Home — Tekh Decoded

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Triggered Monstrous Global Tsunami With Mile-High Waves

Lead Image: Maximum tsunami wave amplitude following the asteroid impact 66 million years ago. Credit: From Range et al. in AGU Advances, 2022 Sixty-six million years ago a miles-wide asteroid struck Earth, wiping out nearly all the dinosaurs and around three-quarters of the planet’s plant and animal species. It also triggered a monstrous tsunami with mile-high waves that scoured the ocean floor thousands of miles from the impact site on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, according to a new University of Michigan-led study that was published online on October 4 in the journal AGU Advances. The research study presents the first global…

Rewriting History – The First Full-Length Genomes for Homosporous Ferns

Lead Image: Ferns are vascular plants that reproduce through spores and do not have seeds or flowers. A new study reveals ferns’ history of DNA hoarding and kleptomania. Ferns are infamous for having an enormous number of chromosomes and massive amounts of DNA. A fern no larger than a dinner plate currently holds the record for highest chromosome count, with 720 pairs packed into each of its nuclei. Scientists have been baffled by ferns’ tendency to hoard DNA, and the intractable size of their genomes has made it challenging to sequence, assemble, and interpret them. Now, two articles recently published in the…

Groundbreaking Method “Starves” Highly-Lethal Cancer Tumors of Energy, Eradicating Them

Lead Image: According to the researchers, the results provide an encouraging foundation for developing effective glioblastoma treatments. New breakthrough in treating glioblastoma, a currently incurable type of cancer. Ground-breaking research at Tel Aviv University successfully eradicated glioblastoma, a deadly form of brain cancer. The researchers achieved the result by developing a strategy based on their finding of two crucial mechanisms in the brain that promote tumor growth and survival: one shields cancer cells from the immune system, while the other provides the energy needed for rapid tumor growth. The research discovered that astrocytes, which are brain cells, regulate both methods,…

Scientists Discover Key Brain Differences in Suicidal Youth

The ENIGMA Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors working group aims to identify neurobiological variations associated with suicidal ideations and behaviors, to ultimately leverage information from brain structure and function, along with clinical and demographic factors, to predict the likelihood of a future suicidal attempt. Credit: USC Stevens INI A new study has discovered subtle structural brain changes in young people with suicidal behaviors. Suicide is the second greatest cause of mortality among young people aged 10 to 33 in the United States. Tragically, despite local, national, and worldwide preventative efforts, the number of attempts at suicide among kids and teenagers has…

Explosive Neutron Star Merger Captured in Millimeter Light for the First Time

Lead Image: In a first for radio astronomy, scientists have detected millimeter-wavelength light from a short-duration gamma-ray burst. This artist’s conception shows the merger between a neutron star and another star (seen as a disk, lower left) which caused an explosion resulting in the short-duration gamma-ray burst, GRB 211106A (white jet, middle), and left behind what scientists now know to be one of the most luminous afterglows on record (semi-spherical shock wave mid-right). While dust in the host galaxy obscured most of the visible light (shown as colors), millimeter light from the event (depicted in green) was able to escape…