The impacts of development and climate change on arable land are posing major threats to India's economy and farmers — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
The E75 protein is a key regulator of some biological rhythms through interactions with nitric oxide. Suppression of E75 results in longer molt cycles and reduced numbers of offspring in the water flea, Daphnia magna. The work also raises questions about the ability of nitric oxide from environmental sources to disrupt biological rhythms that are critical to population sustainability.
Studying the complex layers of immunity in maize, a staple for diets around the world, scientists have identified key genes that enable surprisingly diverse antibiotic cocktails that can be produced as defensive blends against numerous disease agents. Biologists describe how they combined an array of scientific approaches to clearly define 6 genes that encode enzymes responsible for the production
New research has identified characteristics and gender-specific behaviors in kids that could lead them to become juvenile hackers. The researchers assessed responses from 50,000 teens from around the world to determine predictors of hacking and are the first to dig into gendered differences from a global data set.
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02832-w This year offers nations their best chance yet to protect oceans and coasts, and to capitalize on the carbon-capturing potential of these environments, says Janis Searles Jones.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced on Thursday plans to swiftly combat climate change. Some parts of the plan include becoming carbon neutral by 2040, buying 100,000 electric delivery vans and reaching zero emissions by 2030. Some Amazon employees say the pledge is good but doesn't go far enough. None Amazon pledged on Thursday to become carbon neutral by 2040 and to meet the goals of the Paris Agre
For a man who once characterized Donald Trump as a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" worthy of being ISIS's "man of the year," Lindsey Graham took a rather tame jab at the president recently. The Republican senator, now one of Trump's top allies in Congress, argued on Tuesday that the Iranian government had detected "weakness" in the president's "measured" decision in June to call off r
In May of last year, after a 13-month slumber, the ground beneath Washington's Puget Sound rumbled to life. The quake began more than 20 miles below the Olympic mountains and, over the course of a few weeks, drifted northwest, reaching Canada's Vancouver Island. It then briefly reversed course, migrating back across the U.S. border before going silent again. All told, the monthlong earthquake lik
Drone Delivery The process of refilling your prescription at the local pharmacy just got a lot more futuristic. Wing — which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet — just announced a partnership with FedEx and Walgreens, a national grocery store chain, to start making drone deliveries in Virginia as soon as October. Wing claims the "first-of-its-kind trial" will explore "ways to enhance effic
(Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Calzetti) Some 30 million light-years from Earth, a faint monster lurks in the constellation Cetus the Whale. Astronomers dub the object UGC 695, and astronomers recently caught this image of it using the Hubble Space Telescope. It's a galaxy fainter than even the background brightness of our planet's atmosphere, which makes it tough to see with Earth-bound telescope
"J'ai peur du sommeil comme on a peur d'un grand trou, Tout plein de vague horreur…" In his phenomenal 'Les fleurs du mal' ('Flowers of Evil'), Baudelaire promenades through the darkness of the night and with his characteristic gloomy brush, paints sleep as 'a great hole' that he fears. This myth surrounding sleep as a […]
I recently called up Jean Stafford, an executive coach in Washington, D.C., to ask a simple question: Who is it safe to complain to? Complaining can have benefits , if not always psychologically, then at least for the levity of heart that comes from someone else knowing what an idiot that dude is. But when it comes to work-related issues, Stafford wouldn't recommend downing Chardonnay at a happy
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02791-2 From Bangkok to Brisbane, researchers are among those protesting today to urge action on global warming.
In many ways, the bodies of astronauts seem to age faster than those of us down on Earth. With that in mind, NASA is studying how astronauts fare in microgravity in order to come up with new treatments that might help people back home, CNET reports in a profile on astronaut, engineer, and surgeon Serena Auñón-Chancellor. Most notably, NASA has learned that an astronaut's bone mass will drop by ab
No Fly Zone In July, a Facebook user created an event urging people to "storm" Area 51 , the top-secret Nevada military base suspected of housing UFOs and, perhaps, evidence of aliens. The event's creators soon realized just how terrible of an idea it would be to raid a military base and replaced the initial event with a far less risky music festival dubbed Alienstock . Now, with the festival — o
This summer, Deb Fallows and I visited the southern-Virginia town of Danville, and the surrounding rural areas of Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and the adjoining Caswell County, North Carolina. In its heyday, Danville was a thriving textile and tobacco community. The famed Dan River Mills operated along (you guessed it) the Dan River, which flows through the center of town and from which the tow
How long the battery of your phone or computer lasts depends on how many lithium ions can be stored in the battery's negative electrode material. If the battery runs out of these ions, it can't generate an electrical current to run a device and ultimately fails.
The Mosaic expedition, a $155 million undertaking five years in the making, aims for a better understanding of how global warming will affect the Arctic.
A new method could allow better materials to make up battery electrodes by converting them into a nanochain structure, extending battery lifetime and increasing stability.
California is our most populous state, giving it huge bargaining power when dealing with auto companies (Jim Sheaffer/Flickr/) The Trump administration plans to curb California's ability to set its own air pollution standards, a move that could stall the state's ability to hit greenhouse gas emissions targets and worsen its air quality. On Wednesday, President Trump said on Twitter: "The Trump Ad
One of the more upsetting popular "challenges" on the short-form-video app TikTok goes like this: When the video starts, there's no face visible, because the camera is pointed at the floor, or the back of a head, or a pair of hands with perfect square-tip acrylics, playing peekaboo. A clip from the 2008 Selena Gomez song "Tell Me Something I Don't Know" plays in the background, starting at the pr
In the early afternoon of September 1, 1914, Martha the passenger pigeon, the last of her kind in the world, passed away, and her entire species disappeared with her. But before that instant of extinction, there had been decades of decline, as hunters killed what was once the most common bird in the world . Billions of passenger pigeons became millions, thousands, and then hundreds, until eventua
The CRISPR gene editing technique may provide the means for lifelong correction of the genetic mutation responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a new study with mice shows. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare but devastating genetic disorder, causes muscle loss and physical impairment. Children with DMD have a gene mutation that interrupts the production of a protein known as dystrophi
A protective protein that detects newly-made incomplete protein chains in higher cells is found to have a relative in bacteria. There, the protein also plays a central role in quality control which ensures that defective proteins are degraded. The functional mechanism of these Rqc2 proteins must therefore have already existed several billion years ago in the so-called last universal common ancesto
Many people are familiar with the existence of Neanderthals, the humanoid species that was a precursor to modern humans, but far less is known Denisovans, a similar group that were contemporaries to the Neanderthals and who died out approximately 50,000 years ago. Researchers have now made a reconstruction of a Denisovan girl based on patterns of methylation (chemical changes) in their ancient DNA
A new study shows that, contrary to widespread belief within the solar power industry, new kinds of solar cells and panels don't necessarily have to last for 25 to 30 years in order to be economically viable in today's market.
Population reductions in species such as sparrows and blackbirds reflect a concerning pattern of declining biodiversity across the continent, researchers find.
The drone unit spun out of a "moonshot" lab at Google parent Alphabet will start making "last-mile" deliveries for FedEx and Walgreens next month under a pilot project announced Thursday.
Airbnb, the internet home stay company which disrupted the hotel and travel industry, said Thursday it plans to make its stock market debut next year but offered few details.
Using polymers and natural stone slurry waste, UBC Okanagan researchers are manufacturing environmentally friendly stone composites. These new composites are made of previously discarded materials left behind during the cutting of natural structural or ornamental blocks for buildings, construction supplies or monuments. While reusing the waste material of natural stone production is common in ceme
Researchers discovered that annexin A11, a gene linked to a rare form of ALS, may play a critical role in the transport of important, RNA encoded housekeeping instructions throughout neurons. Their results suggest that the gene does this by hitching RNA granules onto traveling lysosomes and that disease-causing mutations prevent hitchhiking.
Many people in the US do not belong to Native American communities but still carry bits of Native American DNA, inherited from European and African ancestors who had children with indigenous individuals during colonization and settlement. In a new study published September 19, 2019 in PLOS Genetics, Andrew Conley of the Georgia Institute of Technology and colleagues investigate this genetic legacy
Study shows that reducing the magnitude of climate change is also a good investment. Over the next few decades, acting to reduce climate change is expected to cost much less than the damage otherwise inflicted by climate change on people, infrastructure and ecosystems.
Researchers explored a type of material in which the electrons behave according to the mathematical rules of topology. They found topological behaviors of electrons in a three-dimensional magnetic material at room temperature, opening new avenues of future study.
Scientists call for governments around the world to urgently invest in reducing the rate and magnitude of climate change. 'Acting on climate change has a good return on investment when one considers the damage avoided,' said lead author Prof Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Deputy Director of the ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Coral CoE) at the University of Queensland (UQ).
It is well established that weakened immune systems in old age affect people's health and fitness, but a study suggests that it is also an issue for wild animals.
World leaders need to urgently accelerate efforts to prevent 'profound, if not catastrophic' climate change in future, a distinguished group of scientists has warned. According to their new study published in Science today, acting to reduce climate change would cost much less than repairing the damage it would inflict in coming decades on people, infrastructure and ecosystems.
An international team of researchers led by ETH has shown that antimicrobial-resistant infections are rapidly increasing in animals in low and middle income countries. They produced the first global of resistance rates, and identified regions where interventions are urgently needed.
An international team of researchers developed a unified framework that would account for this apparent break down between classical and quantum physics, and they put it to the test using a quantum satellite called Micius. They published their results ruling out one version of their theory on Sept 19th in Science.
Of the major food crops, only rice is currently able to survive flooding. Thanks to new research, that could soon change — good news for a world in which rains are increasing in both frequency and intensity.
In a study of mice, a team of Japanese and US researchers show that REM sleep may be a time when the brain actively forgets. Their results suggest that forgetting during sleep may be controlled by neurons found deep inside the brain that were previously known for making an appetite stimulating hormone.
A new study in Science suggests that the extinctions of mammoths, dire wolves and other large mammal species in North America drove surviving species to distance themselves from their neighbors, reducing interactions as predators and prey, territorial competitors or scavengers. The discovery could preview the ecological effects of future extinctions, the researchers say.
New research suggests that over the next few decades, acting to reduce climate change is expected to cost much less than the damage otherwise inflicted by climate change on people, infrastructure and ecosystems.
From 2000 to 2018, the proportion of pathogens that infect farmyard chickens and pigs and that are also significantly resistant to antibiotics grew, a new study shows.
Limiting warming to 1.5° Celsius rather than 2.0° Celsius would maintain significant proportions of systems such as Arctic summer sea ice, forests and coral reefs and have clear benefits for human health and economies, say Ove Hoegh-Guldberg and colleagues in this Review.
For the sheep of St. Kilda, growing old brings with it a late-life decline in immune resistance against pervasive parasitic worms, which greatly reduces the animal's chances of surviving overwinter, regardless of overall physiological condition.
North America has lost nearly three billion birds since 1970, according to a new report, which also details widespread population declines among hundreds of North American bird species, including those once considered abundant.
A new study shows that, contrary to widespread belief within the solar power industry, new kinds of solar cells and panels don't necessarily have to last for 25 to 30 years in order to be economically viable in today's market.
