Scientists have demonstrated the cleavage (breakage) of a carbon-fluorine bond through oxidation in proteins. The finding suggests that human bodies may be capable of breaking these bonds in the drugs that are consumed.
Monday afternoon, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick tweeted a tightly cropped grayscale photo of his face, emblazoned with a simple message: "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." Below Kaepernick's lips, the Nike logo accompanied the company's pithy slogan: "Just do it." For Kaepernick, the "something" meriting a Sisyphean sacrifice has been ad
After Phil Knight first launched the Nike brand in 1971, he claimed that he could persuade the whole world to buy his shoes if he could first get them on the feet of "five cool guys." In truth, it took only two cool guys to transform Nike into what Knight would later call a "total brand": the Oregon distance runner Steve Prefontaine, whose spectacular rise and early death rooted his legend, and h
The North Dakota Senate Republican candidate Kevin Cramer has launched a television ad attacking the Democratic incumbent Heidi Heitkamp for her support of late-term abortion, according to a copy of the ad obtained by The Atlantic . The 30-second spot, called "Respecting Life," features Cramer's daughters, one of whom is pregnant. The two women criticize Heitkamp for her vote this year against a
A new study using an unbiased, whole-brain data-driven approach to assess the resting-state functional connectome in young adults with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder (HF-ASD) found two clusters of abnormal connectivity in the cerebellum.
New research published in PLOS Biology by Anne Fletcher and Konstantin Knoblich and colleagues, from Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI), has veered away from traditional immunology by turning the spotlight on the structural cells that build and support the immune-rich environment of lymph nodes. Their research shows that the so-called Fibroblastic Reticular Cells (FRCs) that form the inn
As much as 100 times more heat than predicted by the standard radiation theory can flow between two nanoscale objects, even at bigger-than-nanoscale distances, researchers at the University of Michigan and the College of William and Mary have reported in the journal Nature.
'Anti-Probiotics' Could Suppress Weeds and Invasive Plants Scientists are finding microbes that are good for crops but bad for weeds. ber1.5_control_3_Cropped.jpg A cloud of microbes converges on nutrient-rich fluids released by a Bermuda grass root tip. Inside the root, the plant uses reactive oxygen (stained brown here) to extract nutrients from microbes that enter its tissues. Image credits: J
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP passed over strengthening Hurricane Florence in the Atlantic Ocean and observed powerful thunderstorms within a more organized storm.
Recent research from the Center for BrainHealth® at The University of Texas at Dallas shows that cannabis users experience increased cortical activation during the brain's resting state when compared with nonusers. The resulting 'noisy brain' might impair brain activity and disrupt cognitive processes, said Dr. Shikha Prashad, the study's lead author and a research scientist at the Center for Brai
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Gulf of Mexico and collected temperature information on Tropical Storm Gordon's clouds as it moved toward landfall and after landfall. Those cloud top temperatures indicated that Gordon has the potential to generate heavy rainfall as it moves inland over the next several days.
New research shows there's promise in specific immune system peptides — amino acid compounds that signal cells how to function. In this case, they may be affecting brain activity and, by extension, drug cravings.
In the fall of 2016, Syrian troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad, backed by Russian airstrikes and Iran-backed militias, marched on Aleppo and ultimately captured the city of 200,000 people, leaving a trail of destruction and human suffering. In February of this year, they besieged Eastern Ghouta , a region outside Damascus, and bombed it into submission, again leaving accounts of suffering in the are
What a Grieving Orca Tells Us In August, Ed Yong wrote about Tahlequah—the Pacific Northwest orca that carried around her calf, who died shortly after birth, for 17 days—and how she exemplifies the larger plight of killer whales. Thank you for Ed Yong's thoughtful "What a Grieving Orca Tells Us." As a Puget Sound resident, I've felt Tahlequah's grief as keenly as others in our region. It is not a
PLO-Hovedstaden betvivler, at Region Hovedstaden har lovhjemmel til at oprette to midlertidige regionsklinikker. Det skriver lokal PLO-formand i et fem sider langt brev til regionsrådsmedlemmerne.
Contrary to earlier assumptions, the intestines of newborn calves are not sterile, but contain DNA from various bacteria. Bacteria or their fragments originating in the dam may be significant to the development of the intestinal immune system.
Clinicians and scientists have published the first-ever guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of perimenopausal depression simultaneously in the journal Menopause and the Journal of Women's Health.
Agriculture consumes more than 70 percent of the world's annual water usage. With small farms producing nearly 80 percent of food for the developing world, ensuring the quality and safety of our water supply is critical. Environmental analysis for agriculture often relies on expensive and time-consuming laboratory tests performed far away from the farm. As a result, chemical analysis is quickly ou
The brains of professional beatboxers and guitarists respond to music differently when compared to each other and non-musicians, finds a new UCL-led study published in Cerebral Cortex.
Teens who took a supplemental drivers' ed program — including tours of emergency rooms, ICUs and a morgue — showed more awareness of the consequences of risky driving and of how they can avoid dangers, a Baylor University study found. But data from a two-month follow-up to the program was inconclusive as to whether the program made a difference in the youths' behavior behind the wheel.
A new nuclear medicine imaging method could help diagnose widespread tumors, such as breast, colon, pancreas, lung and head and neck cancer better than current methods, with less inconvenience to patients and with equal or improved accuracy.
Disparities exist in the geographic distribution of dermatologists across the United States in this study of county-level data from 1995 to 2013. Although the dermatologist workforce increased during that time and dermatologist density increased more in rural and nonmetropolitan counties than metropolitan areas, the gap in dermatologist density between metropolitan and other areas widened. Researc
Machine learning algorithms that can predict yeast metabolism from its protein content have been developed by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute. The findings could provide a basis for brewers to have greater control over the flavor of their beer, and scientists to personalize treatments for metabolic disorder patients, in the future.
A multi-institutional study led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine has found how the abnormal form of tau that accumulates in the neurofibrillary tangles that characterize Alzheimer's disease can disrupt the normal function of brain cells.
Researchers have long known that tau, a protein that accumulates in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD), is a major component of AD's hallmark neurofibrillary tangles. Precisely how tau contributes to the disease has remained a mystery. But new research publishing Sept. 5 in the journal Neuron suggests the possibility of a new mechanism of neuronal dysfunction where tau interfe
The majority of firefighters who died from cardiac arrest had autopsy confirmed evidence of coronary artery disease, or narrowing of the arteries, and structural abnormalities, including an enlarged heart and increased wall thickness of the primary chamber for pumping blood, or left ventricle.
Chelsea Manning will appear via video link at events in Brisbane and Melbourne this month – as the Australian government refuses to provide her a visa.
Environment A new bill has been fast-tracked in the midst of a climate change-fueled wildfire season. The push to fast-track the state's clean energy trajectory coincides with real-world climate change concerns. California is experiencing longer and deadlier wildfire…
A team of researchers led by the University of Minnesota and The Ohio State University have released the most accurate high-resolution terrain map of Antarctica ever created. The map uses high-resolution satellite images to show the continent in stunning detail and will provide new insight on climate change.
EU Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova says the European Commission is set to unveil new rules that could force internet companies to take down suspected terror content.
Twitter was "unprepared and ill-equipped" for the vast campaigns of manipulation that affected social media in the past few years, chief executive Jack Dorsey told lawmakers Wednesday.
America's fear of an Anglo-Japanese alliance led Canada to worry about a U.S. attack – and in the end, devise a scheme for a 'pre-emptive invasion' of its southern neighbour Read More
In 2012, Colorado legalized cannabis and added to what has fast become a multibillion-dollar global industry for all things weed-related: from vape pens to brownies and beyond. But to say that we've legalized marijuana is subtly misleading — what we've really done is commercialized THC, says educator Ben Cort, and that's led to products that are unnaturally potent. In an eye-opening talk, Cort ex
New "Guidelines for the Evaluation and Treatment of Perimenopausal Depression: Summary and Recommendations" have been co-published in Journal of Women's Health and Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society.
New research has mapped and analysed the incidence of primate electrocutions in Diani, Kenya to identify hotspot areas that should be prioritised to reduce the risk of electric shock. The study could also inform conservation strategies in other parts of the world where primate electrocutions are common. Electrocution threatens a wide range of primate species across the world and the hazard could b
Machine learning algorithms that can predict yeast metabolism from its protein content have been developed by scientists at the Francis Crick Institute. The findings could provide a basis for brewers to have greater control over the flavour of their beer, and scientists to personalise treatments for metabolic disorder patients, in the future.
Astatine-211 shows promise for treating certain cancers, but it's hard to get enough to study. Researchers developed a better way by creating an automated process. The team translated a complex manual chemical process for isolating astatine-211 into three modules that work quickly and efficiently to produce a high-quality product. Currently, the system is being evaluated for its performance and co
Rockland Immunochemicals, Inc. announced today the general release of their new BioQuantiPro™ CHO-HCP ELISA Kit for detection and screening of host cell protein (HCP) contaminants in bioprocessing.
There are many possible reasons to trigger the alarm on the International Space Station, from fire to toxic leaks and loss of pressure. When an alarm sounds the six astronauts that live above our planet need to react quickly and securely.
Rice University researchers are probing the physical limits of excited electronic states called plasmons by studying them in organic molecules with fewer than 50 atoms.
International banking giant Goldman Sachs has pulled back from immediate plans to open a bitcoin trading desk, according to US media report Wednesday that sent bitcoin prices lower.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts may not always have the brand-building effects that companies want. Recent research finds a new brand can be viewed as less effective if consumers know the company donates money to good causes—though the researchers did find ways for companies to sidestep this problem.
Tanzania is known for its tapestry of lush forests, expansive grasslands and tropical beaches, and abundant and diverse wildlife. Its coastal forests are part of the Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa biodiversity hotspot – a place recognised for its wealth of wildlife but threatened with destruction, making it a high priority for conservation efforts.
On Sept. 12, Apple execs will pull out the stops, hoping to convince consumers that the new iPhones are faster, sleeker and so powerful you'll have to ditch your old one to get the newest model.
A geostationary hyperspectral infrared sounder can provide significant support to meteorologists to improve local severe storm forecasting, according to Dr. Jun Li, distinguished scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of the authors of a recently published study.
The holidays may be over – but the debate over young people and screen time continues. And as anxious parents prepare children for the start of a new school term, many will have concerns about what exposure to technology they will have in the classroom.
As information warfare becomes more common, agents of various governments are manipulating social media – and therefore people's thinking, political actions and democracy. Regular people need to know a lot more about what information warriors are doing and how they exert their influence.
For years, farmers have been selecting products for their operation through the best advice available – seed guides, local agronomists, seed dealers, etc. The advancements in artificial intelligence technologies have presented opportunities to explore a different approach.
The volume of edible food that is wasted is staggering. In 2017, the UN estimated that almost a third of all food that is produced is discarded. Edible food makes up approximately 1.3 gigatonnes of this (one gigatonne is a billion tonnes). For comparison, one tonne of wasted food is about the equivalent of 127 large plastic bin bags. This not only represents a phenomenal loss in terms of food that
The gaming industry is big business in the U.S., contributing an estimated US$240 billion to the economy each year, while generating $38 billion in tax revenues and supporting 17 million jobs.
Back when I taught at a predominantly white, selective liberal arts college, I came across a book called "Acting White? Rethinking Race in 'Post-Racial' America."
The poorer you are, the harder it is to participate in and contribute to society. My experience as a practising urban designer and my research in the area have led me to conclude that the way people's surroundings are designed reflects and amplifies this profound injustice.
A slightly different death rate in the swing states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin could have resulted in a different outcome to the 2016 US presidential elections. This is according to a study led by Lee Goldman and other researchers at Columbia University in the US published in the Springer-branded Journal of General Internal Medicine.
A combination of a novel inhibitor of the protein CK2 (Casein kinase 2) and an immune checkpoint inhibitor has dramatically greater antitumor activity than either inhibitor alone, according to research from The Wistar Institute that was published online in Cancer Research.
Corporate social responsibility efforts may not always have the brand-building effects that companies want. Recent research finds a new brand can be viewed as less effective if consumers know the company donates money to good causes — though the researchers did find ways for companies to sidestep this problem.
Electrodes aren't the first thing most people think of when it comes to achieving sexual arousal. But if the results of a pilot study are any indication, that may soon change. Michigan Medicine researchers find that a treatment typically used for overactive bladder may also be effective for female sexual dysfunction.
A study led by researchers at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre (PMCC) at UHN suggests that the model used by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) significantly underestimates mortality in specialized heart surgery centres.
In cells, ribosomes translate messenger RNA (mRNA) into proteins. And in the nascent field of mRNA therapeutics, researchers and investors are hoping to translate mRNA drugs from the lab to the medicine cabinet. Until now, the mRNA firm Moderna Therapeutics has been secretive about its technology, but now the company is opening up about its progress and challenges, reports an article in Chemical &
A new analysis of human hair taken from the remains of one of the members of the Franklin expedition, is providing further evidence that lead poisoning was just one of many different factors contributing to the deaths of the crew, and not the primary cause, casting new doubt on the theory that has been the subject of debate amongst scientists and historians for decades.
