In 1962, when environmentalist and author Rachel Carson penned "Silent Spring," alerting the world to the dangers of the pesticide DDT, it was the reproductive threat to birds – the bald eagle in particular – that spurred people to action.

Six decades later, Rutgers University–New Brunswick researchers are taking the measure of another global environmental pollutant by drawing parallels to the crisis Carson identified. This time, the pollutant is mercury, and the sentinels are penguins living in the farthest reaches of the Antarctic Peninsula.

“With mercury, there’s an analogy to DDT,” said John Reinfelder, a professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and co-author of a study published in Science of the Total Environment examining mercury levels in the flightless, aquatic birds.

Comprehensive reference genomes have now been assembled for six ape species: siamang (a Southeast Asian gibbon), Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, gorilla, bonobo and chimpanzee. Areas of their genomes previously inaccessible because of structural complexity have now mostly been resolved.  The resource is already lending itself to comparative studies that offer new insights into human and ape evolution, and into what underlies the functional differences among these species.  

By mapping the subcellular architecture and protein interactions within cells, researchers can better understand how mutations contribute to pediatric cancers and other conditions.

Utilizing numerical simulations, researchers have succeeded in recreating the fluid dynamics of flowing cells like blood or immune cells in the circulatory system. The team recreated the cells by programing them as deformable ‘capsules’ and placed them in a tube with a pulsating ‘flow.’ This in-silico model revealed that capsules will move to a specific position depending on two factors: the deformation of the capsule and the pulsation frequency.

Milky seas are a rare bioluminescent phenomenon where vast areas of the ocean glow at night, sometimes for months. This glow, likely caused by Vibrio harveyi bacteria, has been reported by sailors for centuries but remains poorly understood due to its rarity and remote locations, mainly in the Indian Ocean. Researchers at Colorado State University have compiled a 400-year database of sightings, using historical records and satellite data, revealing that milky seas are linked to climatic patterns like the Indian Ocean Dipole and El Niño.