Wood-boring clams are tiny clams that eat (and live in) sunken wood at the bottom of the ocean, and they have long, tube-shaped organs that they use to breathe called siphons sticking out of their shells. Scientists have just updated the wood-boring clam family tree, adding a new species and three new genus groups.
The history of science is filled with stories of enthusiastic researchers slowly winning over skeptical colleagues to their point of view. Astrophysicist Scott Hughes can relate to these tales.
Astronomers used the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to make the first direct image of a dusty, doughnut-shaped feature surrounding the supermassive black hole at the core of one of the most powerful radio galaxies in the Universe—a feature first postulated by theorists nearly four decades ago as an essential part of such objects.
Does it matter that Billie Eilish, this year's buzziest new pop star, is a kid? Is it okay that headlines about her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? , have led with phrases such as teen-pop prodigy , not your typical 17-year-old pop star , and defines 21st-century teenage angst ? If labeling is passé—and Eilish's relentlessly surprising music makes a great case that it is—isn
KINGSTON —Toward the end of August 2017, a 17-year-old Jamaican musician named Mikayla Simpson uploaded a video of herself singing to her Instagram account. In the short clip, she strummed her acoustic guitar and performed " Legend ," a record she'd written as a tribute to the country's famed track star Usain Bolt. "Yuh nuh need no medal with a heart of gold, yuh stay humble inna yuh glory," she
Nexcelom Bioscience, a leading provider of cell counting and characterization products for the life science industry, announced the launch of the revolutionary high throughput, high-speed automated cell counter – Cellaca™ MX.
A new computer model offers a much-needed, evidence-based tool to assess different cocaine interception scenarios and predict how drug smugglers react to attempts by authorities to intercept their narcotics.
A dusty, doughnut-shaped feature long thought to be an essential part of the 'engines' at the cores of active galaxies is seen for the first time in one of the most powerful galaxies in the Universe.
The plant that adds flavor, color and bitterness to beer also produces a primary compound that thwarts cancer cells, and two important derivatives of the compound do as well.
Researchers have developed new plastic films that stay cool when exposed to sunlight and are very lightweight, strong and bendable. The versatile materials come in a variety of colors and could be incorporated into architectural and wearable products to regulate the temperature of buildings and people without requiring any power.
NASA has made it clear they want astronauts back on the Moon in 2024, and now, they are zeroing in on the Red Planet—the US space agency confirmed that it wants humans to reach Mars by 2033.
The color of a material can often tell you something about how it handles heat. Think of wearing a black shirt on a sweltering summer's day—the darker the pigment, the warmer you're likely to feel. Likewise, the more transparent a glass window, the more heat it can let through. A material's responses to visible and infrared radiation are often naturally linked.
Laws meant to reduce malpractice litigation by protecting doctors who want to apologize to patients don't work, according to new research. The analysis provides the most detailed look yet at the impact of apology legislation on such claims. Reducing malpractice litigation has become a target of policymakers seeking to address the rising cost of health care. Put together, malpractice and defensive
MIT engineers have made samples of strong, tissue-like polymer material, the color and heat properties of which they can tailor independently of the other. For instance, they have fabricated samples of very thin black film designed to reflect heat and stay cool. They've also made films exhibiting a rainbow of other colors, each made to reflect or absorb infrared radiation regardless of the way the
Surprisingly, we are only now coming to understand how acetaminophen works — and recent research shows that we may need to develop a better understanding of the need for caution when using acetaminophen, especially when it comes to avoiding some of the risks associated with its use. A team of researchers decided to study the safety of acetaminophen in a nursing home setting. Their study was publi
Homeostatic synaptic plasticity is a stabilizing mechanism engaged by neural circuits in response to prolonged perturbation of network activity. The non-Hebbian nature of homeostatic synaptic plasticity is thought to contribute to network stability by preventing "runaway" Hebbian plasticity at individual synapses. However, whether blocking homeostatic synaptic plasticity indeed induces runaway…
Drug discovery faces an efficacy crisis to which ineffective mainly single-target and symptom-based rather than mechanistic approaches have contributed. We here explore a mechanism-based disease definition for network pharmacology. Beginning with a primary causal target, we extend this to a second using guilt-by-association analysis. We then validate our prediction and…
Crucihimalaya himalaica, a close relative of Arabidopsis and Capsella, grows on the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) about 4,000 m above sea level and represents an attractive model system for studying speciation and ecological adaptation in extreme environments. We assembled a draft genome sequence of 234.72 Mb encoding 27,019 genes and investigated…
The amount of information that can be stored in working memory is limited but may be improved with practice. The basis of improved efficiency at the level of neural activity is unknown. To investigate this question, we trained monkeys to perform a working memory task that required memory for multiple…
The development of complex cognitive functions during human evolution coincides with pronounced encephalization and expansion of white matter, the brain's infrastructure for region-to-region communication. We investigated adaptations of the human macroscale brain network by comparing human brain wiring with that of the chimpanzee, one of our closest living primate relatives….
Feeding is vital for animal survival and is tightly regulated by the endocrine and nervous systems. To study the mechanisms of humoral regulation of feeding behavior, we investigated serotonin (5-HT) and octopamine (OA) signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans, which uses pharyngeal pumping to ingest bacteria into the gut. We reveal that…
The long-chain fatty acid receptor FFAR1/GPR40 binds agonists in both an interhelical site between the extracellular segments of transmembrane helix (TM)-III and TM-IV and a lipid-exposed groove between the intracellular segments of these helices. Molecular dynamics simulations of FFAR1 with agonist removed demonstrated a major rearrangement of the polar and…
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES Correction for "Visualizing the iron atom exchange front in the Fe(II)-catalyzed recrystallization of goethite by atom probe tomography," by Sandra D. Taylor, Jia Liu, Xin Zhang, Bruce W. Arey, Libor Kovarik, Daniel K. Schreiber, Daniel E. Perea, and Kevin M. Rosso, which was first published February 19, 2019;…
PSYCHOLOGICAL AND COGNITIVE SCIENCES Correction for "Examining long-term trends in politics and culture through language of political leaders and cultural institutions," by Kayla N. Jordan, Joanna Sterling, James W. Pennebaker, and Ryan L. Boyd, which was first published February 11, 2019; 10.1073/pnas.1811987116 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116:3476–3481). The authors…
SOCIAL SCIENCES Correction for "A network's gender composition and communication pattern predict women's leadership success," by Yang Yang, Nitesh V. Chawla, and Brian Uzzi, which was first published February 5, 2019; 10.1073/pnas.1721438116 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 116:2033–2038). The authors note that part of the Acknowledgments section appeared incorrectly. The…
PLANT BIOLOGY Correction for "Impaired respiration discloses the physiological significance of state transitions in Chlamydomonas," by Pierre Cardol, Jean Alric, Jacqueline Girard-Bascou, Fabrice Franck, Francis-André Wollman, and Giovanni Finazzi, which was first published September 1, 2009; 10.1073/pnas.0908111106 (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 106:15979–15984). The authors wish to note the following:.
Shell shape diversity in gastropods Gastropod shells vary in shape, size, and ornamentation. Gastropods generally have one helically coiled shell, but within that basic geometrical ground plan, there is immense variation in shape, size, and ornamentation. The variations have been mathematically and computationally modeled, but the developmental mechanisms that control…
We offer our sincere gratitude to Hamaker and Ryan (1) for their comment. As we note in our manuscript (2), we believe the generalization issue in question to be a key problem in human subject research methodology. This challenge requires effort from all quarters to resolve. We also agree "that…
Researchers commonly draw inferences from the group level to the individual and vice versa—that is, across levels. One of the empirical cornerstones of medicine is the clinical trial that tests the efficacy of a drug compared with placebo. If the intervention group outperforms the placebo group, the conclusion is that…
We thank Adolf and Fried (1) for their insightful commentary on our paper (2). We agree, in principle, that group-to-individual generalizability lies along a continuum. Some intraindividual and interindividual statistical estimates may be ergodic, sharing equivalent values across all statistical moments. Under these conditions, inferences from cross-sectional data could be…
Fisher et al. (1) investigate the congruence between intraindividual correlations and cross-sectional correlations using six empirical datasets. While others have emphasized that there is no mathematical law dictating that these correlations should be the same (2–4), empirical studies are imperative to determine whether or not they differ in practice. Therefore,…
Cyrus Chu has had a distinguished career in the fields of economics and social science. His research interests include demography, law, and family economics, and he has published more than 100 professional articles and monographs, including two monographs on demography and family economics. Now a distinguished research fellow of economics…
At the point of early European colonization of the Americas, there were many Native American chiefdoms and chiefly provinces in what is now the southeastern United States associated with what is known to archaeologists as the Mississippian cultural tradition, dating from roughly AD 1000 through the 16th century (1). Archaeology…
Psychology of late is witnessing a cultural revolution. Once a science that was criticized as largely culture blind (research being devoid of any focus on culture) and culture bound (testing the majority of theories on Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic, or WEIRD, samples) (1), culture is now becoming central…
The bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an important opportunistic pathogen causing life-threatening acute infections in individuals with compromised immune systems. It is also the most common cause of chronic respiratory infections and the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with the genetic disease cystic fibrosis (CF). In the CF…
Retinoic acid (RA) was originally identified as a morphogen, a signaling molecule that is produced by a specific region but diffuses away, thereby producing a concentration gradient. The morphogen's nonuniform distribution governs embryo patterning during development. In its role as a morphogen, RA was shown to bind to the RA…
We present an approach to understand geometric-incompatibility–induced rigidity in underconstrained materials, including subisostatic 2D spring networks and 2D and 3D vertex models for dense biological tissues. We show that in all these models a geometric criterion, represented by a minimal length ℓ¯min, determines the onset of prestresses and rigidity. This…
Low-dimensional nanomaterials, such as one-dimensional (1D) nanomaterials and layered 2D materials, have exhibited significance for their respective unique electronic and optoelectronic properties. Here we show that a mixed-dimensional heterostructure with building blocks from multiple dimensions will present a synergistic effect on photodetection. A carbon nanotube (CNT)–WSe2–graphene photodetect
Receptor–ligand interactions are essential for biological function and their binding strength is commonly explained in terms of static lock-and-key models based on molecular complementarity. However, detailed information on the full unbinding pathway is often lacking due, in part, to the static nature of atomic structures and ensemble averaging inherent to…
Three-dimensional visualization of tissue structures using optical microscopy facilitates the understanding of biological functions. However, optical microscopy is limited in tissue penetration due to severe light scattering. Recently, a series of tissue-clearing techniques have emerged to allow significant depth-extension for fluorescence imaging. Inspired by these advances, we develop a volumetr
It has been a long-standing challenge in modern material design to create low-density, lightweight materials that are simultaneously robust against defects and can withstand extreme thermomechanical environments, as these properties are often mutually exclusive: The lower the density, the weaker and more fragile the material. Here, we develop a process…
Focal adhesion kinase (FAK) is a key signaling molecule regulating cell adhesion, migration, and survival. FAK localizes into focal adhesion complexes formed at the cytoplasmic side of cell attachment to the ECM and is activated after force generation via actomyosin fibers attached to this complex. The mechanism of translating mechanical…
Fatty acid biosynthesis in α- and γ-proteobacteria requires two functionally distinct dehydratases, FabA and FabZ. Here, mechanistic cross-linking facilitates the structural characterization of a stable hexameric complex of six Escherichia coli FabZ dehydratase subunits with six AcpP acyl carrier proteins. The crystal structure sheds light on the divergent substrate selectivity…
While cells within tissues generate and sense 3D states of strain, the current understanding of the mechanics of fibrous extracellular matrices (ECMs) stems mainly from uniaxial, biaxial, and shear tests. Here, we demonstrate that the multiaxial deformations of fiber networks in 3D cannot be inferred solely based on these tests….