For people with severe peanut allergies, eating even miniscule amounts of the legume can trigger anaphylaxis —- a life-threatening condition characterized by dizziness, breathing difficulties and, sometimes, loss of consciousness. Now, researchers have developed a sensitive new test to detect trace amounts of peanuts in foods using the peanuts' DNA. They report their results in ACS' Journal of Agr
Using tiny micromotors to diagnose and treat disease in the human body could soon be a reality. But keeping these devices intact as they travel through the body remains a hurdle. Now in a study appearing in ACS Nano, scientists report that they have found a way to encapsulate micromotors into pills. The pill's coating protects the devices as they traverse the digestive system prior to releasing th
Insights from experiments at Sandia National Laboratories designed to push chemical systems far from equilibrium allowed an international group of researchers to discover a new major source of formic acid over the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Microbial communities are equipped with effective defence mechanisms against antibiotics. Existing antimicrobial resistance may become increasingly prevalent on its own – with no interference from antibiotics – in compact bacterial communities known as biofilms, or when protozoa hunt bacteria for food.
Contrary to earlier assumptions, the intestines of newborn calves are not sterile, but contain DNA from various bacteria. Bacteria or their fragments originating in the mother may be significant to the development of the intestinal immune system.
Hokkaido University researchers have created an improved catalyst for the conversion of methane gas into syngas, a precursor for liquid fuels and fundamental chemicals.
I was aboard the 364-foot Russian research-cruise ship Akademik Ioffe when it came to a violent stop after grounding on a shoal in a remote region of the Gulf of Boothia in Canada's Arctic. Fortunately, none of the 102 passengers and 24 crew members were injured. Chemical contaminants that may or may not have been pumped out with the bilge water seemed to be minor.
We live in an era when biotechnology, information technology, manufacturing and automation all come together to form a capability called synthetic biology.
Groundwater containing excess nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers likely contaminated coral reefs on the Cook Islands during the second half of the 20th century, continuing for years after fertilizer use stopped, according to a new study. The finding suggests human activities have long-lasting impacts on coral reef communities and could be contributing to their decline.
What was matter like moments after the Big Bang? Particles emerging from the lowest energy collisions of small particles with large heavy nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) could hold the answer. Scientists revealed the particles exhibit behavior associated with the formation of a soup of quarks and gluons, the building blocks of nearly all visible matter. These results from RHIC
Sunlight is being used to convert carbon dioxide into batteries, thanks to a new technology being developed by researchers at the University of Newcastle.
The United States is in the grip of an opioid epidemic, affecting millions of Americans and claiming thousands of lives. Is suing drug companies, retailers, and doctors part of the answer? Many people trace their opioid dependence back to their doctor's office, the drugs prescribed for pain after an injury, surgery, or dental procedure. Were these painkillers over prescribed? Did drug manufacture
Sex education has long been source of anxiety for parents, especially those with strong religious beliefs. Many parents want to ensure the curriculum doesn't undermine their moral and religious views. But does that conflict with the student's right to information about sexual health? What topics should be covered? When?
The 2019 model year vehicles are hitting dealerships right now. Trucks are a big deal, and new and improved full-size pickups from General Motors and Ram will offer buyers a bumper crop of choices. But the 2019 model year will also debut new and innovative sedans, hybrids and electric vehicles. Although there isn't enough room here for a comprehensive list, these 10 vehicles highlight the best of
A new study has found that changes in life expectancy may have influenced voting choices in the 2016 presidential election, with Republicans making gains in counties that had 2.5 times more deaths from suicide, alcohol, and overdose.
More and more elderly people are suffering from malnutrition. People who are unmarried, separated or divorced are most often affected, whilst men and women who are either married or widowed tend to take better care of themselves.
Small, New World monkeys called marmosets can mimic the sleep disturbances, changes in circadian rhythm, and cognitive impairment people with Parkinson's disease develop, according to a new study.
Losing a single night's sleep may affect the liver's ability to produce glucose and process insulin, increasing the risk of metabolic diseases such as hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) and type 2 diabetes.
The eastern German city of Chemnitz had, by The New York Time s' s account , "never seen anything like" it: Thousands of protesters, led by far-right and neo-Nazi groups, rioting and flashing Nazi salutes in what German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned as an effort to "hunt down" foreigners. But even these massive protests, which broke out last week in Chemnitz in response to the alleged murder
In cells, ribosomes translate messenger RNA (mRNA) into proteins. And in the nascent field of mRNA therapeutics, researchers and investors are hoping to translate mRNA drugs from the lab to the medicine cabinet. Until now, the mRNA firm Moderna Therapeutics has been secretive about its technology, but now the company is opening up about its progress and challenges, reports an article in Chemical &
There are many barriers to innovation in wireless communications. Inadequate documentation; uncooperative chipset manufacturers; widely varying hardware and software specifications; steep learning curves in the experimentation phase and difficulties in prototyping are among the biggest issues that hamper development.
Using tiny micromotors to diagnose and treat disease in the human body could soon be a reality. But keeping these devices intact as they travel through the body remains a hurdle. Now in a study appearing in ACS Nano, scientists report that they have found a way to encapsulate micromotors into pills. The pill's coating protects the devices as they traverse the digestive system prior to releasing th
Despite a healthy pipeline of women graduating from entomology programs in the United States, insect science jobs in academia and government are disproportionately held by men, according to a new study in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America. The study indicates that men exceed women in university and federal entomology jobs by a 3-to-1 ratio, even though women have earned more than
Hver enkelt substans, der importeres til eller fremstilles i kemiske laboratorier i Europa, er nu samlet i én database over kemikalier. I korridorerne mukker industrien.
Despite a healthy pipeline of women graduating from entomology programs in the United States, insect science jobs in academia and government are disproportionately held by men, according to a new study of entomology employment published in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America.
Balance is something we don't think much about after we learn it (as a child) or start to lose it (as a senior), but balance is crucial to healthy living — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Researchers from Ireland, Finland and the UK have just published a research paper that gives an insight into global populations with the type of apps they use.
For people with severe peanut allergies, eating even miniscule amounts of the legume can trigger anaphylaxis — a life-threatening condition characterized by dizziness, breathing difficulties and, sometimes, loss of consciousness. Now, researchers have developed a sensitive new test to detect trace amounts of peanuts in foods using the peanuts' DNA. They report their results in ACS' Journal of Ag
A new analysis of human hair taken from the remains of one of the members of the Franklin expedition, is providing further evidence that lead poisoning was just one of many different factors contributing to the deaths of the crew, and not the primary cause, casting new doubt on the theory that has been the subject of debate amongst scientists and historians for decades.
Researchers of the University of Würzburg have developed a method that makes it possible to measure the activation of receptors in a very short time. This might speed up the development of new drugs.
Wageningen University & Research uses computer models to develop sustainable management strategies in the control of potato late blight, caused by Phytophthora infestans. Francine Pacilly will receive her Ph.D. on this socially relevant topic on September 4. Her research provides important insights for farmers, breeders, potato traders, retailers and governments. Resistant varieties can play an im
A survey conducted by IBOPE Inteligencia and commissioned by WWF-Brazil, on what Brazilians think about Protected Areas and the environment, reveals a population who values the environment, wants to be closer to nature, and thinks that taking care of the environment is also the citizens' responsibility.
In August 2018, long, narrow clouds stood out against the backdrop of marine clouds blanketing much of the North Pacific Ocean. Known as ship tracks, the distinctive clouds form when water vapor condenses around the tiny particles emitted by ships in their exhaust. Ship tracks typically form in areas where thin, low-lying stratus and cumulus clouds are present.
When people want data on human trafficking, they might turn to widely cited statistics, such as a study showing there are 40.3 million victims of human trafficking in the world today.
Scientists at The University of Western Australia, in collaboration with researchers in Canada, have developed a new compound that can combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Gadgets The company's long-awaited pro-grade mirrorless is ready for your old lenses. Canon, Nikon, and Sony are ready to battle it out for full-frame mirrorless dominance.
'Chromosomal catastrophes' have been found to occur along the evolutionary timeline of colorectal cancer development, according to new research led by Queen Mary University of London.
This cutting-edge Special Issue from ecancermedicalscience collects six original review articles that examine the complex relationship between microbes and cancer, from cause to treatment and beyond.
Radical/radical cross-coupling represents a straightforward way for the construction of new chemical bonds. Until now, it is challenging to achieve the selective bond formation between two transient radicals since selective radical cross-coupling usually occurs between persistent radical and transient radical. A recent study proposes a novel strategy 'tuning radical reactivity' that could tune tra
In her most recent study, 'worry and waiting' researcher Kate Sweeny finds a connection between the perception that your romantic partner cares, and a reduction in stress during challenging waiting periods.Perception is a key word; past psychology research has suggested disparity between support received, and support perceived. In fact, research has found actual support has no effect on alleviatin
A groundbreaking discovery by chemists at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) will have a significant impact on how pharmaceutical companies develop new drug treatments. The breakthrough involves fluorine, which forms the second strongest carbon bond (C-F) known to science, after the carbon-silicon (C-S) bond.
The official name of Facebook's newest Menlo Park building, MPK 21, may evoke computer jargon, but the gleaming new offices at its headquarters are anything but mundane—they offer a village where employees can gather, create and relax.
Midtjyske politikere har i budgetforlig valgt at se bort fra et forslag fra Specialeråd for Neurologi, der ønskede fusionere to af de tre neurologiske afdelinger i regionen.
Taking fish oil supplements in the later stages of pregnancy is associated with a higher weight (BMI) in children in the first six years of life, but not an increased risk of overweight or obesity by age 6, a new study suggests.
The commonly used painkiller diclofenac is associated with an increased risk of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, compared with no use, paracetamol use, and use of other traditional painkillers, a new study finds.
As Qualcomm battled rival Broadcom's hostile takeover bid earlier this year—probably the biggest threat to the company in its 33-year history—it continued to pour money into developing next generation 5G wireless technologies.
An international team led by Chin-Fei Lee at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) has discovered a very small accretion disk formed around one of the youngest protostars, with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA). This discovery poses a constraint on current theory of disk formation stronger than before, by pushing the disk formation time by a fact
You are on a rock speeding through space. On this rock called Earth every single mineral tells you something about planetary formation. This week astronauts and space engineers will unlock the mystery of those minerals as they start an ESA geology field training course to prepare for future exploration of the Moon, Mars and asteroids.
This is the first time that scientists have demonstrated the cleavage (breakage) of a carbon-fluorine bond through oxidation in proteins. This means that it may be possible that human bodies are capable of breaking these bonds in the drugs that are consumed.
Contrary to earlier assumptions, the intestines of newborn calves are not sterile, but contain DNA from various bacteria. Bacteria or their fragments originating in the dam may be significant to the development of the intestinal immune system.
Researchers from the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have discovered that the activation of brain cells called microglia likely contributes to the memory loss and other cognitive impairments suffered by many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study, which will be published Sept. 5 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that ACE inhibitors — a class of drugs com
Animals' lives follow a quicker tempo as they get farther from the equator — birds at more northern latitudes mature faster, start reproducing younger, and live shorter lives, probably as a way of dealing with seasonal variation in resources. A new study shows for the first time that this pattern also plays out in birds' feathers, with northern birds completing their annual molt faster to keep up
University of Montana researchers and their partners recently published a study in Nature Ecology and Evolution chronicling an evolutionary tie between wolves and when bull elk shed their antlers.
Nuclear energy can't compete on cost with cheap natural gas or renewables and therefore needs the help of policy makers who are willing to promote its low-emission power generation as a way to fight climate change, according to a landmark new study.
New research confronts the elephant in the room—the 'trilemma' of population growth, economic growth and environmental sustainability—and reveals the vast incompatibility of current models of economic development with environmental sustainability.
To help clinicians maximize nutrition and growth in very low birth weight infants, researchers quantified the gains and losses of different nutrition delivery practices during the transition to enteral feeds.
Searching tweets for text or hashtags allowed researchers to gather information on popular ecological phenomena observed in the UK such as the emergence of flying ants and starling murmurations.
There are places in the southern United States where the roadsides are fenced with barbed wire, and the wire is adorned with corpses. The carcasses belong to lizards, rodents, small birds, and even snakes, all impaled on the sharp prongs. These grisly dioramas are the work of the unlikeliest of butchers: a small bird called the loggerhead shrike. The shrike is a hawk trapped in the body of a finc
Last night, in one of the most remarkable upsets of this remarkable political season, Boston City Councilwoman Ayanna Pressley clobbered longtime incumbent Representative Michael Capuano in the Seventh District of Massachusetts. It made me feel old. It made me feel old because I remember a time, before redistricting , when most of the Seventh District of Massachusetts lay in the Eighth District.
An international team of astronomers has discovered a new eclipsing binary system composed of an M-dwarf orbiting a main sequence star. The transiting dwarf star exhibits the so-called relativistic beaming effect. The finding is reported in a paper published August 20 on the arXiv pre-print repository.
Britain's new car sales surged almost a quarter in August from one year earlier, as a government push for cleaner vehicles boosted demand for electric models, industry data showed Wednesday.
Researchers have developed a way to better understand the connections between cells. The research may also shed light on how those connections affect the body's circadian rhythm. If you've ever experienced jet lag, you're familiar with your circadian rhythm, which manages nearly all aspects of metabolism, including sleep-wake cycles, body temperature, and digestion. Every cell in the body has a c
Novo Nordisk Fondens bevilliger Region Sjælland på 835,4 mio. kr. til at løfte regionens borgere med diabetes. Samtidig skal der med bevillingen sættes fokus på socialt udsattes risiko for diabetes.
A research expedition to Mount Everest has shed light on the unique physiological basis of adaptations seen in the native Sherpa people, which make them better suited to life at high altitude. This improved understanding could help improve the treatment of patients with conditions related to reduced levels of oxygen in the blood and tissues.
