Wuhan coronavirus confirmed to be transmissible between humans
A new strain of the coronavirus — similar to SARS — is spreading across China and to nearby countries, including the U.S.. Although it's relatively early on, the virus appears to be fairly infectious and capable of human-to-human transmission, a serious concern given the many travelers expected to visit China for the upcoming Lunar New Year. The World Health Organization intends to convene an eme
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Cataclysmic bashing from giant planets occurred early in our Solar System's history
Models and observations suggest that an earlier date for the upheaval can explain puzzles including a puny Mars
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Plan can cut unneeded antipsychotic drugs for foster kids
A strategy Texas uses to reduce antipsychotic medication for foster children can serve as a model for other state Medicaid programs, researchers report. "Youth in the United States foster care system are about five times more likely to take antipsychotic medications, a class of medications to manage their mental and behavioral health, than children in the general public," says Thomas Mackie, assi
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The Wuhan coronavirus has officially hit the US—but don't panic
The virus first emerged in China, but has now been confirmed in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and the United States. The Wuhan coronavirus, also known as 2019-nCoV, has reached the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CNBC reported on Tuesday that a single patient—a male in his 30s, who is currently isolated and ill but stable—has been diagnosed in S
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What We Know About the Wuhan Coronavirus
A mysterious virus has caused an international outbreak of respiratory illness. Now the infection has arrived in the U.S.
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Mysterious, Deadly Chinese Virus Officially Reaches the US
The deadly coronavirus that's infected hundreds, and killed at least six in China, has officially made its way to the continental United States. Authorities have now confirmed a case of 2019-nCoV, a mysterious virus that causes flu-like symptoms, in Washington State, according to The New York Times . While there are already cases in Japan, Thailand, and South Korea , the fact that the virus has n
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Davos: Greta Thunberg & Donald Trump clash on climate change
The Swedish climate activist and the US president gave very different speeches at Davos.
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Possible Alzheimer's breakthrough suggested
Researchers at the Case Western University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio say they have identified a previously unknown gene and associated protein (which they have named 'aggregatin') which could potentially be suppressed to slow the advance of Alzheimer's disease. 'Based on the data we have, this protein can be an unrecognized new risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD),' said Xinglong W
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Less may be more in next-gen batteries
Rice University engineers build full lithium-ion batteries with silicon anodes and an alumina layer to protect cathodes from degrading. By limiting their energy density, the batteries promise excellent stability for transportation and grid storage use.
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Drug combo reverses arthritis in rats
Salk researchers have discovered that a powerful combination of 2 experimental drugs reverses the cellular and molecular signs of osteoarthritis in rats as well as in isolated human cartilage cells. Their results were published in the journal Protein & Cell on Jan. 16, 2020.
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No, you can't taste anything with your testicles
TikTok user Alx James trying out the soy sauce phenomenon (TikTok user @alxjames/) People on the internet think they can taste soy sauce with their testicles . There's just no delicate way to say that. But here's the truth: if you can taste with your balls, you should be able to taste with your bladder, your lungs, and your intestines, too. That's right. All of those bodily locations have taste r
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Halsey, Selena Gomez, and Pop That Acknowledges Mental Struggle
Whether the example is Ariana Grande's anxiety bops or Post Malone's anthems of addiction and paranoia , mental health has become one of the central topics of today's popular music. But is that really so new? The strangeness of the brain has long been a songwriting muse, and sounds often articulate what's going on in one's head better than words can. Folk singers and emo rappers alike have docume
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What does traditional music around the world have in common?
An analysis of thousands of song descriptions ties together music from different cultures
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Mosquitoes are drawn to flowers as much as people—and now scientists know why
Without their keen sense of smell, mosquitoes wouldn't get very far. They rely on this sense to find a host to bite and spots to lay eggs.