Targeting protein kinases is an important strategy for intervention in cancer. Inhibitors are directed at the active conformation or a variety of inactive conformations. While attempts have been made to classify these conformations, a structurally rigorous catalog of states has not been achieved. The kinase activation loop is crucial for…
Cardiac muscle contraction is triggered by calcium binding to troponin. The consequent movement of tropomyosin permits myosin binding to actin, generating force. Cardiac myosin-binding protein C (cMyBP-C) plays a modulatory role in this activation process. One potential mechanism for the N-terminal domains of cMyBP-C to achieve this is by binding…
The endometrial epithelium of the uterus regenerates periodically. The cellular source of newly regenerated endometrial epithelia during a mouse estrous cycle or a human menstrual cycle is presently unknown. Here, I have used single-cell lineage tracing in the whole mouse uterus to demonstrate that epithelial stem cells exist in the…
The formation of multivesicular endosomes (MVEs) mediates the turnover of numerous integral membrane proteins and has been implicated in the down-regulation of growth factor signaling, thereby exhibiting properties of a tumor suppressor. The endosomal sorting complex required for transport (ESCRT) machinery plays a key role in MVE biogenesis, enabling cargo…
Arginine methylation is a ubiquitous posttranslational modification that regulates critical cellular processes including signal transduction and pre-mRNA splicing. Here, we report that the tumor-suppressor PTEN is methylated by protein arginine methyltransferase 6 (PRMT6). Mass-spectrometry analysis reveals that PTEN is dimethylated at arginine 159 (R159). We found that PTEN is mutated…
Animal skin pigment patterns are excellent models to study the mechanism of biological self-organization. Theoretical approaches developed mathematical models of pigment patterning and molecular genetics have brought progress; however, the responsible cellular mechanism is not fully understood. One long unsolved controversy is whether the patterning information is autonomously determined by…
The division of life into producers and consumers is blurred by evolution. For example, eukaryotic phototrophs can lose the capacity to photosynthesize, although they may retain vestigial plastids that perform other essential cellular functions. Chrysophyte algae have undergone a particularly large number of photosynthesis losses. Here, we present a plastid…
It is often stated that polymorphisms for mutations affecting fitness of males and females in opposite directions [sexually antagonistic (SA) polymorphisms] are the main selective force for the evolution of recombination suppression between sex chromosomes. However, empirical evidence to discriminate between different hypotheses is difficult to obtain. We report genetic…
Diversity of α-helical host defense peptides (αHDPs) contributes to immunity against a broad spectrum of pathogens via multiple functions. Thus, resolving common structure–function relationships among αHDPs is inherently difficult, even for artificial-intelligence–based methods that seek multifactorial trends rather than foundational principles. Here, bioinformatic and pattern recognition methods
Large mandibular defects are clinically challenging to reconstruct due to the complex anatomy of the jaw and the limited availability of appropriate tissue for repair. We envision leveraging current advances in fabrication and biomaterials to create implantable devices that generate bone within the patients themselves suitable for their own specific…
Genomic instability (GI) drives tumor heterogeneity and promotes tumor progression and therapy resistance. However, causative factors underlying GI and means for clinical detection of GI in glioma are inadequately identified. We describe here that elevated expression of a gene module coexpressed with CDC20 (CDC20-M), the activator of the anaphase-promoting complex…
Diabetic foot ulcerations (DFUs) represent a major medical, social, and economic problem. Therapeutic options are restricted due to a poor understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms. The Notch pathway plays a pivotal role in cell differentiation, proliferation, and angiogenesis, processes that are profoundly disturbed in diabetic wounds. Notch signaling is activated…
Aging is associated with impaired tissue regeneration. Stem cell number and function have been identified as potential culprits. We first demonstrate a direct correlation between stem cell number and time to bone fracture union in a human patient cohort. We then devised an animal model recapitulating this age-associated decline in…
p27 shifts from CDK inhibitor to oncogene when phosphorylated by PI3K effector kinases. Here, we show that p27 is a cJun coregulator, whose assembly and chromatin association is governed by p27 phosphorylation. In breast and bladder cancer cells with high p27pT157pT198 or expressing a CDK-binding defective p27pT157pT198 phosphomimetic (p27CK−DD), cJun…
High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) E7 proteins enable oncogenic transformation of HPV-infected cells by inactivating host cellular proteins. High-risk but not low-risk HPV E7 target PTPN14 for proteolytic degradation, suggesting that PTPN14 degradation may be related to their oncogenic activity. HPV infects human keratinocytes but the role of PTPN14 in keratinocytes…
A human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) pentameric glycoprotein complex (PC), gH–gL–UL128–UL130–UL131A, is necessary for viral infection of clinically relevant cell types, including epithelial cells, which are important for interhost transmission and disease. We performed genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screens of different cell types in parallel to identify host genes specifically required for HCMV infection…
Unlike the case in Asia and Latin America, Plasmodium vivax infections are rare in sub-Saharan Africa due to the absence of the Duffy blood group antigen (Duffy antigen), the only known erythrocyte receptor for the P. vivax merozoite invasion ligand, Duffy binding protein 1 (DBP1). However, P. vivax infections have…
Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of tularemia, a category A bioterrorism agent. The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O antigen (OAg) of F. tularensis has been considered for use in a glycoconjugate vaccine, but conjugate vaccines tested so far have failed to confer protection necessary against aerosolized pulmonary bacterial challenge. When F….
Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and automation technologies have the potential to significantly disrupt labor markets. While AI and automation can augment the productivity of some workers, they can replace the work done by others and will likely transform almost all occupations at least to some degree. Rising automation…
Network approaches in archaeology offer a promising avenue for facilitating bottom-up, comparative approaches to sociopolitical organization. While recent applications have focused primarily on migration and demographic trends, identity and identity politics, and the dynamics of geopolitical and regional interaction, little in the way of comparative sociopolitical organization has been attempted..
Targeted proteomic mass spectrometry is emerging as a salient clinical diagnostic tool to track protein biomarkers. However, its strong analytical properties have not been exploited in the diagnosis and typing of flaviviruses. Here, we report the development of a sensitive and specific single-shot robust assay for flavivirus typing and diagnosis…
Finding an optimal subset of nodes in a network that is able to efficiently disrupt the functioning of a corrupt or criminal organization or contain an epidemic or the spread of misinformation is a highly relevant problem of network science. In this paper, we address the generalized network-dismantling problem, which…
We analyze a large microlevel dataset on the full daily portfolio holdings and exposures of 22 complex investment funds to shed light on the behavior of professional investment fund managers. We introduce a set of quantitative attributes that capture essential distinctive features of manager allocation strategies and behaviors. These characteristics…
We present a quantum switch based on analogous Dirac fermion optics (DFO), in which the angle dependence of Klein tunneling is explicitly utilized to build tunable collimators and reflectors for the quantum wave function of Dirac fermions. We employ a dual-source design with a single flat reflector, which minimizes diffusive…
Enabled initially by the development of microelectromechanical systems, current microfluidic pumps still require advanced microfabrication techniques to create a variety of fluid-driving mechanisms. Here we report a generation of micropumps that involve no moving parts and microstructures. This micropump is based on a principle of photoacoustic laser streaming and is…
Heparan sulfate (HS) is a linear, complex polysaccharide that modulates the biological activities of proteins through binding sites made by a series of Golgi-localized enzymes. Of these, glucuronyl C5-epimerase (Glce) catalyzes C5-epimerization of the HS component, d-glucuronic acid (GlcA), into l-iduronic acid (IdoA), which provides internal flexibility to the polymer…
UV light and other factors damage crystallin proteins in the eye lens, resulting in cataracts that scatter light and affect vision. Little information exists about protein structures within these disease-causing aggregates. We examined postmortem lens tissue from individuals with and without cataracts using 2D infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy. Amyloid β-sheet secondary…
Human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the primary risk factor for gastric cancer and is one of the most prevalent carcinogenic infectious agents. Vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) is a key virulence factor secreted by H. pylori and induces multiple cellular responses. Although structural and functional studies of VacA…
The successful de novo design of proteins can provide insights into the physical chemical basis of stability, the role of evolution in constraining amino acid sequences, and the production of customizable platforms for engineering applications. Previous guanidine hydrochloride (GdnHCl; an ionic denaturant) experiments of a designed, naturally occurring βα fold,…
Aberrant activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling occurs frequently in cancer. However, therapeutic targeting of this pathway is complicated by the role of Wnt in stem cell maintenance and tissue homeostasis. Here, we evaluated antibodies blocking 6 of the 10 human Wnt/Frizzled (FZD) receptors as potential therapeutics. Crystal structures revealed a common…
Parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons play a pivotal role in orchestrating windows of experience-dependent brain plasticity during development. Critical period closure is marked by the condensation of a perineuronal net (PNN) tightly enwrapping subsets of PV+ neurons, both acting as a molecular brake on plasticity and maintaining mature PV+ cell signaling. As…
Lysyl oxidase (LOX) and LOX-like (LOXL) proteins are copper-dependent metalloenzymes with well-documented roles in tumor metastasis and fibrotic diseases. The mechanism by which copper is delivered to these enzymes is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that the copper transporter ATP7A is necessary for the activity of LOX and…
Functional lysosomes mediate autophagy and macropinocytosis for nutrient acquisition. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumors exhibit high basal lysosomal activity, and inhibition of lysosome function suppresses PDAC cell proliferation and tumor growth. However, the codependencies induced by lysosomal inhibition in PDAC have not been systematically explored. We performed a comprehensive pha
The grandness of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) lies hidden beneath an unremarkable exterior. To the naked eye, MOFs typically look like little more than a fine powder, not all that different from flour. But place them under an ordinary optical microscope to reveal their crystalline structure, and you see what looks…
Although platinum-based anticancer drugs prevail in cancer treatment, their clinical applications are limited by the severe side effects as well as their ineffectiveness against drug resistant cancers. A precise combination of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and chemotherapy can synergistically improve the therapeutic outcome and thereby may overcome drug resistance through a…
Electrolysis of water to generate hydrogen fuel is an attractive renewable energy storage technology. However, grid-scale freshwater electrolysis would put a heavy strain on vital water resources. Developing cheap electrocatalysts and electrodes that can sustain seawater splitting without chloride corrosion could address the water scarcity issue. Here we present a…
While rotational dynamics of anisotropic nanoobjects has often been limited in plasmonic and fluorescent nanomaterials, here we demonstrate the capability of a surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) to determine the orientation of all kinds of anisotropic nanomaterials. By taking CdS nanorods as an example, it was found that two-dimensional Fourier…
Electrocatalytic N2 reduction reaction (NRR) into ammonia (NH3), especially if driven by renewable energy, represents a potentially clean and sustainable strategy for replacing traditional Haber–Bosch process and dealing with climate change effect. However, electrocatalytic NRR process under ambient conditions often suffers from low Faradaic efficiency and high overpotential. Developing newly…
The breadth and importance of RNA modifications are growing rapidly as modified ribonucleotides can impact the sequence, structure, function, stability, and fate of RNAs and their interactions with other molecules. Therefore, knowing cellular RNA modifications at single-base resolution could provide important information regarding cell status and fate. A current major…
Malaria and cryptosporidiosis, caused by apicomplexan parasites, remain major drivers of global child mortality. New drugs for the treatment of malaria and cryptosporidiosis, in particular, are of high priority; however, there are few chemically validated targets. The natural product cladosporin is active against blood- and liver-stage Plasmodium falciparum and Cryptosporidium…
Gastropod shell morphologies are famously diverse but generally share a common geometry, the logarithmic coil. Variations on this morphology have been modeled mathematically and computationally but the developmental biology of shell morphogenesis remains poorly understood. Here we characterize the organization and growth patterns of the shell-secreting epithelium of the larval…
Atmospheric oxidation of natural and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) leads to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), which constitutes a major and often dominant component of atmospheric fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Recent work demonstrates that rapid autoxidation of organic peroxy radicals (RO2) formed during VOC oxidation results in highly oxygenated organic…
The Archean Eon was a time of predominantly anoxic Earth surface conditions, where anaerobic processes controlled bioessential element cycles. In contrast to "oxygen oases" well documented for the Neoarchean [2.8 to 2.5 billion years ago (Ga)], the magnitude, spatial extent, and underlying causes of possible Mesoarchean (3.2 to 2.8 Ga)…
Microbial anaerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons is a key process potentially involved in a myriad of geological and biochemical environments yet has remained notoriously difficult to identify and quantify in natural environments. We performed position-specific carbon isotope analysis of propane from cracking and incubation experiments. Anaerobic bacterial oxidation of propane leads…
Belowground organisms play critical roles in maintaining multiple ecosystem processes, including plant productivity, decomposition, and nutrient cycling. Despite their importance, however, we have a limited understanding of how and why belowground biodiversity (bacteria, fungi, protists, and invertebrates) may change as soils develop over centuries to millennia (pedogenesis). Moreover, it is…
Many studies find that women are more risk averse than men. Why does such a gender gap exist, and how malleable is this gender gap in risk aversion? The paper takes advantage of a rare setting in which children of the matrilineal Mosuo and the traditionally patriarchal Han attend the…
During sensitive periods in utero, gonadal steroids help organize biological sex differences in humans and other mammals. In litter-bearing species, chromosomal females passively exposed to prenatal testosterone from male littermates exhibit altered physical and behavioral traits as adults. The consequences of such effects are less well understood in humans, but…
For several decades, the iron-based Fenton-like catalysis has been believed to be mediated by hydroxyl radicals or high-valent iron-oxo species, while only sporadic evidence supported the generation of singlet oxygen (1O2) in the Haber–Weiss cycle. Herein, we report an unprecedented singlet oxygen mediated Fenton-like process catalyzed by ∼2-nm Fe2O3 nanoparticles…
The words "red tide" routinely generate red alerts among Florida's fishermen, coastal property owners, tourism operators, and health officials. This past summer and fall were no exception. These toxic algal blooms—which often tinge the water red but sometimes turn it brown, orange, or even slightly greenish—close beaches, kill innumerable fish,…
The exergonic reaction of FeS with H2S to form FeS2 (pyrite) and H2 was postulated to have operated as an early form of energy metabolism on primordial Earth. Since the Archean, sedimentary pyrite formation has played a major role in the global iron and sulfur cycles, with direct impact on…
Tree clusters in savannas are commonly found in sizes that follow power laws with well-established exponents. We show that their size distributions could result from the space–time probabilistic structure of soil moisture, estimated over the range of rainfall observed in semiarid savannas; patterns of soil moisture display islands whose size,…
Mammals and their closest fossil relatives are unique among tetrapods in expressing a high degree of pectoral girdle and forelimb functional diversity associated with fully pelagic, cursorial, subterranean, volant, and other lifestyles. However, the earliest members of the mammalian stem lineage, the "pelycosaur"-grade synapsids, present a far more limited range…
Rapid phenotypic changes in traits of adaptive significance are crucial for organisms to thrive in changing environments. How such phenotypic variation is achieved rapidly, despite limited genetic variation in species that experience a genetic bottleneck is unknown. Capsella rubella, an annual and inbreeding forb (Brassicaceae), is a great system for…
Clinical application of inhaled glucocorticoids (GCs) has been hampered in the case of steroid-resistant severe asthma. To overcome this limitation, we have developed a series of highly potent GCs, including VSGC12, VSG158, and VSG159 based on the structural insight into the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). Particularly, VSG158 exhibits a maximal repression…
DNA methylation is considered to be a relatively stable epigenetic mark. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that DNA methylation levels can change rapidly; for example, in innate immune cells facing an infectious agent. Nevertheless, the causal relationship between changes in DNA methylation and gene expression during infection remains…
The growth-stimulating capacity of calf serum (CS) in cell culture reaches a maximum of 10% with Balb 3T3 cells, remains at a plateau to 40% CS, and declines steeply to 100% CS. Growth capacity can be largely restored to the latter by a combination of cystine and glutamine. Glutamine is…
Sudden unexpected death of an infant (SUDI) is a devastating occurrence for families. To investigate the genetic pathogenesis of SUDI, we sequenced >70 genes from 191 autopsy-negative SUDI victims. Ten infants sharing a previously unknown variant in troponin I (TnI) were identified. The mutation (TNNI1 R37C+/−) is in the fetal/neonatal…
The opportunistic bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa has a layered acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) quorum-sensing (QS) system, which controls production of a variety of extracellular metabolites and enzymes. The LasRI system activates genes including those coding for the extracellular protease elastase and for the second AHL QS system, RhlRI. Growth of P….
The bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa activates expression of many virulence genes in a cell density-dependent manner by using an intricate quorum-sensing (QS) network. QS in P. aeruginosa involves two acyl-homoserine-lactone circuits, LasI-LasR and RhlI-RhlR. LasI-LasR is required to activate many genes including those coding for RhlI-RhlR. P. aeruginosa causes chronic…
Extensive evidence indicates that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) interacts with other brain regions in mediating stress hormone and emotional arousal effects on memory consolidation. Brain activation studies have shown that arousing conditions lead to the activation of large-scale neural networks and several functional connections between brain regions beyond the BLA….
Maternal infection during pregnancy increases risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in offspring. In rodents, maternal immune activation (MIA) yields offspring with schizophrenia- and ASD-like behavioral abnormalities. Soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) plays a key role in inflammation associated with neurodevelopmental disorders. Here we found.
The primate cerebrum is characterized by a large expansion of cortical surface area, the formation of convolutions, and extraordinarily voluminous subcortical white matter. It was recently proposed that this expansion is primarily driven by increased production of superficial neurons in the dramatically enlarged outer subventricular zone (oSVZ). Here, we examined…
Quantum entanglement is one of the most extraordinary effects in quantum physics, with many applications in the emerging field of quantum information science. In particular, it provides the foundation for quantum key distribution (QKD), which promises a conceptual leap in information security. Entanglement-based QKD holds great promise for future applications…
Given a quantum many-body system with few-body interactions, how rapidly can quantum information be hidden during time evolution? The fast-scrambling conjecture is that the time to thoroughly mix information among N degrees of freedom grows at least logarithmically in N. We derive this inequality for generic quantum systems at infinite…
Nearly a century of research has established the Born–Oppenheimer approximation as a cornerstone of condensed-matter systems, stating that the motion of the atomic nuclei and electrons may be treated separately. Interactions beyond the Born–Oppenheimer approximation are at the heart of magneto-elastic functionalities and instabilities. We report comprehensive neutron spectroscopy and…
We conduct a 3-y study involving 11,662 respondents to map cultural tightness—the degree to which a society is characterized by rules and norms and the extent to which people are punished or sanctioned when they deviate from these rules and norms—across 31 provinces in China. Consistent with prior research, we…
The extent to which larger populations enhance cumulative cultural evolution (CCE) is contentious. We report a large-scale experiment (n = 543) that investigates the CCE of technology (paper planes and their flight distances) using a transmission-chain design. Population size was manipulated such that participants could learn from the paper planes…
For a long time, social scientists have used correlations in social status, measured by such characteristics as schooling, income, or occupation, across family members to capture family resemblance in social status. In this study, we use millions of records from a public registry to estimate the wealth correlations among Taiwanese…
We assess and compare computer science skills among final-year computer science undergraduates (seniors) in four major economic and political powers that produce approximately half of the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics graduates in the world. We find that seniors in the United States substantially outperform seniors in China, India, and…
The scale-free (SF) property is a major concept in complex networks, and it is based on the definition that an SF network has a degree distribution that follows a power-law (PL) pattern. This paper highlights that not all networks with a PL degree distribution arise through a Barabási−Albert (BA) preferential…
A warming climate will affect regional precipitation and hence food supply. However, only a few regions around the world are currently undergoing precipitation changes that can be attributed to climate change. Knowing when such changes are projected to emerge outside natural variability—the time of emergence (TOE)—is critical for taking effective…
A new generation of poverty programs around the globe provides cash payments to poor and vulnerable households. Studies show that these social cash transfer programs create income and welfare benefits for poor households and the local economies where they live. However, this may come at the cost of damaging local…
Extreme heat is the leading weather-related cause of death in the United States. Many individuals, however, fail to perceive this risk, which will be exacerbated by global warming. Given that awareness of one's physical and social vulnerability is a critical precursor to preparedness for extreme weather events, understanding Americans' perceptions…
Space Weightless cardio. NASA astronaut Sunita Williams happened to qualify for that year's Boston Marathon when she was scheduled to travel in space. So, she ran it there instead.
Contemporary schools are reconsidering their subjects and teaching methods in order to offer the best education for children. Vicky Chan launched an architecture program designed to teach students STEM, creativity, sustainability,and problem-solving. Chan is hardly alone; others have integrated new subjects and methods into curriculum, hoping to instill in students the skills necessary to be enga
Joe Biden's whole presidential candidacy would be a bet that the country hasn't changed too much for a 76-year-old man who's been in politics for nearly half a century. But the crisis rocking him for the past few days is a test of how much the culture has shifted. The former vice president was very close to getting into the race before Lucy Flores's essay was published on Friday, and he's just as
Prompted by loss of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, system tracks planes anywhere on earth A satellite air traffic surveillance system capable of tracking aircraft anywhere around the planet has been launched. The system, which will start tracking planes over the north Atlantic, has been developed to fill the holes in radar coverage – some 70% of global airspace – that became apparent in the disa
Almost by definition, the occult is a mysterious, hidden and captivating genre. These six books help illuminate occult thinking and history for the curious reader. Ranging from Cornelius Agrippa in the 16th century to Alesiter Crowley, also known as "the wickedest man in the world," these books are sure to entertain and provide their readers with a solid background in the occult and mysticism. St
Loss and fragmentation of habitat are among the main reasons why biodiversity is decreasing in many places worldwide. Now, a research team has established that the destruction of habitat causes double damage to biodiversity; if habitat patches disappear, not only do the species living there become locally extinct, but species richness in neighboring patches also declines. The reason is the large p
From their birth through to their death, cells lead an eventful existence. Thanks to single-cell genomics, their destiny in large cell populations can now be analyzed. However, this method destroys the cell, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the dynamics of cell development.
To The Moon! The Australian Space Agency wants to leverage the country's expertise at mining in remote, inhospitable areas — like, you know, Australia — into a new program that would mine for water and other resources from the Moon. It's a bold plan for the fledgling space agency, but one could supercharge Australia's newfound role in the global space race. Waypoint If water, which thinly blanket
Berkeley's soda tax election may have played a major role in changing drinking habits in the city, a new study shows. An analysis of food and drink purchases at UC Berkeley-owned dining facilities and in drug stores in the city of Berkeley revealed that soda sales dropped an average of 10 to 20 percent in the three months immediately following the vote — before the tax and any associated price hi
Twitter says it has "taken action" after an Israeli watchdog exposed an alleged bot network spreading propaganda in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and smearing his opponents.
Hundreds of ads on Facebook promised U.S. homeowners that they were eligible for huge state tax breaks if they installed new solar-energy panels. There was just one catch: None of it was true.
Worldwide music sales rose by nearly 10 percent in 2018, a fourth consecutive year of growth fuelled by online streaming, according to figures released on Tuesday by an industry body.
An epic winter of rain and snow has refilled California's reservoirs and pressed into service a spillway at the nation's tallest dam Tuesday, a $1 billion structure that drained excess water for the first time since it crumbled two years ago and drove hundreds of thousands to flee the threat of catastrophic flooding.
German authorities have identified hundreds of trucks "manipulated" to save their operators money by shutting off exhaust treatment systems, saying many more cheating vehicles could be at large on Europe's roads.
The chief executive of European aerospace giant Airbus stands to receive a 37 million euro ($41 million) severance package when he steps down next week, according to calculations by an investor advisory firm released Tuesday.
The Choiyoi magmatic Province, with an estimated volume of ~1.3 million square kilometers, represents a voluminous Permian subduction-related volcanic episode that has thus far been described only from South America. In their new paper for Lithosphere, Demian Nelson and John Cottle investigated Permian volcaniclastic rocks from central Antarctica to determine the potential magmatic source of volca
How to counter 'manels' and make scientific meetings more inclusive How to counter 'manels' and make scientific meetings more inclusive, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01022-y Atmospheric scientist Angie Pendergrass spoke to Nature about a newly-published guide to broadening participation in conferences.
Crizotinib-induced immunogenic cell death in non-small cell lung cancer Crizotinib-induced immunogenic cell death in non-small cell lung cancer, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09415-3 Certain chemotherapeutic agents can exert their anticancer effect through indirect immune-dependent mechanism. Here, the authors screen a library of tyrosine kinase inhibitors and show that
Trans-provincial health impacts of atmospheric mercury emissions in China Trans-provincial health impacts of atmospheric mercury emissions in China, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09080-6 Mercury (Hg) is a global neurotoxic pollutant and has a long chain from economic activities to human health risks. Here the authors presented a map of Hg-related health risks in China an
Design of next-generation ceramic fuel cells and real-time characterization with synchrotron X-ray diffraction computed tomography Design of next-generation ceramic fuel cells and real-time characterization with synchrotron X-ray diffraction computed tomography, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09427-z Miniaturized ceramic fuel cells are attractive for portable devices, but
Synthetic ligands for PreQ 1 riboswitches provide structural and mechanistic insights into targeting RNA tertiary structure Synthetic ligands for PreQ 1 riboswitches provide structural and mechanistic insights into targeting RNA tertiary structure, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09493-3 RNA sensors—Riboswitches—respond to the binding of small molecules ligands through str
Whole genome sequencing of canids reveals genomic regions under selection and variants influencing morphology Whole genome sequencing of canids reveals genomic regions under selection and variants influencing morphology, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09373-w Being man's best friend, dogs have been bred and selected for certain morphologic traits and breed-associated beha
Extremes of summer climate trigger thousands of thermokarst landslides in a High Arctic environment Extremes of summer climate trigger thousands of thermokarst landslides in a High Arctic environment, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09314-7 Retrogressive thaw slumps (RTS) are landslides caused by melting ground ice in permafrost areas. Based on Google Earth Engine Timelaps
WNT5A is transported via lipoprotein particles in the cerebrospinal fluid to regulate hindbrain morphogenesis WNT5A is transported via lipoprotein particles in the cerebrospinal fluid to regulate hindbrain morphogenesis, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09298-4 WNTs can signal over long distances but how this arises in the brain is unclear. Here, the authors show that WNT5A
The computational and neural substrates of moral strategies in social decision-making The computational and neural substrates of moral strategies in social decision-making, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-09161-6 The authors show that individuals apply different 'moral strategies' in interpersonal decision-making. These strategies are linked to distinct patterns of neural
The new generation of Nokia handsets run Android and focus mainly on the mid-range. Its latest phone is the X71, which bears a striking resemblance to the recently released Samsung Galaxy S10. …
Whether you bend a rod or bend the rules, the brain processes the word 'bend' similarly, with the sensory motor region playing a key role, according to new research.
Increasing ground temperatures in the Arctic are indicators of global climate change, but until recently, areas of cold permafrost were thought to be relatively immune to severe impacts. A new study, however, shows that areas of cold permafrost can be vulnerable to rising summer temperatures.
Second example reported of a stem-cell transplant in the clinic leading to HIV remission Second example reported of a stem-cell transplant in the clinic leading to HIV remission, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-00989-y A person infected with HIV who was treated for blood cancer with a stem-cell transplant has gone into viral remission, with no trace of the virus in their b
Discovering how atoms—such as a single layer of carbon atoms found in graphene, one of the world's strongest materials—work to create a solid material is currently a major research topic in the field of materials science, or the design and discovery of new materials. At the University of Missouri, researchers in the College of Engineering are applying one of the first uses of deep learning—the tec
Corn is one of the most important staple crops in the world—over 1 billion metric tons of corn are harvested each year, comprising 37 percent of the global cereal production. Corn production occupies an estimated 188 million hectares—roughly the size of Mexico—and utilizes 13 percent of the world's arable land. Because of this, there is a vested interest in keeping corn healthy.
Technology Travel-specific materials and cuts make these outfits ready for the skies. Ditch the sweatpants and reach for these outfits that are specially designed for traveling.
Corn is one of the most important staple crops in the world—over 1 billion metric tons of corn are harvested each year, comprising 37 percent of the global cereal production. Corn production occupies an estimated 188 million hectares—roughly the size of Mexico—and utilizes 13 percent of the world's arable land. Because of this, there is a vested interest in keeping corn healthy.
AI vs. Animal To test cutting-edge artificial intelligences , a team of researchers wants to see how well they handle tasks designed to measure the intelligence of animals. They're calling their experiment the Animal-AI Olympics, and they've giving out more than $10,000 in prizes to high-achieving AIs. This month, the group plans to release a virtual "playground" they're developing for the compet
The reason that humans shifted away from hunting and gathering, and to agriculture—a much more labor-intensive process—has always been a riddle. It is only more confusing because the shift happened independently in about a dozen areas across the globe.
