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Promoters and enhancers: Tool catches gene-controlling DNA sequences doing each other’s jobs

Researchers at the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology have uncovered new evidence that two major types of gene-controlling DNA sequences, promoters and enhancers, operate with a shared logic and often perform the same jobs. The finding, made possible through a high-throughput assay they developed called QUASARR-seq, could reshape how scientists design gene therapies, interpret disease-related mutations, and understand cancer genetics.

New research from the lab of Haiyuan Yu, Tisch University Professor of Computational Biology at Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and faculty at the Weill Institute, reveals that drawing a distinction between the two classes gene controllers may be too black and white—they seem to respond to the same biological rules and act in concert.

In a study published in Nature Communications on Jan. 30 and led by Mauricio Paramo, a graduate student at the Weill Institute, the team developed a technology capable of measuring an element’s promoter and enhancer activity simultaneously, in close collaboration with the lab of John Lis, Barbara McClintock Professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics. This is significant because, until now, most technologies could measure only one function at a time, leaving open the question of whether—and how—the two activities interact inside the same DNA sequence.

How a common fungus outsmarts drugs and our immune system

Our bodies are home to millions of fungi that, for the most part, are completely harmless. However, they can sometimes change from peaceful residents into dangerous invaders. One such is Candida parapsilosis, which normally lives on our skin or in our intestinal tract but can also be found on medical devices and hospital surfaces. If it gets into a wound or onto a catheter, it can cause a serious blood infection.

Treatments typically include a class of medicines called echinocandins, but the fungus is increasingly developing resistance to them. In a new study published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum, scientists describe how it can resist our strongest drugs and evade the immune system—by undergoing cell wall remodeling.

The researchers collected four separate samples of the fungus at different stages of a persistent blood infection. They were taken from a patient who was undergoing treatment with echinocandins but was failing to get better.

Dynamical freezing can protect quantum information for near-cosmic timescales

Preserving quantum information is key to developing useful quantum computing systems. But interacting quantum systems are chaotic and follow laws of thermodynamics, eventually leading to information loss. Physicists have long known of a strange exception, called dynamical freezing, when quantum systems shaken at precisely tuned frequencies evade these laws. But how long can this phenomenon postpone thermodynamics?

Not forever, but for an astonishingly long time, Cornell physicists have determined, giving the first quantitative answer. Using a new mathematical framework, they demonstrate that the frozen state can be stabilized long enough to be a useful strategy for preserving information in quantum systems. This can be a promising route for maintaining coherence in quantum computers as the numbers of qubits scale up to the millions.

“It’s like asking, how do you evade the laws of physics from eventually taking over?” said Debanjan Chowdhury, associate professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Imagine that you had a hot cup of coffee that even without a heater, stayed hot. Or a block of ice placed on a heater that never melts. Is that even possible? This has been one of the big open problems in the field of quantum many-body systems.”

The screech of peeling sticky tape conceals a rapid train of tiny shockwaves, ultrafast imaging shows

A new experiment has uncovered the mechanism responsible for the screeching sound made by peeling sticky tape. Using a combination of ultrafast imaging and synchronized acoustic recordings, Sigurdur Thoroddsen and colleagues at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology have shown that the noise is produced by a rapid train of tiny shockwaves, released through a specialized form of stick–slip motion. The research is published in Physical Review E.

If you’ve ever used sticky tape, you’ll probably be all too familiar with the harsh sound it makes as it peels away from a surface. Yet despite decades of experimental scrutiny, physicists have yet to fully explain the origins of this intriguing acoustic effect.

Previous studies established that peeling proceeds via a “stick–slip” mechanism—a jerky motion characterized by brief, rapid accelerations interrupted by sudden stops. Similar dynamics underpin phenomena ranging from earthquakes to the squeak of basketball shoes on a polished wooden court. However, the fine details of how this process unfolds in peeling tape turned out to be more complex than they first appeared.