Animals' lives tend to follow a quicker tempo as they get farther from the equator—birds at more northern latitudes mature faster, start reproducing younger, and live shorter lives, probably as a way of dealing with seasonal variation in resources. A new study from The Auk: Ornithological Advances shows for the first time that this pattern also plays out in birds' feathers, with northern birds com
A group of researchers led by Paula Sánchez-Sáez, a doctoral student in the Department of Astronomy of the Universidad de Chile, managed to determine that the rate of variability in the light emitted by material being swallowed by supermassive black holes in nuclei of active galaxies is determined by the accretion rate, that is, how much matter they are "eating."
A worldwide study involving 20 laboratories has established and standardized a method to measure exact distances within individual biomolecules, down to the scale of one-millionth of the width of a human hair. The new method represents a major improvement of a technology called single-molecule FRET (Förster Resonance Energy Transfer), in which the movement and interaction of fluorescently labeled
Electrochemical water splitting is favorable strategy to produce high-purity H2. The current mainstream catalysts for water electrolysis are precious metals (Pt, RuO2, IrO2), which possess superior catalytic activity, relatively low over-potential and favorable catalytic kinetics, but their high cost and poor cycle stability is still unaffordable. Therefore, researchers seek a new type of hydrogen
A research group led by Shunping Zhang and Hongxing Xu at Wuhan University, China, has developed a quantitative SERS technique to probe the maximum plasmonic fields before effects such as electron tunneling become dominant. The researchers turned to molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-a graphene-like, two-dimensional atomic layer to tune the distance between a gold nanoparticle and a smooth gold film.
Rare Clockwise Tornado What happens when a tornado spins in the opposite direction Rare Clockwise Tornado Video of Rare Clockwise Tornado Earth Wednesday, September 5, 2018 – 08:30 Emilie Lorditch, Staff Writer (Inside Science) — Tornadoes usually rotate counterclockwise but what happens when one is spotted turning the opposite direction? "A tornado is a usually violently rotating column of air
A strain of bacteria found on human skin is becoming resistant to most antibiotics, a new study warns. When Jean Lee came across a case of an otherwise healthy patient who had become seriously ill from a hospital-acquired infection in 2012, she knew she had to investigate further. Lee, who was working as an infectious diseases registrar at a Melbourne hospital, became concerned when the patient e
German carmaker Opel on Wednesday said it planned to shift some 2,000 jobs at its historic Ruesselsheim research and development hub to French engineering group Segula Technologies, in a bid to avoid job cuts under a major turnaround plan.
Whether you're cutting the cable cord or satellite TV subscriptions to save money, or you just need local channels during a weather emergency, I have a simple and easy solution with the Winegard FlatWave Amped indoor amplified HDTV antenna.
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in the U.S. has found that male elk face a trade-off regarding the appropriate time to drop their antlers. In their paper published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, the group describes their 13-year study of elk living in Yellowstone National Park—and the wolves that hunt them.
Its behind-the-scenes collections, like those of all major natural history museums, was vital to scientific research — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Facebook and Twitter executives plan to defend their companies in two congressional hearings on Wednesday, arguing they are aggressively trying to root out foreign actors who want to do the United States harm just weeks before the midterm elections.
A large number of Americans are stepping back from Facebook in the wake of recent scandals over the social network's handling of private user data, a study showed Wednesday.
Fire sygehuse og psykiatrien i Region Sjælland skal deles om opgaverne, når det nye Steno Diabetes Center åbner i regionen. Centret lægger op til en række samarbejder med kommuner og almen praksis.
Et alt for bøvlet system sender for mange praktiserende læger på pension i 60-årsalderen. Her er tre forklaringer på, hvorfor det gik galt. Og et bud på, hvordan vi skal udnytte, at vi har en lydhør minister og en god mulighed for at genskabe gejsten.
In biology, the physical differences between organisms of the same type, for example two humans, originate from so-called developmental noise stemming from probabilistic collisions between reacting molecules and environmental conditions in cells during the early stages of the organism's growth. Generally, mechanisms are in place to prevent biological noise from resulting in incorrect organismal de
Media coverage following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami that caused widespread destruction in northeastern Japan helped raise the profile of a previously 'invisible' part of the population—women who come from other countries to marry Japanese men. The coverage led to some, but not all, women gaining more recognition from their communities, according to joint research from Japan a
A team of researchers at the University of California has found that individual personality differences in social spiders can have an impact on how well the group hunts prey. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their study of Stegodyphus dumicola, a social spider, and what they found.
The UPV/EHU's ENEDI group has conducted a detailed study of the changes in habits brought about by individual metering and charging of heating and domestic hot water in a community of residents in Bilbao, a measure that is due to become compulsory via completion of a Royal Decree. This change could lead to savings of 20 percent, similar to that found in similar studies focused on northern climates
Bacteria in the ocean that mediate the microbial carbon pump (MCP), are reported to substantially influence the carbon cycle of the Earth system. These tiny unicellular organisms, probably smaller than 1 micrometer are playing a disproportionately large role in a process called carbon sequestration. In this process, they take up labile organic carbon produced by phytoplankton, and transfer it into
Researchers at the Toyohashi University of Technology have successfully fabricated a lithium trivanadate (LVO) cathode thick film on a garnet-type oxide solid electrolyte using the aerosol deposition method. The LVO cathode thick-film fabricated on the solid electrolyte showed a large reversible charge and discharge capacity as high as 300 mAh/g and a good cycling stability at 100 ºC. This finding
Cognitive scientists at Lund University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have demonstrated that experimentally induced changes in political attitudes can last over time. Notably, participants who verbally motivated these "false attitudes" exhibited the largest changes. This is the first time a lasting effect of the choice blindness phenomenon has been observed.
A multi-institutional panel of clinicians and scientists convened by The North American Menopause Society and the National Network on Depression Centers Women and Mood Disorders Task Group, and endorsed by the International Menopause Society, have published the first-ever guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of perimenopausal depression simultaneously in the journal Menopause and the Journa
On Tuesday, certain conservative activists spent much of the day enraged on Twitter, hashtagging boycotts, destroying sneakers , and otherwise defacing the Nike swoosh in protest of the company's decision to feature Colin Kaepernick in its reboot of the "Just Do It" campaign. At the same time, certain liberal activists were doing the opposite: tweeting and retweeting support for the very same com
S everal years ago, Kaitlyn Gaynor and her colleagues noticed an intriguing pattern. It started with data from Tanzania, where motion-detecting cameras captured a trend: Antelope that had once roamed primarily in the day were now roving more at night. As Gaynor, a doctoral candidate at UC Berkeley, and her fellow researchers discussed the change, they realized that a similar nocturnal shift had o
Chelation therapy for autism is not based on any scientific rationale and what evidence we have shows it does not work, yet it continues to be offered as an "alternative" treatment.
Why do artichokes look so strange? What makes okra so slimy – and how can science help you turn that attribute into a taste sensation? Two botanists take plant science into the kitchen. (Image credit: Mary Mathis/NPR)
Environment When you let broccoli rot in your fridge, you add noxious gases to more than just your veggie drawer. Let's face it: We've all found liquified lettuce in our veggie drawers. Don't fret. It's arguably impossible to consume 100 percent of the food we buy. But a healthy…
The startup's doppler lidar laser scanner detects not just where things are, but how fast they're moving—a potentially key feature for globe-trotting robo-cars.
When Mustafa Şahin first saw photographs of the submerged ancient church under the waves of Turkey's Lake Iznik, he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.
Representative Mike Capuano was hoping that Massachusetts voters would opt for his decades of experience over the tantalizing gleam of a fresh face. They didn't. Just more than an hour after polls closed on Tuesday night, the 10-term Democrat with a robust progressive voting record suddenly conceded to his über-progressive challenger, the Boston-city-council member Ayanna Pressley. "Clearly the d
A new poll suggests that primary care providers could play an important role in promoting vision care for adults age 50 and older, especially for those most in need of eye exams, and those most sensitive to the cost.
In 1995, a bottlenose dolphin named Billie leaped from the water of Port River, Australia, and began "tail-walking" in circles around Mike Bossley's boat. Her tail was pumping vigorously, her snout was pointed to the sky, and her body was in the air and moving backward. "It was spectacular," recalls Bossley, a naturalist and conservationist. "But I didn't appreciate the significance of it until s
Kelly Slater has joined forces with wave science geeks to create an artificial wave in the middle of the California desert. Will it revolutionize the sport or destroy the soul of surfing? Yes.
Ambitious action on climate change could contribute an extra $26 trillion to the world economy by 2030, international experts said on Wednesday, urging nations and businesses to step up their engagement.
Detailed simulations of planetary formation are revealing how tiny grains of dust turn into giant planets and could shed light on where to find new Earth-like worlds.
The funeral orations for John McCain were widely received as a reminder of what politics should be, in some remembered and perhaps mainly imagined nobler age. The remembered part might include Senator Everett Dirksen of Illinois, the leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, marshaling GOP votes for Lyndon B. Johnson to pass civil-rights legislation in 1964. The imagined part would be the
Updated at 5:29 p.m. ET The former Daily Caller writer and editor Scott Greer has severed all ties with the conservative website after acknowledging that he had written under a pseudonym for the white-supremacist Radix Journal . Greer, who stepped down as an editor at The Daily Caller in June to write a book, said he would drop his contributor status last week after The Atlantic confronted him wi
A Japanese research team led by The University of Tokyo investigated the fragile-to-strong transition of water. Unlike most liquids, when water is cooled, the rate of increase of its viscosity reaches a maximum at a certain low temperature. The team showed that modeling water as a temperature-dependent mixture of two states—disordered fast water and locally ordered slow water—explained the fragile
Japanese car giant Toyota on Wednesday recalled more than one million hybrid cars globally due to a technical problem which could in the worst case cause a fire in the vehicles.
A rocket developed by Chinese company iSpace blasted into space Wednesday carrying three miniature satellites in another milestone for the country's budding private spaceflight industry.
Kun ét teleselskab bød ind på at dække huller i bredbånds- og mobildækningen i Lejre Kommune. Kommunen efterlyser mere konkurrence på dårligt dækkede adresser
The majority of firefighters who died from cardiac arrest had autopsy confirmed evidence of coronary artery disease, or narrowing of the arteries, and structural abnormalities, including an enlarged heart and increased wall thickness of the primary chamber for pumping blood, or left ventricle.
Samarbejdet mellem arkitekter og ingeniører om et kommende udsigtstårn på Camp Adventure i Gisselfeld Klosters skove illustrerer potentialet i en såkaldt parametrisk designproces.
MUMBAI—Kerala was drowning. For over a week, rains had inundated the state, located in southwest India, causing widespread flooding and leading to the deaths of hundreds. Disturbingly, agents of disinformation saw the disaster as the perfect time to strike. Taking to Facebook and to WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned encrypted messaging platform, they disseminated false news of a dam on the verge of bu
For centuries, London has sustained a street-level economy where performers and vendors make a living from the spare change of strangers—but they are being forced to adapt as cash falls out of fashion.
Berlin's IFA tech show is the largest in Europe, and while the hype may not match its American big brother CES, there's no shortage of weird and wonderful devices to reward curious visitors.
An emergency meeting to head off an outbreak of African swine fever across Asia opened in Bangkok on Wednesday, after a mass pig cull in China sparked fears of a potential pandemic.
They may be small and striking, but shrikes are songbirds known for viciously impaling their victims with a razor-sharp bill although experts have long wondered about their ability to subdue much larger prey.
It is a question that millions of parents want answered: will the wildly popular online survival battle game Fortnite soon lose its grip on the attention of their school-age children?
The bonnethead shark, a small member of the hammerhead family, was long thought to be a strict carnivore that would occasionally ingest greens purely by accident.
Searching tweets for text or hashtags allowed researchers to gather information on popular ecological phenomena observed in the UK such as the emergence of flying ants and starling murmurations. Their findings are published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
Researchers held out hope that a famed skull and other valuable objects might somehow be recovered from the ashes of a massive blaze that tore through Brazil's National Museum after firefighters found bone fragments from the collection.
German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer reported higher revenues but lower profits for the second quarter Wednesday, in its first financial statement since its mammoth takeover of US-based Monsanto.
A Jerusalem museum is breathing life into the ancient city with a new virtual reality tour that allows visitors to experience how archaeologists believe Jerusalem looked 2,000 years ago.
Rigsarkivet modtager enorme datamængder fra myndighederne, og den gamle, selvudviklede infrastruktur kan snart ikke følge med mere. Det kan blive dyrt for det offentlige.
More and more elderly people are suffering from malnutrition. People who are unmarried, separated or divorced are most often affected, whilst men and women who are either married or widowed tend to take better care of themselves. This is the conclusion reached in a meta-analysis conducted by resesarchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU).
A research group led by Shunping Zhang and Hongxing Xu at Wuhan University, China, has developed a quantitative SERS technique to probe the maximum plasmonic fields before effects such as electron tunneling become dominant. The researchers turned to molybdenum disulfide (MoS2)-a graphene-like, two-dimensional atomic layer to tune the distance between a gold nanoparticle and a smooth gold film.
Losing a single night's sleep may affect the liver's ability to produce glucose and process insulin, increasing the risk of metabolic diseases such as hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) and type 2 diabetes. The findings of the mouse study are published ahead of print in the American Journal of Physiology–Endocrinology and Metabolism. The research was chosen as an APSselect article for September.
Small, New World monkeys called marmosets can mimic the sleep disturbances, changes in circadian rhythm, and cognitive impairment people with Parkinson's disease develop, according to a new study by scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
It doesn't matter if it's rye, oats, or wheat. As long as it is whole grain, it can prevent type 2 diabetes. This is the finding of a new study from researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and the Danish Cancer Society Research Center. The comprehensive study is a strong confirmation of previous research findings on the importance of whole grains for prevention of type 2 diabetes
Searching tweets for text or hashtags allowed researchers to gather information on popular ecological phenomena observed in the UK such as the emergence of flying ants and starling murmurations. Their findings are published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution.
