it confirmed that the asexual wasps were engaging in facultative sex, Dr Boulton carried out an experiment where asexual females either mated or didn't, before examining how successful these females, and their daughters, were at parasitizing aphids.

The study involved putting around 300 wasps, each around 1mm long, in their own petri dish with a colony of sap-sucking aphids and counting how many were parasitized.

Lysiphlebus fabarumwasps only live a few days but spend two weeks developing as larvae on their hosts.

The entire experiment, which was carried out across two generations of wasps, took six weeks to run.

On completion Dr Boulton extracted DNA from the wasps and sent it to be paternity tested. When the results were returned it was clear that the asexual wasps which mated were, in most cases, reproducing sexually as their offspring had bits of DNA that were only found in the fathers.

The study, Is facultative sex the best of both worlds in the parasitoid wasp Lysiphlebus fabarum? is published in the Royal Society of Open Science.

It was funded through a BBSRC Discovery fellowship.

Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Executive Chair of BBSRC, said: "This is an exciting example of how BBSRC's Discovery Fellowships are helping talented early career researchers explore fundamental questions in bioscience with real-world relevance.

"Dr Boulton's work, which measures the costs of sex in this predominantly asexual parasitoid wasp, opens up promising avenues for more sustainable pest control. Supporting curiosity-driven research like this not only strengthens the UK's research base, but helps drive innovation that benefits the environment, food systems and society at large."

Materialsprovided byUniversity of Stirling.Note: Content may be edited for style and length.