Measuring what happens during the collision of celestial bodies or at the Earth’s core is obviously not very practical. As such, much of our understanding of planetary cores is based on experimental studies of metals at less extreme temperatures and pressures. But researchers at the Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have now observed for the first time how iron’s atomic structure deforms to accommodate the stress from the pressures and temperatures that occur just outside of the inner core.
Tag: iron
Patients with Kidney Disease—Even without Anemia—May Benefit From Iron Treatment
• Among individuals with chronic kidney disease, iron deficiency was linked with higher risks of death and cardiovascular events, in patients with and without anemia.
• Clinical trials are needed to test the effects of iron treatment, even in the absence of anemia, in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Lowering Iron in Fat Cells Prevented Weight Gain in Mice
DALLAS – June 28, 2021 – Lowering iron content in fat cells prevented mice fed a high-fat diet from gaining excess weight and developing associated health problems by limiting the amount of lipids absorbed by the intestines, UT Southwestern scientists report in a new study. The findings, published online in Cell Metabolism, could eventually lead to new strategies to protect people against obesity and related diseases.
Microbial respiration with iron
Microbes “breathing in rust” plays an important role in soils
CUR Chemistry Division Selects 2021 Outstanding Mentorship Awardees
The Chemistry Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research has announced the 2021 recipients of its Outstanding Mentorship Award: Tarek Abdel-Fattah (Christopher Newport University); Fadi Bou-Abdallah (SUNY Potsdam); Loretta Jackson-Hayes (Rhodes College)
International Team is the First to Successfully Stack Virus Resistance Plus Iron and Zinc Biofortification in a Non-cereal Crop
For the first time, an international team of scientists have developed cassava displaying high-level resistance to cassava mosaic disease (CMD), cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) as well as higher levels of iron and zinc.

Ocean Algae Get “Coup de Grace” from Viruses
Scientists have long believed that ocean viruses always quickly kill algae, but Rutgers-led research shows they live in harmony with algae and viruses provide a “coup de grace” only when blooms of algae are already stressed and dying. The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, will likely change how scientists view viral infections of algae, also known as phytoplankton – especially the impact of viruses on ecosystem processes like algal bloom formation (and decline) and the cycling of carbon and other chemicals on Earth.