To help clinicians maximize nutrition and growth in very low birth weight infants, researchers quantified the gains and losses of different nutrition delivery practices during the transition to enteral feeds. Their results were published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
A new study at Columbia found that changes in life expectancy may have influenced voting choices in the 2016 presidential election, with Republicans making gains in counties that had 2.5 times more deaths from suicide, alcohol, and overdose.
Scientists have been training their attention on the developmental and evolutionary determinants of white stripes in clown fish. They now detail why, when, and how these bands arose and help elucidate their role in clown fish social organization.
The amount of physical activity that women undertake is not linked to their risk of early menopause, according to the largest study ever to investigate this question.
The FOXSI sounding rocket will scour the Sun with X-ray vision, looking for the mysterious mini-explosions that heat the corona to millions of degrees.
A team of researchers has shown that in multiple sclerosis, it is not only specific T cells that cause inflammation and lesions in the brain. B cells, a different type of immune cell, also play a role. These cells activate T cells in the blood. This discovery explains how new MS drugs take effect, opening up novel options for treating the disease.
Scientists have investigated the fragile-to-strong transition of water. Unlike most liquids, when water is cooled, the rate of increase of its viscosity reaches a maximum at a certain low temperature. The team showed that modeling water as a temperature-dependent mixture of two states — disordered 'fast' water and locally ordered 'slow' water — explained the fragile-to-strong transition and avoi
In healthy individuals, the Zika virus causes flu-like symptoms. If a pregnant woman becomes infected, the unborn child can suffer from severe brain abnormalities as a result of mechanisms that have not yet been explained. A study shows that Zika virus proteins bind to cellular proteins that are required for neural development.
A new study by scientists at the University of Bristol has shown that ancient global warming was associated with intense rainfall events that had a profound impact on the land and coastal seas.
The DNA in the cell nucleus is highly condensed, and genes must be rendered accessible before they can be activated. A team has now described the action of a protein complex that serves as a yardstick to measure lengths of exposed DNA.
Researchers have discovered how a molecule can help prevent certain types of brain tumors by recognizing and 'disarming' harmful proteins that cause them.
A new research study finds that degraded alpine ecosystems showed limited recovery years after long-term inputs of human-caused nitrogen air pollution, with soil acidification and effects on biodiversity lingering even after a decade of much lower nitrogen input levels.
Researchers report how a particular biochemical signaling pathway cancels biological noise, ensuring the proper stem cell differentiation during development. The conclusions are based on a combination of mathematical modeling and genetic experiments on fruit flies.
Biologists have gained new insights into specific enzymes that effect the specialization of fungal cells. Analyzing the microscopic fungus Sordaria macrospora, they demonstrated that the KIN3 enzyme connects different cellular signalling pathways that are involved in developmental processes. Thus, it is crucial for the sexual life cycle of the fungus.
A team of scientists has uncovered a neurological synergy that occurs in visual adaptation, a phenomenon in which perception is altered by prolonged exposure to a stimulus.
A new study reveals a previously unknown mechanism that governs whether viruses that infect bacteria will quickly kill their hosts or remain latent inside the cell. The discovery also may apply to viruses that infect humans and other animals, the researcher said.
Engineers are developing a cooled, radial gas turbine for a small generator that provides thousands of hours of electricity to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a significant improvement to current UAV turbines that only operate a few hundred hours before wearing out.
A research expedition to Mount Everest has shed light on the unique physiological basis of adaptations seen in the native Sherpa people, which make them better suited to life at high altitude. This improved understanding, which forms part of new research published in Experimental Physiology, could help improve the treatment of patients with conditions related to reduced levels of oxygen in the blo
'Several attempts at drilling' were made by a 'wavering hand' either on Earth or in orbit, in what could be accident or sabotage An air leak on the International Space Station might have been sabotage, according to the head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, and an investigation is under way. Dmitry Rogozin said the hole detected last Thursday in a Russian Soyuz module docked at the ISS was caus
Many patients want more information on the medicines they're prescribed and greater say in the brands they use, the first major study of the burden of long-term medicine use has concluded.
Scientists from the CNRS have been training their attention on the developmental and evolutionary determinants of white stripes in clown fish. In an article published in BMC Biology, they detail why, when, and how these bands arose and help elucidate their role in clown fish social organization.
Coral reef fishes, including clownfish, display a wide variety of colors but it remains unclear how these colors evolved or how they develop throughout a fish's life. Research published in BMC Biology sheds new light on the evolution of different stripe patterns in clownfish and on how these patterns change as individuals from different species grow from larvae into adults.
Increased levels of the hormone aldosterone, already associated with hypertension, can play a significant role in the development of diabetes, particularly among certain racial groups, researchers report.
Coral reef fishes, including clownfish, display a wide variety of colors but it remains unclear how these colors evolved or how they develop throughout a fish's life. Research published in BMC Biology sheds new light on the evolution of different stripe patterns in clownfish and on how these patterns change as individuals from different species grow from larvae into adults.
A model developed using artificial intelligence is better at predicting risk of death in patients with heart disease than models designed by medical experts, a new study shows.
Scientists have applied synthetic DNA technology to engineer a novel eCD4-Ig anti-HIV agent and to enhance its potency in vivo, providing a new simple strategy for constructing complex therapeutics for infectious agents as well as for diverse implications in therapeutic delivery.
A large genomic analysis has linked certain DNA mutations to a high risk of relapse in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, while other mutations were associated with better outcomes, according to researchers.
Researchers have found a mechanism for how amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) evolves. The discovery concerns how proteins with a defect structure spread the deformation to other proteins.
A first-of-its-kind study used herbarium specimens to track insect herbivory across more than a century, and found that, across four species — shagbark hickory (Carya ovata), swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor), showy tick trefoil (Desmodium canadense) and wild lowbush blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) — specimens collected in the early 2000s were 23 percent more likely to be damaged by insect h
Half (51 percent) of people invited to bowel screening for the first time in 2015 didn't take part, according to the latest figures from Cancer Research UK.
The amount of physical activity that women undertake is not linked to their risk of early menopause, according to the largest study ever to investigate this question. Until now, there have been conflicting findings about the relation between physical activity and menopause, with some studies suggesting that women who are very physically active may be at lower risk of a menopause before the age of
Principles of game theory offer new ways of understanding genetic behavior, a pair of researchers has concluded in a new analysis appearing in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Its work opens the possibility of comprehending biological processes, and specifically biochemistry, through a new scientific lens.
60% of the bonnethead shark's diet is made up of seagrass, which they happily graze upon as well as eating fish, crabs, snails and shrimp It is one of the most radical rebrandings in history: contrary to their bloodthirsty image, some sharks are not irrepressible meat eaters, but are happy to munch on vegetation too. According to US researchers, one of the most common sharks in the world, a relat
No improvement in global levels of physical activity since 2001.Worldwide, around 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men do not do enough physical activity to stay healthy.Levels of insufficient physical activity are more than twice as high in high-income countries compared to low-income countries, and increased by 5 percent in high-income countries between 2001 and 2016.
Hospital doctors in England and Wales are increasingly choosing to take early retirement, figures released to The BMJ by the NHS Business Services Authority in response to a freedom of information request show.
Taking fish oil supplements in the later stages of pregnancy is associated with a higher weight (BMI) in children in the first six years of life, but not an increased risk of overweight or obesity by age 6, suggest the findings of a large randomised controlled trial published by The BMJ today.
The commonly used painkiller diclofenac is associated with an increased risk of major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and stroke, compared with no use, paracetamol use, and use of other traditional painkillers, finds a study published by The BMJ this week.
Scientists have produced the most precise picture to date of population dynamics in fluctuating feast-or-famine conditions. Biological physicists found that bacterial population density is a function of both the frequency and the amplitude of nutrient fluctuations.
New research indicates that what future precipitation California gets will be pretty much limited to the winter months — think deluge-type rainfall rather than snow — and non-winter months will be even dryer than usual, with little or no rain at all.
Heavily traumatized people such as refugees fleeing war, torture and natural catastrophes may not necessarily develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a new study reveals.
Science Science tackles the hard questions at last. What's the recipe that separates making a good bubble from making a bad bubble? A team of mathematicians took on the daunting question.
What We're Following White House Woes: President Donald Trump bemoaned the indictments of "two very popular Republican Congressmen … just ahead of the Mid-Terms," in a tweet that openly expressed a corrupt vision of the Justice Department. Trump has long had a fraught relationship with Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and a new book by the acclaimed journalist Bob Woodward reveals even more infigh
Scientists have discovered that the time of day influences the way mice respond to steroids. Researchers found that out of 752 genes which regulate lungs in mice, 230 genes work only in the day and 197 only at night.
Medical researchers are working toward a more focused drug delivery system that could target tumors lodged in the brainstem, the body's most precious system.
Doctors have long known that in the months after a heart attack or stroke, patients are more likely to have another attack or stroke. Now, an article explains what happens inside blood vessels to increase risk — and suggests a new way to treat it.
Scientists have discovered how prostate cancer can sometimes withstand and outwit a standard hormone therapy, causing the cancer to spread. Their findings also point to a simple blood test that may help doctors predict when this type of hormone therapy resistance will occur.
Written by Elaine Godfrey ( @elainejgodfrey ), Madeleine Carlisle ( @maddiecarlisle2 ), and Olivia Paschal ( @oliviacpaschal ) Today in 5 Lines In an explosive new book by journalist Bob Woodward, Trump administration officials and aides are quoted criticizing the president and questioning his ability to lead. The White House said the book was "nothing more than fabricated stories." The first day
Technology Insomniac games started with real physics and tweaked to make swinging around the city a blast. Swinging around the map is a lot more fun than plodding around on a digital horse.
Scientists report they were unable to reproduce the results of a well-known study showing that people are less likely to cheat on a task after making a list of the Ten Commandments.
Before the Taliban announced Tuesday that he was dead; before, in fact, he was reported dead in 2015; and indeed before he waged violent attacks against the U.S. and its allies inside Afghanistan, Jalaluddin Haqqani was a U.S. ally in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. George Crile in his book Charlie Wilson's War quoted the Democratic congressman from Texas who championed the anti-Sov
The head of a key US regulatory agency called Tuesday for Silicon Valley firms to provide more transparency about how they operate, raising the possibility of tougher regulations for technology firms.
Sally Davies fears medical advances like transplants are at risk from resistant bacteria The advances of modern medicine will be lost and the transplanting of organs abandoned if countries fail to tackle the rise in antibiotic resistance, Britain's most senior medical adviser has warned. Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, told MPs on the health and social care committee on
Writer and director Judd Apatow, one of several high-profile artists that threatened to drop out of the festival, said he wouldn't participate in an event that "normalizes hate." Read More
A group of 200 artists, actors, musicians and scientists have signed an open letter calling for the world's politicians to act "firmly and immediately" on climate change in order to avoid a "global cataclysm". Read More
A new study has demonstrated the tissue regenerative potential of a chemoattractant delivery system that can draw mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to the site of intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration.
Scientists at Cedars-Sinai have discovered how prostate cancer can sometimes withstand and outwit a standard hormone therapy, causing the cancer to spread. Their findings also point to a simple blood test that may help doctors predict when this type of hormone therapy resistance will occur.
Doctors have long known that in the months after a heart attack or stroke, patients are more likely to have another attack or stroke. Now, a paper in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology explains what happens inside blood vessels to increase risk — and suggests a new way to treat it.
Using a laser to detect the effect of radio waves on certain atoms is the basis for a new kind of antenna that resists interference and can receive a wider range of signals.
Unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the current warming from climate change may drive a dramatic shift in vegetation within the next 100-150 years, according to new research. The change could match the one seen as the last ice age came to an end and the planet warmed, researchers say. "We found that ecosystems all over the globe experienced big changes," says Connor Nolan, a doctoral candi
Scientists at The Universities of Manchester and Leeds have discovered that the time of day influences the way mice respond to steroids.Professor David Ray, from The University of Manchester, lead the research which found that out of 752 genes which regulate lungs in mice, 230 genes work only in the day and 197 only at night.
Previous studies have shown that Mexican immigrants living in the United States are less likely to have insurance or to report a usual source of care than Mexican-Americans, other Latinos and non-Latino whites. But the Affordable Care Act may have made it easier for them to access health care when they need it.
When they must act quickly, selfish people are likely to act more selfishly than usual, while pro-social people behave even more pro-socially, a new study found.
Amid the artists and free thinkers of the Burning Man festival are thousands of information technologists, computer programmers, and Silicon Valley executives who incorporate parts of the experience into their work cultures, according to Fred Turner. Every August, fire-breathing dancers, costumed performers, and free-thinking artists gather in the Nevada desert to celebrate Burning Man, a counter
Twitter's CEO says the company is not biased against Republicans or Democrats and is working on ways to ensure that debate is healthier on its platform.
Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, which suffered a massive fire late Sunday, boasted the largest archive of historical artifacts and documents in Latin America, some 20 million pieces from around the globe. Museum officials say it's too soon to say what has been lost or spared.
Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have produced the most precise picture to date of population dynamics in fluctuating feast-or-famine conditions. Professor Seppe Kuehn, a biological physicist, and his graduate student Jason Merritt found that bacterial population density is a function of both the frequency and the amplitude of nutrient fluctuations. They found that the
Louisiana State University is leveraging its expertise to improve coastal and environmental conditions in communities around the world. Experts are working to identify how small, coastal villages in the East African nation of Tanzania get caught in poverty traps, or mechanisms that cause poverty to persist in low-income communities. They are evaluating 13 different villages across the Pangani and
The governor of Arizona announced Tuesday that Jon Kyl will replace the Senate seat vacated by the late John McCain. He may now further push to regulate tech giants like Facebook.