Five Essential Factors for Data Sharing, published by Springer Nature today, translates findings about researcher attitudes and behaviours into concrete measures that will accelerate data sharing. The white paper builds on a number of reports published in 2018 that pinpoint challenges researchers face when sharing data. The barriers identified include, for example, how to organize data in a presen
When searching for love on the Internet, most people end up connecting with the girl [or boy] next door, according to an analysis of messaging patterns across a major online dating platform.
Conservation groups urge fair trial for jailed Iranian researchers Conservation groups urge fair trial for jailed Iranian researchers, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01001-3 Reports allege that environmental researchers on trial for spying are being denied legal rights.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a unique 3D-printed transparent skull implant for mice that provides an opportunity to watch activity of the entire brain surface in real time. The device allows fundamental brain research that could provide new insight for human brain conditions such as concussions, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
In one of the largest and most diverse leaf microbe studies to date, the team monitored the active bacteria on the leaves of 300 diverse lines of corn growing in a common environment. They were especially interested to see how corn genes affected bacteria and found there was little relationship between the two–in fact, the bacteria were much more affected by the environment, although genetics sti
Transplanting human bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells into mice mimicking symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) helped more motor neurons survive and slowed disease progression by repairing damage to the blood-spinal cord barrier, University of South Florida researchers report. The new research, published recently in Scientific Reports, contributes to a growing body of wor
Until now, no large study has evaluated whether or not caring for older adults with advanced cancer is linked to caregivers' emotional health or to their quality of life. Recently, researchers studied a group of adults aged 70 or older who had advanced cancer (as well as other challenges). Results from the study were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
At the University of Missouri, researchers in the College of Engineering are applying one of the first uses of deep learning — the technology computers use to intelligently perform tasks such as recognizing language and driving autonomous vehicles — to the field of materials science.
Increasing ground temperatures in the Arctic are indicators of global climate change, but until recently, areas of cold permafrost were thought to be relatively immune to severe impacts. A new study by Antoni Lewkowicz, a professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa and published in the journal Nature Communications, however, shows that areas of c
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has won a judgment against a publisher and conference organizer that has been widely viewed as predatory. As reported in brief by Courthouse News Service, U.S. District of Nevada Judge Gloria M. Navarro ordered OMICS International to pay the U.S. government $50,130,810. Among other findings, Navarro writes: The uncontroverted evidence … Continue reading Court orde
Adranos Inc., a Purdue University-affiliated company developing a high-performance, solid propellant for long-range missile and space launch systems, has won the Army's inaugural xTechSearch competition, besting more than 350 companies in the months long competition.
The power to align water molecules is usually held by ice, which affects nearby water and encourages it to join the ice layer—to freeze too. But in the case of organisms living in freezing habitats, a particularly powerful antifreeze protein is able to overpower the grip ice has on water and convince water molecules to behave in ways that benefit the protein instead.
Particle beam therapy is increasingly being used to treat many types of cancer. It consists in subjecting tumours to beams of high-energy charged particles such as protons. Although more targeted than conventional radiotherapy using X-rays, this approach still damages surrounding normal tissue. To design the optimum treatment plan for each patient, it is essential to know the energy of the beam an
Radar technologies were originally designed to identify and track airborne military targets. Today they're more often used to detect motor vehicles, weather formations and geological terrain.
Saturn has a smorgasbord of little moons. The final few orbits the Cassini spacecraft made before it disintegrated in the planet's atmosphere allowed it to observe five of the planet's small inner moons up close.
The power to align water molecules is usually held by ice, which affects nearby water and encourages it to join the ice layer—to freeze too. But in the case of organisms living in freezing habitats, a particularly powerful antifreeze protein is able to overpower the grip ice has on water and convince water molecules to behave in ways that benefit the protein instead.
Beginning this month, customers who own a Google assistant can start using them to order groceries from Walmart. The voice command technology is the latest in a series of innovations designed …
Verizon has announced a new mobile data plan that its positioning as the first smartphone plan designed for kids. The Just Kids plan includes 5GB of monthly data and unlimited …
Many scientists have been disappointed that no new elementary particles have been discovered at CERN's Large Hadron Collider since the Higgs Boson in 2012. The failure to detect particles that had previously been predicted by theory is only one example of a 'hole' that has recently appeared in the concept of naturalness in theoretical physics. In simple terms, the concept states that physical para
Human-caused pollution spurs the production of climate-changing particles known as secondary organic aerosols much more than previously thought. Researchers made the finding by analyzing air samples that were captured aboard a research aircraft as it zigzagged between pristine air over the Amazon rainforest and polluted air over the nearby city of Manaus. It was like a trip back (and forth) throug
An international team of researchers has put a theory speculated by the late Stephen Hawking to its most rigorous test to date, and their results have ruled out the possibility that primordial black holes smaller than a tenth of a millimeter make up most of dark matter.
One critically endangered species of smooth-shelled abalone is making a comeback in certain parts of its range along the California coast. To better understand the extent of black abalone recovery, a collaborative scientific team is turning to archeological sites on the Channel Islands. Their findings suggest that while the recent ecological rebound is encouraging, there's still work to do before
Physicists have developed so-called metashells made of smart, adaptable metamaterials. In a recent study they show how hollow metamaterial shells can adapt to the characteristics of the materials they hold inside.
Understanding stock market returns hinges on understanding their volatility. Two simple but competing models have been dominant for decades: the Heston model, introduced in 1993, and the multiplicative model, which dates back to 1990. American physicists recently compared the two models by applying them to the United States stock market and using historical data from two indexes: the S&P500 and Do
Scientists at the Sensitive Instrument Facility of the US Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory achieved real-time atom rearrangement monitoring using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy during the synthesis of intermetallic nanoparticles (iNPs).
The Choiyoi magmatic Province, with an estimated volume of ~1.3 million square kilometers, represents a voluminous Permian subduction-related volcanic episode that has thus far been described only from South America. In their new paper for Lithosphere, Demian Nelson and John Cottle investigated Permian volcaniclastic rocks from central Antarctica to determine the potential magmatic source of volca
Scientists have identified a way to provide more detailed information on malaria transmission both locally and across borders, according to two new papers published today in eLife.
Farmers are the first to take the brunt of the climate stress. Quickly obtaining information on the fallout is essential for development agencies, government and farmers organizations to respond efficiently. But poor connectivity and slow flows of information are an obstacle. An app tested with thousands of farmers in Colombia and Africa showed that farmers can quickly produce and share vital info
A large genomic study of nearly 275,000 people led by Penn Medicine researchers revealed new insights into genetic drivers of heavy drinking and alcohol use disorder (AUD), the uncontrollable pattern of alcohol use commonly referred to as alcoholism. In the largest-ever genome-wide association study (GWAS) of both traits in the same population, a team of researchers found 18 genetic variants of si
Big data analysis of popular online dating website reveals that geographic distance within the US is the strongest driver of mutual romantic interest. At the city level, users in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Seattle may experience very different sub-markets depending on their age, sex, and race.
A chameleon can flexibly change its colour to match its surroundings. And a similar phenomenon can now be seen in a new class of smart materials called metamaterials. The trouble is that these metamaterials lack the ability to respond to nearby objects due to their physical characteristics. To remedy this shortcoming, Chinese physicists have developed so-called 'metashells': hollow shells made of
NASA's Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) recently awarded Southwest Research Institute the largest Hubble Space Telescope (HST) solar system program ever, with 206 of Hubble's orbits around the Earth allocated to the project. The Solar System Origins Legacy Survey (SSOLS) will focus on Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs), particularly binary populations.
New research reveals the impact of poverty on children's brain activity. Researchers studied the brain function of children aged between four months and four years in rural India, and compared their results with children from families in Midwest America. They found that children in India from lower-income backgrounds, where mothers also had a low level of education, had weaker brain activity and w
A new study highlights the effectiveness of a brief group psychological intervention for women affected by anxiety and depression in a post-conflict setting in Pakistan.
Patients with colorectal cancer have the same consistent changes in the gut bacteria across continents, cultures, and diets — a team of international researchers find in a new study. The hope is the results in the future can be used to develop a new method of diagnosing colorectal cancer.
In playing music, gestures are extremely important, in part because they are directly related to the sound and the expressiveness of the musicians. Today, technology exists that captures movement and is capable of detecting gestural details very precisely.
With nothing more than a photonic chip and an ordinary camera, researchers have managed to count biomolecules one by one in a small sample and determine their position. Their tiny device — a marriage of optics and smart image analysis — is even able to detect a graphene sheet only a single atom thick. This type of sensor could one day play a key role in personalized medicine.
Most people who contracted the disease were unvaccinated and some state legislatures are now considering whether to curtail nonmedical vaccine exemptions.
Selected from more than 48,000 entries, the winning photographs from Smithsonian magazine's 16th annual competition have been announced . The Grand Prize winner this year, Newest Cowboy in Town , comes from the Mississippi-based photographer Rory Doyle . Below are the winning images from the following categories: Natural World, The American Experience, Travel, People, Altered Images, and Mobile,
The unicellular parasite that causes sleeping sickness differs from other eukaryotes in the mode of regulation of an essential cellular signaling pathway. This provides a promising point of attack for drug development.
New UMN research recently published in Blood Advances, Kalpna Gupta, PhD, Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, demonstrates the impact of opioids on the survival of humanized mouse models with sickle cell disease, compared to normal mice.
How could prebiotic information-bearing DNA sequences survive in the face of competition from a vast excess of shorter molecules with random sequences? Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich scientists now show that a relatively simple mechanism could have done the trick.
Using a single seismometer, researchers have shown that seismic waves excited by the surf, together with the effect of the Earth's tides on the subsoil, can be used to better understand the properties of the Earth without having to drill into the ground. Knowledge of subsurface stress or strain fluctuations is important for safety in construction and mining, and monitoring geological processes in
Drone Swatters The U.S. Navy is hiring a new team of hackers, engineers, and scientists to find ways to stop swarms of commercial drones. Drones are causing problems for militaries around the world, and the Navy wants to make sure it can prevent more issues as the technology gets more sophisticated, according to Defense One — a chilling glimpse of the future of counter-insurgent warfare. Arms Rac
Daily briefing: NASA says India's anti-satellite missile test put ISS at risk Daily briefing: NASA says India's anti-satellite missile test put ISS at risk, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01069-x Test was "a terrible, terrible thing". Plus: how to take the cancer-research road less travelled and discover the salmon that survive spawning.
As more and more women have entered the workforce, they have naturally spent less time at home. Still, homes demand work, from cooking and cleaning to taking care of children. A majority of American children have two parents working outside the home, and nearly half of all married couples both work. In the U.S. and many other countries, there is no clear answer to who will take care of the housew
Six years after Curiosity detected methane on Mars, scientists may have figured out where it comes from. The post Scientists May Have Pinpointed the Source of Mars' Methane appeared first on ExtremeTech .
Gravitational-wave hunt restarts — with a quantum boost Gravitational-wave hunt restarts — with a quantum boost, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01064-2 Detailed data on space-time ripples are set to pour in from LIGO and Virgo's upgraded detectors.
In UConn researcher Elic Weitzel's recent publication, he hopes to shed light on the question regarding the adaptation farming in early populations in the Eastern United States.
A new research paper finds the high-energy physics concept of 'un-naturalness' may be applicable to the study of turbulence or that of strongly correlated systems of elementary particles.
A new three-part study showed that a delayed-release, extended-release form of methylphenidate could be given to adults in the evening with or without food and would not exert any clinically meaningful effect for at least 10 hours after administration.
Tel Aviv University researchers have demonstrated a different type of ranging system for radar that possesses superior range resolution and is almost completely free of bandwidth limitations. The technology has important applications for the self-driving car industry, optical imaging and astronomy.
Nature has provided us with lots of antimicrobials. However, given the rapid increase of antimicrobial resistance, there is a need for the development of new-to-nature antibiotics. Lantibiotics are an interesting option. Molecular biologists from the University of Groningen and their colleagues in Switzerland and Germany have now developed a pipeline to create and screen large numbers of new lanti
Nuclear Waste Nuclear power can provide inexpensive electricity with little in the way of emissions, but there's a catch: it produces horrifying radioactive waste that can remain deadly for thousands of years. Enter Gerard Mourou, the Nobel Prize-winning subject of a fascinating new Bloomberg profile . He says that high-intensity lasers could one day render nuclear waste harmless in just a few mi
A small study finds that the tiny extracellular vesicles from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma have RNA content distinct from patients with cirrhosis only.
A training program helps young people with autism spectrum disorder build soft skills for the workplace, research shows. Ninety percent of those with disabilities lose their jobs due to the lack of soft skills, cites Connie Sung, associate professor of rehabilitation counseling at Michigan State University's College of Education in a paper in the journal Autism . This is because most training foc
Mindless switching between digital devices is associated with increased susceptibility to food temptations and lack of self-control, which may result in weight gain, according to new research. "Increased exposure to phones, tablets, and other portable devices has been one of the most significant changes to our environments in the past few decades, and this occurred during a period in which obesit
India's recent anti-satellite test created 60 pieces of orbital debris big enough to track, 24 of which rise higher than the International Space Station's orbit around Earth.
Particle beam therapy, a form of radiotherapy that involves using beams of positively charged particles rather than X-rays, is becoming increasingly popular. Treatment plans need to be optimized so as to maximize irradiation of the tumor while minimizing damage to normal tissue. A new study published in EPJ D shows that replacing well-known, simple parameters with more complex ones can enhance the
Engineering researchers have demonstrated that a longstanding theoretical method called direct antenna modulation has real-world utility for boosting the quality of radio signals when transmitting at high data rates. The finding has applications in fields such as military communications.
