Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

ScienceDaily: Top Science News

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• Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited, study shows
• Flu antibody’s 'one-handed grab' may boost effort toward universal vaccine, new therapies
• How bees decide what to be: Reversible 'epigenetic' marks linked to behavior patterns
• Scientists differentiate chemical bonds in individual molecules for first time using noncontact atomic force microscopy

Most coral reefs are at risk unless climate change is drastically limited, study shows Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:09 PM PDT Coral reefs face severe challenges even if global warming is restricted to the two degrees Celsius commonly perceived as safe for many natural and human-made systems. Warmer sea surface temperatures are likely to trigger more frequent and more intense mass coral bleaching events.

Flu antibody’s 'one-handed grab' may boost effort toward universal vaccine, new therapies Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:08 PM PDT Scientists have solved the co-crystal structure of a human antibody that can neutralize influenza viruses in a unique way. The antibody recognizes the crucial structure that flu viruses use to attach to host cells, even though previously this structure had been thought too small for an antibody to grab effectively. The immune protein manages to hit this precise spot by using just a small part of its target-grabbing apparatus. In so doing, it can neutralize a broad range of dangerous flu viruses.

How bees decide what to be: Reversible 'epigenetic' marks linked to behavior patterns Posted: 16 Sep 2012 01:08 PM PDT Scientists report what is believed to be the first evidence that complex, reversible behavioral patterns in bees -- and presumably other animals -- are linked to reversible chemical tags on genes.

Scientists differentiate chemical bonds in individual molecules for first time using noncontact atomic force microscopy Posted: 16 Sep 2012 04:45 AM PDT IBM scientists have been able to differentiate the chemical bonds in individual molecules for the first time using a technique known as noncontact atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results push the exploration of using molecules and atoms at the smallest scale and could be important for studying graphene devices, which are currently being explored by both industry and academia for applications including high-bandwidth wireless communication and electronic displays.