Opioids target the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) to produce unrivaled pain management, but their addictive properties can lead to severe abuse. We developed a whole-animal behavioral platform for unbiased discovery of genes influencing opioid responsiveness. Using forward genetics in Caenorhabditis elegans , we identified a conserved orphan receptor, GPR139, with anti-opioid activity. GPR139 is coexpre
Electron energy bands of crystalline solids generically exhibit degeneracies called band-structure nodes. Here, we introduce non-Abelian topological charges that characterize line nodes inside the momentum space of crystalline metals with space-time inversion (PT) symmetry and with weak spin-orbit coupling. We show that these are quaternion charges, similar to those describing disclinations in bi
Topological matter is known to exhibit unconventional surface states and anomalous transport owing to unusual bulk electronic topology. In this study, we use photoemission spectroscopy and quantum transport to elucidate the topology of the room temperature magnet Co 2 MnGa. We observe sharp bulk Weyl fermion line dispersions indicative of nontrivial topological invariants present in the magnetic
Weyl semimetals are crystalline solids that host emergent relativistic Weyl fermions and have characteristic surface Fermi-arcs in their electronic structure. Weyl semimetals with broken time reversal symmetry are difficult to identify unambiguously. In this work, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we visualized the electronic structure of the ferromagnetic crystal Co 3 Sn 2 S 2 and
Bulk–surface correspondence in Weyl semimetals ensures the formation of topological "Fermi arc" surface bands whose existence is guaranteed by bulk Weyl nodes. By investigating three distinct surface terminations of the ferromagnetic semimetal Co 3 Sn 2 S 2 , we verify spectroscopically its classification as a time-reversal symmetry-broken Weyl semimetal. We show that the distinct surface potenti
Flooding due to extreme weather threatens crops and ecosystems. To understand variation in gene regulatory networks activated by submergence, we conducted a high-resolution analysis of chromatin accessibility and gene expression at three scales of transcript control in four angiosperms, ranging from a dryland-adapted wild species to a wetland crop. The data define a cohort of conserved submergenc
Our understanding of the deterioration in immune function in old age—immunosenescence—derives principally from studies of modern human populations and laboratory animals. The generality and significance of this process for systems experiencing complex, natural infections and environmental challenges are unknown. Here, we show that late-life declines in an important immune marker of resistance to
Carbon allotropes built from rings of two-coordinate atoms, known as cyclo[ n ]carbons, have fascinated chemists for many years, but until now they could not be isolated or structurally characterized because of their high reactivity. We generated cyclo[18]carbon (C 18 ) using atom manipulation on bilayer NaCl on Cu(111) at 5 kelvin by eliminating carbon monoxide from a cyclocarbon oxide molecule,
We report a robust, versatile approach called CRISPR live-cell fluorescent in situ hybridization (LiveFISH) using fluorescent oligonucleotides for genome tracking in a broad range of cell types, including primary cells. An intrinsic stability switch of CRISPR guide RNAs enables LiveFISH to accurately detect chromosomal disorders such as Patau syndrome in prenatal amniotic fluid cells and track mu
Large mammals are at high risk of extinction globally. To understand the consequences of their demise for community assembly, we tracked community structure through the end-Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in North America. We decomposed the effects of biotic and abiotic factors by analyzing co-occurrence within the mutual ranges of species pairs. Although shifting climate drove an increase in n
The neural mechanisms underlying memory regulation during sleep are not yet fully understood. We found that melanin concentrating hormone–producing neurons (MCH neurons) in the hypothalamus actively contribute to forgetting in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. Hypothalamic MCH neurons densely innervated the dorsal hippocampus. Activation or inhibition of MCH neurons impaired or improved hippocampus
Hsp70 and Hsp40 chaperones work synergistically in a wide range of biological processes including protein synthesis, membrane translocation, and folding. We used nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to determine the solution structure and dynamic features of an Hsp40 in complex with an unfolded client protein. Atomic structures of the various binding sites in the client complexed to the bindin
The global scale-up in demand for animal protein is the most notable dietary trend of our time. Antimicrobial consumption in animals is threefold that of humans and has enabled large-scale animal protein production. The consequences for the development of antimicrobial resistance in animals have received comparatively less attention than in humans. We analyzed 901 point prevalence surveys of path
Caenorhabditis elegans is an animal with few cells but a wide diversity of cell types. In this study, we characterize the molecular basis for their specification by profiling the transcriptomes of 86,024 single embryonic cells. We identify 502 terminal and preterminal cell types, mapping most single-cell transcriptomes to their exact position in C. elegans ' invariant lineage. Using these annotat
River ecosystems are highly biodiverse, influence global biogeochemical cycles, and provide valued services. However, humans are increasingly degrading fluvial ecosystems by altering their streamflows. Effective river restoration requires advancing our mechanistic understanding of how flow regimes affect biota and ecosystem processes. Here, we review emerging advances in hydroecology relevant to
Increased concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases have led to a global mean surface temperature 1.0°C higher than during the pre-industrial period. We expand on the recent IPCC Special Report on global warming of 1.5°C and review the additional risks associated with higher levels of warming, each having major implications for multiple geographies, climates, and ecosystems. Limiting warming
Botsyun et al . (Research Articles, 1 March 2019, eaaq1436) have suggested that the Tibetan Plateau was low (substantially less than 3000 meters) during the Eocene, based on a comparison of oxygen isotope proxy data with isotope-enabled climate model simulations. However, we contend that their conclusions are flawed as the result of a number of failings of both the modeling and the data compariso
Valdes et al . contest our results, suggesting failings in our modeling approach as well as in our comparison with data. Although their comment points to interesting ideas of improvement, we find that their critique reflects an incomplete understanding of our methods and is not supported by the material they provide.
Leading academics from around the country say it is their moral duty to rebel to 'defend life itself' • Hundreds of Australian academics declare support for climate rebellion We the undersigned represent diverse academic disciplines, and the views expressed here are those of the signatories and not their universities. While our academic perspectives and expertise may differ, we are united on one
Global outbreak of antibiotic-resistant superbugs linked to overconsumption of meat Hotspots of antibiotic-resistant superbugs are springing up in farms around the world, the direct result of our overconsumption of meat, with potentially disastrous consequences for human health, a study has found. Areas in north-east India, north-east China and the Red River delta in Vietnam were identified as ho
A team of scientists has developed a computational model that uses artificial intelligence to find sites for hydropower dams in order to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
A research team has examined the interplay between genetics, cardiovascular disease and educational attainment in a major population study. Genetic variants which had been linked to educational attainment in other studies were observed in the subjects. The researchers found that these variants also had implications for a more health-conscious lifestyle and thus a lower risk of cardiovascular disea
How do people with psychopathic traits control their 'dark impulses?' A team of researchers are finding answers in levels of gray matter density in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in the regulation of emotions, including fear and anger.
Researchers have described the role of mitochondrial fission factor (MFF) in controlling survival of cancer cells, suggesting the protein could represent a promising therapeutic target.
Since they first arrived on land, plants have likely been using the same genetic tools to regulate whether they grow bigger or reproduce. The discovery was made using liverwort, one descendant of the first plants to move out of the ancient oceans and onto land.
Researchers estimate that the bird population has fallen by a quarter since 1970. More than 90% of the loss can be attributed to just a dozen bird families, including sparrows, blackbirds and finches. (Image credit: Steven Mlodinow/EOL.org; Greg Lasley/EOL.org; dfwuw/EOL.org)
Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at Oregon State University discovered areas in the African buffalo genome linked to risk for TB infection. Their finding also demonstrates the complex interplay between host immune responses and spread of infectious disease.
Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at Oregon State University discovered areas in the African buffalo genome linked to risk for TB infection. Their finding also demonstrates the complex interplay between host immune responses and spread of infectious disease.
It is well established that weakened immune systems in old age affect people's health and fitness, but a study suggests that it is also an issue for wild animals.
The journal Science has published a letter titled "Solve the biodiversity crisis with funding," coauthored by scientists at Defenders of Wildlife and universities across the country. More than 1,600 scientists have so far endorsed the letter, calling on Congress to fully fund conservation programs that protect biodiversity from severe and growing threats.
Of the major food crops, only rice is currently able to survive flooding. Thanks to new research, that could soon change—good news for a world in which rains are increasing in both frequency and intensity.
When a series of large mammal species began going extinct roughly 12,000 years ago, many surviving species began going their separate ways, says new research led by Macquarie University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The world is experiencing unprecedented economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. An increasing number of people in India, China, Latin America and Africa have become wealthier, and this is reflected in their consumption of meat and dairy products. In Africa, meat consumption has risen by more than half; in Asia and Latin America it is up by two-thirds.
A study published today in the journal Science reveals that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signaling a widespread ecological crisis. The results show tremendous losses across diverse groups of birds and habitats—from iconic songsters such as meadowlarks to long-distance migrants such as swallows and backyard bird
Millions will take to the streets in global climate crisis protests from 20 to 27 September Climate strike: global climate change protest as Greta Thunberg and students march – live updates Climate strikes: are you taking part in Friday's protests? The global climate strike kicks off on Friday and will ripple across the world in more than 4,000 locations, the start of a weeklong movement to train
The New York Times makes a concerted effort to drive home the point that climate change is real, but it does a poor job of presenting the basic facts about climate change that could convince skeptics, according to a review of the paper's coverage since 1980.
Is your kid obsessed with video games and hanging out with questionable friends? These are common traits for involvement in cybercrime, among other delinquencies. New research from Michigan State University identified characteristics and gender-specific behaviors in kids that could lead them to become juvenile hackers.
Satellite imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed Tropical Storm Kiko maintained its shape and strength after weakening from hurricane-force.
It is well established that weakened immune systems in old age affect people's health and fitness, but a study suggests that it is also an issue for wild animals.
The journal Science has published a letter titled "Solve the biodiversity crisis with funding," coauthored by scientists at Defenders of Wildlife and universities across the country. More than 1,600 scientists have so far endorsed the letter, calling on Congress to fully fund conservation programs that protect biodiversity from severe and growing threats.
An internationally respected group of scientists have urgently called on world leaders to accelerate efforts to tackle climate change. Almost every aspect of the planet's environment and ecology is undergoing changes in response to climate change, some of which will be profound if not catastrophic in the future.
Of the major food crops, only rice is currently able to survive flooding. Thanks to new research, that could soon change—good news for a world in which rains are increasing in both frequency and intensity.
When a series of large mammal species began going extinct roughly 12,000 years ago, many surviving species began going their separate ways, says new research led by Macquarie University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The world is experiencing unprecedented economic growth in low- and middle-income countries. An increasing number of people in India, China, Latin America and Africa have become wealthier, and this is reflected in their consumption of meat and dairy products. In Africa, meat consumption has risen by more than half; in Asia and Latin America it is up by two-thirds.
Quantum mechanics and the general theory of relativity form the bedrock of the current understanding of physics—yet the two theories don't seem to work together. Physical phenomena rely on relationship of motion between the observed and the observer. Certain rules hold true across types of observed objects and those observing, but those rules tend to break down at the quantum level, where subatomi
An international team of researchers led by scientists at Princeton University has found that a magnetic material at room temperature enables electrons to behave counterintuitively, acting collectively rather than as individuals. Their collective behavior mimics massless particles and anti-particles that coexist in an unexpected way and together form an exotic loop-like structure.