The power to align water molecules is usually held by ice, which affects nearby water and encourages it to join the ice layer. But in the case of organisms in freezing habitats, a powerful antifreeze protein can convince water molecules to behave in ways that benefit the protein instead. In this week's Journal of Chemical Physics, scientists are taking a closer look at the molecular structure of t
Amyloid (abnormal protein) plaques in the brain are a feature of Alzheimer disease and imaging the brain with positron emission tomography (PET) can detect them. This study examined whether such imaging is associated with changes in patient care, although amyloid deposits also occur with other neurological disorders and in cognitively normal older adults. This study included about 11,400 Medicare
New research in rodents reveals for the first time how dopamine changes the function of the brain's prefrontal cortex. In a study published today in the journal Cell Reports, researchers found that dopamine has little effect on individual cells. Instead, it generates sustained activity in the ensemble of cells in the prefrontal cortex that lasts for up to 20 minutes.
A highly drug-resistant bacteria common in hospitals, Klebsiella pneumoniae, represents a significant antimicrobial resistance threat and should be monitored globally, say UCL researchers. The warning follows new genetic analyses revealing how K. pneumoniae are able to quickly evolve to change their genetic makeup. This has implications for understanding how several species of bacteria — called E
A new understanding of cell migration may eventually help in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases — and even allow children to 'get out of their wheelchairs and live an enhanced quality of life.'
A first-of-its-kind national study has found that a form of brain imaging that detects Alzheimer's-related 'plaques' significantly influenced clinical management of patients with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
Increasing ground temperatures in the Arctic are indicators of global climate change, but until recently, areas of cold permafrost were thought to be relatively immune to severe impacts. A new study by Antoni Lewkowicz, a professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics at the University of Ottawa and published in the journal Nature Communications, however, shows that areas of c
NASA's InSight lander touched down on the surface of Mars in November. Its mission: to unravel secrets about the creation of the planets in our solar system. Crucial to that mission: a broom-length robotic arm that it slowly extended after landing to place a number of sensitive scientific instruments on the Martian surface — and even drill into the planet itself. To find out more about what it ta
One Job Tesla's Autopilot mode might have something of a deathwish. By attaching just three small stickers to the road that are nearly invisible to a human driver, researchers from Chinese tech corporation Tencent managed to trick the AI of a Tesla Model S 75 into steering towards oncoming traffic, according to the researchers' report — a worrisome glimpse of how hackers could endanger riders in
The landscape of Banks Island in the far north of Canada is being reshaped by global warming-triggered land slumps, and the situation is set to get much worse
Quick Roundup Of Monthly Science Stories A month's worth of cool science stories summed up. Quick Roundup Of Monthly Science Stories Video of Quick Roundup Of Monthly Science Stories Technology Tuesday, April 2, 2019 – 10:15 Alistair Jennings, Contributor References: New fuel cell could help fix the renewable energy storage problem Air pollution causes 800,000 extra deaths a year in Europe and 8.
Traditional surgery to reshape a nose or ear entails cutting and suturing, sometimes followed by long recovery times and scars. But now, researchers have developed a "molecular surgery" process that uses tiny needles, electric current and 3-D-printed molds to quickly reshape living tissue with no incisions, scarring or recovery time. The technique even shows promise as a way to fix immobile joints
Chinese physicists have developed so-called metashells made of smart, adaptable metamaterials. In a recent study published in EPJ B, they show how hollow metamaterial shells can adapt to the characteristics of the materials they hold inside.
Crocus sativus, a small plain purple flower with three bright red stigmas, not unlike the crocus flowers which seem omnipresent in springtime, only much more valuable. Then once they've been handpicked and dried, the stigmas of the saffron crocus are shipped off to markets across the globe, becoming the world's most expensive spice, saffron.
It was shown that co-culturing HeLa adenocarcinoma cells, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and mesenchymal stromal cells results in changes in the proliferative activity of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells and mesenchymal stromal cell populations.
More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced acute hunger requiring urgent food, nutrition and livelihoods assistance in 2018, according to a new report published today in Brussels.
Neuroscientist and pediatrician Kimberly Noble is leading the Baby's First Years study: the first-ever randomized study of how family income changes children's cognitive, emotional and brain development. She and a team of economists and policy experts are working together to find out: Can we help kids in poverty simply by giving families more money? "The brain is not destiny," Noble says. "And if
Do you say po-tay-to or po-tah-to? To-may-to or to-mah-to? Well, it doesn't really matter either way! Or should we say eye-ther way?? What matters is that you pick one! So whether you like tubers or fruits (or are they both vegetables?), you must make your choice! Potatoes and tomatoes go head to head this Thursday, April 4th at 11 am ET .
When a tree falls in a forest, regardless of whether anyone hears it, it sometimes becomes clam food. Wood that finds its way from rivers into the ocean can eventually become waterlogged and …
One critically endangered species of smooth-shelled abalone is making a comeback in certain parts of its range along the California coast. To better understand the extent of black abalone recovery, a collaborative team led by scientists at the California Academy of Sciences, San Diego State University, University of Oregon, and Channel Islands National Park is turning to archeological sites on the
Millions of the world's most vulnerable people face problems with invasive weeds, insects and plant diseases, which are out of control and have a major impact on global prosperity, communities and the environment. Developing countries are disproportionately affected.
PLUS. Såkaldte Power-to-X-processer vil være rentable langt tidligere end man hidtil har forventet – med potentiale for etablering af anlæg indenfor de næste fem-ti år, vurderer Energinet.
One critically endangered species of smooth-shelled abalone is making a comeback in certain parts of its range along the California coast. To better understand the extent of black abalone recovery, a collaborative team led by scientists at the California Academy of Sciences, San Diego State University, University of Oregon, and Channel Islands National Park is turning to archeological sites on the
Millions of the world's most vulnerable people face problems with invasive weeds, insects and plant diseases, which are out of control and have a major impact on global prosperity, communities and the environment. Developing countries are disproportionately affected.
Report by Environment and Climate Change Canada suggests the majority of warming is the result of burning fossil fuels Canada is warming twice as fast as the rest of the world, a landmark government report has found, warning that drastic action is the only way to avoid catastrophic outcomes. "The science is clear – Canada 's climate is warming more rapidly than the global average, and this level
"Unacceptable" Threat On March 27, India tested a satellite-destroying missile by blowing up one of its own satellites, which was orbiting about 186 miles above the Earth. "The test was done in the lower atmosphere to ensure that there is no space debris," the Ministry of External Affairs wrote on its website . "Whatever debris that is generated will decay and fall back onto the earth within week
When an act of terrorism or a vehicle or industrial accident ignites fuel, the resulting fire or explosion can be devastating. Today, scientists will describe how lengthy but microscopic chains of polymers could be added to fuel to significantly reduce the damage from these terrifying incidents without impacting performance.
From computer hard discs and smart phones to earbuds and electric motors, magnets are at the forefront of today's technology. Magnets containing rare-earth elements are among the most powerful available, allowing many everyday objects to be ever smaller. But rare-earth elements can be difficult to obtain, given either their scarcity or the challenging geopolitical climates of some of the nations w
Just as controlled-release medications slowly dole out their cargo after they experience a pH change in the body, implanted "artificial muscles" could someday flex and relax in response to light illuminating the skin. In pilot studies, scientists have developed a new material that expands and contracts, lifting a weight merely by shining a light on it.
Hundreds of everyday items, from furniture to cell phones to floor wax, contain organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants and plasticizers. Some of these semi-volatile compounds make their way into the air, onto surfaces and even inside our bodies, with uncertain health effects. Today, researchers report that hands play a central role in transferring OPEs and other flame retardants and plastici
Traditional surgery to reshape a nose or ear entails cutting and suturing, sometimes followed by long recovery times and scars. But now, researchers have developed a "molecular surgery" process that uses tiny needles, electric current and 3-D-printed molds to quickly reshape living tissue with no incisions, scarring or recovery time. The technique even shows promise as a way to fix immobile joints
Sometimes kids ask really simple questions – and parents have no idea what the answers are. When one of our colleagues was asked what it sounds like on the planet Uranus, she was stumped. And so were we! So we asked an expert. (And, yes, we know this subject lends itself to jokes about flatulence, but we'll let you come up with your own jokes – this is a pun-free post.)
Patients with colorectal cancer have the same consistent changes in the gut bacteria across continents, cultures, and diets — a team of international researchers, from University of Copenhagen among others, find in a new study. The hope is the results in the future can be used to develop a new method of diagnosing colorectal cancer.
A new University of Liverpool led study, published in The Lancet, highlights the effectiveness of a brief group psychological intervention for women affected by anxiety and depression in a post-conflict setting in Pakistan.
New research reveals the impact of poverty on children's brain activity. Researchers studied the brain function of children aged between four months and four years in rural India, and compared their results with children from families in Midwest America.They found that children in India from lower-income backgrounds, where mothers also had a low level of education, had weaker brain activity and we
European surveillance data show a 10% decrease in newly reported hepatitis C cases between 2016 and 2017. However, with more than 31,000 recorded cases in 2017, diagnoses remain at a high level in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA). In addition, variation in national testing practices and widespread under-reporting of diagnosed cases do not provide an accurate picture of the tr
Contrary to prior belief, the white blood cells enter the spleen primarily via vessels in the red pulp. The research results change thoroughly our perception of the spleen producing antibodies vital for the human body.
Access to broadband Internet has a positive effect on fertility, overall life satisfaction and time spent with children. Since this effect is largely driven by higher-educated women, though, it risks to create another digital divide, according to a study by Francesco Billari and Luca Stella (Bocconi University), with Osea Giuntella (University of Pittsburgh), just published in Population Studies.
From their birth through to their death, cells lead an eventful existence. Thanks to single-cell genomics, their destiny in large cell populations can now be analyzed. However, this method destroys the cell, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the dynamics of cell development.
Researchers investigate the dispersal patterns of the endangered golden lion tamarin, to help maintain the viability of the species. They found that while both female and male tamarins do leave their natal group but males immigrate into other groups, whereas females form entirely new ones.
A new mouse model for Joubert syndrome has been developed by University of Bath scientists, who hope it will accelerate research to understand how the disease develops as well as help develop and evaluate therapeutic approaches.
The experimental oncolytic adenovirus telomelysin (OBP-301) in combination with radiotherapy was safe and showed early clinical efficacy in vulnerable patients with esophageal cancer, according to results from a phase I clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, March 29-April 3.
When a tree falls in a forest, regardless of whether anyone hears it, it sometimes becomes clam food. Wood that finds its way from rivers into the ocean can eventually become waterlogged and sink to the sea floor, sometimes to great depths. There, tiny clams bore into the wood, eating the wood shavings and living the rest of their lives head down in the holes they made. In a new paper in the Journ
When a tree falls in a forest, regardless of whether anyone hears it, it sometimes becomes clam food. Wood that finds its way from rivers into the ocean can eventually become waterlogged and sink to the sea floor, sometimes to great depths. There, tiny clams bore into the wood, eating the wood shavings and living the rest of their lives head down in the holes they made. In a new paper in the Journ
International plans to restore forests to combat global warming are flawed and will fall far short of meeting 1.5C climate targets, according to new research by UCL and University of Edinburgh scientists.
"That is a terrible, terrible thing to create an event that sends debris in an apogee that goes above the International Space Station," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. (Image credit: Handout /Reuters)
The crew of the Bell M. Shimada hauled in the net, long as a football field and teeming with life. Scientists, off the coast of Washington for a week on this June research trip, crowded in for a look.
The crew of the Bell M. Shimada hauled in the net, long as a football field and teeming with life. Scientists, off the coast of Washington for a week on this June research trip, crowded in for a look.
Blood money: the biotech debacle of Theranos on screenBlood money: the biotech debacle of Theranos on screen, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01066-0The …
Tättingarna omfattar fler än 6 000 arter och utgör den i särklass största fågelgruppen med cirka 140 tättingfamiljer. Till tättingar räknas alla "småfåglar", som mesar, trastar och finkar, liksom kråkfåglar. Rekonstruktionen av tättingarnas livsträd är baserad på en stor mängd DNA-data från en till fyra arter per familj. Dessa DNA-sekvenser har i kombination med fossildata använts för att uppskat
Mens den samlede udledning af drivhusgasser i Europa går nedad, så stiger CO2-udledningen i luftfartsektoren, og Ryanair er blevet den tiende største CO2-udleder i EU.
With nothing more than a photonic chip and an ordinary camera, EPFL researchers have managed to count biomolecules one by one in a small sample and determine their position. Their tiny device — a marriage of optics and smart image analysis — is even able to detect a graphene sheet only a single atom thick. This type of sensor could one day play a key role in personalized medicine.
Radioactive iodine has been used for treatment of thyroid cancer. However, some thyroid tumors become resistant to iodine treatment. An Osaka University research team used a large accelerator to produce sodium astatide for injection, which emits highly therapeutic alpha rays that can be used in cancer treatment. This systemic alpha-ray exposure may enable breakthrough outpatient treatment of cance
An exciting rapid growth of large graphene single crystal on liquid Cu with the rate up to 79 μm s-1 based on the liquid metal chemical vapor deposition strategy was released by Lei Fu et al. in Science China Materials.
Sea snakes, best known from shallow tropical waters, have been recorded swimming at 250 meters in the deep-sea 'twilight zone,' smashing the previous diving record of 133 meters held by sea snakes.
