A team of researchers led by Patrik Verstreken (VIB–KU Leuven) have identified an underlying mechanism in early onset Parkinson’s. Using flies, mice and patient cells, the team focused on cardiolipin, a fat unique to cells’ mitochondria, organelles that produce energy. They demonstrated that reducing the effects of the protein FASN influences the mitochondria, leading to increased cardiolipin levels and reduced Parkinson’s symptoms. These results could pave the way to therapies for Parkinson’s disease that target lipids. The team’s research was published in the scientific magazine Journal of Cell Biology.

The biological formation of neurotoxic methyl mercury is an enigmatic process underpinning mercury-related health and environmental hazards. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms and the factors controlling the process are still not well understood.

In a collaborative effort, researchers at Uppsala and Umeå University now show that the formation of methylmercury in sediment is controlled by the molecular composition of the organic matter. The study has been published in Nature Communications.

In a drive to prevent a recurrence of the VW emissions scandal, Internal Market Committee MEPs amended EU car “type approval” rules on Thursday, to make environmental and safety testing more independent and strengthen national and EU oversight of cars already on the road. Daniel Dalton (ECR, UK), who is steering this legislation through Parliament, said “With today's vote the Internal Market Committee has sent a clear signal to national governments and consumers that it is about time we addressed the weaknesses that allowed the emissions scandal to take place. We agreed that the key to rebuilding consumer trust in the motor vehicle approval system is more rigorous and systematic oversight at every stage”.

The same brain-chemical system that mediates feelings of pleasure from sex, recreational drugs, and food is also critical to experiencing musical pleasure, according to a study by McGill University researchers published today in the Nature journal Scientific Reports.

“This is the first demonstration that the brain's own opioids are directly involved in musical pleasure,” says cognitive psychologist Daniel Levitin, senior author of the paper. While previous work by Levitin’s lab and others had used neuroimaging to map areas of the brain that are active during moments of musical pleasure, scientists were able only to infer the involvement of the opioid system.

Researchers have for the first time identified the function of olfactory receptors in the human heart muscle, such as are also present in the nose. One of the receptors reacts to fatty acids that occur in the blood, in patients with diabetes significantly above the normal range. If a fatty acid activates the receptor, it triggers a negative effect: the heart rate and the force of muscular contraction are reduced. The team headed by Dr Nikolina Jovancevic and Prof Dr Dr Dr habil. Hanns Hatt from Ruhr-Universität Bochum has published its findings in the journal “Basic Research in Cardiology”.

Spiders were collected using trunk traps (Image by YANG Xiaodong)

Previous studies showed that the species richness of vertebrates and arthropods has significantly decreased in rubber plantations compared to natural forests in Xishuangbanna. Shifts in plant composition caused by land-use changes may directly and/or indirectly affect spider assemblages. However, changes in spiders associated with tree trunks following land-use changes have not yet been examined in tropical regions.

The researchers simulated supernova conditions by sending a rocket into sub-orbit where it was mostly free from the effect of gravity. The S-520-28 rocket was launched from JAXA’s Uchinoura Space Center on December 17th, 2012. In the three years to follow, the researchers conducted additional micro-gravity experiments using aircraft to gather and analyze data.

Pure iron grains in interstellar space are far rarer than previously thought, shedding new light on the evolution history of matters in the universe. Scientists are unsure what form iron takes in outer space even though it is one of its most abundant refractory elements. Extensive analysis of meteorites and other measurements show only low levels of gaseous iron and solid iron compounds, such as iron oxides, sulfides and carbides. That leaves a substantial amount of iron missing, given how much is expected to exist in the universe. Scientists surmise that if iron is not combining with other particles, it might be forming pure metal which is invisible in outer space.

Two species of the Flabegraviera genus: Flabegraviera fujiae (left), the new species discovered in the study, and Flabegraviera mundata (right). Scale bar: 1cm./blog/new-species-discovered-in-antarctica/

A team of Japanese scientists has discovered a new species of polychaete, a type of marine annelid worm, 9-meters deep underwater near Japan’s Syowa Station in Antarctica, providing a good opportunity to study how animals adapt to extreme environments.

Foto: Frank-Glaw

Fish-scale geckos in the genus Geckolepis are able to lose their skin at the slightest touch.

Many lizards can drop their tails when grabbed, but one group of geckos has gone to particularly extreme lengths to escape predation. Fish-scale geckos in the genus Geckolepis have large scales that tear away with ease, leaving them free to escape whilst the predator is left with a mouth full of scales. Scientists led by Mark D. Scherz (LMU Munich) and Dr. Frank Glaw (Zoologische Staatssammlung München) have now described a new species (Geckolepis megalepis) that is the master of this art, possessing the largest scales of any gecko.

Palaeontologist Jessica Mitchell of the Steinmann Institute, University of Bonn with the thigh bone of the long-necked dinosaur Apatosaurus. © Photo: Volker Lannert/Uni Bonn

How old were the oldest dinosaurs? This question remains largely unanswered. The natural life span of these long-extinct giants is of interest to scientists, in combination with questions regarding how fast they could grow and how they could obtain sufficient nutrients from their habitat. Palaeontologists at the University of Bonn estimate by means of bone structures whether a particular dinosaur fossil is a young, adult or very old animal. The results have now been published in the journal Paleobiology.