Facebook considering its own bitcoin for payments

The Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook plans a cryptocurrency-based payment system that it could launch for billions of users worldwide.

* This article was originally published here

Chemical modifiers tag-team to regulate essential mechanism of life

Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have made a key observation about one of the most fundamental biological processes: gene transcription.

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Pathogens find safe harbor deep in the gastric glands

Scientists have long tried to understand how pathogenic bacteria like Helicobacter pylori, a risk factor for stomach ulcers and cancer, survive in the harsh environment of the stomach. In a new study publishing May 2 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, researchers led by Connie Fung and Manuel Amieva at Stanford University propose that H. pylori exploit a specialized niche that provides safe harbor deep in the gastric glands to maintain lifelong colonization.

* This article was originally published here

Study on explosive volcanism during ice age provides lessons for today's rising CO2

A University of Oklahoma-led study recently found that explosive volcanic eruptions were at least 3-8 times more frequent during the peak of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (~360 to 260 million years ago). Aerosols produced by explosive volcanism helped keep large ice sheets stable, even when CO2 levels increased, by blocking sunlight. But the volcanic emissions also may have started a cascade of effects on the climate system that resulted in additional CO2 removal from the atmosphere.

* This article was originally published here

Two die from measles in Switzerland as cases rise

Switzerland has registered two deaths from measles this year, health authorities said Thursday, stressing the importance of vaccinating against the highly contagious disease.

* This article was originally published here