A study published today in the journal Science reveals that since 1970, bird populations in the United States and Canada have declined by 29 percent, or almost 3 billion birds, signaling a widespread ecological crisis. The results show tremendous losses across diverse groups of birds and habitats—from iconic songsters such as meadowlarks to long-distance migrants such as swallows and backyard bird
Though waterfowl and raptor populations have made recoveries, bird populations have declined since 1970 across nearly all habitats — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Though waterfowl and raptor populations have made recoveries, bird populations have declined since 1970 across nearly all habitats — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Though waterfowl and raptor populations have made recoveries, bird populations have declined since 1970 across nearly all habitats — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Amazon partners with 10-year-old startup Rivian to provide 100,000 all-electric delivery trucks by 2024. Jeff Bezos says Amazon will get 100 percent of its …
Speed Trap French startup Seabubbles recently took its in-development autonomous electric taxi, which uses hydrofoils to appear to "fly" above water, for a test ride on Paris' River Seine — and police promptly pulled the craft over for exceeding the speed limit. "Our vehicle has the right to go at 30km/h, when normally the speed limit on the river is 12km/h," SeaBubbles co-founder Anders Bringdal
The flight deck of a British Airways 747-400. (Jeanette D. Moses/) The cockpit of a British Airways Boeing 747-400 is a beautifully complex place where a handful of analog gauges live side-by-side with digital displays. Among the vast array of system switches and controls in the worn flight deck, some parts are easier to understand than others. Four Rolls Royce engines power the giant 747 aircraf
A team of scientists has developed a computational model that uses artificial intelligence to find sites for hydropower dams in order to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Differences in the molecular structures explain the different colors of this bioluminescence in different species. This discovery has the potential for new biotechnological applications, such as the imaging of muscles, blood and hemoglobin-rich tissue.
RUDN University mathematician for the first time proved the theorem of existence and uniqueness of solutions of the Zakharov-Kuznetsov equation in a strip. Such theorems are very rare for partial differential equations. The new results can be applied, for instance, in astrophysics, in describing the propagation of plane waves in plasma. The article is published in the journal Nonlinear Analysis: R
About 1 in 3 diabetic patients develops diabetic retinopathy (DR), which can impair vision and lead to blindness. A new study in The American Journal of Pathology, published by Elsevier, provides clear evidence that high glucose increases the levels of enzymatic precursor — lysyl oxidase propeptide (LOX-PP) — that promotes cell death, which was verified in an animal model of diabetes. These find
The New York Times stands out for its coverage of the environment and climate change. Yet, says a UC Berkeley study, its articles on climate change seldom mention key facts behind the scientific consensus that global warming is real – facts that could sway skeptics or clear up confusion, even among climate activists. Such facts – for example, that climate change, once it happens, is permanent — c
Health officials have recommended that people refrain from using e-cigarettes as they investigate a severe lung illness that has killed eight people. Here are some things to consider.
When Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico, it didn't just flatten houses and flood hospitals – it plunged the island into a darkness that many islanders have yet to emerge from, both literally and metaphorically. The catastrophe sent the island into the longest blackout in US history. Six months after the disaster, many residents are still without access to power. "Such prolonged darkness
Satellite imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed Tropical Storm Kiko maintained its shape and strength after weakening from hurricane-force.
To best serve the clinical needs of individuals with MS, neuropsychological testing needs to be viewed in larger context comprising non-cognitive variables, such as motor ability and demographic values, fatigue and depression, and disease activity and level of disability, as well as person-specific factors such as personality and coping styles. 'It's important to note that other types of assessmen
Predicting heart disease might also be a warning sign for Alzheimer's; A new way to think about the environment and Alzheimer's research; Most dementia patients don't receive care from physicians who specialize in brain health.
A new prototype technology called EarEcho uses modified wireless earbuds to authenticate smartphone users via their ear canal, researchers report. The pervasiveness of people wearing in-ear headphones, especially on college campuses, intrigued computer scientist Zhanpeng Jin. "We have so many students walking around with speakers in their ears. It led me to wonder what else we could do with them,
Fires in the Amazon and throughout South America have raged for weeks, but capturing the true scale will require cooperation between scientists, indigenous people, and reporters on the ground, an expert says. The fires have sparked dire predictions about climate change, criticism of the Brazilian government over increased deforestation, and a viral moment of social media grief coalescing around t
A true color approximation of Jupiter's moon Io taken by the Galileo spacecraft in 1999. (credit: PIRL/University of Arizona) A volcano spread across an area greater than Lake Michigan could erupt any day. Located on Jupiter's moon Io scientists predict that Loki, named after the Norse trickster god, is due to explode sometime in mid-September. The volcano last erupted in May 2018, an event also p
Native Americans have been visiting Calvert Island off the Canadian coast for more than 10,000 years. (Credit: Pacific Northwest Sailing/Shutterstock) Humans have long found comfort on Calvert Island, just off the coast of mainland British Columbia. For millennia, they have climbed the island's rocky outcrops, walked through its rainy conifer forests, and waded through its chilly intertidal pools
This is an estimate of what Denisovans may have looked like, based on a new DNA analysis technique. (Credit: Maayan Harel) Every time archaeologists pry the remains of a newly-identified human ancestor from the earth, there's one question we care about most: What did they look like? For the first time, researchers have tried to answer that burning query about Denisovans, one of the most intriguing
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02828-6 Benjamin Thompson hosts our regular roundtable discussion, with guests Helen Pearson, Lizzie Brown, and Ehsan Masood.
Well-hidden sea walls, white rooftops, and community programs to monitor for signs of heat illnesses are all part of the strategy for helping the Big Apple cope with global warming.
PLUS. Jævndøgnet er det centrale element i vores kalender. Men hvor pave Gregor tog udgangspunkt i forårsjævndøgn, ville de franske republikanere tage udgangspunkt i efterårsjævndøgn.
Nearly half of all Catholic and other religious hospitals fail to comply with required abortion and family planning training for obstetrics and gynecology residents, putting women at potential risk, according to a new study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
In a current paper published in the journal 'Nature', Heidelberg-based researchers and physicians describe how neurons in the brain establish contact with aggressive glioblastomas and thus promote tumor growth / New tumor activation mechanism provides starting points for clinical trials.
McLean Hospital clinicians describe the success of the hospital's Spiritual Psychotherapy for Inpatient, Residential & Intensive Treatment (SPIRIT) program.
Morris Animal Foundation-funded researchers at Oregon State University discovered areas in the African buffalo genome linked to risk for TB infection. Their finding also demonstrates the complex interplay between host immune responses and spread of infectious disease.
Structures known as 'time crystals' — which repeat in time as conventional crystals repeat in space — have recently captured the interest and imagination of researchers across disciplines. The concept has emerged from the context of quantum many-body systems, but ETH physicists have now developed a versatile framework that clarifies connections to classical works dating back nearly two centuries
New research from Michigan State University identified characteristics and gender-specific behaviors in kids that could lead them to become juvenile hackers. The researchers assessed responses from 50,000 teens from around the world to determine predictors of hacking and are the first to dig into gendered differences from a global data set.
Paging Galactus Distant galaxies are dying. Stripped of their ability to produce new stars, the unfortunate galaxies are stuck in time, slowly vanishing as their existing stars fade away or die in violent supernovas . Now a team is investigating the nearby Virgo Cluster to figure out what's going on in hopes that similar phenomena are happening there, project leader and McMaster University astrop
In order to meet the demands of growing human populations, agricultural production must double within the next 30 years. Yet the health of today's crops and the promise of their yield face a rising slate of threats—from pests to chaotic weather events—leading to an urgent need to identify effective, natural plant defense strategies.
NASA has the unique capability of peering under the clouds in storms and measuring the rate in which rain is falling. Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over Tropical Storm Jerry from its orbit in space and measured rainfall rates throughout the storm.
College-student voting rates in the 2018 midterm elections doubled compared to the 2014 midterms, marking a watershed election year for student voter turnout, according to a report today from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life. The report, Democracy Counts 2018, is based on an analysis of the voting patterns of more than 10 milli
In order to meet the demands of growing human populations, agricultural production must double within the next 30 years. Yet the health of today's crops and the promise of their yield face a rising slate of threats—from pests to chaotic weather events—leading to an urgent need to identify effective, natural plant defense strategies.
Northeastern Texas has borne the brunt of Tropical Depression Imelda's heavy rainfall and NASA estimated that rainfall with an algorithm that incorporates data from satellites and observations.
Cells consist of a multitude of molecular structures, some of them exhibiting a staggering complexity. Ribosomes, the protein factories of the cell, belong to the biggest and most sophisticated complexes and are made up of RNA as well as a large number of proteins. They exist in every living being and are considered as one of the cellular machines that has changed the least through all stages of t
Tens of thousands of dead fish have been found on the banks of a lake in a protected nature reserve in northern Greece after high temperatures and drought conditions caused a severe drop in water levels.
Cells consist of a multitude of molecular structures, some of them exhibiting a staggering complexity. Ribosomes, the protein factories of the cell, belong to the biggest and most sophisticated complexes and are made up of RNA as well as a large number of proteins. They exist in every living being and are considered as one of the cellular machines that has changed the least through all stages of t
Researchers have long known that bigger cities disproportionately generate more crime. Now a new study from Northwestern University and the Santa Fe Institute explains why: It's easier for criminals to find collaborators.
Disparities in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV between Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino adolescents and their white counterparts are well documented. Culturally and developmentally appropriate efforts targeted to help these youth establish healthy practices to lower their risk of sexually transmitted infections are warranted. However, such interventions present un
Studying the complex layers of immunity in maize, a staple for diets around the world, scientists have identified key genes that enable surprisingly diverse antibiotic cocktails that can be produced as defensive blends against numerous disease agents. UC San Diego biologists describe how they combined an array of scientific approaches to clearly define 6 genes that encode enzymes responsible for t
College-student voting rates in the 2018 midterm elections doubled compared to the 2014 midterms, marking a watershed election year for student voter turnout, according to a report today from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life.
The appeal of developing improved drugs to promote helpful reactions or prevent harmful ones has driven organic chemists to better understand how to synthetically create these molecules and reactions in the laboratory. A team from Yokohama National University in Japan has taken a step toward making this wish a reality with their latest study, published on July 19 in the Journal of Organic Chemistr
The E75 protein is a key regulator of some biological rhythms through interactions with nitric oxide. Suppression of E75 results in longer molt cycles and reduced numbers of offspring in the water flea, Daphnia magna. The work also raises questions about the ability of nitric oxide from environmental sources to disrupt biological rhythms that are critical to population sustainability.
NASA has the unique capability of peering under the clouds in storms and measuring the rate in which rain is falling. Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over Tropical Storm Jerry from its orbit in space and measured rainfall rates throughout the storm.
Your food might even taste better if you've waited a day to eat it. (Gardie Design & Social Media Marketing via Unsplash/) Check any recent roundup of popular diets, and you're sure to see intermittent fasting on the list. Like any weight-loss program, this one—which calls for long stretches of time with limited to no food—isn't a quick fix. But according to nutrition experts, it can be effective
Proteins are essential for every living cell and responsible for many fundamental processes. They are required as biocatalysts in metabolism and for signalling inside and between cells. Many diseases are due to failures in this communication, and the origins of signalling in proteins have been a source of scientific debate. As published in Nature, a team at the University of Göttingen has observed
A method to create a faster and lower cost alternative for a gene therapy tool has been developed by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers.
