Lifeboat Foundation

Plastic pollution is everywhere, and a good amount of it is composed of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). This polymer is used to make bottles, containers and even clothing. Now, researchers report in Environmental Science & Technology that they have discovered an enzyme that breaks apart PET in a rather unusual place: microbes living in sewage sludge. The enzyme could be used by wastewater treatment plants to break apart microplastic particles and upcycle plastic waste.

Microplastics are becoming increasingly prevalent in places ranging from remote oceans to inside bodies, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they appear in wastewater as well.

However, the particles are so tiny that they can slip through water treatment purification processes and end up in the effluent that is reintroduced to the environment. But effluent also contains microorganisms that like to eat those plastic particles, including Comamonas testosteroni—so named because it degrades sterols like testosterone.

Professor Michael Levin explores the revolutionary concept of diverse intelligence, demonstrating how cognitive capabilities extend far beyond traditional brain-based intelligence. Drawing from his groundbreaking research, he explains how even simple biological systems like gene regulatory networks exhibit learning, memory, and problem-solving abilities. Levin introduces key concepts like “cognitive light cones” — the scope of goals a system can pursue — and shows how these ideas are transforming our approach to cancer treatment and biological engineering.

The biological and technological race to live forever is very much underway.

These tiny organisms break the microbe age record by 1,900,000,000 years.

Large meteorite impacts must have strongly affected the habitability of the early Earth. Rocks of the Archean Eon record at least 16 major impact events, involving bolides larger than 10 km in diameter. These impacts probably had severe, albeit temporary, consequences for surface environments. However, their effect on early life is not well understood. Here, we analyze the sedimentology, petrography, and carbon isotope geochemistry of sedimentary rocks across the S2 impact event (37 to 58 km carbonaceous chondrite) forming part of the 3.26 Ga Fig Tree Group, South Africa, to evaluate its environmental effects and biological consequences.

Fluorescence microscopy is a powerful tool in biology, allowing researchers to visualize the intricate world of cells and tissues at a molecular level. While this technique has revolutionized our understanding of biological processes, imaging large and complex 3D structures, such as embryos or organoids, remains a challenge. This is especially true when studying intricate details beyond the optical resolution limit using structured illumination microscopy (SIM).

Research on Heliconius butterflies illustrates how variations in brain circuits are aligned with their unique foraging behaviors, enhancing their spatial and visual memory.

A tropical butterfly species with uniquely expanded brain structures shows a fascinating mosaic pattern of neural expansion linked to a key cognitive innovation.

Continue reading “Brain Expansion: How Heliconius Butterflies Outsmart Their Peers” »

Plants can emit electric potential when pulling water from their roots to nourish their stems and leaves.

Experiments showed that the electrical potential in plants varies in a cyclic rhythm that matches their daily biological processes. This potential increases with decreased ion concentration or increased pH in the fluid, linking it to the plant’s water transpiration and ion transport mechanisms.

“Our eureka moment was when our first experiments showed it is possible to produce electricity in a cyclic rhythm and the precise linkage between this and the plant’s inherent daily rhythm,” Chakraborty added. “We could exactly pinpoint how this is related to water transpiration and the ions the plant carries via the ascent of sap.”

Continue reading “Plants can serve as long-term renewable energy source: Study” »

It’s easy to marvel at the technical wizardry behind breakthroughs such as AlphaFold.

Pioneering crystallographer Helen Berman helped to set up the massive collection of protein structures that underpins the Nobel-prize-winning tool’s success.