Scientists from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have recently uncovered the mechanisms of how RNA polymerase II performs intrinsic cleavage reaction to proofread RNA transcriptions, shedding light on how misregulation of accurate transcription can lead to diseases including cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
One critically endangered species of smooth-shelled abalone is making a comeback in certain parts of its range along the California coast. To better understand the extent of black abalone recovery, a collaborative scientific team is turning to archeological sites on the Channel Islands. Their findings, published today in Ecology and Evolution, suggest that while the recent ecological rebound is en
A research team at The University of Tokyo simulated phase separation in colloidal suspensions. By treating colloid particles as undeformable highly viscous liquid droplets suspended in a solvent, they predicted the kinetics of colloid demixing — separation into a particulate phase – with high efficiency. A microscope study of real colloidal suspensions confirmed the accuracy of the model, which
Mammography remains an effective method for breast cancer screening in women ages 65 and older, with the addition of a 3D technique called tomosynthesis improving screening performances even more, according to a new study.
Bariatric embolization, a new, minimally invasive treatment for obesity produces weight loss and reduces appetite for up to one year, according to a new study.
The United States and China are in a virtual deadlock in the race for 5G, or fifth-generation wireless networks expected to unlock new services, an industry survey showed Tuesday.
In the first study of its kind, researchers from the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, the University of Surrey, the University of Stirling and the Arctic University of Norway investigated the social and economic impact of plastics in the sea.
Germany said Tuesday it had reduced emissions of greenhouse gases signficantly for the first time in five years in 2018, although it has already abandoned self-imposed targets for the end of this decade.
Brain evidence is playing an increasing role in criminal trials in the United States. An analysis indicates that brain evidence such as MRI or CAT scans – meant to provide proof of abnormalities, brain damage or disorder in defendants – was used for leniency in approximately 5 percent of murder cases at the appellate level. This number jumps to an astounding 25 percent in death penalty trials. In
More than 113 million people across 53 countries experienced "acute hunger" last year because of wars and climate disasters, with Africa the worst-hit region, the UN said Tuesday.
High Score If old-fashioned books are too boring for you, ebook distributor OverDrive wants to gamify them with interactive elements and video game-inspired achievements and badges for kids who finish their reading homework. "I actually had a team studying how Fortnite became so addictive," co-founder and CEO Steve Potash told Futurism. "This is why with [OverDrive's student-focused reading app]
We spend a lot of time in this sort of work thinking about protein structures. Traditionally that's been the province of X-ray crystallography, later joined by solution NMR, and more latterly by cryo-electron microscopy. Each of these has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, but one big split is between the solid phase (X-ray and cryo-EM) and solution (NMR). And between the two solid-phas
Nature has evolved protein-based substances with mechanical properties that rival even the best synthetic materials. For example, pound for pound, spider silk is stronger and tougher than steel. But unlike steel, the natural fiber cannot be mass-produced. Today, scientists report a new method that takes advantage of engineered bacteria to produce spider silk and other difficult-to-make proteins th
Maize farming fouls the air to fatal effect Maize farming fouls the air to fatal effect, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01053-5 The dominant US crop plant has a voracious appetite for fertilizer, which leads to air pollution and health problems.
From counting with stones to artificial intelligence: the story of calculus From counting with stones to artificial intelligence: the story of calculus, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01038-4 Anil Ananthaswamy savours a history of the mathematics used to track changes in everything from DNA to machine learning.
From computer hard discs to smart phones, magnets are at the forefront of technology. Magnets containing rare-earth elements are among the most powerful available, but these elements can be difficult to obtain. Now, scientists have identified magnets based on more readily obtainable rare earths, as well as some promising magnets that don't contain these materials at all.
Women have long borne the brunt of contraception responsibilities , but this may be shifting in coming years. A new trial published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism details strides made by researchers in developing a male version of the birth control pill, bringing it within reach of the long-sought-after FDA approval. Like the female equivalent, a male oral contraceptive w
Scientists have come up with a way to deal with the glut of used lithium-ion batteries that old electric vehicles, cellphones, and other electronic devices leave behind. Pulickel Ajayan, professor of engineering and of chemistry at Rice University, used an environmentally friendly deep eutectic solvent to extract valuable elements from the metal oxides commonly used as cathodes in lithium-ion bat
Vores samfund skal bygge på evidens og ikke mavefornemmelser, lyder det fra ung læge. Han mener, at politikerne skal blive på deres banehalvdel og stole på lægerne, når det gælder diagnosticering og behandling af sygdomme.
To Andrew Wheeler, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, global warming is a problem for the future. "Most of the threats from climate change are 50 to 75 years out," he said in a recent interview, expressing a common sentiment.
California's largest internal body of water is steadily drying up, exposing a lake bed that threatens to trigger toxic dust storms and exacerbate already high levels of asthma and other respiratory diseases in Southern California.
Research continues on an eventual 140-million-mile mission to Mars, developing the latest transportation as well as habitats necessary for the red planet.
A multidisciplinary team of plant biologists and engineers has developed a software that uses machine learning to measure plant root length accurately. Root analysis is essential in academic and agricultural research. The software, named MyRoot, saves researchers both labor and time and, in the future, it could be a useful tool in agriculture.
Scientists at the University of Navarra link the alteration of three molecules with the prevalence, incidence, and recurrence of this cardiac ailment present in 33.5 million people in the worldBy analyzing a blood sample, they can offer a more precise personalized preventive treatment and follow-up.
Loss and fragmentation of habitat are among the main reasons why biodiversity is decreasing in many places worldwide. Now, a research team has established that the destruction of habitat causes double damage to biodiversity; if habitat patches disappear, not only do the species living there become extinct, but species richness in neighbouring patches also declines. The reason is the large physical
Researchers have identified Bombali ebolavirus in an Angolan free-tailed bat captured in the Taita Hills, southeast Kenya. No ebolaviruses have been previously reported from wildlife in countries along the east coast of Africa. There is no current evidence that Bombali ebolavirus infects people.
Programmers are human, but mathematics is immortal. By making programming more mathematical, a community of computer scientists is hoping to eliminate the coding bugs that can open doors to hackers, spill digital secrets and generally plague modern society. Now a set of computer scientists has taken a major step toward this goal with the release today of EverCrypt , a set of digital cryptography
An international team of researchers has found evidence of Denisovans interbreeding with modern humans in Southeast Asia more recently than thought. The group gave a presentation at this year's meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists outlining a genetic study they conducted.
One of the main challenges in wildlife conservation biology is to understand what factors affect vulnerable wildlife populations over time. Scientists have been trying to understand these factors to estimate how much hunting in a season is sustainable, but the lack of long-term monitoring data, especially in remote areas such as the Arctic, makes this task very difficult to accomplish.
One of the main challenges in wildlife conservation biology is to understand what factors affect vulnerable wildlife populations over time. Scientists have been trying to understand these factors to estimate how much hunting in a season is sustainable, but the lack of long-term monitoring data, especially in remote areas such as the Arctic, makes this task very difficult to accomplish.
European criminal gangs are a new recruiting ground for ISIS and other jihadi terrorist groups, a new paper argues. In the paper , Jytte Klausen uses the term "gangster jihadism" to describe the nexus between the criminal underworld and radical Islamic groups. This new alliance with the criminal underworld marks a major shift in how Islamic extremists lure new members. In the past, young European
The upper echelons of British society are filled with graduates from elite universities. These universities are, in turn, disproportionately full of students from wealthier backgrounds, many of whom went to private school. For these graduates, their top education and superior knowledge of the "rules of the game" regarding how institutions work gains them entry-level graduate jobs in elite professi
Fungi that decompose tree trunks can conjure up real works of art in wood. In nature, however, the decay-causing fungi not only decorate the tree, but also destroy it. Empa researchers are now teaching the fungi how to draw. The result: upscale marbled wood that can be processed into design furniture or musical instruments.
In playing music, gestures are extremely important, in part because they are directly related to the sound and the expressiveness of the musicians. Today, technology exists that captures movement and is capable of detecting gestural details very precisely.
Human-caused pollution spurs the production of climate-changing particles known as secondary organic aerosols much more than previously thought. Researchers made the finding by analyzing air samples that were captured aboard a research aircraft as it zigzagged between pristine air over the Amazon rainforest and polluted air over the nearby city of Manaus. It was like a trip back (and forth) throug
Whether you bend a rod or bend the rules, the brain processes the word 'bend' similarly, with the sensory motor region playing a key role, according to new research by University of Arizona assistant professor of psychology Vicky Lai.
A University of Arkansas biologist found a newly discovered species of ebolavirus, named Bombali, in a bat caught in Kenya. Bombali, which is not known to infect humans, had previously been found only in Sierra Leone, 3,400 miles to the west.
Scientists at the Sensitive Instrument Facility of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory achieved real-time atom rearrangement monitoring using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy during the synthesis of intermetallic nanoparticles (iNPs).
There is much ongoing research into autonomous road vehicles and experimental cars and heavy-goods vehicles have already hit the roads. A paper published in the International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management examines some of the myths associated with driverless vehicles and analyses the route that we might navigate to a new transport destination – the autonomous mobility paradigm.
Facebook said Monday that it had removed hundreds of pages and accounts linked to government and political organizations in India and Pakistan that misled users about their identities, part of the company's effort to fight allegations that its platform is used to spread misinformation.
Fungi that decompose tree trunks can conjure up real works of art in wood. In nature, however, the decay-causing fungi not only decorate the tree, but also destroy it. Empa researchers are now teaching the fungi how to draw. The result: upscale marbled wood that can be processed into design furniture or musical instruments.
An international team of physicists from the Mandelstam Institute for Theoretical Physics at Wits University and the Institut Néel in Grenoble, France, has created a tiny superconducting circuit that mimics the quantum mechanical process in which an atom absorbs or emits light.
From their birth through to their death, cells lead an eventful existence. Thanks to single-cell genomics, their destiny in large cell populations can now be analyzed. However, this method destroys the cell, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the dynamics of cell development. In order to address this problem, researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the University of Massac
After years of debate, New York state has adopted congestion pricing to deal with traffic problems in New York City. Starting in 2021, fees will be imposed on all vehicles entering a pricing zone that covers lower Manhattan, from 60th Street at the southern edge of Central Park to the southernmost tip of the island.
A long-nosed fly from the Jurassic of Central Asia, reported by Russian paleontologists, provides new evidence that insects started serving as pollinators long before the emergence of flowering plants. Equipped with a proboscis twice the length of the body, this fly predates the first angiosperms by about 40-45 million years. This suggests that insect pollination began to evolve in association wit
Scientists of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) in collaboration with colleagues from Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences (FEB RAS), ITMO University and Swinburne University of Technology (Australia), have developed a method for efficient mass production of silicon-germanium fully alloyed nanoantennas. The technology has potential applications in optical biosensory platforms and
From their birth through to their death, cells lead an eventful existence. Thanks to single-cell genomics, their destiny in large cell populations can now be analyzed. However, this method destroys the cell, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the dynamics of cell development. In order to address this problem, researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the University of Massac
How could prebiotic information-bearing DNA sequences survive in the face of competition from a vast excess of shorter molecules with random sequences? LMU scientists now show that a relatively simple mechanism could have done the trick.
Blood money: the biotech debacle of Theranos on screen Blood money: the biotech debacle of Theranos on screen, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01066-0 The rise and fall of the medical-testing company features in a new documentary. Heidi Ledford sums up.
An invasive fungus has led to one of the greatest documented losses of vertebrate biodiversity, according to a new global analysis. In the 1970s, frogs in remote regions of Australia and Central America began to suddenly disappear. Researchers investigated whether climate change, UV radiation, or pollution caused the disappearance, but they didn't find a clear explanation until a small team in no
Nature has evolved protein-based substances with mechanical properties that rival even the best synthetic materials. Pound for pound, spider silk is stronger and tougher than steel. But unlike steel, the natural fiber cannot be mass-produced. Today, scientists report a method in which bacteria produce spider silk and other proteins that could be useful during space missions.
Methane is a major component in natural gas and one of the most difficult molecules for controlled activation, since most of the product results in carbon dioxide. The industrial conversion of methane to alcohol derivatives is typically based on a circuitous route that begins with overoxidation to carbon monoxide. Although more direct approaches have shown promise in highly acidic media at a small
WhatsApp's role in the spread of misinformation in India has often been called into question. The Facebook-owned company has taken some steps to prevent the flow of fake news. One of …
Court ruling highlights the threat of vaccine misinformation Court ruling highlights the threat of vaccine misinformation, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01031-x Distorted facts that undermine uptake of the human papillomavirus vaccine could leave a generation at risk.
PLUS. Opdagelsen i North Dakota, der viser minutterne efter asteroide ramte Jorden, er ifølge dansk palæontolog en af de mest utrolige opdagelser, han nogensinde har set.
From computer hard discs to smart phones, magnets are at the forefront of technology. Magnets containing rare-earth elements are among the most powerful available, but these elements can be difficult to obtain. Now, scientists have identified magnets based on more readily obtainable rare earths, as well as some promising magnets that don't contain these materials at all.
Hundreds of everyday items, from furniture to cell phones to floor wax, contain organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants and plasticizers. Some of these compounds make their way into the air, onto surfaces and even inside our bodies, with uncertain health effects. Today, researchers report that hands play a central role in transferring OPEs throughout the indoor environment.
Just as controlled-release medications slowly dole out their cargo after they experience a pH change in the body, implanted 'artificial muscles' could someday flex and relax in response to light illuminating the skin. Scientists have developed a new material that expands and contracts, lifting a weight merely by shining a light on it.
Scientists have discovered two new species of giant stick insect on Madagascar, whose males become dazzling blue or multicolored at sexual maturity. The researchers describe their rare and exciting findings, and wonder at the reproductive success of the least stick-like stick insects on the planet.
When an act of terrorism or a vehicle or industrial accident ignites fuel, the resulting fire or explosion can be devastating. Today, scientists will describe how lengthy but microscopic chains of polymers could be added to fuel to significantly reduce the damage from these terrifying incidents.
Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) presents significant challenges not only to patients but also to researchers, and efforts must be accelerated to learn more about the condition.
The drug colchicine, used to treat the arthritic condition gout, could potentially reduce complications accompanying metabolic syndrome, a combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar and other conditions that increase the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.
Research at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has identified a genomic risk factor associated with stroke in childhood cancer survivors. Higher doses of radiation have been previously correlated with risk of stroke. However, the researchers wanted to understand why some patients treated with high doses do not experience a stroke, while other patients do when they are treated at lower doses.
From the archive From the archive, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01039-3 How Nature reported the discovery of formaldehyde in space in 1969, and an explanation of iridescent colouration from 1919.
Nature has evolved protein-based substances with mechanical properties that rival even the best synthetic materials. Pound for pound, spider silk is stronger and tougher than steel. But unlike steel, the natural fiber cannot be mass-produced. Today, scientists report a method in which bacteria produce spider silk and other proteins that could be useful during space missions.
Traditional surgery to reshape a nose or ear entails cutting, sometimes followed by long recovery times and scars. Now, researchers have developed a 'molecular surgery' process using tiny needles, electric current and 3D molds to quickly reshape living tissue with no incisions, scarring or recovery time. It shows promise as a noninvasive alternative to laser eye surgery.
Workload and a better work/life balance are the main reasons teachers leave or consider leaving the profession within 10 years, a new survey of 1,200 teachers finds. The nature not the quantity of the workload, with its emphasis on accountability and performance, was the crucial factor in decisions to leave.
Tension between beat and off-beat drives the emotive and motor components of response to music, writes Tomas Matthews of Concordia University in Canada.
New research opens the door to applying basic cognitive science research to help people with vision loss. Many brain training games claim to improve mental performance, but a growing body of cognitive research shows that while participants get better on a game's specific tasks, the benefits do not transfer to real-life skills such as remembering what to pick up from the grocery store. "This chall
Researchers have developed skin-inspired electronics to conform to the skin, allowing for long-term, high-performance, real-time wound monitoring in users.
A team of scientists from Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University used 3-D printing to create biocompatible structures on the basis of chitin obtained from crab shells. This method will help develop structures with given shapes for biomedical purposes, including the replacement of damaged soft tissues in the human body. The article was published in Marine Drugs.
A group of scientists has confirmed the first report of an egg parasitoid Telenomus remus in Africa, which could prove an important biological weapon in the fight against the devastating fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) that threatens the food security of more than 200 million people.
A group of scientists has confirmed the first report of an egg parasitoid Telenomus remus in Africa, which could prove an important biological weapon in the fight against the devastating fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) that threatens the food security of more than 200 million people.
The dramatic loss of ice in the Arctic is influencing sea-ice transport across the Arctic Ocean. Today only 20 percent of the sea ice that forms in the shallow Russian marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean actually reaches the Central Arctic, where it joins the Transpolar Drift; the remaining 80 percent of the young ice melts before it has a chance to leave its 'nursery.'
The basis behind the newly published dose-response function is that the relationship between intra-cellular responses and multi-organ, multi-cellular governing processes is reflected in the overall dose-response function.
International plans to restore forests to combat global warming are flawed and will fall far short of meeting 1.5C climate targets, according to new research.
Compared to privately insured patients, individuals who lack insurance or use Medicaid are more likely to be transferred to another hospital after receiving initial treatment in the emergency department (ED). The uninsured are also at greater risk of being discharged from an ED and not admitted to the hospital.
Midtvejs i IDAs repræsentantskabsvalg indikerer vores prognose, at næsten 20 procent af medlemmer vil stemme. Det er dobbelt så mange som ved valget i 2016.
A team of scientists from Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University used 3-D printing to create biocompatible structures on the basis of chitin obtained from crab shells. This method will help develop structures with given shapes for biomedical purposes, including the replacement of damaged soft tissues in the human body. The article was published in Marine Drugs.
A team of engineers developed a new kind of wing composed of hundreds of individual pieces that could be lighter and more energy-efficient. The post NASA, MIT Design Hollow Morphing Airplane Wing appeared first on ExtremeTech .
Adults who are at high risk of becoming infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, were less likely than the general population to be vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause anal and cervical cancer, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, held in Atlanta March 29-April 3.
A common single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was associated with increased risk for developing stroke in childhood survivors who received cranial radiation therapy (CRT) for their primary cancer, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, March 29-April 3.
Maintenance treatment with the PARP inhibitor rucaparib (Rubraca) was well tolerated and provided clinical responses among patients with advanced BRCA- or PALB2-mutated pancreatic cancer sensitive to platinum-based chemotherapy, according to results from an interim analysis of an ongoing phase II clinical trial presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, March 29-April 3.
Surgery was associated with higher survival rates for patients with HER2-positive (HER2+) stage 4 breast cancer compared with those who did not undergo surgery, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, March 29-April 3.
Switching pancreatic cancer patients to the PARP inhibitor rucaparib as maintenance therapy may represent new treatment paradigm for pancreatic cancer patients with BRCA mutations.
Restoring natural forests is the best way to remove atmospheric carbon Restoring natural forests is the best way to remove atmospheric carbon, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01026-8 Plans to triple the area of plantations will not meet 1.5 °C climate goals. New natural forests can, argue Simon L. Lewis, Charlotte E. Wheeler and colleagues.
A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School has found through experimentation that diversity training does not generally result in much change in work environments—though it might lead women and minorities to strengthen mentoring programs. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study, which involved givi
In the future, it could be possible to remove oil spills on the surface of the ocean by using magnets. An interdisciplinary group of researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) led by Prof. Dr. Marcus Halik has developed functionalised iron oxide particles that can attract any types of hydrocarbons. The magnetic particles and their shells can then be removed from the wat
Birds-of-paradise are a group of songbird species, and are known for their magnificent male plumage and bewildering sexual display. Now, an international collaborative study involving the University of Vienna, Zhejiang University of China and the Swedish Museum of Natural History has analyzed the genomes of 11 songbird species, including those of five bird-of-paradise species, and reconstructed th
Birds-of-paradise are a group of songbird species, and are known for their magnificent male plumage and bewildering sexual display. Now, an international collaborative study involving the University of Vienna, Zhejiang University of China and the Swedish Museum of Natural History has analyzed the genomes of 11 songbird species, including those of five bird-of-paradise species, and reconstructed th
By using underwater sonar, researchers have found that a glacier jutting into a freshwater lake in southern Chile looks different underwater compared to ocean-bound glaciers in Greenland. Their findings, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, clarify how huge chunks of ice break off freshwater glaciers, and have implications for the safety of humans in the vicinity of these huge bo
Resultaterne af kræftundersøgelser i Nordjylland vækker usikkerhed hos regionen, som tvivler på kvaliteten. Tusinder af patienter bliver derfor genindkaldt til undersøgelse.
Et britisk farvel til EU uden nogen aftale kom tættere på, da det britiske underhus mandag aften endnu en gang sagde nej tak til en række aftaler. Det kan få store konsekvenser for patienterne i Europa, mener Lægemiddelindustriforeningen.
A team from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University together with their Russian colleagues carried out genetic analysis of the symbiotic bacterium Wolbachia that prevents the birth and development of males in different species of arthropods. It turns out that the microorganisms exchange their genes to rejuvenate. The results of the study were published in the Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Using data from about 100 sites worldwide, an international research team has demonstrated that forest cover acts as a global thermal insulator by cooling the understory when the air temperature is high. This buffer effect is well known, but this study is the first that has evaluated this worldwide in temperate, boreal and tropical forests.
Investigations into how the electric eel uses electricity have revealed astonishing insights into the creature's physiology and behavior — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Investigations into how the electric eel uses electricity have revealed astonishing insights into the creature's physiology and behavior — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Researchers have developed skin-inspired electronics to conform to the skin, allowing for long-term, high-performance, real-time wound monitoring in users.
A team from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University together with their Russian colleagues carried out genetic analysis of the symbiotic bacterium Wolbachia that prevents the birth and development of males in different species of arthropods. It turns out that the microorganisms exchange their genes to rejuvenate. The results of the study were published in the Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
Using data from about 100 sites worldwide, an international research team has demonstrated that forest cover acts as a global thermal insulator by cooling the understory when the air temperature is high. This buffer effect is well known, but this study is the first that has evaluated this worldwide in temperate, boreal and tropical forests.
Prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates are decreasing or stabilizing in most parts of the world, with the United States recording the biggest drop in incidence, according to results presented at the AACR Annual Meeting 2019, March 29-April 3.
Historically, most pancreatic cancer patients whose tumors grow outside the pancreas to encompass veins and arteries have been told the cancer is inoperable and they should prepare for an average survival time of 12 to 18 months.
Duke University's huge misconduct fine is a reminder to reward rigour Duke University's huge misconduct fine is a reminder to reward rigour, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01032-w US$112.5-million settlement concerning fraudulent data is a casualty of a culture that prizes impact over robustness, says Arturo Casadevall.
Environment Excerpt: Wild at Heart The largest reserves of marine phosphorus in the world were piled into mesas more than 150 feet high on the Chincha Islands off Peru's southern Pacific coast. For most…
I know this is two paleontological posts in a row, but I had intended to blog about this before the stunning KT discovery . Chinese paleontologists announce in the journal Science a new early Cambrian fossil bed in South China – the The Qingjiang biota . This is now just the third major Cambrian find – the first being the famous Burgess shale, and the second the Chengjiang, also in China. This fi
On January 20, 2017, Cassie Schoon rolled into work with a hangover. It was the morning of Donald Trump's presidential inauguration, and Schoon, who doesn't count herself among the president's fans, had gone out for drinks with friends the night before to take her mind off it. The evening's distraction left her in pretty rough shape the next day. "I was in this meeting feeling absolutely miserabl
Under one pessimistic climate change forecast, mosquitoes could expand their range all the way to the Arctic, redefining what we mean by 'tropical' diseases.
The discovery of life on Mars would get pretty much everyone excited. But the scientists hunting for it would probably be happy no matter what the outcome of their search – whether life turned out to extinct, dormant or extant. They'd even consider finding no evidence of life whatsoever to be an important discovery. But, as the saying goes, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, and it wi
After years of rejecting calls for increased regulatory oversight of Facebook, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has now called for more cooperation with government in dealing with problems posed by internet platforms and emergent internet technologies.
A couple of years ago, Logitech announced the Slim Folio keyboard case for the iPad. This provided users with an alternative to Apple's own Smart Keyboard, which let's face it, …
A team of physicists at the University of Cologne has, for the first time, seen a particularly exotic behaviour of electrons on an atomic scale. Electrons normally move almost freely through three-dimensional space. However, when they are forced to move in only one dimension, i.e., in a chain of atoms, they begin to act strangely. The Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid theory predicted this decades ago. In
Sea snakes, best known from shallow tropical waters, have been recorded swimming at 250 metres in the deep-sea 'twilight zone', smashing the previous diving record of 133 metres held by sea snakes.
An infrared view of our Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is currently undergoing a series of tests at the IABG facility in Ottobrunn, Germany, ahead of its launch, scheduled for February 2020.
Japanese scientists have developed a technique to transform a copper-based substance into a material that mimics properties of precious and pricey metals such as gold and silver. The new medium, made of copper nanoparticles (very small copper-based structures) has promising applications in the production of electronic devices that would otherwise depend on expensive gold and silver counterparts. I
A fundamental cellular mechanism ensures that proteins are transported to the places they are needed in the cells. So-called vesicles are responsible for that transport. Determining their composition has been difficult up to now, not least because of their short life span. By combining innovative investigative techniques, biochemists at Heidelberg University have succeeded in analysing two of thes
Gwyneth Paltrow has incited debate by posting a photo of her daughter on social media. We need to consider how such images may one day be viewed, says Linda Geddes
Sea snakes, best known from shallow tropical waters, have been recorded swimming at 250 metres in the deep-sea 'twilight zone', smashing the previous diving record of 133 metres held by sea snakes.
Wood-boring clams are tiny clams that eat (and live in) sunken wood at the bottom of the ocean, and they have long, tube-shaped organs that they use to breathe called siphons sticking out of their shells. Scientists have just updated the wood-boring clam family tree, adding a new species and three new genus groups. They're all pretty…. phallic-looking.
The cells that make up the body vary significantly. A liver cell does not look like a muscle cell, and each has a unique function. This is because liver cells produce the proteins that characterize them, and muscle cells do the same. The blueprint of each human protein is saved in genes, which are the same in every single cell.
A new study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that the recent intensification of the equatorial Pacific wind system, known as Walker Circulation, is unrelated to human influences and can be explained by natural processes. This result ends a longstanding debate on the drivers of an unprecedented atmospheric trend, which contributed to a three-fold acceleration of sea
Brexit has already irreparably damaged research Brexit has already irreparably damaged research, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01060-6 The disastrous process of leaving the European Union is creating casualties of science and communities.
A fundamental cellular mechanism ensures that proteins are transported to the places they are needed in the cells. So-called vesicles are responsible for that transport. Determining their composition has been difficult up to now, not least because of their short life span. By combining innovative investigative techniques, biochemists at Heidelberg University have succeeded in analysing two of thes
The cells that make up the body vary significantly. A liver cell does not look like a muscle cell, and each has a unique function. This is because liver cells produce the proteins that characterize them, and muscle cells do the same. The blueprint of each human protein is saved in genes, which are the same in every single cell.
In the not-too-distant future, people may have a simple device that monitors and reports health indicators, identifies even trace amounts of undesirable biomarkers in the blood or saliva and serves as an early warning system for diseases. This is one of the promises of personalized medicine.