Northeastern Texas has borne the brunt of Tropical Depression Imelda's heavy rainfall and NASA estimated that rainfall with an algorithm that incorporates data from satellites and observations.
Health authorities are investigating other cases of Eastern equine encephalitis, a virus transmitted through a mosquito bite, which has left at least five people dead in three states this year.
As a fighter jet quickly ascends and accelerates forward, a sonic boom reverberates across the jet's surface and through the surrounding sound waves. At best, it's unpleasant noise pollution. At worst, it can damage the surface of the aircraft. Dissipating this shock wave presents a tough challenge as traditional methods tend to offer efficiency or precision, but not both.
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02820-0 Scientists analysed chemical changes to the ancient humans' DNA to reveal broad, Neanderthal-like facial features.
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02824-w Brain tumour cells connect to neurons and form functional synapses, c-section babies are missing key microbes and how to save coral reefs for real.
A slight temperature difference at night between a surface losing heat and the surrounding air can be harnessed to generate electricity to power lights.
Researchers at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and MIT's Laser Biomedical Research Center (LBRC) have developed a new way to study cells, paving the way for a better understanding of how cancers spread and become killers.
Researchers at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) and MIT's Laser Biomedical Research Center (LBRC) have developed a new way to study cells, paving the way for a better understanding of how cancers spread and become killers.
Health authorities are investigating other cases of Eastern Equine Encephalitis, which is transmitted through a mosquito bite, after one man died and two people were confirmed infected.
More than three-fourths of those sickened are male, health officials said, and half are under 25. Missouri reported the eighth death linked to vaping during this summer's crisis.
Editor's Note: In the next five years, most of America's most experienced teachers will retire. The Baby Boomers are leaving behind a nation of more novice educators. In 1988, a teacher most commonly had 15 years of experience. Less than three decades later, that number had fallen to just three years leading a classroom . The Atlantic' s "On Teaching" project is crisscrossing the country to talk
At 466 million years ago, the breakup of a large space rock may have led to major changes in our planet's biodiversity — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Most people consider the hedgehog a welcome guest in the garden. But a newly published study reveals that the Danish hedgehogs carry a secret. Through a research collaboration between Institute of Biology at University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Naturama and Statens Serum Institut, scientists have discovered that Danish hedgehogs carry mecC-MRSA in their snouts.
NASA's Aqua Satellite provided data on Major Hurricane Humberto that revealed its structure was changing as it was moving through the North Atlantic Ocean and past Bermuda.On Sept. 18 at 12:30 p.m. EDT, the Moderate Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite provided visible data on Humberto and measured clouds heights and temperatures that indicated a sh
Most people consider the hedgehog a welcome guest in the garden. But a newly published study reveals that the Danish hedgehogs carry a secret. Through a research collaboration between Institute of Biology at University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Naturama and Statens Serum Institut, scientists have discovered that Danish hedgehogs carry mecC-MRSA in their snouts.
Future Shock In a since-deleted Instagram post , rapper Azealia Banks revealed that she's written a song called "96′ Corolla (Motorman)" for the digital version of her "Yung Rapunxel II" mixtape. Set in 3030, the track tells the story of an "ungrateful technocrat" named Alon Dust who invents a brain interface called Neuralink — just like real-like technocrat Elon Musk is trying to do — and is the
deduct this expense from your taxes If you own your own business, you may be able to deduct this expense from your taxes . (Niclas Illg via Unsplash/) An additional monitor can expand your workspace without the expense of a new desk or computer. If you typically use a laptop, but want a larger screen at home or at your office, a larger display at eye-level can also help you sit up straight instea
A newly-invented baseball cap may be able to reverse balding by mildly shocking your scalp for hours on end. The hat is really just a fashionable covering for a thin patch that generates electricity when it bends and twists, New Scientist reports . The patch may someday be able to reverse baldness without the pain, expense and inconvenience associated with hair restoration surgery or stem cell tr
Beans and seeds could be an important substitute for red meat in the future. (v2osk/Unsplash/) Millions of people eat foods that are bad for them and the planet. Fixing those diets could save lives and cut down on greenhouse gases, but the question is, how? For years, researchers have been trying to model the impacts of switching over to plant-based mean plans . What they've found, though, is tha
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02794-z A now-extinct Australian animal was even bigger than previously thought and had joints that are unique among mammals.
The complexity of molecular structures in the cell is amazing. Having achieved great success in elucidating these structures in recent years, biologists are now taking on the next challenge: to find out more about how they are constructed. A joint research project between two groups from the University of Bern and ETH Zurich now provides insight into a very unusual construction process in the unic
A protective protein that detects newly-made incomplete protein chains in higher cells is found to have a relative in bacteria. There, the protein also plays a central role in quality control which ensures that defective proteins are degraded. The functional mechanism of these Rqc2 proteins must therefore have already existed several billion years ago in the so-called last universal common ancesto
Broken bones are a bigger deal the older you are: healed bones of older people are weaker and more likely to re-fracture. In a paper published in JCI Insight on Sept. 19, Duke scientists found that a certain protein, which is more prevalent in older people, interferes with bone healing. They hope this discovery will lead to new treatments to help people heal after injuries or surgeries.
Researchers with Yokohama National University in Japan have developed a unified shock sensor to quickly and accurately dispel harmful shock waves. They published their results on July 4 in the Journal of Computational Physics.
Wistar researchers have described the role of mitochondrial fission factor (MFF) in controlling survival of cancer cells, suggesting the protein could represent a promising therapeutic target.
NASA's Aqua Satellite provided data on Major Hurricane Humberto that revealed its structure was changing as it was moving through the North Atlantic Ocean and past Bermuda.
How do people with psychopathic traits control their 'dark impulses?' A team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Kentucky are finding answers in levels of gray matter density in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, a region of the brain involved in the regulation of emotions, including fear and anger.
Although numbers are often treated as cold, hard facts, we should be willing to acknowledge how uncertain they can be — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Here's what I remember from biology class at my public high school in Texas: We learned everything there is to know about the Krebs cycle. We collected bugs in the heat and suffocated them in jars of nail-polish remover. We did not, to my recollection, learn much of anything about how the human species originated. Most scientists believe that the beings that would become humans branched off from
Researchers at SMART, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with MIT's Laser Biomedical Research Center (LBRC), have built a microscope that enables scientists to study the nuclear mechanics of cells while keeping their native properties intact — something that wasn't possible with the existing invasive methods for nuclear mechanics. The breakthrough can pave the way for new ca
A German and British research team lead by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has examined the interplay between genetics, cardiovascular disease and educational attainment in a major population study. Genetic variants which had been linked to educational attainment in other studies were observed in the subjects. The researchers found that these variants also had implications for a more heal
People with persistent back pain or persistent headaches are twice as likely to suffer from both disorders, a new study from the University of Warwick has revealed.
Many people are familiar with the existence of Neanderthals, the humanoid species that was a precursor to modern humans, but far less is known Denisovans, a similar group that were contemporaries to the Neanderthals and who died out approximately 50,000 years ago. Today, Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers Professor Liran Carmel and Dr. David Gokhman unveiled a reconstruction of a Denisovan
Planets normally form gradually from the disk of dust around a star. But the same thing could happen around black holes, forming thousands of super heavy planets
A new study by the German Environment Ministry and the Robert Koch Institute concluded that 97 percent of blood and urine samples collected from some 2,500 children between the ages of three and 17 showed toxic levels of plastic byproducts. The results are troubling, indicating that children — especially in early ages of development — are exposed to countless sources of plastics, from toys to fur
Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria grown in culture. (Credit: Sirirat/Shutterstock) Three years ago, a woman in upstate New York was charged with drunk driving and then exonerated when she proved her high blood alcohol level was the result of a rare condition in which her body brews its own alcohol. At the time, the bizarre story made national headlines. Now, auto-brewery syndrome, as the condition is
This article contains spoilers through all eight episodes of Unbelievable . In the first episode of Unbelievable , Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) is in her apartment, huddled in a comforter, clearly in shock, obviously traumatized. Her former foster mother, Judith (Elizabeth Marvel), hands her a cup of water and tries to get her to drink it. She hears footsteps in the hallway outside. "Here they come," Ju
A school in Michigan is being remodeled in a way to minimize the effect of a shooter should the worst happen. It features limited sight lines, bullet proof windows, and doors that can be locked at the push of a button. Some research casts doubt on how effective the plans will actually be. America has a mental health , video game , single-parent household , lack of school prayer , violent televisi
Proteins that synthesize, bind, and degrade endocannabinoids are present in the body's sperm factories, suggesting that the use of cannabis may directly affect them.
Most of the outer coast of Washington, Oregon and California would become protected habitat for southern resident orcas under a federal proposal released Wednesday.
The BBVA Foundation has presented the first module of its European Values Survey 2019, examining a broad set of values and attitudes held by the adult population of five European countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain) in both the public (politics, economics, the media, trust) and private (religion, ethics, science, environment) domains. This press release refers exclusive
Most of the outer coast of Washington, Oregon and California would become protected habitat for southern resident orcas under a federal proposal released Wednesday.
Scientists have recreated the face of a Denisovan woman — an ancient human who went extinct tens of thousands of years ago — using a groundbreaking DNA analysis.
Thousands of fish washed up dead on the shores of Lake Koroneia in northern Greece on Thursday as a result of high temperatures and declining water levels, authorities said.
Hurricane Lorena made landfall on the southwest coast of Mexico Thursday morning as a Category 1 force storm, buffeting the region with strong winds, torrential rain and high waves, Mexico's National Weather Service reported.
Thousands of fish washed up dead on the shores of Lake Koroneia in northern Greece on Thursday as a result of high temperatures and declining water levels, authorities said.
A solid tumor can cause muscle cells in the body to self-destruct. Many cancer patients die from the consequences. A new study shows how a tumor can take control of muscle cell wasting and trigger a chronic, serious condition.
The BBVA Foundation has presented the first module of its European Values Survey 2019, examining a broad set of values and attitudes held by the adult population of five European countries (Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain). The aim of the study is to capture a broad set of preferences, values and beliefs that inform individual conduct in multiple facets of public and private l
Through a research collaboration between Institute of Biology at University of Southern Denmark (SDU), Naturama and Statens Serum Institut, scientists have discovered, that Danish hedgehogs carry mecC-MRSA in their snouts.
Research conducted by Suresh Alahari, PhD, Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, has found that metformin, a commonly prescribed drug for Type 2 Diabetes, may be effective in treating cancers that lack a protein called Nischarin.
An analysis of nearly 1.9 million patients diagnosed with breast cancer suggests overall survival is lower among men than women and that undertreatments and clinical characteristics account for much of the difference. The study included National Cancer Database data for 16,025 male and 1.8 million female patients diagnosed with breast cancer between 2004-2014. Men had higher mortality across all b
A new study shows that, contrary to widespread belief within the solar power industry, new kinds of solar cells and panels don't necessarily have to last for 25 to 30 years in order to be economically viable in today's market.
