Researchers have identified a mechanism by which the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) colonizes our nasal passages, showing for the first time that a protein located on the bacterial surface called clumping factor B (ClfB) has high affinity for the skin protein loricrin.

Researchers in Spain have mixed paper industry waste with ceramic material used in the construction industry and created a brick that has low thermal conductivity and so is a good insulator. 

What's the catch? Its mechanical resistance still requires improvement. 

The scientists collected cellulous waste from a paper factory (recycled) along with sludge from the purification of its waste water. In their laboratory they then mixed this material with clay used in construction and passed the mixture through a pressure and extrusion machine to obtain bricks.

Researchers have described a new selective target in muscle regeneration. This is the association of alpha-enolase protein and plasmin, findings which could be used to develop new treatments to regenerate muscular injuries or dystrophies. 

In 1991, the Pinatubo volcano eruption was a disaster for the Philippines and the effects were noticed across the world - it threw tons of ash and other particles into the atmosphere, which caused less sunlight to reach the Earth's surface. Global temperatures dropped by half a degree for years after that.

Clearly, volcanic eruptions can have a strong short-term impact on climate but a group of researchers are delighting doomsday believers by contending climate change will have an impact on volcanic eruptions. The researchers from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Harvard University say they have strong evidence by using models of major volcanic eruptions around the Pacific Ocean over the past 1 million years.

Collagen, the most abundant protein in the body, is widely used to build scaffolds for tissue engineering because it is biocompatible and biodegradable. Collagen is, however, hard to work with in its natural form because it is largely insoluble in water, and common processing techniques reduce its strength and disrupt its fibrous structure.

Researchers have fabricated an artificial protein in the laboratory and examined the ways living cells respond to it.