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4 weeks ago | 
journals.sagepub.com | R. Douglas Fields
The recent reconstruction of all cells and synaptic connections in a sample of human cerebral cortex reveals an unexpected outcome that challenges the prevailing understanding of neuronal communication (Shapson-Coe and others 2024). Most connections in the human cerebral cortex are single en passant synapses, which are too weak to depolarize the postsynaptic neuron to the action potential threshold (Fig. 1).
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2 months ago | 
tandfonline.com | R. Douglas Fields |Dipankar Dutta
The g-ratio is fundamental in all morphological studies of myelin to quantify the relative thickness of the myelin sheath on axons, but the relationship of g-ratio to axon diameter is unclear. The g-ratio is calculated simply by taking the ratio of the diameter of the myelinated fiber to the diameter of the axon inside the myelin sheath.
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Sep 27, 2024 | 
sciencedirect.com | R. Douglas Fields |R.B. Merrifield |F. Parenti
Cyclic peptides have attracted considerable attention in recent years due to their unique structural properties and potential applications in biomedical nanotechnology. The Web of Science Core Collection contains over 34,700 indexed publications on cyclic peptides, with more than 11,600 in the past 10 years. This includes more than 29,500 scientific articles and around 300 book chapters.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
quantamagazine.org | Janna Levin |Annie Melchor |Yasemin Saplakoglu |R. Douglas Fields
Introduction If instruments do someday detect evidence of life beyond Earth, whether it’s in this solar system or in the farther reaches of space, astrobiologists want to be ready. One of the best ways to learn how alien life might function can be to study the organisms called extremophiles, which live in incredibly challenging environments on or in the Earth.
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Sep 16, 2024 | 
quantamagazine.org | Annie Melchor |Yasemin Saplakoglu |R. Douglas Fields
Introduction For a molecule of RNA, the world is a dangerous place. Unlike DNA, which can persist for millions of years in its remarkably stable, double-stranded form, RNA isn’t built to last — not even within the cell that made it. Unless it’s protectively tethered to a larger molecule, RNA can degrade in minutes or less. And outside a cell? Forget about it.
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Sep 13, 2024 | 
smithsonianmag.com | R. Douglas Fields
The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. It is late at night. You are alone and wandering empty streets in search of your parked car when you hear footsteps creeping up from behind. Your heart pounds; your blood pressure skyrockets. Goose bumps appear on your arms, sweat on your palms. Your stomach knots, and your muscles coil, ready to sprint or fight. Now imagine the same scene, but without any of the body’s innate responses to an external threat. Would you still feel afraid?
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Sep 9, 2024 | 
quantamagazine.org | Yasemin Saplakoglu |R. Douglas Fields |Marta Zaraska
Introduction The bottom of the ocean is cold, dark and under extreme pressure. It is not a place suited to the physiology of us surface dwellers: At the deepest point, the pressure of 36,200 feet of seawater is greater than the weight of an elephant on every square inch of your body. Yet Earth’s deepest places are home to life uniquely suited to these challenging conditions.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
rdouglasfields.com | R. Douglas Fields
It is late at night. You are alone and wandering empty streets in search of your parked car when you hear footsteps creeping up from behind. Your heart pounds, your blood pressure skyrockets. Goose bumps appear on your arms, sweat on your palms. Your stomach knots and your muscles coil, ready to sprint or fight. Now imagine the same scene, but without any of the body’s innate responses to an external threat. Would you still feel afraid?
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
quantamagazine.org | R. Douglas Fields |Elizabeth Landau |Steven Strogatz |Max Levy
It is late at night. You are alone and wandering empty streets in search of your parked car when you hear footsteps creeping up from behind. Your heart pounds, your blood pressure skyrockets. Goose bumps appear on your arms, sweat on your palms. Your stomach knots and your muscles coil, ready to sprint or fight. Now imagine the same scene, but without any of the body’s innate responses to an external threat. Would you still feel afraid?
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
flipboard.com | R. Douglas Fields
Polaris Dawn mission: Watch the risky private spaceflight launch humans farther than they've traveled since the moon landingsThe history-making mission is the first of three crewed spaceflights in partnership with SpaceX, funded by Shift4 billionaire Jared Isaacman. One of the riskiest private spaceflights in history is scheduled for launch in the early-morning hours on Tuesday (August 27, 2024). Polaris Dawn’s four-hour …