A study led by Indiana University is the first to reveal key similarities between chromosomes in humans and archaea. The work could advance use of the single-celled organism in research on cancer.
Unlike US residents, people in a remote area of the Bolivian rain forest usually do not perceive the similarities between two versions of the same note played at different registers, an octave apart. This discovery by researchers from MIT and Columbia University may help scientists tease out elements of perception that cannot be seen when examining only a single, homogenous group.
Early palliative care is associated with better survival in patients with advanced lung cancer, according researchers with the Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System and Oregon Health and Science University.
Penn study suggests efforts in the past decade to reduce the invasiveness and recovery time for these procedures have not impacted opioid use; authors express concern in trend.
Certain human gut microbes with links to health thrive when fed specific types of ingredients in dietary fibers, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The work — conducted in mice colonized with human gut bacteria and using new technologies for measuring nutrient processing — is a step toward developing more nutritious foods based on a strategy of t
A team led by Cedars-Sinai has designed a rapid method to genetically alter laboratory mice and then used this method to produce personalized animal models of pediatric glioma, an aggressive type of malignant brain cancer in children.
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) may be directly involved in the regulation of the physiology of the human testis, including the development of sperm cells, according to a study in tissue samples from 15 patients published in Scientific Reports.
Detailed observations in the lateral septum indicate that the well-connected region processes movement, and reward information to help direct behavior.
Since they first arrived on land, plants have likely been using the same genetic tools to regulate whether they grow bigger or reproduce. The discovery was made using liverwort, one descendant of the first plants to move out of the ancient oceans and onto land. 'Liverworts have the maximum power with the least structure,' said Professor Yuichiro Watanabe from the University of Tokyo's Department o
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the build-up of fat in the liver due to factors other than alcohol, but its cause remains unknown. Now, researchers have linked NAFLD to gut bacteria that produce a large amount of alcohol in the body, finding these bacteria in over 60% of NAFLD patients. Their findings, publishing Sept. 19 in the journal Cell Metabolism, could help develop a screening
Exactly what our ancient Denisovan relatives might have looked like had been anyone's guess for a simple reason: the entire collection of Denisovan remains includes a pinky bone, three teeth, and a lower jaw. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell have produced reconstructions of these long-lost relatives based on patterns of methylation in their ancient DNA.
Humans choose food based on the way it looks, smells, and tastes. But the microbes in our guts use a different classification system — one that is based on the molecular components that make up different fibers. In a study published Sept. 19, 2019 in the journal Cell, investigators found particular components of dietary fiber that encourage growth and metabolic action of beneficial microbes in th
A slight temperature difference at night between a surface losing heat and the surrounding air can be harnessed to generate electricity to power lights. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
A team has used DNA from an ancient fingerbone to predict what our extinct cousins the Denisovans looked like but the method is unlikely to be accurate
Unprecedented feat reveals little-known Denisovans resembled Neanderthals but had 'super-wide' skulls One of the most mysterious relatives in the human family has stepped out of the shadows after scientists used ancient DNA from a fossilised finger to reconstruct their appearance. The unprecedented feat, described as "exciting" and "extraordinary" by one leading researcher who was not involved in
"Doctor, is this really necessary?" Backed by startling statistics about overtreatment, neurosurgeon Christer Mjåset explains the power of this and other simple questions in the context of medical treatment and surgery — and shares how patients can better work with doctors to get the care they need.
If you could travel back in time 100,000 years, you'd find yourself living among multiple groups of humans, including anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. But exactly what our Denisovan relatives might have looked like had been anyone's guess for a simple reason: the entire collection of Denisovan remains includes a pinky bone, three teeth, and a lower jaw. Now, researchers re
A study led by researchers at Indiana University is the first to find similarities between the organization of chromosomes in humans and archaea. The discovery could support the use of archaea in research to understand human diseases related to errors in cellular gene expression, such as cancer.
Since they first arrived on land, plants have likely been using the same genetic tools to regulate whether they grow bigger or reproduce. The discovery was made using liverwort, one descendant of the first plants to move out of the ancient oceans and onto land.
A study led by researchers at Indiana University is the first to find similarities between the organization of chromosomes in humans and archaea. The discovery could support the use of archaea in research to understand human diseases related to errors in cellular gene expression, such as cancer.
Since they first arrived on land, plants have likely been using the same genetic tools to regulate whether they grow bigger or reproduce. The discovery was made using liverwort, one descendant of the first plants to move out of the ancient oceans and onto land.
Redan för 200 000 år sedan levde släktingar till neandertalarna i grottan Denisova i södra Sibirien. De enda kända spåren är några tänder och småbitar av ben. Trots det har forskare kartlagt hur de kan ha sett ut – med hjälp av dna.
PRIORITY-studiet bekræfter, at urin-proteom markøren CKD273 kan bruges til at forudsige udvikling af tidlig nyresygdom hos diabetespatienter. Men studiet viser samtidig, at spiron ikke har effekt til behandling af patienter i høj risiko for diabetisk nefropati.
A new study details a possible solution for fine-tuning inflammation and cellular activity in cardiac recovery — thanks to an antibody initially developed for rheumatoid arthritis.
A molecule once designed to cure the skin disease psoriasis appears to be particularly effective against malaria. The antimalarial properties were revealed thanks to one researcher's inspired hunch when the psoriasis drug discovery program came to a dead end. The candidate drug offers considerable potential for combating this infectious disease.
California's Assembly Bill 5 will let gig workers have benefits, unions and legal protection. It was needed to prevent a return to Dickensian working conditions, argues Annalee Newitz
Across a growing number of issues, from immigration to taxes to health care, President Donald Trump is harnessing federal power to constrain—and even punish—the blue states outside of his political coalition. One recent move escalated that offensive: Yesterday, Trump tweeted that the Environmental Protection Agency will revoke a federal waiver that California received from former President Barack
It's more than just ticket sales. Rich Luker, a social psychologist, studies fandom and why, for example, someone might get a tattoo of their favorite team.
Over millions of years, porpoises have developed powerful biosonar with high accuracy and intelligence to detect and track prey in noisy underwater environments. The sound source in a porpoise is about one half of the wavelength of its emitted acoustic waves. According to textbook sonar theories, it is difficult to control the directional sound waves for target detection. Porpoises, with remarkabl
A colorful fifth-century mosaic that depicts one of Jesus' most famous miracles has been unearthed in Israel, perfectly preserved beneath the ashes from an ancient fire.
Often, when we don't have an immediate explanation for something strange in space, some people blame aliens. But better explanations usually come along in time.
A fire reportedly broke out yesterday (Sept. 16) after an explosion at a secret lab in Russia, one of only two places in the world where the variola virus that causes smallpox is kept.
Emma Thompson and Mark Ruffalo among signatories of open letter to secretary general A global campaign backed by 450 activist groups and celebrities, including actors Emma Thompson and Mark Ruffalo, is calling on the UN to endorse a global end to fracking before the industry torpedoes efforts to tackle the climate crisis. The open letter to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, includes sig
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has seen major changes in the law and the highest court in the land, but there are some things that she says haven't changed all that much about serving on the Supreme Court. "One way it hasn't changed—the court is the most collegial place I've ever worked," Ginsburg says. "[E]very year in the now 26 years I've served on the court, we always agree more of
Updated at 2:55 p.m. ET on September 19, 2019 Former Vice President Joe Biden markets himself as the candidate who can actually make government work. Montana Governor Steve Bullock takes that pitch a step further, thinking about what happens if people lose any more faith in the system. I recently asked Bullock if he's scared of where that leads. Is it anarchy? Is it The Purge? "Is it anarchy?" Bu
The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of Salmonella Typhimurium, a pathogen which is responsible for millions of bloodstream infections per year in sub-Saharan Africa, have been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Drug-resistance has increased in successive groups of S. Typhimurium over time. These new strains are resistant to all but one of the commonly available dr
Scientists have developed a technique to observe how radiation damages molecules over time-frames of just one quadrillionth of a second — or a femtosecond.
I stedet for markante besparelser er driften af AUH på nogle punkter blevet dyrere. Det er ikke muligt at effektivisere for otte procent, når man skal lære et nyt hospital at kende, påpeger læger.
Fedme øger risikoen for at udvikle type 2-diabetes markant mere end både uhensigtsmæssig livsstil og genetisk disposition, viser dansk kohorteundersøgelse præsenteret på EASD.
A new study from the University of Copenhagen reports that the prevalence of overweight dogs is markedly larger among overweight owners than among normal weight owners. Part of the explanation lies in whether treats are used as training tools or "hygge-snacks." It is the first major study on canine obesity in Denmark.
A new study from the University of Copenhagen reports that the prevalence of overweight dogs is markedly larger among overweight owners than among normal weight owners. Part of the explanation lies in whether treats are used as training tools or "hygge-snacks." It is the first major study on canine obesity in Denmark.
Exosomes harvested from human skin cells are more effective at repairing sun-damaged skin cells in mice than popular retinol or stem cell-based treatments currently in use, according to a new proof-of-concept study. Additionally, needle-free injections can deliver the nanometer-sized exosomes to the target cells. Exosomes are tiny sacs (30–150 nanometers across) that cells excrete and take up. Th
Being overweight or obese is commonly associated with diabetes, but a new Kaiser Permanente study finds the connection differs widely by race or ethnicity. Members of racial and ethnic minority groups were much more likely to have diabetes or prediabetes at lower weights — even at normal or below-normal body mass index (BMI), according to research published in Diabetes Care.
Scientists have developed a technique to observe how radiation damages molecules over time-frames of just one quadrillionth of a second — or a femtosecond.
In an event at New Delhi today, Google announced a telephone line that people in India can dial to get answers from Google Assistant. Anyone in the country on Vodafone-Idea telecom networks …
Kids hate gym class. That truism transcends generations. The reasons, though, are starting to come into focus—and they make a convincing case for the restructuring, if not complete elimination, of physical-education programs. In a new episode of The Idea File , the Atlantic staff writer Alia Wong exposes the hidden costs of P.E. and deconstructs its negligible impact on physical fitness.
People with persistent back pain or persistent headaches are twice as likely to suffer from both disorders, a new study reveals. The findings, published in the Journal of Headache and Pain , suggest an association between the two types of pain that could point to a shared treatment for both. The systematic review of 14 studies with a total of 460,195 participants also found the association strong
A new study reports that the prevalence of overweight dogs is markedly larger among overweight owners than among normal weight owners. Part of the explanation lies in whether treats are used as training tools or "hygge-snacks".
Researchers have identified a previously unknown mechanism that regulates release of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood glucose levels, from the beta cells of the pancreas. This mechanism is disrupted in type 2 diabetes. The scientists hope this finding will be used to develop new treatments against the disease.
With a study of the network between nerve and muscle cells in turtles, researchers have gained new insight into the way in which movements are generated and maintained. In the long term, the new knowledge may have an impact on the treatment of, for example, ALS and spinal cord injuries.
A new model for plasma flow within the sun provides novel explanations for sunspots, the 11-year sunspot cycle, solar magnetic reversals and other previously unexplained solar phenomena.
