New planet discovered !!!

Hi dear follower,

A new planet have been discovered :) The discovery has been reported this week in Nature.

Sun and solar system

It is a small planet orbiting Proxima, a red dwarf moderately active star. It's minimum size in around 1.3 Earth masses. The team, led by Guillem Anglada-Escudé, was analysing Doppler data previously obtained (pre-2016). They observed a signal that they could attribute to this new planet.

You. So can we think that the system solar has a new planet ?

Let me know what you think.

Have a nice Sunday :)

H

Hi Dear Followers,

How are you? Are you following the Olympic games ? Maybe you are in Rio watching and participating live. In any case, I wish you a nice time. I like watching athletism…Let's see what Usain Bolt will do in the 100 m and 200 m.

Let me know what are your favorite sport watching or doing. I would love to know!

This Olympic mood inspired me to write about a study from the University of Cardiff. A team led by Professor Roger Whitaker showed that the large human brain is a result of constantly sizing up each other.

Their study was focus on cooperation. It is a fundamental human trait and they were to understand more about it.

The team proposed that evolution favors those who prefer to help out others who are at least as successful as themselves.

The study was made by computer scientists and I must admit it is not my strong suit. As a molecular/ cellular/ biochemist, I find this research project interesting for social purposes.

On way of sizing up each other is sport. Could sport competition be a important activity to increase our collective brain size ?

You can read more on the article in Scientific Reports. Let me know what you think.

We can always learn :)

Lugdunin: a newly found potent antibiotic

Hi dear follower,

No new antibiotic has been discovered for year and how was my surprise when I read, in Nature, that a newly found potent antibiotic has been found in our nose: Lugdunin !

This is the first time that an antibiotic has been discovered in the human microflora :)

A team of scientist in Tübigen, Germany, showed that nasal Staphylococcus lugdunensis strains produce a peptide called lugdunin. It is a novel thiazolidine-containing cyclic peptide antibiotic that prohibits colonization by S. aureus.

Knowing how rich is the human microflora, this study opens the door to a world of new discoveries.

Today, it is well-know that resistance to antibiotic have became a challenge to overcome. Finding new structure antibiotics is essential for the future and the fight against infectiouse diseases.

Source:

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v535/n7613/full/nature18634.html