A high-resolution radar mission to Earth's 'evil twin' Venus, a spacecraft to detect the most powerful explosions in the Universe and an observatory for the cool, dusty cosmos to investigate the origins of stars: ESA's Concurrent Design Facility has performed feasibility studies of contending candidates for the fifth medium class mission in the Agency's Cosmic Vision science programme, planned for
A mathematician from the University of Bristol has found a solution to part of a 64-year old mathematical problem – expressing the number 33 as the sum of three cubes.
Not only do intact ecosystems delight the eye of nature lovers, they also help people financially. However, it is difficult to put an exact figure on how much money they actually generate in specific cases. For the first time, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, together with their colleagues from Sweden and Ghana, have now calculated the ecological and financial
UNSW astronomers have shown that binary stars – two stars locked in orbit around each other – reflect light as well as radiating it, revealing new ways for their detection.
An international team of researchers has put a theory speculated by the late Stephen Hawking to its most rigorous test to date, and their results based on the observations using the Subaru Telescope have ruled out the possibility that primordial black holes smaller than a tenth of a millimeter make up most of dark matter.
Not only do intact ecosystems delight the eye of nature lovers, they also help people financially. However, it is difficult to put an exact figure on how much money they actually generate in specific cases. For the first time, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Radolfzell, together with their colleagues from Sweden and Ghana, have now calculated the ecological and financial
A new study led by Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory researcher Suzana Camargo and Université du Québec à Montréal's Francesco Pausata provides deeper insight into how large volcanic eruptions affect hurricane activity. Previous studies could not clearly determine the effects of volcanic eruptions on hurricanes, because the few large volcanic eruptions in the last century coincided with El Niño-Sou
Chris Osburn is an associate professor of marine, earth and atmospheric sciences at NC State. His latest work, published in Geophysical Research Letters, looks at the effect that large, destructive storms – such as 2016's Hurricane Matthew – have on carbon sinks and on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) being released into the atmosphere around North Carolina's Neuse River estuary and Pamlico Soun
Identifying a patient's viral infection or diagnosing a blood disorder usually requires a lab and skilled technicians. But researchers at Princeton University have developed a new technology that goes a long way toward replacing the lab with a single microchip.
International plans to restore forests to combat global warming are flawed and will fall far short of meeting 1.5C climate targets, according to new research by UCL and University of Edinburgh scientists.
In my final year of graduate school, I was required to do a clinical traineeship. The traineeship is like a baby version of the 3,000-hour internship that comes later and is required for licensure. By this point, I'd taken the necessary coursework, participated in classroom role-play simulations, and watched countless hours of videotape of renowned therapists conducting sessions. I'd also sat beh
Sammenligning af danske klimadata i 30-årige perioder viser, at temperaturen i Danmark er steget med over en grad siden starten af 1900-tallet, og hurtigere end det globale gennemsnit. tilsvarende tendens ses i vores nabolande.
New York will become the first US city to impose fees on driving in busy parts of town to raise money for its ailing subway system. But setting the right price won't be easy.
The UK government's plan to block underaged users from accessing online pornography was meant to come into force in April. It has now been delayed again
– Snarkning är inte bara störande utan också en påtaglig riskfaktor för hälsan. Men vi hyser gott hopp om att skadorna ska gå att förebygga och på sikt också att reparera, säger docent Per Stål, gruppens forskningsledare vid Institutionen för integrativ medicinsk biologi vid Umeå universitet. Forskarna i Umeå har sett att snarkare har skador på nerver och muskler i övre luftvägarna. Skadorna kan
Acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) presents significant challenges not only to patients but also to researchers, and efforts must be accelerated to learn more about the condition, experts from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, write in a new perspective published in mBio.
Netop som Curiosity er på vej ind i det mest 'håbefulde' område i jagten på liv, kan forskere bekræfte, at både roveren og sonden Mars Express fandt metan for år tilbage.
After back-to-back hurricanes and wildfires, insurers are looking for more-resilient construction materials. That means building model homes and then blowing off their roofs or setting them on fire. (Image credit: Ryan Kellman/NPR)
Reading /r/Futurology day after day, you form a view of the typical person who posts to it. They see the global future as a modestly different US, with electric vehicles, solar panels everywhere and menus that are obliged to be vegetarian. There is much activity in space, but very little employment in the economy, as it will have been entirely automated. Nothing on the social, political or econom
Last year, as Americans prepared to celebrate Thanksgiving, John G. Roberts, the 17th chief justice of the United States, did something unprecedented in the history of the Supreme Court: He responded directly to a political attack by the president of the United States. A couple of days before, a federal district judge in California had temporarily halted new regulations on applications for asylum
It is one thing to read about a tortured man in a cell. It is another to stand in that cell, even if the events happened long ago, and even if there is no stench of unwashed bodies or overflowing toilet bucket, no crowding of half a dozen in a room that would be cramped for one, no moans of men and women recovering from the torments of the day and anticipating those of tomorrow. I was in Montluc
The hidden influencers who code our world The hidden influencers who code our world, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01037-5 Li Gong lauds a study of software developers and their intricate work.
Edward J. Fox, a former faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle, faked data in a manuscript submitted to Nature and in an NIH grant application, according to new findings from the U.S. Office of Research Integrity (ORI). Fox, who initially confessed to some of the misconduct when confronted by the university, "neither … Continue reading Former University of Washington researcher
In the #MeToo era, many men feel they're walking on eggshells and can't say anything anymore. Companies must refocus their policies away from 1,000 page "don't do this" manuals and address the gray areas that are most confusing, like: Can you give a colleague a compliment? Workplace harassment training should focus on the principle that sexual harassment is about impact of your words or actions;
Den superkänsliga värmesensorn bygger på det faktum att vissa material är termoelektriska. Att ett material är termoelektriskt betyder att en temperaturskillnad mellan två sidor av materialet får elektroner att röra sig från den kalla sidan mot den varma och en spänning uppstår. Dock har forskarna i det här fallet fått fram ett termoelektriskt material som leder joner istället för elektroner och
The prevailing theory among anthropologists is that flaked tool use and meat consumption led to the cerebral expansion that kickstarted human evolution more than 2 million years ago. But new research posits earlier hominins may have first scavenged bones to harvest fatty nutrients from marrow and brains.
The dramatic loss of ice in the Arctic is influencing sea-ice transport across the Arctic Ocean. As experts from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research report in a new study, today only 20 percent of the sea ice that forms in the shallow Russian marginal seas of the Arctic Ocean actually reaches the Central Arctic, where it joins the Transpolar Drift; the rema
Hundreds of everyday items, from furniture to cell phones to floor wax, contain organophosphate ester (OPE) flame retardants and plasticizers. Some of these compounds make their way into the air, onto surfaces and even inside our bodies, with uncertain health effects. Today, researchers report that hands play a central role in transferring OPEs throughout the indoor environment. The researchers ar
Just as controlled-release medications slowly dole out their cargo after they experience a pH change in the body, implanted 'artificial muscles' could someday flex and relax in response to light illuminating the skin. In pilot studies, scientists have developed a new material that expands and contracts, lifting a weight merely by shining a light on it. The researchers will present their results to
Traditional surgery to reshape a nose or ear entails cutting, sometimes followed by long recovery times and scars. Now, researchers have developed a 'molecular surgery' process using tiny needles, electric current and 3D molds to quickly reshape living tissue with no incisions, scarring or recovery time. It shows promise as a noninvasive alternative to laser eye surgery. The researchers will prese
Nature has evolved protein-based substances with mechanical properties that rival even the best synthetic materials. Pound for pound, spider silk is stronger and tougher than steel. But unlike steel, the natural fiber cannot be mass-produced. Today, scientists report a method in which bacteria produce spider silk and other proteins that could be useful during space missions. The researchers will p
From computer hard discs to smart phones, magnets are at the forefront of technology. Magnets containing rare-earth elements are among the most powerful available, but these elements can be difficult to obtain. Now, scientists have identified magnets based on more readily obtainable rare earths, as well as some promising magnets that don't contain these materials at all. They present their finding
When an act of terrorism or a vehicle or industrial accident ignites fuel, the resulting fire or explosion can be devastating. Today, scientists will describe how lengthy but microscopic chains of polymers could be added to fuel to significantly reduce the damage from these terrifying incidents. The researchers will present their results today at the American Chemical Society Spring 2019 National
PLUS. De sidste 14 af landets farlige jernbaneoverkørsler bliver først sikret om flere år, fordi arbejdet må vente på den svært forsinkede udskiftning af landets togsignaler.
ADAM17-dependent proteolysis of L-selectin promotes early clonal expansion of cytotoxic T cells ADAM17-dependent proteolysis of L-selectin promotes early clonal expansion of cytotoxic T cells, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41811-z ADAM17-dependent proteolysis of L-selectin promotes early clonal expansion of cytotoxic T cells
New marking method involving a light-emitting diode and power source device to localize gastrointestinal cancer in laparoscopic surgery New marking method involving a light-emitting diode and power source device to localize gastrointestinal cancer in laparoscopic surgery, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41981-w New marking method involving a light-emitting diode and power
Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres , Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41755-4 Low genetic diversity and shallow population structure in the endangered vulture, Gyps coprotheres
Enrichment of periodontal pathogens from the biofilms of healthy adults Enrichment of periodontal pathogens from the biofilms of healthy adults, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41882-y Enrichment of periodontal pathogens from the biofilms of healthy adults
Ovarian cancer cell lines derived from non-serous carcinomas migrate and invade more aggressively than those derived from high-grade serous carcinomas Ovarian cancer cell lines derived from non-serous carcinomas migrate and invade more aggressively than those derived from high-grade serous carcinomas, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41941-4 Ovarian cancer cell lines derive
Meta-path Based Prioritization of Functional Drug Actions with Multi-Level Biological Networks Meta-path Based Prioritization of Functional Drug Actions with Multi-Level Biological Networks, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41814-w Meta-path Based Prioritization of Functional Drug Actions with Multi-Level Biological Networks
Research of activity of Main Belt Comets 176P/LINEAR, 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW 139 Research of activity of Main Belt Comets 176P/LINEAR, 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW 139 , Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41880-0 Research of activity of Main Belt Comets 176P/LINEAR, 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW 139
Dam development: value both wetlands and hydropower Dam development: value both wetlands and hydropower, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01052-6 Dam development: value both wetlands and hydropower
Knowing and doing — conservation charities must spend wisely Knowing and doing — conservation charities must spend wisely, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01058-0 Knowing and doing — conservation charities must spend wisely
Border-wall dollars would double US cancer-research budget Border-wall dollars would double US cancer-research budget, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01056-2 Border-wall dollars would double US cancer-research budget
Ukraine — science showing green shoots of recovery Ukraine — science showing green shoots of recovery, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01059-z Ukraine — science showing green shoots of recovery
Hydropower: don't waste climate money on more dams Hydropower: don't waste climate money on more dams, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-01057-1 Hydropower: don't waste climate money on more dams
It makes sense to champion high-tech innovations, but UK health minister Matt Hancock would do well to wait until they have been shown to work effectively
Arctic warming interrupts the Transpolar Drift and affects long-range transport of sea ice and ice-rafted matter Arctic warming interrupts the Transpolar Drift and affects long-range transport of sea ice and ice-rafted matter, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41456-y Arctic warming interrupts the Transpolar Drift and affects long-range transport of sea ice and ice-rafted ma
Author Correction: A randomized controlled trial of an ambulatory approach versus the hospital-based approach in managing suspected obstructive sleep apnea syndrome Author Correction: A randomized controlled trial of an ambulatory approach versus the hospital-based approach in managing suspected obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, Published online: 02 April 2019; doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41389-6 Auth
The English language is difficult for machines to master, but one artificial intelligence is now top of its class after passing reading exams with the best mark for AI yet
Biodiversity hotspot Madagascar is one of the world's biggest islands, and home to some of its biggest insects. Now German scientists have discovered two new species of giant stick insect, living only in the dry forests of Madagascar's northernmost tip.
Biodiversity hotspot Madagascar is one of the world's biggest islands, and home to some of its biggest insects. Now German scientists have discovered two new species of giant stick insect, living only in the dry forests of Madagascar's northernmost tip.
Cathay Pacific's purchase of rival HK Express was an inevitable plunge into the no-frills market as the premier marque belatedly faces the reality that it can no longer ignore the budget sector, analysts say.
Maize is a staple crop that came from humble beginnings. If you look at its wild ancestor, teosinte, the plant looks nearly unrecognizable. Human selection has persuaded the maize plant to grow in a way that produces higher yields and can be more efficiently harvested. But scientists and farmers are looking for ways, in the face of climate change, population growth, and other factors, to even furt
Maize is a staple crop that came from humble beginnings. If you look at its wild ancestor, teosinte, the plant looks nearly unrecognizable. Human selection has persuaded the maize plant to grow in a way that produces higher yields and can be more efficiently harvested. But scientists and farmers are looking for ways, in the face of climate change, population growth, and other factors, to even furt
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Tegn abonnement på
BioNyt Videnskabens Verden (www.bionyt.dk) er Danmarks ældste populærvidenskabelige tidsskrift for naturvidenskab. Det er det eneste blad af sin art i Danmark, som er helliget international forskning inden for livsvidenskaberne.
Bladet bringer aktuelle, spændende forskningsnyheder inden for biologi, medicin og andre naturvidenskabelige områder som f.eks. klimaændringer, nanoteknologi, partikelfysik, astronomi, seksualitet, biologiske våben, ecstasy, evolutionsbiologi, kloning, fedme, søvnforskning, muligheden for liv på mars, influenzaepidemier, livets opståen osv.
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