A new study of K-12 STEM educators demonstrates how adding linguistic information into classroom teaching can help remove barriers to STEM achievement for African-American students. The article, "Balancing the Communication Equation: An Outreach and Engagement Model for Using Sociolinguistics to Enhance Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining K-12 STEM Education," by Christine Mallinson (Universi
Research from the University of Georgia indicates that head-starting—raising a species in captivity and releasing it into a protected habitat after it has grown large enough to be less vulnerable to predators—is a useful intervention for boosting the state's gopher tortoise population, which has been declining in numbers for decades due to predation, poaching and loss of suitable habitat.
Rice University atomic physicists have verified a key prediction from a 55-year-old theory about one-dimensional electronics that is increasingly relevant thanks to Silicon Valley's inexorable quest for miniaturization.
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Jebi on Sept. 4 at 12:17 a.m. EDT (417 UTC) it had made landfall in southeastern Japan. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument analyzed the storm in infrared light which provides temperature information. Temperature is important when trying to understand how strong storms can be. The higher the cloud tops, the colder and the strong
Diving in icy water is extremely dangerous to humans. Within seconds, arteries tighten, blood pressure and heart rate race, and lungs gasp for air. After only minutes, hyperventilation strikes and arms and legs go numb—signaling the onset of hypothermia.
Political bias often leads to polarization on topics like climate change. But a new study has shown that exposure to anonymous, bipartisan social networks can make a striking difference, leading both liberals and conservatives to improve their forecasting of climate-change trends.
New research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business finds that people significantly underestimate the positive impact a letter of gratitude has on its recipient.
Scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have produced the most precise picture to date of population dynamics in fluctuating feast-or-famine conditions. Professor Seppe Kuehn, a biological physicist, and his graduate student Jason Merritt found that bacterial population density is a function of both the frequency and the amplitude of nutrient fluctuations.
In 1784, a Brazilian boy who was looking for a lost cow found a gigantic meteorite instead. The 11,600-pound rock was so cumbersome to transport that it took people almost a century to get it to the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, where it has since been on proud display. And having once survived the heat of falling through the atmosphere, the Bendegó meteorite also seems to have survived the
Ever wonder why flat earthers, birthers, climate change and Holocaust deniers stick to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary? New findings suggest that feedback, rather than hard evidence, boosts people's sense of certainty when learning new things or trying to tell right from wrong.
Researchers have conducted a detailed study of the changes in habits brought about by individual metering and charging of heating and domestic hot water in a community of residents.
Scientists have examined what is happening to the lipids in the heart and circulating blood plasma during exercise compared to a failing heart as a novel way to advance prediction and treatment of heart failure.
Researchers have demonstrated that gene therapy can be effective without causing a dangerous side effect common to all gene therapy: an autoimmune reaction to the normal protein, which the patient's immune system is encountering for the first time.
American workers' occupational status reflects that of their parents more than previously known, reaffirming more starkly that the lack of mobility in the United States is in large part due to the occupation of our parents.
An international team of researchers has proposed a new method to investigate the inner workings of supernovae explosions. This new method uses meteorites and is unique in that it can determine the contribution from electron anti-neutrinos, enigmatic particles which can't be tracked through other means.
Space The leak has been repaired, but its origins remain mysterious. Air slowly seeped out of a hole aboard a Russian vessel connected to the International Space Station last week.
Louisiana State University researchers are evaluating 13 different villages across the Pangani and Rufiji districts of Tanzania and analyzing the local mangrove ecosystems, including how humans influence and interact with these ecosystems.
On Tuesday, The Washington Post published excerpts of the famed journalist Bob Woodward's forthcoming book on Donald Trump's White House. The excerpts reveal a White House in turmoil: Several current and former administration officials and aides are quoted expressing a lack of confidence in the president. Most notably, Defense Secretary James Mattis, who has, up until now, maintained a relatively
Hong Chen reached across disciplines, and within her own department, to work toward a more focused drug delivery system that could target tumors lodged in the brainstem, the body's most precious system.
Scientists report they were unable to reproduce the results of a well-known study showing that people are less likely to cheat on a task after making a list of the Ten Commandments. Their findings are published in a Registered Replication Report (RRR) in Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Many of the vaccines critically needed to fight the world's most prevalent infectious diseases are not likely to be developed. A financial modeling study of 538 candidate products for 35 neglected diseases estimated the costs and likelihood that each would progress to a product launch. Using a new tool known as Portfolio-to-Impact (P2I), the researchers found only 128 of those candidates would mak
Research indicates that head-starting — raising a species in captivity and releasing it into a protected habitat after it has grown large enough to be less vulnerable to predators — is a useful intervention for boosting the state's gopher tortoise population.
Atomic physicists have verified a key prediction from a 55-year-old theory about one-dimensional electronics that is increasingly relevant thanks to Silicon Valley's inexorable quest for miniaturization.
Adults in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere perform better in cognitive tests in early autumn, and dementia symptoms peak in winter and spring
The Republican majority in the Senate is back to full strength following the death of John McCain, and the reinforcement is a familiar face both to Arizonans and the Washington establishment. Former Senator Jon Kyl, who served three terms in the Senate representing Arizona until 2013, will return to the Capitol as McCain's temporary replacement, Governor Doug Ducey announced on Tuesday. Kyl's app
A new method has made it possible to identify 25 parallel mutations located in genes associated with wound healing, blood coagulation and cardiovascular disorders. The results could help to develop new drugs to treat aging-related diseases. The research confirms the theory that some genes that help us in the initial stages of life are harmful to us once the reproductive stage has ended.
Finding an effective way to identify people with mild cognitive impairment who are most likely to go on to develop Alzheimer's disease has eluded researchers for years. But now, a team of researchers has devised a novel strategy that could do just that.
A new study suggests that Huntington's disease may take effect much earlier in life than was previously believed, and that a new drug may be key in controlling the disease.
Titanium-based materials are widely used in medical implant technology, and coating the surface of titanium materials with biologically active molecules has recently shown promise to improve how cells adhere to implants. The mechanisms behind how peptides stick to titanium, however, are not fully understood. Researchers have now found how calcium ions present at the interface between titanium oxid
Rice University atomic physicists have verified a key prediction from a 55-year-old theory about one-dimensional electronics that is increasingly relevant thanks to Silicon Valley's inexorable quest for miniaturization.
Research from the University of Georgia indicates that head-starting — raising a species in captivity and releasing it into a protected habitat after it has grown large enough to be less vulnerable to predators — is a useful intervention for boosting the state's gopher tortoise population.
Space Researchers are testing how life on the International Space Station affects the microbiome. It turns out that when a person alters their normal sleep-wake cycle, the community of microorganisms in their gut—their microbiome—changes, too.
Adults both with and without Alzheimer's disease have better cognition skills in the late summer and early fall than in the winter and spring, according to a new study.
Marine predators that lived in deep waters during the Jurassic Period thrived as sea levels rose, while species that dwelled in the shallows died out, research suggests.
A group of new smart materials has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of fuel burn in jet engines, cutting the cost of flying. The materials, which could also reduce airplane noise over residential areas, have additional applications in a variety of other industries.
Accurate projections of sea level rise require sophisticated models for glacier flow, but current approaches do a poor job capturing the physical processes that control how fast glaciers slide over sediments, according to researchers. In a new study, they've proposed a theoretical approach that sheds light on the dirty, dark undersides of glaciers and improve the modeling of ice flow.
A radio telescope in outback Western Australia has been used to observe radiation from cosmic rays in two neighbouring galaxies, showing areas of star formation and echoes of past supernovae.
The number of osteoporosis medications that promote bone formation are few compared to those that suppress bone resorption. Researchers have discovered that the gene SIRT7 is important for bone formation, and have succeeded in finding a new mechanism to activate gene functions essential for bone formation.
A new study of K-12 STEM educators demonstrates how adding linguistic information into classroom teaching can help remove barriers to STEM achievement for African-American students. The article, 'Balancing the Communication Equation: An Outreach and Engagement Model for Using Sociolinguistics to Enhance Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining K-12 STEM Education,' by Christine Mallinson (Universi
The FOXSI sounding rocket will scour the Sun with X-ray vision, looking for the mysterious mini-explosions that heat the corona to millions of degrees.
Ever wonder why flat earthers, birthers, climate change and Holocaust deniers stick to their beliefs in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary? New findings suggest that feedback, rather than hard evidence, boosts people's sense of certainty when learning new things or trying to tell right from wrong.
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Jebi on Sept. 4 at 12:17 a.m. EDT (417 UTC) it had made landfall in southeastern Japan. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument analyzed the storm in infrared light which provides temperature information. Temperature is important when trying to understand how strong storms can be. The higher the cloud tops, the colder and the strong
A University of Virginia Health System emergency medicine physician helped develop new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) treatment recommendations for children with concussions, also known as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
One unexpected by-product of the Trump administration has been the resurgence of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward. It's not just that Watergate feels freshly relevant and impeachment is on tongues around the country. The two aging reporters are making vital contributions once more. Bernstein has contributed to several major stories, including the revelation of the Steele dossier . Now comes Woodwa
Sara Haider, a product-management director at Twitter, asked for feedback on some new features the company is considering on Friday. "Hey Twitter. We've been playing with some rough features to make it feel more conversational here," she tweeted , sharing images of reply threading and an online-status indicator. "Still early and iterating on these ideas. Thoughts?" she asked . While some users re
France will impose a daily cap of 214 climbers on Mont Blanc next year, one of several measures taken to limit overcrowding on Europe's highest peak, a local official said Tuesday.
As Amazon became the second US firm to hit a trillion-dollar value on the stock market, founder Jeff Bezos regained the crown as the richest person on the planet.
Researchers have discovered how a molecule can help prevent certain types of brain tumors by recognizing and 'disarming' harmful proteins that cause them.
UC Riverside Earth Sciences Professor Robert Allen's research indicates that what future precipitation California gets will be pretty much limited to the winter months — think deluge-type rainfall rather than snow — and non-winter months will be even dryer than usual, with little or no rain at all.
Bacteria that were thought to be resistant to a powerful antibiotic may be susceptible to treatment after all, research from the University of Edinburgh has found.
Adults both with and without Alzheimer's disease have better cognition skills in the late summer and early fall than in the winter and spring, according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine by Andrew Lim of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto, Canada, and colleagues.