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Persistent environmental contaminant changes the gut microbiome of mice
An industrial chemical — phased out since 2002, but previously used in stain and water-repellent products and firefighting foam — alters the gut microbiome of mice and could have implications for human health, according to an international team of researchers.
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EU announces funding for Ariane 6 and other space-tech
The European Union on Tuesday announced 200 million euros ($222 million) of funding for the Ariane 6 rocket launcher and for small and medium-sized space technology companies.
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Mosquitoes are drawn to flowers as much as people—and now scientists know why
Without their keen sense of smell, mosquitoes wouldn't get very far. They rely on this sense to find a host to bite and spots to lay eggs.
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Human-sparked fires smaller, less intense but more frequent with longer seasons
Fires started by people have steadily increased in recent decades, sparking a major shift in U.S. wildfire norms, according to a new CU Boulder-led study.
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Police shootings linked to inaccurate dispatch information
A new University of Colorado Denver study examined how information provided in a dispatched call for service influences a police officer's decision to use deadly force.
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Tesla: Claims of Unintended Acceleration Are 'Completely False'
Tesla is accustomed to bad press — CEO Elon Musk has often fired off snarky responses on Twitter before the end of the news cycle. However, Musk is a bit more controlled these days. Tesla has issued an official response to last week's claims of unintended acceleration , and it's leaving no question as to its position. Tesla says the petition is completely false . Tesla kicks off its brief respons
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Coyotes Poised to Infiltrate South America
The crab-eating fox and the coyote may soon swap territories, initiating the first American cross-continental exchange in more than three million years
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What the GOP's proposed climate policies would, and wouldn't, do
And why it's notable that Republicans are now talking about climate change at all.
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Arrival of new SARS-like virus in U.S. heightens concerns about global spread
Chinese officials confirm that the coronavirus spreads between people, making it harder to control
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Feeding the world without wrecking the planet is possible
A study now suggests a comprehensive solution package for feeding 10 billion people within our planet's environmental boundaries. Supplying a sufficient and healthy diet for every person whilst keeping our biosphere largely intact will require no less than a technological and socio-cultural U-turn. It includes adopting radically different ways of farming, reduction of food waste, and dietary chang
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'Ancient' cellular discovery key to new cancer therapies
Researchers have uncovered a metabolic system which could lead to new strategies for therapeutic cancer treatment. A team has found a link between a metabolic system in a yeast, and now mammals, which is critical for the regulation of cell growth and proliferation.
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New roles found for Huntington's disease protein
A Duke University research team has identified a new function of a gene called huntingtin, a mutation of which underlies the progressive neurodegenerative disorder known as Huntington's Disease. Using genetic mouse models, they have discovered that neurons in the striatum, a brain area involved in controlling movement, require the huntingtin gene for regulating the body's movements, maintaining ce
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Recent health reforms in Oregon reduce infant deaths, improve access for women's health
Oregon's unique health care delivery system for low-income patients is resulting in fewer infant deaths, according to a recent study. The study found that Oregon's implementation of Coordinated Care Organizations (CCOs) in 2012 was associated with infant mortality rates falling significantly among Medicaid patients relative to non-Medicaid patients, who are not managed by the new delivery system.
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Ultrafast camera takes 1 trillion frames per second of transparent objects and phenomena
Caltech's Lihong Wang has adapted his picosecond imaging technology to take pictures and video of transparent objects like cells and phenomena like shockwaves.
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This Regenerative Building Material is Made From Sand and Bacteria
Combine sand, gelatin and bacteria, let them rest and watch one brick turn into eight.
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Bugs and heat will do major damage to crops as temps rise
Climate models might underestimate crop losses because they don't factor how infested plants react to rising temperatures, according to a new study. Recent models tell us that, as our climate warms up, herbivores and pests will cause increased damage to agricultural crops. One study predicted that crop yield lost to insects increases 10 to 25% for every 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) i
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To reverse engineer dynamics of microbial communities, researchers construct their own
Scientific and public appreciation for microbes — and the key role their communal actions play in environmental health, food production, and human wellness — has grown in recent years. While initially considered to be static, uniform entities, microbial communities are highly complex and contain internal chemical swapfests that are in constant flux. Researchers have demonstrated that the dynamic
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New technique to study molecules and materials on quantum simulator discovered
A new technique to study the properties of molecules and materials on a quantum simulator has been discovered.