New research has shown how parental engagement has a positive effect on a child's academic attainment — regardless of age or socio-economic status. The study, conducted by the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter, also highlighted areas of promise for how schools and early years settings can support parents in a way that improves their children's learning.
This study aimed to propose a new method for a bi-objective optimization. Ten student participants used a touch screen at 3 different installation heights, 3 tilt angles and with 3 button sizes. The joint angles, while using a touch screen, were measured to estimate physical workload. With the subjective screen visibility determined, the Pareto optimal solution showed ranges of 1124-1251 mm height
Researchers have found changes in molecules in the blood that might be new markers of type 1 diabetes. New findings may help understand the early pathogenesis of the disease.
To help physicians provide the highest quality patient-centered neurologic care, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is recommending physicians measure how frequently they complete annual assessments of people age 65 and older for thinking and memory problems.
Ladies First In May, the United Nations released a troubling report , arguing that female-sounding voices for AI assistants such as Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa perpetuate gender biases and encourage users to be sexist. Now, Google has come out to explain why it chose to give its Assistant a female-sounding voice — and the search giant says it has nothing to do with gender biases and everythin
2010 hittade ryska arkeologer ett fossilt ben från en flickas lillfinger i grottan Denisova i Sibirien. Dna-analyser visade att flickan tillhört en egen grupp, skild från moderna människor och neandertalare. Det finns mycket få fynd av denisovamänniskor. Förutom lillfingerbenet har forskare bara hittat några tänder och ett käkben.
Blood vessels are the lifeline of any organ. The dense web of channels, spread across tissues like a spider web, allow oxygen and nutrients to reach the deepest cores of our hearts, brains, and lungs. Without a viable blood supply, tissues rot from the inside. For any attempt at 3D printing viable organs , scientists have to tackle the problem of embedding millions of delicate blood vessels throu
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technique to observe how radiation damages molecules over time-frames of just one quadrillionth of a second — or a femtosecond.
The first extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains of Salmonella Typhimurium, a pathogen which is responsible for millions of bloodstream infections per year in sub-Saharan Africa, have been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Drug-resistance has increased in successive groups of S. Typhimurium over time. These new strains are resistant to all but one of the commonly available dr
This is a peer-reviewed mixed methods study.New research has shown how parental engagement has a positive effect on a child's academic attainment — regardless of age or socio-economic status. The study, conducted by the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter, also highlighted areas of promise for how schools and early years settings can support parents in a way that improves their children's learnin
A new model for plasma flow within the sun provides novel explanations for sunspots, the 11-year sunspot cycle, solar magnetic reversals and other previously unexplained solar phenomena.
With a study of the network between nerve and muscle cells in turtles, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have gained new insight into the way in which movements are generated and maintained. In the long term, the new knowledge may have an impact on the treatment of, for example, ALS and spinal cord injuries.
Professor Eun-Kyoung Kim's team in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences discovered the mechanism underlying the regulation of energy metabolism by hypothalamic tanycyte. Proposed a new research direction to develop an enhanced obesity treatment.
After spending his early life suffering under the Nazis and then Stalin, the Polish psychologist Andrew Lobaczewski devoted his career to studying the relationship between psychological disorders and politics. He wanted to understand why psychopaths and narcissists are so strongly attracted to power as well as the processes by which they take over governments and countries.
For 400 years people have tracked sunspots, the dark patches that appear for weeks at a time on the sun's surface. They have observed but been unable to explain why the number of spots peaks every 11 years.
We need a worldwide network that could harness computing power to provide actionable solutions for climate change[or something…] — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Israel's second election of 2019 managed to produce both high drama and anticlimax. The top-line result: There is no clear winner. Neither the right-wing bloc led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, nor the center-left bloc led by former military Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, commanded a majority of the 120 seats in the 22nd Knesset. But there was still a loser of sorts: Netanyahu. The one thing
Scientists have developed a novel, standardized way of quantifying and comparing these variations in solar power. The new study may help guide the development and performance of solar photovoltaic farms — systems that harness the sun's energy and convert it to electricity.
Huawei is back with another smartwatch thats focused on fitness. The Watch GT 2 runs Huaweis homegrown LiteOS, not Googles Wear OS, and it ships in two sizes with up to two weeks …
I sju år har Lisa Källström vid Högskolan i Kristianstad funderat över och forskat kring vad det är som gör att människor trivs på den plats de befinner sig. När hon nu är klar med sin doktorsavhandling betonar hon bland annat invånarnas egen roll i att ge en plats dess värde. Sommarkväll i ett svenskt villakvarter. Volvon är parkerad på uppfarten och barnen är ute på gatan och kastar en boll mot
– I min avhandling fördjupar jag mig i ett perspektiv på evidensbaserad praktik som handlar om patienters delaktighet inom psykiatrisk vård. Jag har utvecklat ett digitalt beslutsstöd som är tänkt att fungera som en plattform för kommunikation mellan brukare och personal. Syftet med Katarina Grims avhandling var att undersöka hur brukarkunskap och brukarperspektiv kan inkluderas och stödjas i del
A protective protein that can detect newly-made incomplete and hence potentially toxic protein chains in higher cells is found to have a relative in bacteria. There, the protein also plays a central role in quality control which ensures that defective proteins are degraded. The functional mechanism of these evolutionarily related Rqc2 proteins thus acts as key quality control component and must th
Brexit could lead both the UK and the European Union to weaken their ambitions to tackle the climate crisis, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.
We are headed towards a future that is hard to contemplate. At present, global emissions are reaching record levels, the past four years have been the four hottest on record, coral reefs are dying, sea levels are rising and winter temperatures in the Arctic have risen by 3°C since 1990. Climate change is the defining issue of our time and now is the moment to do something about it. But what?
A protective protein that can detect newly-made incomplete and hence potentially toxic protein chains in higher cells is found to have a relative in bacteria. There, the protein also plays a central role in quality control which ensures that defective proteins are degraded. The functional mechanism of these evolutionarily related Rqc2 proteins thus acts as key quality control component and must th
Davide Tanasi is a digital archaeologist at the University of South Florida. He creates highly detailed 3-D scans of archaeological artifacts that can be viewed online or used to create 3-D printed replicas.
It is one of the great unsolved mysteries of anthropology. What killed off the Neanderthals, and why did Homo sapiens thrive even as Neanderthals withered to extinction? Was it some sort of plague specific only to Neanderthals? Was there some sort of cataclysmic event in their homelands of Eurasia that lead to their disappearance?
An international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute; AEI) in Hannover has discovered that the radio pulsar J0952-0607 also emits pulsed gamma radiation. J0952-0607 spins 707 times in one second and is second in the list of rapidly rotating neutron stars. By analyzing about 8.5 years worth of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Tele
Af et svar fra justitsministeren fremgår det, at ingen rigtig har styr på, hvor mange danskere, der har fået transskriberet deres private samtaler i forbindelse med brug af stemmestyrings-assistenter fra Google og Apple.
Dystopia Tech A man named Jason Muzzicato is now in FBI custody after he allegedly used a drone to drop homemade bombs on the Pennsylvania home of his ex-girlfriend. While he denies the specific allegation, law enforcement found seven explosives and even more guns in his home during the June 7 arrest, all of which were illegal for him to own due to previous domestic violence charges, according to
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University have identified a previously unknown mechanism that regulates release of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood glucose levels, from the β-cells (beta cells) of the pancreas. This mechanism is disrupted in type 2 diabetes. The scientists hope this finding will be used to develop new treatments against the disease.
A new study from the University of Copenhagen reports that the prevalence of overweight dogs is markedly larger among overweight owners than among normal weight owners. Part of the explanation lies in whether treats are used as training tools or "hygge-snacks". It is the first major study on canine obesity in Denmark.
This study aimed to propose a new method for a bi-objective optimization. Ten student participants used a touch screen at 3 different installation heights, 3 tilt angles and with 3 button sizes. The joint angles, while using a touch screen, were measured to estimate physical workload. With the subjective screen visibility determined, the Pareto optimal solution showed ranges of 1124-1251 mm height
Montana State University researchers Carl Yeoman and David Weaver published a paper with a group of colleagues in August discussing the potential ramifications of the discovery for combating the damage done by these sawflies each year.
Greta Thunberg has urged the US Congress to "listen to the scientists". Here's what climate scientists have to say ahead of next week's UN climate summit
In regenerative medicine, scientists aim to significantly advance techniques that can control stem cell lineage commitment. For example, mechanical stimulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at the nanoscale can activate mechanotransduction pathways to stimulate osteogenesis (bone development) in 2-D and 3-D culture. Such work can revolutionize bone graft procedures by creating graft material fr
In regenerative medicine, scientists aim to significantly advance techniques that can control stem cell lineage commitment. For example, mechanical stimulation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at the nanoscale can activate mechanotransduction pathways to stimulate osteogenesis (bone development) in 2-D and 3-D culture. Such work can revolutionize bone graft procedures by creating graft material fr
No bigger challenge to your patience than the words: "What did you do just now? I want to learn!" (John Schnobrich via Unsplash/) Every family, workspace, and even friend group has one. That one person officially anointed by a higher tech power as "The IT Master." If you're familiar with diving behind your parent's couch to get their Wi-Fi working or spending endless hours trying to de-infect a v
Tesla is attacking the race track. It claims to have set a lap record at the famed Laguna Seca Track in California. And it now appears to be taking on the most famous track for sports cars, Germany's Nürburgring. There are also reports a modified Model S lapped the Nürburgring this week in 7 minutes, 23 seconds, which would be 19 seconds faster than a Porsche Taycan EV prototype got around the 12
Climate change is taking a huge toll on Americans' health, so much so that it could constitute a public health crisis, a new study by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), suggests.
Professor Mahesh Bandi of Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) has co-developed a novel, standardized way of quantifying and comparing these variations in solar power. His new study, published in Physical Review Applied, may help guide the development and performance of solar photovoltaic farms — systems that harness the sun's energy and convert it to electricity
It is known that the real sector of the economy is of paramount importance in the development of any region, in ensuring the growth of its inhabitants' welfare. Recently, Lobachevsky University researchers conducted a case study of Nizhny Novgorod and the Nizhny Novgorod region showing that the situation in the region had improved markedly on one of most important indicators, the volume of investm
DGIST Division of Energy Technology achieves the highest photoelectric conversion efficiency in the world. Huge expectations toward the commercialization of flexible solar cell that is applicable in various fields.
Dapagliflozin, a drug that is already used to successfully treat type 2 diabetes (T2D) and prevent development of heart failure, can also be used to treat pre-existing heart failure, even in patients without T2D.
Here, a study proposed a physical directional emission model to bridge the gap between porpoises' biosonar and artificial metamaterial. Inspired by the anatomical and physical properties of the porpoise's biosonar transmission system, researchers fabricated a hybrid metamaterial system composed of multiple composite structures. The metamaterial-based physical model may be helpful to achieve the ph
Researchers from the Turku Bioscience Centre in Finland have found changes in molecules in the blood that might be new markers of type 1 diabetes. New findings may help understand the early pathogenesis of the disease.
