Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lisa Weiss, Wolfgang Ludwig, Serge Heussner, Miguel Canals, Jean-Francois Ghiglione, Claude Estournel, Mel Constant, Philippe Kerherve
Summary: Research shows that the amount of microplastics discharged by rivers has been overestimated by two to three orders of magnitude, leading to a significant reduction in the theoretical need for a missing sink that could explain the rapid removal of plastics from the ocean surface.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Manfred Hallschmid, Jan Born
Summary: Sharp wave-ripples in the hippocampus can predict dips in glucose concentrations in the body.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Taylor Follansbee, Xinzhong Dong
Summary: The sensation of touch-evoked itch is common in people with chronic itch conditions. Recent evidence in mice suggests that Piezo1, a mechanoreceptor protein, may underlie this sensation.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lei Mai, Xiang-Fei Sun, Eddy Y. Zeng
Summary: This article points out that the conclusion made by Weiss et al. is incorrect because they obtained the residence time by dividing a published oceanic stock of plastic debris by a doubtable river microplastic flux estimated by the authors.
Editorial Material
Microbiology
Robert M. Bowers
Summary: This article highlights the use of high-depth genome-centric approaches to study the human gut microbiome in the context of industrialized and non-industrialized lifestyles.
NATURE REVIEWS MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
News Item
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Liam Drew
Summary: Scientists track throat neurons that detect infection signs and transmit this information to the brain.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alexander Z. Harris, Nancy Padilla-Coreano
Summary: Dominant mice who are compelled to yield to subordinate mice in a manipulated test experience a loss of social status and miss out on pleasurable opportunities. These effects stem from alterations in a neuronal circuit associated with the brain's 'anti-reward' center.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Lisa Weiss, Wolfgang Ludwig
Summary: The authors of this article refute the claims made by Mai et al. that their calculations on the residence time of floating microplastic at the ocean surface were incorrect and that their results were not novel. The authors argue that a closer examination of their methods and field-measured data proves the validity of their research.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Bojian Yin, Federico Corradi, Sander M. Bohte
Summary: Spiking neural networks show promise as biologically plausible and efficient models for neural computation, achieving state-of-the-art performance in challenging time domain benchmarks. The use of sparse and binary communication between neurons enables powerful and energy-efficient networks.
NATURE MACHINE INTELLIGENCE
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Adeola Salawu-Rotimi, Pedro H. Lebre, Heleen Cornelia Vos, Wolfgang Fister, Nikolaus Kuhn, Frank D. Eckardt, Don A. Cowan
Summary: Dust is a major vehicle for the dispersal of microorganisms globally, with recent studies in South Africa revealing that dust can carry distinct microbial communities from soil sources, showing significant fractionation in bacteria but less in fungi. The dust microbiomes vary depending on emission sources, indicating the impact of land use on microbial communities transported by dust plumes. Additionally, potential harmful fungal allergens were detected in the dust microbiomes, shedding light on the detrimental effects of dust emissions in South Africa.
News Item
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Heidi Ledford
Summary: This article discusses how the mobile version of a computer game challenges assumptions about intelligence.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tatiana Engel
Summary: Imaging from thousands of neurons across the entire mouse visual cortex provides an explanation for how the brain creates stable visual experiences from the highly variable activity of individual neurons.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Jerome Epsztein
Summary: During navigation tasks, rats replay neuronal sequences in the brain when pausing to eat or rest, allowing them to navigate around moving obstacles and reach their goals even in changing environments.
News Item
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Max Kozlov
Summary: Brain cells are essential in initiating and observing fights in mice.
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Istvan Taisz, Gregory S. X. E. Jefferis
Summary: The neurotransmitter dopamine has been found to play a role as a learning signal in the fly's navigation center. The fly's learning rate is influenced by its turning behavior, and only useful visual information is utilized to update its mental map.