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Zebrafish teach researchers more about atrial fibrillation
Genetic research in zebrafish has surprised the researchers behind the study. The results have the potential to change the prevalent perception of the cardiac disorder atrial fibrillation.
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New method to enable the production of cheaper, longer-lasting vaccines
A new method to produce vaccines that have a longer shelf-life, are cheaper and can be stored without the need for cooling has been developed.
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Novel composite antimicrobial film could take a bite out of foodborne illnesses
A novel composite film — created by the bonding of an antimicrobial layer to conventional, clear polyethylene plastic typically used to vacuum-package foods such as meat and fish — could help to decrease foodborne illness outbreaks, according to researchers.
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How fruit flies flock together in orderly clusters
Opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies to form orderly clusters, according to a new study.
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Past Racist "Redlining" Practices Increased Climate Burden on Minority Neighborhoods
Such areas face a disproportionate risk of heat-related impacts and exposure to air pollution — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Trump and the Teenager: A Climate Showdown at Davos
President Trump and Greta Thunberg dominated the first full day of the annual gathering of the rich and powerful in the Swiss Alps.
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New AGA guideline outlines treatment best practices for ulcerative colitis patients
An increasing number of drugs are available for long-term management of moderate to severe UC, leading to questions about treatment strategies for optimal patient care. A new clinical guideline from the American Gastroenterological Association, published in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the AGA Institute, provides recommendations for the management of adult outpatients with moderate to
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Macau Grand Prix
Lee Johnston (BMW Ashcourt Racing) hurtles a short distance from the dreaded Armco barriers, with the city in the background. (Diego Mola/) John McGuinness (PBM Ducati) between the walls and the barriers at the Melco Hairpin. (Diego Mola/) Peter Hickman (BMW Bathams Racing) photographed from the roof of a house on the streets turned racetrack in Macau. (Diego Mola/) Lee Johnston faces Maternity B
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Authorities confirm first US case of Sars-like coronavirus
Virus lands in the Americas as Beijing warns efforts to stem outbreak at critical moment
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To reverse engineer dynamics of microbial communities, researchers construct their own
Scientific and public appreciation for microbes—and the key role their communal actions play in environmental health, food production, and human wellness—has grown in recent years. While initially considered to be static, uniform entities, microbial communities are highly complex and contain internal chemical swapfests that are in constant flux.
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To reverse engineer dynamics of microbial communities, researchers construct their own
Scientific and public appreciation for microbes—and the key role their communal actions play in environmental health, food production, and human wellness—has grown in recent years. While initially considered to be static, uniform entities, microbial communities are highly complex and contain internal chemical swapfests that are in constant flux.
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'Treasure trove' of new discoveries highlights gaps in coral knowledge
Scientists discovered dozens of new coral species on a recent voyage along the length of the Great Barrier Reef.
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R&D Systems: Types of Biotinylated Proteins
Examine the differences between different types of biotinylated proteins to pick the right one for your assay!
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Human-sparked fires smaller, less intense but more frequent with longer seasons
Fires started by people have steadily increased in recent decades, sparking a major shift in U.S. wildfire norms, according to a new CU Boulder-led study. The research found human-caused wildfires are more frequent, smaller, less hot and occur over longer seasons than fires started by lightning.