In experiments with mice and human tissue samples, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report evidence that neuronal stem cells in the part of the nose responsible for the sense of smell transform themselves to perpetuate the long-term inflammation in chronic sinusitis. Results of the study, they say, suggest that the stem cells' ability to switch their identity to join in the immune response may s
A new study published by Vanderbilt mechanobiology researchers details a possible solution for fine-tuning inflammation and cellular activity in cardiac recovery — thanks to an antibody initially developed for rheumatoid arthritis.
The answer to food insecurity could be as simple as a prescription for healthy food from your health care provider and the means to obtain it, particularly in food deserts, said researchers led by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health.
A new Earth Commission, comprised of 19 of the world's foremost scientists, chaired by Johan Rockström, Joyeeta Gupta, and Dahe Qin, will define guardrails — akin to >2C for climate — for land, water, oceans and biodiversity leading to a coherent suite of practical, science-based targets. The targets will also be specifically tailored for megacities and large companies. Future Earth, based at th
In a paper published in Nature Research's journal, Communications Physics, researchers in the University of Arizona Department of Materials Science and Engineering have demonstrated the possibility for acoustic waves in a classical environment to do the work of quantum information processing without the time limitations and fragility.
On September 9, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed SB-276 , a bill that limits medical exemptions for vaccinations — effectively making it harder for parents to keep their kids from getting vaccines. Two days later, an anti-vax group held a candlelight vigil in Sacramento, placing photos of children supposedly injured or killed by vaccines on the steps to the state Capitol. "Note: this is only a
Personer født med lav fødselsvægt udvikler type 2-diabetes tidligere og har mindre svær grad af fedme på tidspunktet for diagnosen samt højere niveauer af HDL i blodet.
New study of hearts from apes and humans shows that people need to be active to have healthy hearts. Runner_topNteaser.jpg Image credits: lzf/Shutterstock Human Thursday, September 19, 2019 – 08:30 Chris Gorski, Editor (Inside Science) — Millions of years ago, after the ancestors of humans diverged from the last link they shared with chimpanzees, they began developing the numerous adaptations t
I've never been much of a tinkerer. I look after my favorite gadgets — new and old — wiping them down, swaddling them in cases and backing up whatever personal data they might …
A team of researchers from across Europe has found via simulations that parts of the U.K. and northern Europe are likely to see more compound flooding events in the next century due to global warming. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes building their simulations and what they showed.
Senator Jacqui Lambie has proposed establishing a Senate inquiry to increase the number of volunteers to address challenges such as climate emergencies.
Global warming is accelerating, driven by the continuing rise in greenhouse gas emissions. Australia's climate has warmed by just over 1°C since 1910, with global temperatures on course for a 3-5°C rise this century.
Ett av huvudproblemen vid typ 2-diabetes är otillräcklig utsöndring av det blodsockersänkande hormonet insulin från bukspottkörteln. Normalt är det de så kallade betacellerna (β-cellerna) i bukspottskörteln som kontrollerar frisättningen av det blodsockersänkande hormonet insulin. Denna funktion är störd vid typ 2-diabetes. Det är sedan tidigare känt att den minskade utsöndringen av insulin beror
A trio of researchers from Harvard Business School, the University of London and the University of British Columbia has found that college graduates who value time over money report being happier a year later than those who report the reverse. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, Ashley Whillans, Lucía Macchia and Elizabeth Dunn, describe their study and what they learned from
Synthetic fuels, made using carbon captured from the air, farm waste or biomass, could help the transport sector reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and meet "net-zero" greenhouse gas emission goals.
A trio of researchers from Chonnam National University, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that a deep learning convolutional neural network was able to accurately predict El Niño events up to 18 months in advance. In their paper published in the journal Nature, Yoo-Geun Ham, Jeong-Hwan Kim and Jing-Jia Luo, describe their deep le
Even if you've never heard of Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish environmentalist who crossed the Atlantic on a sailboat to attend a Sept. 23 United Nations summit on the climate, you may have heard about the student-led Global Climate Strike she helped inspire, planned for Friday, Sept. 20.
On the 20th of July 1787, Gouverneur Morris rose inside the stiflingly hot Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, to explain why he had changed his mind and now favored including a power of impeachment in the constitutional text. Until that point, he and others had feared that an impeachment power would leave the president too dependent on Congress. He had thought that the prospect of reelection def
Rambo . Smurf . Wolf . Boom Boom . Bigfoot . Lady . The aliases of the teenagers living on a lonely mountaintop in South America in Monos are charmingly childish, and reflective of their personalities in some way. Up in the clouds, in an unnamed country gripped by an unspecified civil war, the teens wrestle, dance, and play hierarchical games of power and camaraderie with the carefree energy of h
A team of researchers in Montana State University's College of Agriculture has discovered a previously unidentified microbe that lives symbiotically with the wheat stem sawfly, a pest that causes hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to wheat crops each year. The discovery, the result of a years-long project, provides the basis for future research that could be vital to combating losses due to
Diminishing levels of an omega-3 fatty acid may have health consequences, including a higher risk for depression, ADHD and early dementia — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
The cord-cutting king's new streamers are smaller and faster, and its software now makes it easier for the indecisive viewers to find something to watch.
A team of researchers in Montana State University's College of Agriculture has discovered a previously unidentified microbe that lives symbiotically with the wheat stem sawfly, a pest that causes hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to wheat crops each year. The discovery, the result of a years-long project, provides the basis for future research that could be vital to combating losses due to
A study published in the journal Nature Communications reveals that cells of a fungal pathogen and cells from the host's immune system engage in a tightly coordinated dance of gene expression as the fungus seeks to launch an infection and the host endeavors to protect itself. This never before observed coordination may point the way to new tools for studying fungal diseases and provide new clues i
Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef's decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of next week's UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications reveals that cells of a fungal pathogen and cells from the host's immune system engage in a tightly coordinated dance of gene expression as the fungus seeks to launch an infection and the host endeavors to protect itself. This never before observed coordination may point the way to new tools for studying fungal diseases and provide new clues i
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government plans to commit at least 100 billion euros ($110 billion) on climate protection by 2030, according to a draft policy paper being discussed on Thursday.
Few feel the pain of the Great Barrier Reef's decline more acutely than the scientists trying to save it. Ahead of next week's UN climate summit, two researchers write of their grief, and hope.
Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing our society today, so you would think it would be an important topic for study in the school curriculum.
Diminishing levels of an omega-3 fatty acid may have health consequences, including a higher risk for depression, ADHD and early dementia — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
A new 'electronic tattoo' could make monitoring heart health easier and more accurate than existing methods. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, killing approximately 610,000 people yearly . The current method for monitoring the heart is the electrocardiography machine, also called EKG. It's been the standard for decades. University of Texas at Austin engineers made
Hyppige skift i HbA1c kan være drevet af forskellige kliniske faktorer, herunder variation i kost og livsstil, eller at man skifter til et andet diabetesmiddel eller stopper med at tage sin medicin.
Græsk metaanalyse af mere end to mio. kvinder viser, at assisteret graviditet øger risikoen for at udvikle graviditetsdiabetes med 53 pct. sammenlignet med normal undfangelse.
Børns indtag af gluten i 18 månedsalderen er associeret med 46 pct. stigning i risikoen for at udvikle type 1-diabetes per 10 g ekstra gluten indtaget, viser norsk undersøgelse af 86.306 børn.
Human beings create a lot of data in the digital age—whether it's through everyday items like social media posts, emails and Google searches, or more complex information about health, finances and scientific findings.
Engineers have created what may be viewed as the world's smallest incandescent lightbulbs, collections of near-nanoscale materials called 'selective thermal emitters' that absorb heat and emit light. Their research could have applications in sensing, photonics and perhaps in computing platforms beyond the limitations of silicon.
Though research shows that medication-assisted treatment can help people who are addicted to opioids, the three drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are underused, according to a review of current medical data on opioid addiction in the U.S.
Around half of trials that supported new cancer drug approvals in Europe between 2014 and 2016 were judged to be at high risk of bias, which indicates that treatment effects might have been exaggerated, concludes a new study.
Bear The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Bear , moored to sea ice near Nome, Alaska, in 1918. (U.S. Coast Guard/) When retired Canadian meteorologist Michael Purves transcribes the handwritten notes from an ancient ship's log, he finds himself transported back in time a century, imagining he is on board an old cutter, a fast-moving patrol boat, as it sails through the Bering Sea. In August 1919, for exam
Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear or 'ghost gear' contributes substantially to global marine pollution responsible for wide-reaching environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
Abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear or 'ghost gear' contributes substantially to global marine pollution responsible for wide-reaching environmental and socioeconomic impacts.
Redesigning molecules originally developed to treat the skin disease psoriasis could lead to an effective new drug against malaria, according to new research. Researchers modified a class of molecules called pantothenamides to increase their stability in humans. The new compounds stop the malaria parasite from replicating in infected humans and from being transmitted to mosquitoes. They're also e
Every spring in Australia is heralded by reports of magpies swooping at people. While it is of little comfort to those at the receiving end of a surprise attack, such events are actually quite rare when one considers the number of magpies across Australia, and the fact that they love to share our urban habitat with us.
On a sunny Monday afternoon in August, the Shinnecock Indian Reservation's beach in Long Island, New York, resembled one of the postcard-perfect beaches in the nearby Hamptons. Except, there weren't any sunbathing tourists around. The coastline was quiet and serene with several inlets flowing into a nearby pond, surrounded by lush greenery and a thick forest. Amidst this sprawled a cemetery where
Ancient, distinct, continent-sized regions of rocks, isolated since before the collision that created the Moon 4.5 billion years ago, exist hundreds of miles below the Earth's crust, offering a window into the building blocks of our planet, according to new research.
Every spring in Australia is heralded by reports of magpies swooping at people. While it is of little comfort to those at the receiving end of a surprise attack, such events are actually quite rare when one considers the number of magpies across Australia, and the fact that they love to share our urban habitat with us.
A new study suggests that the extinction of Neanderthals may be tied to persistent, life-long ear infections due to the structure of their Eustachian tubes, which are similar to those of human infants.
In a proof-of-concept study, researchers have shown that exosomes harvested from human skin cells are more effective at repairing sun-damaged skin cells in mice than popular retinol or stem cell-based treatments currently in use. Additionally, the nanometer-sized exosomes can be delivered to the target cells via needle-free injections.
Like an emergency response team that is called into action to save lives, stress response proteins in the heart are activated during a heart attack to help prevent cell death. As part of this process, researchers show for the first time that one of these specialized emergency responder proteins, known as MCUB, temporarily decreases harmful levels of calcium transport into mitochondria, the energy-
More than two decades ago, Professor Andrew Oswald worked at the London School of Economics, UK, when he organised what he says was the world's first conference on the economics of happiness. He put up posters, invited speakers, and waited for the crowds to come.
