Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) demonstrate that the way sardines eat, altered due to the reduction in size of plankton, undermines the efficiency of their feeding and increases the likelihood of consuming more plastic fibres. Although no direct negative effects of this ingestion were identified, environmental changes may have a greater impact than previously thought on how pelagic fish interact with plastic pollutants.

Prof. Zilong Zhang,Feifei Cui's team from Hainan University and Quan Zou's team from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China collaborated to build a model that can comprehensively predict the relative abundance of multiple proteins in the protein corona by using machine learning, and provide the corresponding web service, so as to make the established model have practical application value.

An international team led by researchers in Japan and Europe has discovered a new multi-planet system around a Sun-like star, including an ultra-short period planet with one of the highest densities ever measured. The findings, published in Nature Scientific Reports, shed new light on the formation and evolution of planets in extreme environments.

Dr. Elizabeth Houghton recently graduated from the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Science’s Department of Biology. Her latest paper, published in Plant Biology, examines how sweet cherries, like many fruit trees, use a natural survival strategy called supercooling to protect undeveloped flower buds during freezing temperatures.

Researchers from Okayama University of Science have made a groundbreaking discovery, identifying bitter taste receptors in keratinocytes (skin cells). Previously thought to exist only on the tongue, these receptors detect and expel harmful substances from the skin, serving as a crucial protective mechanism. The study reveals that upon binding to harmful substances, these receptors activate efflux pumps to remove them from cells, highlighting a novel biological defense system in the skin. This finding paves the way for potential applications in developing skin protectants and anti-inflammatory treatments. The research, conducted in collaboration with Kyoto University and the University of Tokyo, was published in FASEB BioAdvances.

Well-designed marine parks can conserve marine life and their habitats, allow fish populations to recover, educate the public and support local economies.

Marine scientists from Flinders University have developed a new method to map connectivity in multiple marine species and to assess the design and resilience of marine parks in Australia and other countries.