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Category: chemistry – Page 8

This essay advances a speculative yet empirically-grounded hypothesis: that microtubular cytoskeletal structures constitute proto-cognitive architectures in unicellular organisms, thereby establishing an evolutionary substrate for cognition that predates neural systems. Drawing upon converging evidence from molecular biology, quantum biophysics, phenomenological philosophy, and biosemiotic theory, I propose a cytoskeletal epistemology wherein cognition emerges not exclusively from neural networks, but from the dynamic, embodied information-processing capacities inherent in cellular organization itself. This framework challenges neurocentric accounts of mind while suggesting new avenues for investigating the biological foundations of knowing.

Contemporary cognitive science predominantly situates the genesis of mind within neural tissue, tacitly assuming that cognition emerges exclusively from the electrochemical dynamics of neurons and their synaptic interconnections. Yet this neurocentric paradigm, while experimentally productive, encounters both conceptual and empirical limitations when confronted with fundamental questions regarding the biological preconditions for epistemic capacities. As Thompson (2007) observes, “Life and mind share a set of basic organizational properties, and the organizational properties distinctive of mind are an enriched version of those fundamental to life” (p. 128). This suggests a profound continuity between biological and cognitive processes — a continuity that invites investigation into pre-neural substrates of cognition.

The present inquiry examines the hypothesis that the microtubule — a foundational cytoskeletal element ubiquitous across eukaryotic cells — functions not merely as mechanical infrastructure but as an evolutionary precursor to cognitive architecture, instantiating proto-epistemic capacities in unicellular and pre-neural multicellular organisms. This hypothesis emerges at the intersection of multiple research programs, including quantum approaches to consciousness (Hameroff & Penrose, 2014), autopoietic theories of cognition (Maturana & Varela, 1980), and recent advances in cytoskeletal biology (Pirino et al., 2022).

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Miniature zombies are all around us, scuttling through the underbrush or flying through the air in nearly every continent on Earth. In Brazil, a fungus takes over ant brains, altering their circadian rhythms and social behaviors. In England, a virus forces caterpillars to climb high into the canopy, then slowly liquefies their bodies, which drip onto the leaves below. In Indonesia, a parasitoid wasp uses specialized venom to alter a cockroach’s brain chemistry, turning it into the perfect host for her young.

In her new book, Rise of the Zombie Bugs, self-described professional science nerd Mindy Weisberger introduces readers to a menagerie of mind-controlling parasites, and the scientists who have devoted their lives to the study of these peculiar organisms. Through these vivid tales of creatures bizarre enough to rival any fictional beast, Weisberger offers readers a peek into the fields of evolution, ecology, neuroscience, and molecular biology. She shows that these topics exist beyond dim lecture halls and dry textbooks: “Science is everything and everywhere,” she said.

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Microplastics and much smaller nanoplastics enter the human body in various ways, for example through food or the air we breathe. A large proportion is excreted, but a certain amount remains in organs, blood, and other body fluids.

In the FFG bridge project Nano-VISION, which was launched two years ago together with the start-up BRAVE Analytics, a team led by Harald Fitzek from the Institute of Electron Microscopy and Nanoanalysis at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) and an ophthalmologist from Graz addressed the question of whether nanoplastics also play a role in ophthalmology.

The project partners have now been able to develop a method for detecting and quantifying nanoplastics in transparent body fluids and determining their chemical composition. The research is published in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

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CD36 is identified as the membrane receptor for cellular uptake of PROTACs and other eRo5/bRo5 molecules. A chemical endocytic medicinal chemistry strategy to enhance the binding of PROTACs to CD36 improved the uptake and potency of PROTACs without sacrificing solubility or stability. This strategy could improve the bioavailability and potency of diverse endocytic drugs.

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University of Queensland researchers have set a world record for solar cell efficiency with eco-friendly perovskite technology. A team led by Professor Lianzhou Wang has unveiled a tin halide perovskite (THP) solar cell capable of converting sunlight to electricity at a certified record efficiency of 16.65%. The research is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.

Working across UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and the School of Chemical Engineering, Professor Wang said the certified reading achieved by his lab was nearly one percentage point higher than the previous best for THP solar cells.

“It might not seem like much, but this is a giant leap in a field that is renowned for delicate and incremental progress,” Professor Wang said.

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Using the STED microscopy developed by Stephan Hell, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry recorded the first ever detailed live images inside the brain of a living mouse. By using a technique that keeps closely-positioned elements dark under a special laser beam so that

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After confirming the potential historic observation, the results were evaluated for several possible errors. The work was also analyzed independently. Each time, the team came back to the conclusion that they may have found the first potential signs of life outside our solar system.

“It was an incredible realisation seeing the results emerge and remain consistent throughout the extensive independent analyses and robustness tests,” said co-author Måns Holmberg, a researcher at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore.

Notably, the concentrations of either DMS or DMDS spotted by JWST were thousands of times higher than concentrations found on Earth. According to the Cambridge astronomers, detecting high levels of either of these chemicals on Hycean (ocean) worlds due to large amounts of biological activity was previously predicted.

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What do you think of when it comes to extra terrestrial life? Most popular sci-fi books and TV shows suggest humanoid beings could live on other planets. But when astronomers are searching for extra-terrestrial life, it is usually in the form of emissions from bacteria or other tiny organisms.

A new research paper in the Astrophysical Journal suggests that Cambridge scientists have managed to find this type of emission with a certainty of 99.7% from a planet called K2-18b, 124 light years away. They used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to analyze the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere and say they found promising evidence K2-18b could host life.

It’s an exciting breakthrough, but it doesn’t confirm alien life.

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Colloidal quantum dots (CQDs) are tiny semiconductor particles that are just a few nanometers in size, which are synthesized in a liquid solution (i.e., colloid). These single-crystal particles, created by breaking down bulk materials via chemical and physical processes, have proved to be promising for the development of photovoltaic (PV) technologies.

Quantum dot-based PVs could have various advantages, including a tunable bandgap, greater flexibility and solution processing. However, quantum dot-based developed so far have been found to have significant limitations, including lower efficiencies than conventional silicon-based cells and high manufacturing costs, due to the expensive processes required to synthesize conductive CQD films.

Researchers at Soochow University in China, the University of Electro-Communications in Japan and other institutes worldwide recently introduced a new method that could potentially help to improve the efficiencies of quantum-dot based photovoltaics, while also lowering their manufacturing costs. Their proposed approach, outlined in a paper published in Nature Energy, entails the engineering of lead sulfide (PbS) CQD inks used to print films for solar cells.

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Northeastern University researchers resurrected an extinct plant gene, turning back the evolutionary clock to pave a path forward for the development and discovery of new drugs.

Specifically, the team, led by Jing-Ke Weng, a professor of chemistry, and bioengineering at Northeastern, repaired a defunct gene in the coyote tobacco plant.

In a new paper, they detail their discovery of a previously unknown kind of cyclic peptide, or mini-protein, called nanamin that is easy to bioengineer, making it “a platform with huge potential for drug discovery,” Weng says. The paper is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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