It has been proposed that the summer "South Flood–North Drought" (SFND) pattern observed in China over recent decades is caused by the relative impacts of global warming, aerosol loading, and natural variability on regional rainfall (1–3). This conclusion is supported by a recent study by Day et al. (4) in…
Day et al. (1) present a lens for understanding the rainfall climatology of eastern China. Frontal rainfall occurs year-round due to a unique juxtaposition of continental configuration and orography. By creating an algorithm to identify frontal rain events (FREs), we are able to identify changes in properties, such as their…
In PNAS, Meyer et al. (1) analyze whether exclusion devices in trawl nets contributed to New Zealand sea lion (NZSL; Phocarctos hookeri) population decline at the Auckland Islands. We refute the primary conclusion from their correlative assessment: that annual pup production changes (as a measure of population size) were primarily…
In Meyer et al. (1), we fitted a Bayesian state-space Gompertz population model to assess whether the implementation of sea lion exclusion devices (SLEDs) in trawl fisheries has served to protect New Zealand sea lions (NZSLs) or obscured ongoing mortality. We found strong evidence of obscured ongoing mortality. Roberts et…
Biofilm communities of Bacillus subtilis bacteria have recently been shown to exhibit collective growth-rate oscillations mediated by electrochemical signaling to cope with nutrient starvation. These oscillations emerge once the colony reaches a large enough number of cells. However, it remains unclear whether the amplitude of the oscillations, and thus their…
New organic semiconductors are essential for developing inexpensive, high-efficiency, solution-processable polymer solar cells (PSCs). PSC photoactive layers are typically fabricated by film-casting a donor polymer and a fullerene acceptor blend, with ensuing solvent evaporation and phase separation creating discrete conduits for photogenerated holes and electrons. Until recently, n-type fullerene
Western United States wildfire increases have been generally attributed to warming temperatures, either through effects on winter snowpack or summer evaporation. However, near-surface air temperature and evaporative demand are strongly influenced by moisture availability and these interactions and their role in regulating fire activity have never been fully explored. Here…
During dynamic terrestrial locomotion, animals use complex multifunctional feet to extract friction from the environment. However, whether roboticists assume sufficient surface friction for locomotion or actively compensate for slipping, they use relatively simple point-contact feet. We seek to understand and extract the morphological adaptations of animal feet that contribute to…
Variations in a multitude of material microenvironmental properties have been observed across tissues in vivo, and these have profound effects on cell phenotype. Phenomenological experiments have suggested that certain of these features of the physical microenvironment, such as stiffness, could sensitize cells to other features; meanwhile, mechanistic studies have detailed…
Two phase 3 placebo-controlled trials of the CYD-TDV vaccine, evaluated in children aged 2−14 y (CYD14) and 9−16 y (CYD15), demonstrated vaccine efficacy (VE) of 56.5% and 60.8%, respectively, against symptomatic virologically confirmed dengue (VCD). Sieve analyses were conducted to evaluate whether and how VE varied with amino acid sequence…
Aggressive neurosurgical resection to achieve sustained local control is essential for prolonging survival in patients with lower-grade glioma. However, progression in many of these patients is characterized by local regrowth. Most lower-grade gliomas harbor isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) or IDH2 mutations, which sensitize to metabolism-altering agents. To improve local control…
The Notch-signaling pathway is normally activated by Notch–ligand interactions. A recent structural analysis suggested that a novel O-linked hexose modification on serine 435 of the mammalian NOTCH1 core ligand-binding domain lies at the interface with its ligands. This serine occurs between conserved cysteines 3 and 4 of Epidermal Growth Factor-like…
Defects in cilia have been associated with an expanding human disease spectrum known as ciliopathies. Regulatory Factor X 3 (RFX3) is one of the major transcription factors required for ciliogenesis and cilia functions. In addition, RFX3 regulates pancreatic islet cell differentiation and mature β-cell functions. However, how RFX3 protein is…
Complex I couples the free energy released from quinone (Q) reduction to pump protons across the biological membrane in the respiratory chains of mitochondria and many bacteria. The Q reduction site is separated by a large distance from the proton-pumping membrane domain. To address the molecular mechanism of this long-range…
Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs) catalyze membrane fusion by forming coiled-coil bundles between membrane bilayers. The SNARE bundle zippers progressively toward the membranes, pulling the lipid bilayers into close proximity to fuse. In this work, we found that the +1 and +2 layers in the C-terminal domains (CTDs)…
Twist transcription factors function as ancestral regulators of mesodermal cell fates in organisms ranging from Drosophila to mammals. Through lineage tracing of Twist2 (Tw2)-expressing cells with tamoxifen-inducible Tw2-CreERT2 and tdTomato (tdTO) reporter mice, we discovered a unique cell population that progressively contributes to cardiomyocytes (CMs), endothelial cells, and fibroblasts in…
Protein concentration gradients organize cells and tissues and commonly form through diffusion away from a local source of protein. Interestingly, during the asymmetric division of the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, the RNA-binding proteins MEX-5 and PIE-1 form opposing concentration gradients in the absence of a local source. In this study, we…
Wild-living African apes are endemically infected with parasites that are closely related to human Plasmodium vivax, a leading cause of malaria outside Africa. This finding suggests that the origin of P. vivax was in Africa, even though the parasite is now rare in humans there. To elucidate the emergence of…
A variety of innate immune responses and functions are dependent on time of day, and many inflammatory conditions are associated with dysfunctional molecular clocks within immune cells. However, the functional importance of these innate immune clocks has yet to be fully characterized. NRF2 plays a critical role in the innate…
Inflammatory responses are terminated by the clearance of dead cells, a process termed efferocytosis. A consequence of efferocytosis is the synthesis of the antiinflammatory mediators TGF-β, PGE2, and IL-10; however, the efferocytosis of infected cells favors Th17 responses by eliciting the synthesis of TGF-β, IL-6, and IL-23. Recently, we showed…
Molecular alterations that confer phenotypic advantages to tumors can also expose specific therapeutic vulnerabilities. To search for potential treatments that would selectively affect metastatic cells, we examined the sensitivity of lineage-related human bladder cancer cell lines with different lung colonization abilities to chloroquine (CQ) or bafilomycin A1, which are inhibitors…
Linear growth delay (stunting) affects roughly 155 million children under the age of 5 years worldwide. Treatment has been limited by a lack of understanding of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Stunting is most likely associated with changes in the microbial community of the small intestine, a compartment vital for digestion…
Macrophages are generally assumed to unload surplus cholesterol through direct interactions between ABC transporters on the plasma membrane and HDLs, but they have also been reported to release cholesterol-containing particles. How macrophage-derived particles are formed and released has not been clear. To understand the genesis of macrophage-derived particles, we imaged…
Re-engineering of complex biological systems (CBS) is an important goal for applications in synthetic biology. Efforts have been made to simplify CBS by refactoring a large number of genes with rearranged polycistrons and synthetic regulatory circuits. Here, a posttranslational protein-splicing strategy derived from RNA viruses was exploited to minimize gene…
The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is a critical barrier that prevents entry of noxious compounds. Integral to this functionality is the presence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipooligosaccharide (LOS), a molecule that is located exclusively in the outer leaflet of the outer membrane. Its lipid anchor, lipid A, is a…
Intraspecific competition describes the negative interaction that occurs when different populations of the same species attempt to fill the same niche. Such competition is predicted to occur among host-associated bacteria but has been challenging to study in natural biological systems. Although many bioluminescent Vibrio fischeri strains exist in seawater, only…
Traditional theories of sensorimotor learning posit that animals use sensory error signals to find the optimal motor command in the face of Gaussian sensory and motor noise. However, most such theories cannot explain common behavioral observations, for example, that smaller sensory errors are more readily corrected than larger errors and…
Inherited retinal degenerations are caused by mutations in >250 genes that affect photoreceptor cells or the retinal pigment epithelium and result in vision loss. For autosomal recessive and X-linked retinal degenerations, significant progress has been achieved in the field of gene therapy as evidenced by the growing number of clinical…
Advillin is a sensory neuron-specific actin-binding protein expressed at high levels in all types of somatosensory neurons in early development. However, the precise role of advillin in adulthood is largely unknown. Here we reveal advillin expression restricted to isolectin B4-positive (IB4+) neurons in the adult dorsal root ganglia (DRG). Advillin…
Although motor subtypes of Parkinson's disease (PD), such as tremor dominant (TD) and postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD), have been defined based on symptoms since the mid-1990s, no underlying neural correlates of these clinical subtypes have yet been identified. Very limited data exist regarding the electrophysiological abnormalities within the…
Particle tracking is a powerful biophysical tool that requires conversion of large video files into position time series, i.e., traces of the species of interest for data analysis. Current tracking methods, based on a limited set of input parameters to identify bright objects, are ill-equipped to handle the spectrum of…
Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are a central component for the biological synthesis of proteins, and they are among the most highly conserved and frequently transcribed genes in all living things. Despite their clear significance for fundamental cellular processes, the forces governing tRNA evolution are poorly understood. We present evidence that transcription-associated…
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the progressive destruction and dysfunction of central neurons. AD patients commonly have unprovoked seizures compared with age-matched controls. Amyloid peptide-related inflammation is thought to be an important aspect of AD pathogenesis. We previously reported that NLRP3 inflammasome KO mice, when bred into APPswe/PS1ΔE9 (APP/PS1)…
Ligaments serve as compliant connectors between hard tissues. In that role, they function under various load regimes and directions. The 3D structure of ligaments is considered to form as a uniform entity that changes due to function. The periodontal ligament (PDL) connects the tooth to the bone and sustains different…
Abnormally enlarged early endosomes (EEs) are pathological features of neurodegenerative diseases, yet insight into the mechanisms and consequences of EE expansion remains elusive. Here, we report swollen apical EEs in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of aged human donors and in the pigmented Abca4−/− mouse model of Stargardt early-onset macular…
Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful model organism for dissecting the neurogenetic basis of appetitive and aversive behaviors. However, some methods used to assay food preference require or cause starvation. This can be problematic for fly ethanol research because it can be difficult to dissociate caloric preference for ethanol from pharmacological…
The blood-aqueous barrier plays a key role in regulating aqueous humor homeostasis by selectively restricting passage of proteins into the eye. The kinetics of aqueous flow are traditionally measured using artificial markers; however, these marker molecules do not address the barrier's selective permeability to plasma proteins. Here we applied stable…
Stomatal guard cells develop unique chloroplasts in land plant species. However, the developmental mechanisms and function of chloroplasts in guard cells remain unclear. In seed plants, chloroplast membrane lipids are synthesized via two pathways: the prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathways. Here we report the central contribution of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-derived chloroplast…
NEUROSCIENCE Correction for "Coordinated prefrontal–hippocampal activity and navigation strategy-related prefrontal firing during spatial memory formation," by Ignacio Negrón-Oyarzo, Nelson Espinosa, Marcelo Aguilar, Marco Fuenzalida, Francisco Aboitiz, and Pablo Fuentealba, which was first published June 18, 2018; 10.1073/pnas.1720117115 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:7123–7128). The authors note th
SYSTEMS BIOLOGY Correction for "Nongenetic origins of cell-to-cell variability in B lymphocyte proliferation," by Simon Mitchell, Koushik Roy, Thomas A. Zangle, and Alexander Hoffmann, which was first published March 7, 2018; 10.1073/pnas.1715639115 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 115:E2888–E2897). The authors wish to note the following: "We have become aware that…
CELL BIOLOGY Correction to Supporting Information for "Genome-wide CRISPR screen for PARKIN regulators reveals transcriptional repression as a determinant of mitophagy," by Christoph Potting, Christophe Crochemore, Francesca Moretti, Florian Nigsch, Isabel Schmidt, Carole Manneville, Walter Carbone, Judith Knehr, Rowena DeJesus, Alicia Lindeman, Rob Maher, Carsten Russ, Gregory McAllister, John S.
Tracing the evolution of a human malarial parasite Chimpanzees may harbor a reservoir of P. vivax. Image courtesy of iStock/Fotoamator. Every year more than 8 million people are infected with the malarial parasite Plasmodium vivax, mostly in Southeast Asia and South America. Human P. vivax has failed to gain a…
Effective treatments for gliomas remain elusive despite decades of work investigating the biological basis of these tumors. There have been many recent advances in knowledge that have leveraged the tools of genetics, genomics, epigenetics, and proteomics to allow investigators to more finely subclassify and make more detailed prognostic assessments (1)….
In the 1970s, investigators were already envisioning new technologies to generate crops that could utilize nitrogen (N2) from air to produce their own fixed N species, stating that "cereals that could provide their own fertilizer are beyond doubt the biggest prize of all in the gift of the new biology"…
The outer membrane (OM) of the diderm "gram-negative" class of bacteria is an essential organelle and a robust permeability barrier that prevents many antibiotics from reaching their intracellular targets (1). The OM is a unique asymmetrical lipid bilayer (Fig. 1): The inner leaflet is composed of phospholipids (PLs), and the…
Over the last few decades humanity has experienced a series of tremendous technological advances, especially in the realm of basic science. A plethora of new approaches has allowed us to appreciate life in previously unimaginable detail, prompting the realization that life in the microscopic world is not so different from…
Fundamental transitions in natural resources technologies, institutions, and management approaches are often difficult to see in advance, or even in the midst, of actual changes. Such a transformation now appears to be underway for freshwater resources, driven by increasingly severe water-related crises around the world. These include mismatches between supply…
Monumental architecture is a prime indicator of social complexity, because it requires many people to build a conspicuous structure commemorating shared beliefs. Examining monumentality in different environmental and economic settings can reveal diverse reasons for people to form larger social units and express unity through architectural display. In multiple areas…
Transcriptional coactivators are a molecular recognition marvel because a single domain within these proteins, the activator binding domain or ABD, interacts with multiple compositionally diverse transcriptional activators. Also remarkable is the structural diversity among ABDs, which range from conformationally dynamic helical motifs to those with a stable core such as…
Helicobacter pylori is a human pathogen that infects the stomach, where it experiences variable pH. To survive the acidic gastric conditions, H. pylori produces large quantities of urease, a nickel enzyme that hydrolyzes urea to ammonia, which neutralizes the local environment. One of the regulators of urease expression in H….
In many important processes in chemistry, physics, and biology the nuclear degrees of freedom cannot be described using the laws of classical mechanics. At the same time, the vast majority of molecular simulations that employ wide-coverage force fields treat atomic motion classically. In light of the increasing desire for and…
RNA polymerase I (Pol I) transcribes ribosomal DNA (rDNA) to produce the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) precursor, which accounts for up to 60% of the total transcriptional activity in growing cells. Pol I monitors rDNA integrity and influences cell survival, but little is known about how this enzyme processes UV-induced lesions….
Many Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria employ ribosomal protection proteins (RPPs) to confer resistance to clinically important antibiotics. In Bacillus subtilis, the RPP VmlR confers resistance to lincomycin (Lnc) and the streptogramin A (SA) antibiotic virginiamycin M (VgM). VmlR is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein of the F type, which, like other…
The glycosyltransferases of the mammalian Golgi complex must recycle between the stacked cisternae of that organelle to maintain their proper steady-state localization. This trafficking is mediated by COPI-coated vesicles, but how the glycosyltransferases are incorporated into these transport vesicles is poorly understood. Here we show that the N-terminal cytoplasmic tails…
One-dimensional nanostructures such as carbon nanotubes and actin filaments rely on strong and directional interactions to stabilize their high aspect ratio shapes. This requirement has precluded making isolated, long, thin organic nanotubes by stacking molecular macrocycles, as their noncovalent stacking interactions are generally too weak. Here we report high aspect…
Semiconductor p-n junctions are fundamental building blocks for modern optical and electronic devices. The p- and n-type regions are typically created by chemical doping process. Here we show that in the new class of halide perovskite semiconductors, the p-n junctions can be readily induced through a localized thermal-driven phase transition….