Cooling without gases: Molecular design brings solid-state cooling closer to reality

Some solid materials can cool down or heat up when pressure is applied or released. This behavior enables cooling and heating technologies that do not rely on climate-damaging refrigerant gases. In practice, however, a major obstacle remains: many materials behave differently during heating and cooling, which makes their response difficult to use reliably in real devices. In a study published in the journal Communications Materials, researchers investigate a solid material known for its exceptionally large cooling/heating response (thermal response) under pressure and ask a simple question: can this response be made more reliable? They show that a very small change in composition leads to a clear improvement and use neutron experiments to explain why this improvement occurs.

Putting sports stats to the test: Unpredictable play helps pick a winner in soccer

A comprehensive game plan and strategic tactics are critical to winning soccer, but how much does a team’s unpredictability in moving the soccer ball around the pitch matter? In a new article published in PLOS One, an international team of researchers analyzed event data from top-tier association soccer competitions to provide insights into match analysis, player tactics and game strategy.

“Soccer is low-scoring, so a couple of moments can swing a match, and simple statistics like possession or shot counts do not always capture who performed better. Our approach measures how unpredictably and widely a team moves the ball across a match,” says Dr. Sergiy Shelyag, Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics and Data Science at Flinders University.

We found that ‘all zones count’ metric, the one that values every region of the field equally, including rarely used areas, aligns best with winning.

InN thin films show transient Pauli blocking for broadband ultrafast optical switching

Recent decades have witnessed rapid advancements in high-intensity laser technology. The combination of laser irradiation and novel materials is opening exciting avenues for the design of functional materials and devices. Semiconductors are ideal platforms for generating laser-driven functionalities because they can exhibit novel features such as ultrafast optical transparency. This effect arises from electronic occupation redistribution driven by ultrafast excitation, which manifests as a phenomenon called transient Pauli blocking.

In a new development, a team of researchers in Japan, led by Professor Junjun Jia from the Global Center for Science and Engineering and the Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering at Waseda University, has examined the transient Pauli blocking effect in an InN film.

The study utilized pump-probe transient transmittance measurements with multicolor probe lasers, alongside first-principles electronic band-structure calculations. Their findings are published in Physical Review B.

Stress-testing the Cascadia Subduction Zone reveals variability that could impact how earthquakes spread

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is unusually quiet for a megathrust fault. Spanning more than 600 miles from Canada to California, the fault marks the convergence of the Juan de Fuca and North American plates. While other subduction zones produce sporadic rumblings as the plates scrape past each other, Cascadia shows very little seismic activity, fueling assumptions that the plates are locked together by friction.

The subduction zone—miles offshore and deep underwater—is difficult to observe. Most data collection is based onshore, which limits the breadth and quality of results. The lack of earthquakes further complicates efforts to understand its behavior and structure.

In a new study, the first to monitor strain offshore over an extended period of time, University of Washington researchers report that the plates may not be fully locked.

Beam-spin asymmetry study puts proton models to the test

Getting an up-close view of life at the cellular level can be as simple as placing onion skin under a microscope and adjusting the knobs. Peering deeper, into the heart of the atoms within, isn’t as easy. It requires peeling through layers of particle accelerator data to shed light on protons, neutrons and the subatomic processes at play.

This type of zoom doesn’t use a lens. Clarity is achieved by blending ultrafine physics measurements and theoretical predictions. Now, the first results from the KaonLT experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility are adding a new level of detail in the quest to map out how the components of atomic nuclei are put together.

The study, published in the journal Physics Letters B, focuses on producing short-lived particles called mesons, which can provide important information about the particles and forces that form the proton.

Scientists Uncover the Secret Structure Behind “Nature’s Proton Highway”

Phosphoric acid is vital in both biology and modern technology because of its exceptional ability to move electrical charge. Inside the human body and in devices such as fuel cells, this small molecule helps drive essential chemical reactions.

Scientists at the Department of Molecular Physics at the Fritz Haber Institute have now uncovered new details about how it performs this task at the molecular level.

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