Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
Alzheimer'
Ultrahot giant exoplanets receive thousands of times Earth'
Absorption lines of iron in the dayside atmosphere of an ultrahot giant exoplanet disappear after travelling across the nightside, showing that the iron has condensed during its travel.
The front of the Getz Ice Shelf in West Antarctica creates an abrupt topographic step that deflects ocean currents, suppressing 70% of the heat delivery to the ice sheet.
Mass loss from the Antarctic Ice Sheet to the ocean has increased in recent decades, largely because the thinning of its floating ice shelves has allowed the outflow of grounded ice to accelerate(1,2). Enhanced basal melting of the ice shelves is thought to be the ultimate driver of change(2,3), motivating a recent focus on the processes that control ocean heat transport onto and across the seabed of the Antarctic continental shelf towards the ice(4-6). However, the shoreward heat flux typically far exceeds that required to match observed melt rates(2,7,8), suggesting that other critical controls exist. Here we show that the depth-independent (barotropic) component of the heat flow towards an ice shelf is blocked by the marked step shape of the ice front, and that only the depth-varying (baroclinic) component, which is typically much smaller, can enter the sub-ice cavity. Our results arise from direct observations of the Getz Ice Shelf system and laboratory experiments on a rotating platform. A similar blocking of the barotropic component may occur in other areas with comparable ice-bathymetry configurations, which may explain why changes in the density structure of the water column have been found to be a better indicator of basal melt rate variability than the heat transported onto the continental shelf(9). Representing the step topography of the ice front accurately in models is thus important for simulating ocean heat fluxes and induced melt rates.
After activation by an agonist, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) recruit beta-arrestin, which desensitizes heterotrimeric G-protein signalling and promotes receptor endocytosis(1). Additionally, beta-arrestin directly regulates many cell signalling pathways that can induce cellular responses distinct from that of G proteins(2). In contrast to G proteins, for which there are many high-resolution structures in complex with GPCRs, the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction of beta-arrestin with GPCRs are much less understood. Here we present a cryo-electron microscopy structure of beta-arrestin 1 (beta arr1) in complex with M2 muscarinic receptor (M2R) reconstituted in lipid nanodiscs. The M2R-beta arr1 complex displays a multimodal network of flexible interactions, including binding of the N domain of beta arr1 to phosphorylated receptor residues and insertion of the finger loop of beta arr1 into the M2R seven-transmembrane bundle, which adopts a conformation similar to that in the M2R-heterotrimeric G(o) protein complex(3). Moreover, the cryo-electron microscopy map reveals that the C-edge of beta arr1 engages the lipid bilayer. Through atomistic simulations and biophysical, biochemical and cellular assays, we show that the C-edge is critical for stable complex formation, beta arr1 recruitment, receptor internalization, and desensitization of G-protein activation. Taken together, these data suggest that the cooperative interactions of beta-arrestin with both the receptor and the phospholipid bilayer contribute to its functional versatility.
The discovery of superconductivity at 200 kelvin in the hydrogen sulfide system at high pressures(1) demonstrated the potential of hydrogen-rich materials as high-temperature superconductors. Recent theoretical predictions of rare-earth hydrides with hydrogen cages(2,3) and the subsequent synthesis of LaH10 with a superconducting critical temperature (T-c) of 250 kelvin(4,5) have placed these materials on the verge of achieving the long-standing goal of room-temperature superconductivity. Electrical and X-ray diffraction measurements have revealed a weakly pressure-dependent T-c for LaH10 between 137 and 218 gigapascals in a structure that has a face-centred cubic arrangement of lanthanum atoms(5). Here we show that quantum atomic fluctuations stabilize a highly symmetrical Fm (3) over barm crystal structure over this pressure range. The structure is consistent with experimental findings and has a very large electron-phonon coupling constant of 3.5. Although ab initio classical calculations predict that this Fm (3) over barm structure undergoes distortion at pressures below 230 gigapascals(2,3,) yielding a complex energy landscape, the inclusion of quantum effects suggests that it is the true ground-state structure. The agreement between the calculated and experimental Tc values further indicates that this phase is responsible for the superconductivity observed at 250 kelvin. The relevance of quantum fluctuations calls into question many of the crystal structure predictions that have been made for hydrides within a classical approach and that currently guide the experimental quest for room-temperature superconductivity(6-8). Furthermore, we find that quantum effects are crucial for the stabilization of solids with high electron-phonon coupling constants that could otherwise be destabilized by the large electron-phonon interaction(9), thus reducing the pressures required for their synthesis.