Fe2P-type dioxides are significant both for geoscience and condensed-matter physics. For example, Fe2P-type SiO2 has been proposed to be one of the dominant components in the mantles of super-Earths and Fe2P-type TiO2 has been shown to have a large visible absorbance. Here we report the discovery of an Fe2P-type phase in a typical transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD), TiTe2, using crystal structure prediction and first-principles calculations. Ambient layered TiTe2 will first transform to a monoclinic C2/m phase and then finally to the hexagonal Fe2P-type phase above 33 GPa. Fe2P-type TiTe2 is predicted to be metallic, contrasting with the semiconductivity of Fe2P-type TiO2. The same high-pressure phase (Fe2P type) appears both in transition-metal dioxides and TMDs, indicating that the stacking patterns of anions and cations play an increasingly important role in determining the high-pressure phase.

The intestines of animals are colonized by commensal microbes, which impact host development, health, and behavior. Precise quantification of colonization is essential for studying the complex interactions between host and microbe both to validate the microbial composition and study its effects. Drosophila melanogaster,which has a low native microbial diversity and is economical to rear with defined microbial composition, has emerged as a model organism for studying the gut microbiome. Analyzing the microbiome of an individual organism requires identification of which microbial species are present and quantification of their absolute abundance. This article presents a method for the analysis of a large number of individual fly microbiomes. The flies are prepared in 96-well plates, enabling the handling of a large number of samples at once. Microbial abundance is quantified by plating up to 96 whole fly homogenates on a single agar plate in an array of spots and then counting the colony forming units (CFUs) that grow in each spot. This plating system is paired with an automated CFU quantification platform, which incorporates photography of the plates, differentiation of fluorescent colonies, and automated counting of the colonies using an ImageJ plugin. Advantages are that (i) this method is sensitive enough to detect differences between treatments, (ii) the spot plating method is as accurate as traditional plating methods, and (iii) the automated counting process is accurate and faster than manual counting. The workflow presented here enables high-throughput quantification of CFUs in a large number of replicates and can be applied to other microbiology study systems including in vitro and other small animal models.

Windthrows (trees uprooted and broken by winds) are common across the Amazon. They range in size from single trees to large gaps that lead to changes in forest dynamics, composition, structure, and carbon balance. Yet, the current understanding of the spatial variability of windthrows is limited. By integrating remote sensing data and geospatial analysis, we present the first study to examine the occurrence, area, and direction of windthrows and the control that environmental variables exert on them across the whole Amazon. Windthrows are more frequent and larger in the northwestern Amazon (Peru and Colombia), with the central Amazon (Brazil) being another hot spot of windthrows. The predominant direction of windthrows is westward. Rainfall, surface elevation, and soil characteristics explain the variability (20%-50%) of windthrows but their effects vary regionally. A better understanding of the spatial dynamics of windthrows will improve understanding of the functioning of Amazon forests.

Crystal structures of minerals are defined by a specific atomic arrangement within the unit-cell, which follows the laws of symmetry specific to each crystal system. The causes for a mineral to crystallize in a given crystal system have been the subject of many studies showing their dependency on different formation conditions, such as the presence of aqueous fluids, biotic activity and many others. Different attempts have been made to quantify and interpret the information that we can gather from studying crystal symmetry and its distribution in the mineral kingdom. However, these methods are mostly outdated or at least not compatible for use on large datasets available today. Therefore, a revision of symmetry index calculation has been made in accordance with the growing understanding of mineral species and their characteristics. In the gathered data, we observe a gradual but significant decrease in crystal symmetry through the stages of mineral evolution, from the formation of the solar system to modern day. However, this decrease is neither uniform nor linear, which provides further implications for mineral evolution from the viewpoint of crystal symmetry. The temporal distribution of minerals based on the number of essential elements in their chemical formulae and their symmetry index has been calculated and compared to explore their behaviour. Minerals with four to eight essential elements have the lowest average symmetry index, while being the most abundant throughout all stages of mineral evolution. There are many open questions, including those pertaining to whether or not biological activity on Earth has influenced the observed decrease in mineral symmetry through time and whether or not the trajectory of planetary evolution of a geologically active body is one of decreasing mineral symmetry/increasing complexity.