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The first comprehensive genome analyses of 7 melon varieties was completed by a research team led by Josep Casacuberta, Jordi Garcia-Mas and Sebastian Ramos-Onsins, providing breeders new knowledge important for understanding phenotypic variability and helping increasing plant quality yields by selective breeding. The findings were published in the advanced online edition of Molecular Biology and Evolution.

(Phys.org)—Researchers have proposed a new type of artificial neuron called a “straintronic spin neuron” that could serve as the basic unit of artificial neural networks—systems modeled on human brains that have the ability to compute, learn, and adapt. Compared to previous designs, the new artificial neuron is potentially orders of magnitude more energy-efficient, more robust against thermal degradation, and fires at a faster rate.

July 8, 2015- Recent research (and commercials) tell us probiotic products are good for our health, with benefits ranging from improved digestion to managing allergies and colds, Just as humans can benefit from the good bacteria of probiotics, plants can benefit from certain microbes. And that benefit is also good for the environment.

In a new study, published today in the Journal of Politeness Research, academics from the University of Surrey and the University of Huddersfield have found that people are more likely to intervene in public conflicts, when they consider they are taking the moral high ground.

(Phys.org)—A team of researchers with affiliations to institutions in the U.S., Germany and Switzerland has taken another step towards understanding kin discrimination—at least as it applies to a type of bacteria. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes experiments they conducted with Myxococcus xanthus, a type of bacteria, and what they found in doing so.

(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers in Germany has found that because developing nations have increasing energy needs, they are turning to coal because it is the cheapest option available. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Jan Christoph Steckel, Ottmar Edenhofer and Michael Jakob describe their study of emerging countries and what they found regarding the reasons many of them have for using coal instead of oil or other energy producing options.

A trio of researchers at the University of Southern California has uncovered a social-network illusion that might explain why some things become popular in cyberspace while others do not. Kristina Lerman, Xiaoran Yan and Xin-Zeng Wu have written a paper describing the illusion and how it works and have posted it on the preprint server arXiv.

High street shops are well-established online these days and provide new opportunities for interaction between shop and shopper. Consumers have become accustomed to shopping using a range of devices and the immense popularity of smartphones and mobile devices has led to the rise of mobile or m-retailing, with new communication and distribution channels created with these in mind

Mark Johnson, associate professor of biology, has joined a consortium of seven other researchers in four European countries to develop the fullest understanding yet of how fertilization evolved in flowering plants. The research, employing techniques such as comparative genomics and molecular biology, could ultimately help agronomists improve crop yields for a hungry world.

Large-scale changes to the environment of the United Kingdom, including an apparent loss of habitats and agricultural land, have been revealed through an updated national map of land cover launched by researchers at the University of Leicester together with consultancy company Specto Natura on 1 July.