science news 22.5.2020

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.



ecology

When plant pollen scarce, bumblebees biting leaves causes flowers to bloom early

Long-term resilience of Earth's tropical forests in warmer world
A long-term assessment of the sensitivity of hundreds of tropical forest plots to increasing temperatures brings encouraging news: in the long run, Earth's tropical forests may be more resilient to a moderately warming world than short-term predictions have suggested.

Marine biology: Spiny lobster noises may be heard up to 3 km away

nanoworld

The self-synthesizing ribosome
Synthesis and assembly of a 30S subunit on a chip - sadly arrived too late for my feature on the evolution and assembly of the ribosome


chemistry

Scientists finally crack nature's most common chemical bond
Ignore the bluster, this is about functionalising the terminal CHa3 of hydrocarbons by introducing a boron.



A catalyst (center) based on iridium (blue ball) can snip a hydrogen atom (white balls) off a terminal methyl group (upper and lower left) to add a boron-oxygen compound (pink and red) that is easily swapped out for more complicated chemical groups. The reaction works on simple hydrocarbon chains (top reaction) or more complicated carbon compounds (bottom reaction). The exquisite selectivity of this catalytic reaction is due to the methyl group (yellow) that has been added to the iridium catalyst. The black balls are carbon atoms; red is oxygen; pink is boron. (UC Berkeley image by John Hartwig)
Credit: John Hartwig, UC Berkeley


biomedical

Weizmann Institute scientists develop 'sniff test' that predicts recovery of consciousness in brain
If you're unconscious but a waft of smell makes your nose twitch, you're not dead yet. 100% of patients that passed the sniff test recovered consciousness.

Immunity to coronaviruses: What do we know so far?


humans

Earliest evidence of Italians' genetic diversity dates back to end of last glacial period

Autistic burnout
Autistic adults use the term to describe a chronic state of exhaustion, loss of skills, and reduced tolerance to stimulus. These characteristics are long-lasting and permeate peoples lives.



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From the news media:

Sunshine and social distancing photo gallery in the Guardian