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Two changes make tomatoes tastier.Credit: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Getty
Editing a pair of genes in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) boosts the fruit’s sugar levels by up to 30%, with no difference in size. Cultivated tomatoes today are up to 100 times larger than their wild counterparts, but the size boost comes with a sweetness sacrifice. When researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 technology to deactivate two genes that encode for a protein that degrades sugar-production enzymes, the plants bore much sweeter fruit.
Google researchers have used real-time data from around 40 million mobile phones to map conditions in the ionosphere — a region of the upper atmosphere in which some of the air molecules are ionized. Such crowdsourced signals could improve satellite navigation as well as benefit scientific studies of the ionosphere. One estimate suggests that using phone data could reduce GPS errors by 10-20%, especially in areas of the world where data are otherwise scarce.
Figure 1 | Crowdsourcing a space-weather monitor. Satellite signals can be used to map the electron content of the ionosphere, the part of Earth’s upper atmosphere in which some atoms and molecules become ionized. This is possible because radio waves are slowed by these electrons, and the duration of the delay is directly proportional to the total number of electrons between the receiver and the satellite. By transmitting signals at two or more frequencies, the total number of ionospheric electrons along a signal’s path can be calculated. Smith et al. used millions of smartphones as receivers for satellite signals to map the ionosphere in this way. In doing so, they filled observational gaps created by the sparse placement of stationary receivers.
Radio waves are slowed by the electrons in the ionosphere, and the duration of the delay is directly proportional to the total number of electrons between the receiver and the satellite. By transmitting signals at two or more frequencies, researchers can calculate the total number of ionospheric electrons along a signal’s path. By using smartphones as receivers, scientists filled observational gaps created by the sparse placement of stationary receivers. (Nature News & Views | 7 min read, Nature paywall)
A remarkably well-preserved three-dimensional fossil has allowed researchers to digitally reconstruct the brain of an ancient bird species, the newly designated Navaornis hestiae. The starling-sized bird lived around 80 million years ago, a period from which 3D bird skulls have been difficult to find. The reconstruction gives researchers a glimpse of a stage of avian brain evolution between the earliest known birds and those alive today, partially filling in what was a knowledge gap of 70 million years.
Features & opinion
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) — molecules in which an unusual version of the standard RNA-splicing process folds the strand back on itself — are implicated in diseases from cancer to Alzheimer’s, but exactly what they do is still a mystery. This is in part because circRNAs are so rare, and distinguishing their impact from that of their linear cousins isn’t easy. Fortunately, researchers are quickly assembling a toolbox of materials and methods to recognize, quantify and uncover the functions of these puzzling loops. The database circAtlas is helping to clarify the landscape by requiring listed circRNAs to be identified by two tools, and biotech company Arraystar is designing microarrays to hunt for circRNA in human samples.
As delegates at the UN climate conference, COP29 discuss climate finance to help low- and middle-income countries invest in decarbonization, wealthy countries need to step up and pay up, argues climate-finance scholar Alissa Kleinnijenhuis. High-income countries must recognize that it is in their own economic interests to scale up climate finance beyond their own backyards. “Warming depends on cumulative greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere globally,” she says. “It doesn’t matter where those gases are emitted.”
It is not a question of if a cataclysmic volcanic eruption will occur, but when, argue three climate scientists. We must improve our understanding of how volcanic activity affects the climate if we’re to guard against the potentially devastating economic impact of an eruption, they write.
Video of the week
A group of researchers that includes deaf scientists and educators has developed 400 British Sign Language (BSL) signs for environmental science terms. “Rather than literally translating English words, we focused on visually representing the underlying concepts for these terms,” writes science educator Audrey Cameron. “For example, the sign for “carbon footprint” doesn’t attempt to combine signs for carbon and footprint. Instead, it shows carbon emissions being released into the atmosphere, with the speed of movement indicating emission levels.” (The Conversation | 5 min read)Browse the full glossary on the Scottish Sensory Centre website. (Video used courtesy of Scottish Sensory Centre, University of Edinburgh.)
Today I’m in awe of the largest coral ever discovered. The giant coral (Pavona clavus) lines an area of the ocean floor bigger than a blue whale and could be up to 300 years old. The discovery serves as a reminder of the beauty of our oceans, and how badly we need to protect them.
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Jacob Smith, associate editor, Nature Briefing
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