Chair of Scientific Culture of the University of the Basque Country

Science

Science

[:es]Ending coronavirus lockdowns will be a dangerous process of trial and error[:]

[:es]After the novel coronavirus made its way from China around the world, one country after another adopted harsh measures to stop SARS-CoV-2 from spreading and overwhelming hospitals. They have hit the pause button on their economies and their citizens’ lives, stopping sports events, religious services, and other social gatherings. School closures in 188 countries affect…
Science

[:es]‘A huge step forward.’ Mutant enzyme could vastly improve recycling of plastic bottles[:]

[:es]Recycling isn’t as guilt-free as it seems. Only about 30% of the plastic that goes into soda bottles gets turned into new plastic, and it often ends up as a lower strength version. Now, researchers report they’ve engineered an enzyme that can convert 90% of that same plastic back to its pristine starting materials. Work…
Science

[:es]New genetic tools promise to unlock secrets of microscopic marine life[:]

[:es]Fifty percent of the oxygen we breathe comes from ocean microbes. Yet these tiny marine organisms have largely remained a mystery to science. Now, thanks to the efforts of more than 100 researchers around the globe, scientists have found a way to unlock the genomes of a handful of these creatures by genetically engineering their…
Science

[:es]Proteins that sense light also sense taste, at least in fruit flies[:]

[:es]Like many animals, you couldn’t see without proteins called opsins, which dwell in the light-sensitive cells of your eyes. A new study reveals for the first time that fruit flies can also use some of these proteins, nestled at the tip of their nose, to taste noxious molecules in their food. Opsins in our bodies…
Science

[:es]Publicado el primer mapa genético de la corteza cerebral[:]

[:es]Un nuevo estudio de la revista Science identifica por primera vez variantes genéticas que influyen en las diferencias individuales de la corteza cerebral y cómo se relacionan con el riesgo genético de trastornos como la depresión o el TDHA. Los resultados están disponibles para que la comunidad científica pueda seguir avanzando en el conocimiento de…
Science

[:es]Should pets be tested for coronavirus?[:]

[:es]Last Thursday, the first cat tested positive for the new coronavirus. The feline had diarrhea, vomiting, and difficulty breathing, and it had come down with COVID-19 about 1 week after its owner did, Belgian health officials announced.[:]
Science

[:es]How sick will the coronavirus make you? The answer may be in your genes[:]

[:es]COVID-19, caused by the new pandemic coronavirus, is strangely—and tragically—selective. Only some infected people get sick, and although most of the critically ill are elderly or have complicating problems such as heart disease, some killed by the disease are previously healthy and even relatively young. Researchers are now gearing up to scour the patients’ genomes…
Science

[:es]Mysterious chemical found in dead cat’s brain reopens debate over mercury poisoning disaster[:]

[:es]The city of Minamata, Japan, is dotted with monuments commemorating victims of an industrial mass poisoning decades ago. High in the hills, a small stone memorial honors other deaths—of cats sacrificed in secret to science. Now, after restudying the remains of one of those cats, a team of scientists is arguing, controversially, that the long-standing…
Science

[:es]Cellphone tracking could help stem the spread of coronavirus. Is privacy the price?[:]

[:es]“IT IS POSSIBLE TO STOP THE EPIDEMIC.” That’s the message splashed atop a website built by a University of Oxford team this week to share new research on the spread of the novel coronavirus. Below that hopeful statement comes a big caveat: To stop the virus’ spread, health officials need to find and isolate the…