Discrete metallomacrocycles are attractive scaffolds for the formation of complex supramolecular architectures with emergent properties. We herein describe the formation of hierarchical nanostructures using preformed metallomacrocycles by coordination-driven self-assembly of a covalent organic–inorganic polyoxometalate (POM)-based hybrid. In this system, we take advantage of the presence of charge
A quantitative in situ characterization of the impact of surface roughness on wettability in porous media is currently lacking. We use reservoir condition micrometer-resolution X-ray tomography combined with automated methods for the measurement of contact angle, interfacial curvature, and surface roughness to examine fluid/fluid and fluid/solid interfaces inside a porous…
Water ice may be allowed to accumulate in permanently shaded regions on airless bodies in the inner solar system such as Mercury, the Moon, and Ceres [Watson K, et al. (1961) J Geophys Res 66:3033–3045]. Unlike Mercury and Ceres, direct evidence for water ice exposed at the lunar surface has…
Polarity reversals of the geomagnetic field have occurred through billions of years of Earth history and were first revealed in the early 20th century. Almost a century later, details of transitional field behavior during geomagnetic reversals and excursions remain poorly known. Here, we present a multidecadally resolved geomagnetic excursion record…
High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are an intriguing new class of metallic materials due to their unique mechanical behavior. Achieving a detailed understanding of structure–property relationships in these materials has been challenged by the compositional disorder that underlies their unique mechanical behavior. Accordingly, in this work, we employ first-principles calculations to investigate…
Gelation of colloidal nanocrystals emerged as a strategy to preserve inherent nanoscale properties in multiscale architectures. However, available gelation methods to directly form self-supported nanocrystal networks struggle to reliably control nanoscale optical phenomena such as photoluminescence and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) across nanocrystal systems due to processing variabil
Improved biomarkers are needed for prostate cancer, as the current gold standards have poor predictive value. Tests for circulating prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are susceptible to various noncancer comorbidities in the prostate and do not provide prognostic information, whereas physical biopsies are invasive, must be performed repeatedly, and only sample…
The hydroxyl radical (OH) is the primary oxidant in the troposphere, and the impact of its fluctuations on the methane budget has been disputed in recent years, however measurements of OH are insufficient to characterize global interannual fluctuations relevant for methane. Here, we use a 6,000-y control simulation of preindustrial…
Coral and macroalgal communities are threatened by global stressors. However, recently reported community shifts from temperate macroalgae to tropical corals offer conservation potential for corals at the expense of macroalgae under climate warming. Although such community shifts are expanding geographically, our understanding of the driving processes is still limited. Here,…
It's no secret that Florida has a snake problem. The Burmese python, which can reach up to 200 pounds and stretch to more than 20 feet, first became common in the Everglades in the late 1990s, likely as escaped pets. The snake quickly settled into its new home, breeding and…
Across many scientific disciplines, methods for recording, storing, and analyzing data are rapidly increasing in complexity. Skillfully using data science tools that manage this complexity requires training in new programming languages and frameworks as well as immersion in new modes of interaction that foster data sharing, collaborative software development, and…
The absorption of light or radiation drives turbulent convection inside stars, supernovae, frozen lakes, and Earth's mantle. In these contexts, the goal of laboratory and numerical studies is to determine the relation between the internal temperature gradients and the heat flux transported by the turbulent flow. This is the constitutive…
Recreational fisheries can have a significant impact on fish populations and can suffer from the same symptoms of open access as commercial fisheries. However, recreational fisheries receive little attention compared with their commercial counterparts. Regulations designed to allocate scarce fish, such as seasonal closures and bag limits, can result in…
Cognitive scientists have demonstrated that experimentally induced changes in political attitudes can last over time. Notably, participants who verbally motivated these 'false attitudes' exhibited the largest changes. This is the first time a lasting effect of the choice blindness phenomenon has been observed.
Fibers in the Wind The physics of tumbling fibers may be useful for applications from paper manufacturing to the study of plankton in the ocean. TumbleWeed_topNteaser.jpg Image credits: mikeledray via Shutterstock Physics Tuesday, September 4, 2018 – 13:45 Yuen Yiu, Staff Writer (Inside Science) — There may be beauty in a plastic bag tumbling in the breeze, but is there any science in it? The an
Cameras attached to gentoo penguins off the Falkland Islands revealed that, despite the birds' small size, their lobster krill prey can sometimes win in a fight.
Democrats could gain as many as 44 seats and emerge from November's mid-term elections with control in the House of Representatives, according to an innovative forecasting tool developed by a University at Buffalo political scientist.
A blockbuster Neil Armstrong biopic fails to show the US flag being planted on the moon, angering some people. They're living in the past, say Nicholas Borroz and Egemen Bezci
When they must act quickly, selfish people are likely to act more selfishly than usual, while pro-social people behave even more pro-socially, a new study found.
A distinguished professor of political science at the University at Buffalo has published his latest Seats-in-Trouble projection in the journal PS: Political Science and Politics. James Campbell says indications point to as many as 44 seats moving to the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, shifting control of the House in their favor.
A new study demonstrates that the recent mass coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef was not restricted to shallow depths, but also impacted deep reefs. Although deep reefs are often considered a refuge from thermal anomalies, the new research highlights limitations to this role and argues that both shallow and deep reefs are under threat of mass bleaching events.
While some scientists have suggested we need to protect half of Earth's surface to preserve most of its species, new research indicates that quality, not just quantity, is vital for effective conservation efforts. "There's a lot of discussion about protecting 'Half Earth' as a minimum to protect biodiversity. The challenge is, which half do we protect?" says lead study author Stuart L. Pimm, prof
Industrial hydrogen is closer to being produced more efficiently, thanks to findings outlined in a new paper published by Idaho National Laboratory researchers. In the paper, Dr. Dong Ding and his colleagues detailed advances in the production of hydrogen, which is used in oil refining, petrochemical manufacturing and as an eco-friendly fuel for transportation.
What happens to high mountain ecosystems when you take away air pollution? Not much, not very quickly. A new CU research study finds that degraded alpine ecosystems showed limited recovery years after long-term inputs of human-caused nitrogen air pollution, with soil acidification and effects on biodiversity lingering even after a decade of much lower nitrogen input levels.
Every year, reports of cinema's impending death circulate in the media. They might be generated by legendary artists , young directors , tech writers , or industry analysts , who point to symptoms like declining ticket sales , an over-reliance on sequels , or the streaming-video revolution . But each year, an easy way to dispel the notion that movies are a fading art form comes with the Toronto I
A new study by scientists at the University of Bristol has shown that ancient global warming was associated with intense rainfall events that had a profound impact on the land and coastal seas.
Data published by The BMJ today reveal some differences in median basic pay between white and black and minority ethnic (BME) hospital doctors employed by the NHS in England.
Routine testing for prostate cancer is not recommended for most men because the benefit is small and uncertain and there are clear harms, say a panel of international experts in The BMJ today.
Statins are not associated with a reduction in cardiovascular disease (conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels) or death in healthy people aged over 75, finds a study published by The BMJ today.
We don't yet know which senior administration official authored today's astounding New York Times op-ed suggesting that President Donald Trump's aides are actively thwarting him in an attempt to protect the country. But in a sense, it doesn't matter. Indirectly, the op-ed's real authors are the Republicans of the United States Congress. In theory, in America's constitutional system, the different
Health Spoiler alert: It's not zombies. On Wednesday morning, a 500-passenger flight from Dubai was quarantined at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Senior Editor Gary Stix talks about the September special issue of Scientific American, devoted to the science of being human. And Brown University evolutionary biologist Ken Miller discusses human… — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Written by Elaine Godfrey ( @elainejgodfrey ), Madeleine Carlisle ( @maddiecarlisle2 ), and Olivia Paschal ( @oliviacpaschal ) Today in 5 Lines The New York Times published an anonymous op-ed in which a senior official in the Trump administration claims that there is a "resistance" within the administration, and that many Trump appointees have vowed to thwart the president's "more misguided impul
The title of Bob Woodward's new book, Fear , contains a multitude of meanings. For one thing, it describes the attitude of many of President DonaldTrump's own aides toward his judgment. It's not just that many sources were willing to tell Woodward damaging stories about Trump: The most stunning examples are those in which top aides reportedly thwarted his will. Even more stunning is an anonymous
Technology Wearables seldom make us healthier. Will Google's "heart points" be any better? The new Google Fit for Android and Wear OS for iPhone may help users understand their data better, but it won't solve the field's fundamental problem: motivation.
Outspoken athletes have long been central to Nike's corporate DNA, but the company is making clear that what happens off the field is more important than stats.
Impeachment is a constitutional mechanism. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment is a constitutional mechanism. Mass resignations followed by voluntary testimony to congressional committees are a constitutional mechanism. Overt defiance of presidential authority by the president's own appointees—now that's a constitutional crisis. If the president's closest advisers believe that he is morally and intellectu
Updated on September 5, 2018 at 5:58 p.m. ET It really did sound like the beginning of a zombie movie. On Wednesday morning, a flight from Dubai landed in New York City, and passengers were not allowed to leave. A hundred people on the plane, initial reports claimed , had fallen ill. Ambulances and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials rushed to meet them. For a couple hours, befor
A Utah driver who slammed her Tesla into a stopped firetruck at a red light earlier this year while using the vehicle's semi-autonomous function has sued the company, saying salespeople told her the car would stop on its own in Autopilot mode if something was in its path.
A team of scientists has uncovered a neurological synergy that occurs in visual adaptation, a phenomenon in which prolonged exposure to a stimulus alters perception. Well-known examples include the "motion aftereffect" and "facial expression aftereffect." In the former, staring at a moving stimulus—for example, a waterfall—and then shifting gaze to a steady object—such as a nearby rock—causes an
Adolescents under the age of 18 seeking abortions without a parent's consent often undergo a series of humiliating, burdensome and unpredictable hurdles as they try to navigate the legal system, according to a new study led by Kate Coleman-Minahan of the University of Colorado College of Nursing.
When medical marijuana is taken for chronic nerve pain, it may provide pain relief by reducing connections between the areas of the brain that process emotions and sensory signals, according to a study published in the Sept. 5, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Brazil's National Museum said Wednesday that centuries-old Torah scrolls, considered to be some of Judaism's oldest documents, had been moved before a massive fire ravaged the place and gutted much of the largest collections of national history artifacts in Latin America.
The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds.
Nine years ago, the 20-year-old Juan Martín del Potro vanquished Roger Federer, then 28, in the U.S. Open men's singles final for his first and only major title. Their five-set thriller, a seesaw affair that spanned more than four hours, still holds up as a U.S. Open epic and one of the great Grand Slam stunners. More significant even than his loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open earlier t
President Donald Trump's administration warned Wednesday of a possible legal crackdown on big technology companies over competition or political bias, in a bombshell announcement that came as social media executives were defending their policies before lawmakers.
How can the world achieve the deep carbon emissions reductions that are necessary to slow or reverse the impacts of climate change? The authors of a new MIT study say that unless nuclear energy is meaningfully incorporated into the global mix of low-carbon energy technologies, the challenge of climate change will be much more difficult and costly to solve. For nuclear energy to take its place as a
Infrared data from NASA's Terra satellite revealed that the area of coldest cloud topped thunderstorms has dropped from the previous day, indicating weaker uplift and less-strong storms.
Addictions nursing specialists have a unique role to play in caring for patients, families, and communities affected by the crisis. A series of original research and expert commentaries provide the nursing specialist's perspective on the opioid crisis, appearing in the July/September special issue of Journal of Addictions Nursing (JAN), the official journal of the International Nurses Society on A
As Jack Dorsey and Sheryl Sandberg testified before Congress, some of Twitter and Facebook's most notorious trolls and misinformation artists watched on.
Purdue University researchers have developed a unique approach that allows experienced surgeons and physicians around the world to help less-experienced doctors in war zones, natural disasters and in rural areas perform complicated procedures.
Wolf 503b, an exoplanet twice the size of Earth, has been discovered by an international team of Canadian, American and German researchers using data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope. The find is described in a new study whose lead author is Merrin Peterson, an Institute for research on exoplanets (iREx) graduate student who started her master's degree at Université de Montréal (UdeM) in May.
Of the 8.6 million deaths from conditions treatable by health care, poor-quality care is responsible for an estimated 5 million deaths per year — more than deaths due to insufficient access to care (3.6 million) .Global efforts to expand access to care through Universal Health Coverage will be wasted if health system quality does not improve.
Science Our editors scrounged up some truly bizarre facts. What's the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you'll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci's newest podcast.
Researchers have created an algorithm using the physics of panel degradation that can analyze solar farm data from anywhere, essentially as a portable EKG for solar farms.
Women who experience sexual assault have more vivid memories than women coping with the aftermath of other traumatic, life-altering events, according to a new study. The research finds that women who experience sexual violence, including those never diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, have more intense memories—even decades after the violence occurred—that are difficult, if not impossi
New options for nonaddictive pain treatment are sorely needed. One researcher is borrowing from the field of cancer nanomedicine to test an idea that could bring relief to chronic pain sufferers. (Image credit: Jeff Swensen for NPR)
"I'm not sure." "I don't know." "I can't remember." In a mock interview with President Trump to prepare him for a possible sit-down with the special counsel's office, Trump's lawyer reportedly found that there was a lot Trump couldn't remember about key events relevant to the Russia investigation. In a new book, Fear: Trump in the White House , by Bob Woodward, obtained by The Atlantic ahead of i
The Brett Kavanaugh hearings—such as they are—began on Wednesday to take on a shape that ordinary citizens can understand. When discussing the law, Judge Kavanaugh has been an impressive witness. But anyone watching the hearings Wednesday morning could see the discomfort on Kavanaugh's face when Senator Patrick Leahy asked him about his potential knowledge of the theft of Democratic-committee ema
Using data from NASA's Kepler Space Telescope, an international team led by a young Canadian master's student at Université de Montreal has discovered a new exoplanet twice the size of the Earth.
Even in cases where a rape has clearly taken place, traditional beliefs and assumptions about masculinity can cause both witnesses and victims to be uncertain about reporting it, according to new research conducted at Binghamton University, State University at New York.
