Scientists recently tied the smallest and tightest knot ever recorded, containing just 54 atoms.
The microscopic twist is trilobite-shaped, the simplest type of knot with three interlocking intersections and no loose ends. The modern "mineral knot" contains gold, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature Communications.
Scientists discovered this record-breaking double knot unintentionally, said study co-author Richard Budivat, a chemist at the University of Western Ontario.
Originally, scientists were trying to attach carbon structures to gold acetylides, a class of chemical compounds. During this process, one reaction resulted in a gold chain that tied itself into a tangle resembling a three-leaf clover.
“It's a very complex system, and frankly, we don't know how it happens,” Budivat said.
Besides being very small, it was the tightest knot ever made, according to the study.
“Molecular knots, whose structure presents many challenges, can play important roles in protein structure and function as well as in useful molecular materials, whose properties depend on the size of the knot structure,” the scientists wrote in the study.
For example, nodal structures are essential for the binding of DNA, RNA, and proteins that the human body depends on.
Unraveling the secrets of the decade could have real-world applications, from building more effective plastics to creating new types of chemotherapy.
Identify the main cause of record drought in the Amazon
Experts at the World Weather Reference Center for studying anomalous weather phenomena announced that drought in the region is caused by climate change caused by human activity.
The center's experts point out in their report that the cause of the record drought in the Brazilian Amazon in 2023 was climate change.
“The main cause of the record drought of 2023 in the Brazilian Amazon region is climate change caused by human activities,” the report published on the center’s website stated.
According to them, it turned out that the impact of El Niño on the weather in the Amazon Basin is much weaker than they expected and that “climate change is leading to higher temperatures and lower precipitation. These factors have increased the probability of an unprecedented drought in 2023 by 30 times compared to the impact of The only weather factor - El Niño.”
It is noteworthy that the Brazilian Amazon region has been witnessing an unprecedented drought since March 2023, caused by less than normal rainfall in the region, which led to a decrease in the water level in the rivers to record levels, and an increase in forest fires as temperatures continue to rise. The abnormal rise in water temperature in the Amazon Basin has also led to the death of large numbers of fish and animals living in the region.
It should be noted that meteorological experts from Brazil, Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States participated in this study and the preparation of the World Weather Attribution Center report. During their work, they compared current data with information recorded in the pre-industrial era.