The deep, cold waters off the rocky coast of Point Sur, California, are home to an unexpected community of organisms that most people associate with tropical settings—corals. Scientist Charlie Boch and his colleagues recently compared different methods to restore deep-sea coral by transplanting live coral fragments and measuring their survival rates. The experiment was conducted on Sur Ridge, 60 k
The deep, cold waters off the rocky coast of Point Sur, California, are home to an unexpected community of organisms that most people associate with tropical settings—corals. Scientist Charlie Boch and his colleagues recently compared different methods to restore deep-sea coral by transplanting live coral fragments and measuring their survival rates. The experiment was conducted on Sur Ridge, 60 k
Something mysterious happened nearly half a billion years ago that triggered one of the most important changes in the history of life on Earth. Suddenly, there was an explosion of species, with the biodiversity of invertebrate animals increasing from a very low level to something similar to what we see today. The most popular explanation for this "Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event" is that
Første undersøgelse, hvor liraglutid er anvendt til patienter med nydiagnosticeret type 1-diabetes, peger på reduceret eller intet behov for insulin så længe patienter får aktiv behandling.
Overordnet er udgifterne til de 15 dyreste lægemidler i Region Midtjylland faldet. Et lægemiddel har dog haft en vækst på 329 pct. Se listen over de 15 dyreste lægemidler i Midtjylland.
Cyberknife er ikke en eksperimentel behandling – behandlingen har tværtimod vist imponerende resultater. Det påpeger direktøren for den lettiske klinik, som dansk læge for nylig kritiserede for at føre danske patienter bag lyset.
Imagine you wanted to grow a blood vessel or kidney or liver outside the body. How would you get all the cells to stick together and form the correct three-dimensional structure?
Imagine you wanted to grow a blood vessel or kidney or liver outside the body. How would you get all the cells to stick together and form the correct three-dimensional structure?
Start-up businesses working on innovations to help combat climate change must have access to reliable funding if the United Kingdom is to meet its carbon emission reduction targets, according to leading business experts from Kingston University in London.
A new study suggests that the extinction of Neanderthals may be tied to persistent, life-long ear infections due to the structure of their Eustachian tubes, which are similar to those of human infants.
Having a compact, yet robust, structurally-based identifier or representation system for molecular structures is a key enabling factor for efficient sharing and dissemination of results within the research community. Such systems also lay down the essential foundations for machine learning and other data-driven research. While substantial advances have been made for small molecules, the polymer co
We're all well aware that Nintendo is a nostalgia hound, capitalizing on its rich history to keep today's gamers on board with its sometimes derivative but always lovingly crafted …
The political leeway for carbon taxes is greater than commonly assumed. Political scientists at ETH have shown how carbon taxes could find acceptance in Germany and the U.S.. What matters most …
Fast-growing office-sharing startup WeWork will likely delay its initial public offering until at least October, and may wait even longer, a source familiar with the plans told AFP on Monday.
De senaste decennierna har forskare börjat förstå att livets utveckling på jorden även har påverkats av händelser i rymden. Ett exempel är den tio kilometer stora himlakroppen som för 66 miljoner år sedan slog ner och utplånade dinosaurierna. Krossad asteroid orsakade säregen istid Nu kan forskare för första gången presentera ytterligare en utomjordisk händelse som varit avgörande för livets utve
When large areas of carbon-rich soil catch fire, the blaze emits massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere and creates a thick haze. These blazes can usher in long-term climate impacts that affect the whole planet and affect human health. In 2015, the haze from peatland fires was responsible for more than 100,000 premature deaths in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Blazes have increased in s
Did you know that 60 percent of Europe's rivers are not healthy? Or that the rivers and freshwater wetlands of the world have lost 83 percent of their biodiversity since the 1970s? As we celebrate World Rivers Day, we talk to Eva Hernández, Coordinator of WWF's Living European Rivers Initiative and Therese Noorlander, Sustainability Director Europe for Coca-Cola, about the importance of protecting
An estimated 700,000 people worldwide die from antibiotic-resistant infections every year, including strains of E. coli, Staphylococcus, and pneumonia. And if current trends continue, some predictions say the annual death toll could rise to 10 million by 2050, surpassing the amount of people killed by all cancers combined.
In the wake of the 2016 presidential election, amid a flurry of media reports suggesting an uptick in hate crimes, a group of University of Chicago Law School students began to discuss a shared concern: Hate crime data were inconsistent and incomplete. It was difficult to know, and even harder to prove, whether marginalized communities were actually experiencing increased rates of violence and int
For Hollywood to be a more inclusive and diverse industry, companies need to implement a five-point strategy for hiring, sponsoring and promoting minorities and women—especially women of color—a new UCLA study suggests.
It's the final boarding call for you to stow your name on NASA's Mars 2020 rover before it launches to the Red Planet. The Sept. 30 deadline for NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign gives the mission enough time to stencil the submitted names—over 9.4 million so far—on a chip that will be affixed to the Mars 2020 rover.
Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technique to observe how radiation damages molecules over time frames of just one quadrillionth of a second—or a femtosecond.
Proteins are essential for every living cell and responsible for many fundamental processes. In particular, they are required as bio-catalysts in metabolism and for signaling inside the cell and between cells. Many diseases come about as a result of failures in this communication, and the origins of signaling in proteins have been a source of great scientific debate. Now, for the first time, a tea
The political leeway for carbon taxes is greater than commonly assumed. Political scientists at ETH have shown how carbon taxes could find acceptance in Germany and the U.S.. What matters most is the intended use of the tax revenues and that all industrialized nations implement the taxes.
Proteins are essential for every living cell and responsible for many fundamental processes. In particular, they are required as bio-catalysts in metabolism and for signaling inside the cell and between cells. Many diseases come about as a result of failures in this communication, and the origins of signaling in proteins have been a source of great scientific debate. Now, for the first time, a tea
In 2017 astronomers detected and confirmed the first interstellar object , an asteroid from another solar system racing through our own – Oumuamua . The object is long and thin, like a cigar, and appears to have some outgassing altering its trajectory. So it's not quite a comet, but not just a rock either. We didn't detect Oumuamua until after it has passed by its closest approach to the Earth. I
Nature, Published online: 19 September 2019; doi:10.1038/d41586-019-02804-0 Canberra will be the first major region in the Southern Hemisphere to purchase all its energy from renewable sources.
Mahican Gielen er ny ledende overlæge på Regionshospitalet Randers. Hun vil arbejde for at styrke kommunikationen mellem afdelingerne på hospitalet og forbedre dialogen på tværs af det regionale sundhedsvæsen.
Take a deep breath. As you breathe in, your lungs fill with air. The air is carried through every part of your lungs by tubes. These tubes are organized in a particular way. They branch off, one into the left lung, one into the right. The tubes fill our lungs by branching, branching, and branching again, into tinier and tinier tubes. Each branching point is similar to the previous one. Your breat
Suppose you open your handbag one day expecting to find your wallet there, but don't. Do you literally see the absence of your wallet in your handbag? If you do, it means something important: Absences have a positive presence in your perception that you can grasp, independently from all ordinary things. Anna Farennikova, a philosopher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has argued
A few years ago, David Adger was in his office at Queen Mary University of London, where he is a professor of linguistics, when the phone rang. It was a British TV company that wanted him to invent a language for monsters with no lips, just big teeth, in a new fantasy series, Beowulf . Adger loved the idea and concocted a wonderfully weird and complex language called Ur-Hag Hesh. Although he made
A new report reveals the relationships between transport and property value across the North of England. The report highlights how understanding these relationships can help inform infrastructure planning and investment – from inter-city rail connections to shaping the urban environment.
This observational study compared major cardiovascular events (including hospitalization for heart attack, stroke, transient ischemic attack or cardiovascular death) among patients with diabetes and reduced kidney function treated with metformin or a sulfonylurea (a class of drugs to treat diabetes).
This randomized clinical trial compared the outcomes of heart attack, stroke or death from cardiovascular causes among 6,000 patients with type 2 diabetes who were treated with the glucose-lowering medications linagliptin or glimepiride.
Though research shows that medication-assisted treatment can help people who are addicted to opioids, the three drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are underused, according to a review of current medical data on opioid addiction in the U.S. This review appears in the October issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
If the Trump administration weakens the Endangered Species Act, many populations that are already dwindling will disappear — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Communities of microorganisms play a key role in human health. Can they also help provide solutions for a sustainable future? — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Der er ingen eller meget dårlig mobildækning på store dele af Københavns nye metrolinje Cityringen, der åbner om 10 dage. Det advarer de fire store teleoperatører i et brev til Metroselskabets ejerskreds.
Australia introduced stricter new laws to limit agricultural run-off into the waters surrounding the Great Barrier Reef Thursday, in an attempt to save the reef and keep its prized world heritage status.
Germany was an early pioneer in renewable energy and has massively boosted wind and solar power, so why is it bound to miss its self-imposed climate goals for next year?
An unprecedented water shortage in drought-stricken eastern Australia is driving home the brutal realities of climate change and threatening the much-mythologised Outback way of life.
What may be viewed as the world's smallest incandescent lightbulb is shining in a Rice University engineering laboratory with the promise of advances in sensing, photonics and perhaps computing platforms beyond the limitations of silicon.
Vissa lokala livsmedel som konsumerats ofta och mycket, tycks kopplat till förhöjd risk för vissa cancerformer. Men detta samband speglar troligtvis att exponeringen för föroreningar var högre förr. Glasriket i Småland har haft en omfattande glasindustri sedan 1700-talet, men på senare år har flera glasbruk lagts ner på grund av dålig lönsamhet. Då upptäcktes samtidigt att marken kring glasbruken
Uppskattningsvis 15–20 procent av gravida kvinnor globalt lider av blodbrist på grund av för lite järn. Blodbrist, också kallad anemi, innebär att det finns för lite röda blodkroppar för att kroppens olika organ ska få tillräckligt med syre. Den överväldigande majoriteten av blodbristdiagnoser ställs mot slutet av graviditeten, när barnet växer snabbt och därför tar upp mycket järn från mamman. I
Förpackningar används för att transportera, förvara och bevara mat, medicin och andra konsumentprodukter. För att utveckla nya paketöppningstekniker behövs prototyper och fysiska tester. Med hjälp av så kallade finita elementsimuleringar (FE-simulmeringar) kan designprocessen bli snabbare och robustare. FE-simulering är ett kraftfullt virtuellt verktyg för material-, produkt- och processutvecklin
Mat måste vi alla ha. Men hur ska vi veta vad som är nyttigt och vad som är skadligt för oss? Hur ska vi hantera larmrapporter och modekoster? Välkommen att delta i symposiet "" Här kommer att diskuteras hur man vetenskapligt kan förhålla sig till mat och vilka belägg det finns för våra kostrekommendationer.
They can be identified by their independent-bookstore tote bags, their "Book Lover" mugs, or—most reliably—by the bound, printed stacks of paper they flip through on their lap. They are, for lack of a more specific term, readers. Joining their tribe seems simple enough: Get a book, read it, and voilà! You're a reader—no tote bag necessary. But behind that simple process is a question of motivatio
A new report reveals the relationships between transport and property value across the North of England. The report highlights how understanding these relationships can help inform infrastructure planning and investment—from inter-city rail connections to shaping the urban environment.
If the Trump administration weakens the Endangered Species Act, many populations that are already dwindling will disappear — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Communities of microorganisms play a key role in human health. Can they also help provide solutions for a sustainable future? — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
In the aftermath of the 2018 Camp Fire, government officials discovered that many of the region's underground water pipes had been contaminated with benzene and other cancer-causing chemicals. With their feeble response, Governor Newsom and his administration have failed to protect their citizens.