Over a million users battled for control over a virtual canvas, one pixel at a time. Now, researchers are studying the process to examine the forces that shape cultures
In the opening scene of David Lynch's Blue Velvet , a man mows his front lawn. It's a quintessentially American sight: freshly-hewn grass, blue skies, vibrant flowers, a white picket fence. Then, the man collapses. The camera follows him to the ground, where, just beneath the earth, a grotesque scene emerges—the grass is teeming with insects. Underlying this manicured suburban idyll is a sinister
A new study implicates remodeling of nerves in the airways as a key contributor to heightened sensitivity and airway constriction in patients with asthma. The results provide new insight into a little-understood factor in the development of asthma, a condition that affects about 235 million people worldwide. The study is the first to demonstrate that inflammatory cells can alter nerve structure in
Infrared data from NASA's Terra satellite revealed that the area of coldest cloud topped thunderstorms has dropped from the previous day, indicating weaker uplift and less-strong storms
A census of annual pup production by Australian fur seal populations revealed the first reduction since species-wide protection was implemented in 1975, according to a new study. The study also shows that the long-term monitoring program for the Australian fur seal has effectively tracked population trends over time.
Evidence of exposure to phthalates, chemical compounds used in hundreds of consumer products, has been found in resident bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay, Florida. Some phthalates have been linked to reproductive problems in humans.
A new study shows a difference between how risk is cognitively processed by self-reported law-abiding citizens and self-reported lawbreakers, allowing researchers to better view and understand the criminal mind.
Ever wondered how groups of cells managed to build your tissues and organs while you were just an embryo? Using state-of-the-art techniques he developed, researchers have cracked this longstanding mystery, revealing the astonishing innerworkings of how embryos are physically constructed.
Researchers have demonstrated one of the key steps in building the architecture for modular quantum computers: the 'teleportation' of a quantum gate between two qubits, on demand.
The supersharp radio 'vision' of a continent-wide collection of radio telescopes has answered an outstanding question about the aftermath of a merger of two neutron stars.
Scientists have developed a technique to directly convert the cells in an open wound into new skin cells. The approach relies on reprogramming the cells to a stem-cell-like state and could be useful for healing wounds and skin damage, countering the effects of aging and helping us to better understand skin cancer.
Physicists have employed a version of Maxwell's demon to reduce entropy in a three-dimensional lattice of super-cooled, laser-trapped atoms — a process that could help speed progress toward creating quantum computers.
A new study shows how to improve the success rate of an innovative kidney matching process called kidney exchange. The enhancement centers on a new concept called 'failure-aware' matching that takes pre-transplant compatibility failures into account probabilistically. Depending somewhat on the exact setting, the method can roughly double the number of transplants.
Women who are sexually assaulted experience more vivid memories than women coping with the aftermath of other traumatic, life-altering events not associated with sexual violence even decades later.
A drug called ibudilast slows the brain shrinkage associated with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis, according to a new clinical trial. "These results indicate that ibudilast may be effective in protecting the central nervous system and slowing the damage to the brain that is caused by MS," says study coauthor Andrew Goodman, a neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who s
Democrats could gain as many as 44 seats and emerge from November's midterm elections with control in the House of Representatives, according to a new forecasting tool. The model predicts a different outcome for the Senate—where Republicans are likely to pick up an additional two Senate seats and preserve their majority. "The midterm election's outcome will play a major role in policy making and
When the zombies come, when the bombs fall, or when biological warfare breaks, where will you go? If you're a wealthy tech executive in Silicon Valley, odds are it's New Zealand. Read More
A team at MIT has discovered that human brains are capable of "seeing" ghost images hidden between groups of patterns captured by single-pixel cameras. Read More
Hooray! Sector 11 of The Dig is complete as of 9/5/2018! After a very thorough review, we can confirm that in this sector we uncovered 155 cells. Therefore, we're hosting a 155 minute Happy Hour today starting at 5:00 PM EDT. Regular HH bonuses apply. Do join us! In the meantime, of course, we're getting deeper into Sector 12 as well. When that one's done, we'll have almost covered The Dig's top
A Canadian court has sparked the ire of the oil industry by suspending the expansion of a pipeline to the Pacific over environmental concerns—and dealt a huge blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's climate plan.
Space It's completely different from Earth Jupiter's magnetic field is profoundly different from that of all other known planets — it essentially has two magnetic south poles instead of just one, a new Nature …
"We don't reject any theories," said Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia's space agency. That includes sabotage, though he suspects it was more likely a "technological error." (Image credit: NASA/AP)
In new MIT report, study authors analyze the reasons for the current global stall of nuclear energy capacity and discuss measures that could be taken to arrest and reverse that trend.
Analysis of fatty residue in pottery from the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia revealed evidence of fermented dairy products — soft cheeses and yogurts — from about 7,200 years ago.
Recent research shows that cannabis users experience increased cortical activation during the brain's resting state when compared with nonusers. The resulting 'noisy brain' might impair brain activity and disrupt cognitive processes, say researchers.
Insights from experiments designed to push chemical systems far from equilibrium allowed an international group of researchers to discover a new major source of formic acid over the Pacific and Indian oceans.
Technology You don't need to watch C-Span to find out what Twitter and Facebook have to say. Executives from big internet companies are making a regular habit of testifying in front of Congressional committees. Here's what you need to know.
Parents always worry about whether their children will do well in school, but their kids probably were born with much of what they will need to succeed, new research suggests.
Adult humans have ten times more blood-creating stem cells in their bone marrow than previously thought, ranging between 50,000 and 200,000 stem cells. Researchers developed a new approach for studying stem cells, based on methods used in ecology.
Purdue University researchers have developed a unique approach using augmented reality tools to help less-experienced doctors in war zones, natural disasters and in rural areas perform complicated procedures.
Researchers have developed a novel way for dating 'hibernating' HIV strains, in an advancement for HIV cure research. Published in the prestigious journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS' first major scientific contribution to the area of HIV cure research confirms that dormant HIV strains can persist in the body for decades.
Analysis of fatty residue in pottery from the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia revealed evidence of fermented dairy products — soft cheeses and yogurts — from about 7,200 years ago, according to an international team of researchers.
Electroencephalograms (EEGs) are commonly used to measure brain activity, but they cannot differentiate the activity of different types of brain cells. Nor is it possible to easily combine EEG data with brain imaging data.A collaboration between Boston Children's Hospital and Northeastern University has led to a highly miniaturized, see-through EEG device. Using it in live, awake mice, researchers
Researchers studying human remains of high-ranked warriors recovered from an Early Medieval Germanic cemetery have finally gleaned insight into these individuals' sex and kinship relationships. These findings offer a unique understanding of the Alemanni, a group of Germanic tribes that occupied a region spanning parts of present-day Germany, France, Switzerland.
In 1962, an Alemannic burial site containing human skeletal remains was discovered in Niederstotzingen (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Researchers at the Eurac Research Centre in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, and at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, have now examined the DNA of these skeletal remains.
The team's research is the first to address the effects of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) — a relatively brief period of global climate change, spanning 200,000 years — on marine invertebrates, including snails, clams and other mollusks.
Scientists from China and the UK reported two Middle-Late Triassic entomofaunas, providing not only the earliest records of several modern insect elements, but also new insights into the early evolution of freshwater ecosystems. This study confirms that holometabolous and aquatic insects experienced extraordinary diversification about 237 million years ago.
Personal Genome Diagnostics, Inc. (PGDx), a leader in cancer genomics, today announced that its machine learning based technology, CerebroTM, outperformed existing methods to identify tumor-specific, or somatic mutations, enabling more accurate NGS clinical test results.
A study conducted by a group of researchers from Paris Diderot University, INSERM and the Institut Pasteur reveals the existence of a genetic factor influencing the function of the human thymus. The results of the study, part of the Laboratories of Excellence project Milieu Intérieur coordinated by the Institut Pasteur, are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Sept. 5, 2018.
Scientists researching the origins and evolution of graphic codes have turned to the popular web platform Reddit to explore how culture evolves. When a Reddit art initiative attracted over one million online participants, Thomas Müller and James Winters of the Minds and Traditions (Mint) group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History saw an opportunity to test the dynamics of c
In addition to reducing overall heart failure by 25 percent, increased physical activity benefited two heart failure subtypes defined by cardiac function: reduced ejection fraction, which typically has a worse prognosis, and preserved ejection fraction, which is more common in older adults, especially women and racial-ethnic minorities.
Fatty acids detected on potsherds from Croatian archaeological sites contain evidence of the earliest known cheese production in the Mediterranean region, according to a study published Sept. 5, 2018, in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Sarah McClure of the Pennsylvania State University and colleagues.
A census of annual pup production by Australian fur seal populations revealed the first reduction since species-wide protection was implemented in 1975, according to a study published Sept. 5 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rebecca McIntosh of the Phillip Island Nature Parks in Victoria, Australia, and colleagues. The study also shows that the long-term monitoring program for the Australian
Facebook and Twitter executives assured Congress on Wednesday that they are aggressively working to root out foreign attempts to sow discord in America, and they pledged to better protect their social networks against manipulation during the 2018 midterm elections and beyond.
A Big Data Center collaboration between computational scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (Berkeley Lab) National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) and engineers at Intel and Cray has yielded another first in the quest to apply deep learning to data-intensive science: CosmoFlow, the first large-scale science application to use the TensorFlow framework on a CPU-b
Yale University researchers have demonstrated one of the key steps in building the architecture for modular quantum computers: the "teleportation" of a quantum gate between two qubits, on demand.
Bottlenose dolphins are being exposed to chemical compounds added to many common cleaning products, cosmetics, personal care products and plastics, according to a new study in GeoHealth, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
Recently, scientists from China and the UK reported two Middle-Late Triassic entomofaunas, providing not only the earliest records of several modern insect elements, but also new insights into the early evolution of freshwater ecosystems. This study confirms that holometabolous and aquatic insects experienced extraordinary diversification about 237 million years ago. The research was published in
In 1962, an Alemannic burial site containing human skeletal remains was discovered in Niederstotzingen (Baden-Württemberg, Germany). Researchers at the Eurac Research Centre in Bozen-Bolzano, Italy, and at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, have now examined the DNA of these skeletal remains.
The impact of global warming on shallow marine life approximately 56 million years ago is the subject of a significant, new paper by researchers at Syracuse University.
Analysis of fatty residue in pottery from the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia revealed evidence of fermented dairy products—soft cheeses and yogurts—from about 7,200 years ago, according to an international team of researchers.
A census of annual pup production by Australian fur seal populations revealed the first reduction since species-wide protection was implemented in 1975, according to a study published September 5 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rebecca McIntosh of the Phillip Island Nature Parks in Victoria, Australia, and colleagues. The study also shows that the long-term monitoring program for the Austra
Scientists researching the origins and evolution of graphic codes have turned to the popular web platform Reddit to explore how culture evolves. When a Reddit art initiative attracted over 1 million online participants, Thomas Müller and James Winters of the Minds and Traditions (Mint) group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History saw an opportunity to test the dynamics of cul
This past March, on a Thursday morning before dawn, more than 70 bleary-eyed parents lined up in front of the Parks and Recreation building in South Windsor, Connecticut. Wrapped in heavy coats and clutching Dunkin' Donuts cups, many of them slouched against the building's cement walls, while others, exercising a tad more foresight, lounged in foldable camping chairs. Most had arrived around 3 in
Purdue researchers created an algorithm using the physics of panel degradation that can analyze solar farm data from anywhere, essentially as a portable EKG for solar farms.
New evidence-based guidelines, developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with input from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and others put forward recommendations for a broad range of health care providers responsible for detection and management of pediatric mild traumatic brain injury, most of which are concussions.
Yale University researchers have demonstrated one of the key steps in building the architecture for modular quantum computers: the 'teleportation' of a quantum gate between two qubits, on demand.
One of the most pervasive and common forms of gender discrimination experienced daily by girls and women around the world is their inadequate access to private toilets, according to a new paper by researchers at Columbia Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues at the International Rescue Committee. Despite the rise of advocacy and research efforts, they write, far too little has been done g
Researchers have discovered that the activation of brain cells called microglia likely contributes to the memory loss and other cognitive impairments suffered by many patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study shows that ACE inhibitors — a class of drugs commonly used to treat hypertension — can block this process in mice and might therefore be used to preserve the memory of lup
Using tiny micromotors to diagnose and treat disease in the human body could soon be a reality. But keeping these devices intact as they travel through the body remains a hurdle. Now scientists report that they have found a way to encapsulate micromotors into pills.
Mothers diagnosed with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) have an elevated risk of developing postpartum depression symptoms, according to a new Finnish study. Moreover, GDM increases the mother's risk of developing type two diabetes later in life.
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP passed over strengthening Hurricane Florence in the Atlantic Ocean and observed powerful thunderstorms within a more organized storm.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Gulf of Mexico and collected temperature information on Tropical Storm Gordon's clouds as it moved toward landfall and after landfall. Those cloud top temperatures indicated that Gordon has the potential to generate heavy rainfall as it moves inland over the next several days.
Parents always worry about whether their children will do well in school, but their kids probably were born with much of what they will need to succeed. A new study published in npj Science of Learning by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and King's College London explains the substantial influence genes have on academic success, from the start of elementary school to the last day
The second of six new neuron types discovered by Eyewirers is named Hyperion! Hyperion is the Titan brother of Theia , the name of our first neuron. In Greek mythology, Ὑπερίων is the father of the Earth, Moon and dawn. Hyperion is "God of Watchfulness, Wisdom and the Light." The name was chosen by Eyewirer @susi. Hyperion won 36.5% of the popular vote. This fabulous name replaces the scientific