# s-phyto: mRNA instability may facilitate rapid recovery of plants after stressful events

<< Stress recovery may prove to be a promising approach to increase plant performance, and theoretically, mRNA instability may facilitate faster recovery.   Transcriptome (RNA-seq, qPCR, sRNA-seq, PARE) and methylome profiling during repeated excess-light stress and recovery was performed at intervals as short as three minutes >>

AA << demonstrate that 87% of the stress-upregulated mRNAs analysed exhibit very rapid recovery >>

Peter Alexander Crisp, Diep Ganguly, et al.  Rapid recovery gene downregulation during excess-light stress and recovery in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell Publ. July 2017 doi: 10.1105/tpc.16.00828

http://www.plantcell.org/content/early/2017/07/13/tpc.16.00828

# s-esobio: self-assembled azotosomes by convective activity, a kind of proto-life on Titan.

<< vinyl cyanide (C2H3CN; also known as acrylonitrile or propenenitrile) would be the best candidate species for the formation of (..) cell-like membranes, known as “azotosomes” >>

AA << report the first spectroscopic detection of vinyl cyanide in Titan’s atmosphere, obtained using archival data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), collected from February to May 2014 >>

AA << detect the three strongest rotational lines of C2H3CN in the frequency range of 230 to 232 GHz, each with >4σ confidence >>

the << production rate of vinyl cyanide and its saturation mole fraction imply the availability of sufficient dissolved material to form ~107 cell membranes/cm3 in Titan’s sea Ligeia Mare (Titan's second largest liquid body) >>

<< Reactions of hydrocarbons with hydrogen, both readily available on Titan, release energy, which could provide support for methanogenic life. The sedimentation time of atmospheric organics depends on the particle size and convective activity in the troposphere. This coupling of Titan’s atmosphere and surface completes the picture regarding the astrobiological importance of (..) detection of vinyl cyanide in Titan’s middle/upper atmosphere >>

Maureen Y. Palmer, Martin A. Cordiner, et al. ALMA detection and astrobiological potential of vinyl cyanide on Titan. Science Advances  28 Jul 2017: Vol. 3, no. 7, e1700022
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1700022

http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/7/e1700022.full

# s-evol: a noise effect inside: new species pulsating by chance instead of ...

<< W. Andrew Barr, a visiting assistant professor of anthropology, published a report that says it's possible the pulse of new species could have occurred by chance and might not be directly related to climate change >>

Researcher's paper challenges the claim that the genus Homo originated in response to environmental changes. Aug 4, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-08-paper-genus-homo-response-environmental.html

W. Andrew Barr. Signal or noise? A null model method for evaluating the significance of turnover pulses. Paleobiology 2017 doi: 10.1017/pab.2017.21 Publ. online: 31 July 2017

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/signal-or-noise-a-null-model-method-for-evaluating-the-significance-of-turnover-pulses/17FBC5F2A96CA2BA0657A2E411170EAB#

also

<< "Nell' Arte tutto e', o dovrebbe essere, un esperimento". Gill Evans. >>

2127 - enigmistiche tonalita'. March 23, 2007

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2007/03/2127-enigmistiche-tonalita.html

# s-phys: nanoquakes: driving them by phononic crystals

<< the extreme frequency sound waves - also known as surface acoustic waves [SAW] or 'nanoquakes' , as they run across the surface of a solid material in a similar manner to earthquake tremors on land >>

<< Although surface acoustic waves form a key component of a host of technologies, they have proved extremely difficult to control with any degree of accuracy >>

[AA] << have developed a new type of structure, known as a ' phononic crystal,' which when patterned into a device, can be used to steer and guide the nanoquakes >>

Riding the wave: Pioneering research tames nanoquakes. Aug 2, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-08-nanoquakes.html

<< Phononic crystals can control the propagation of SAW, analogous to photonic crystals, enabling components such as waveguides and cavities >>

B. J. Ash, S. R. Worsfold, et al. A highly attenuating and frequency tailorable annular hole phononic crystal for surface acoustic waves.  Nature Communications 8, Article number: 174 (2017)  doi:10.1038/s41467-017-00278-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00278-0

# s-esobio: seeking a new "planetary protection officer"

<< Nasa is seeking a new "planetary protection officer" tasked with defending the earth from alien life >>

<< It is not a new idea - the original United Nations treaty on space exploration, signed in 1967, called for space-faring nations to take care about contaminants >>

Planetary protection officer wanted, generous salary. BBC. 02 Aug 2017

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-40809566

<< The mission of the Office of Planetary Protection is to promote the responsible exploration of the solar system by implementing and developing efforts that protect the science, explored environments, and Earth >>

About Planetary Protection. Aug 3, 2017

https://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/about

<< Degree: physical science, engineering, or mathematics that included 24 semester hours in physical science and/or related engineering science such as mechanics, dynamics, properties of materials, and electronics >>

https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/474414000#btn-add-info

FonT: nella lista dei requisiti desiderabili non sono contemplate le lauree in biologia, biochimica ...

"physical science"

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/physical%20science

# s-gst: the importance of noise (transcriptional noise) in stem cell. dev., by Wolf et al.

<< Random differences between cells early in development could be the key to making different cells in the body, according to new research from a team co-led by Professor Wolf Reik >>

<< when cells start specialising into different cell types their gene activity becomes more 'noisy' - each cell starts to turn different groups of genes on or off >>

Noise helps cells make decisions: Team reveals the importance of genetic noise in development. Aug 1, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-08-noise-cells-decisions-team-reveals.html

AA << study systematically charts transcriptional noise and uncovers molecular processes associated with early lineage decisions >>

Hisham Mohammed, Irene Hernando-Herraez, et al. Single-Cell Landscape of Transcriptional Heterogeneity and Cell Fate Decisions during Mouse Early Gastrulation. Cell Reports , Volume 20 , Issue 5 , 1215 - 1228 doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2017.07.009 Publ. Aug 1, 2017

http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/fulltext/S2211-1247(17)30961-0

# s-astro: cosmic nomads, transfers, impacts

a) cosmic nomads

Lee Billings. Wandering in the Void, Billions of Rogue Planets without a Home. New results suggest free-floating giant planets are less common than previously believed, but hint at vast numbers of smaller castaway worlds. July 24, 2017

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/wandering-in-the-void-billions-of-rogue-planets-without-a-home/

b) cosmic transfers

Ashley Yeager. Half of the Milky Way comes from other galaxies
Simulations suggest that galactic winds blew the material in from elsewhere. July 26, 2017

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/half-milky-way-comes-other-galaxies

Daniel Angles-Alcazar
Claude-Andre Faucher-Giguere
et al. The cosmic baryon cycle and galaxy mass assembly in the FIRE simulations. Mon Not R Astron Soc (2017) 470 (4): 4698-4719. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx1517
Publ. June 20, 2017

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article-abstract/doi/10.1093/mnras/stx1517/3871367/The-Cosmic-Baryon-Cycle-and-Galaxy-Mass-Assembly

c) cosmic impacts

Jenny Wells. Evidence of impacts that structured the Milky Way galaxy. July 18, 2017

https://m.phys.org/news/2017-07-evidence-impacts-milky-galaxy.html

Deborah Ferguson, Susan Gardner, Brian Yanny. Milky Way Tomography with K and M Dwarf Stars: The Vertical Structure of the Galactic Disk. The American Astronomical Society. The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 843, Number 2 . Publ. July 14, 2017.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aa77fd/meta