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New research uses physiological cues to distinguish computer-generated faces from human ones
Recent advances in computer graphics are making it possible to create computer-generated (CG) representations of human beings that are difficult to distinguish from their real-world counterparts. 'Digital human face detection in video sequences via a physiological signal analysis,' a paper published today in the Journal of Electronic Imaging (JEI), presents a viable, innovative way to discern betw
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Mosquitoes are drawn to flowers as much as people — and now scientists know why
Despite their reputation as blood-suckers, mosquitoes actually spent most of their time drinking nectar from flowers. Scientists have identified the chemical cues in flowers that stimulate mosquitoes' sense of smell and draw them in. Their findings show how cues from flowers can stimulate the mosquito brain as much as a warm-blooded host — information that could help develop less toxic repellents
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Influenza vaccination of children cuts hospitalization in half: Ben-Gurion U. researchers
The findings reveal that the flu vaccine reduced hospitalizations associated with the flu by more than half. They also validate guidelines in the United States and Israel that recommend two vaccine doses for children up to age 8 who have never been vaccinated or who previously received one dose.
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Police shootings linked to inaccurate dispatch information
306 law enforcement officers from 18 agencies were involved in a simulation examining impact of dispatch information on an officer's decision to fire their weapon. When officers were told the subject had a gun but were then shown a video of a man rapidly producing a cellphone, 62% of officers shot. The findings show a relationship between inaccurate dispatched information about the presence of a w
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Transformative 'green' accelerator achieves world's first 8-pass full energy recovery
Scientists from Cornell University and the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have successfully demonstrated the world's first capture and reuse of energy in a multi-turn particle accelerator, where electrons are accelerated and decelerated in multiple stages and transported at different energies through a single beamline. This advance paves the way for ultra-br
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Study finds flooding damage to levees is cumulative—and often invisible
Recent research finds that repeated flooding events have a cumulative effect on the structural integrity of earthen levees, suggesting that the increase in extreme weather events associated with climate change could pose significant challenges for the nation's aging levee system.
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Advanced polymers help streamline water purification, environmental remediation
It takes a lot of energy to collect, clean and dispose of contaminated water. Some contaminants, like arsenic, occur in low concentrations, calling for even more energy-intensive selective removal processes.
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A model ecosystem fish story
Have I got a fish story for you. Any angler beginning a yarn like that usually ends up spinning a tall tale, an exaggeration or bald-faced lie.
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Low power metal detector senses magnetic fingerprints
Most traditional electromagnetic methods for detecting hidden metal objects involve systems that are heavy, bulky and require lots of electricity.
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New study examines mortality costs of air pollution in US
A team of University of Illinois researchers estimated the mortality costs associated with air pollution in the U.S. by developing and applying a novel machine learning-based method to estimate the life-years lost and cost associated with air pollution exposure.
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A model ecosystem fish story
Have I got a fish story for you. Any angler beginning a yarn like that usually ends up spinning a tall tale, an exaggeration or bald-faced lie.
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Flooding damage to levees is cumulative — and often invisible
Recent research finds that repeated flooding events have a cumulative effect on the structural integrity of earthen levees, suggesting that the increase in extreme weather events associated with climate change could pose significant challenges for the nation's aging levee system.
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Well-designed substrates make large single crystal bi-/tri-layer graphene possible
Scientists have reported the fabrication and use of single crystal copper-nickel alloy foil substrates for the growth of large-area, single crystal bilayer and trilayer graphene films.
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A model ecosystem fish story
Have I got a fish story for you. Any angler beginning a yarn like that usually ends up spinning a tall tale, an exaggeration or bald-faced lie. Researchers, however, have demonstrated that anglers can produce accurate and complex environmental models similar to those of trained scientists.
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A chronicle of giant straight-tusked elephants
About 800,000 years ago, the giant straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon migrated out of Africa and became widespread across Europe and Asia.
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Blue light triggers memory and emphatic fear in mice via a non-invasive approach
Researchers have engineered an improved biological tool that controls calcium (Ca2+) levels in the brain via blue light. This monster-OptoSTIM1 causes a change in mice's fear learning behavior without the need of optic fiber implants in the brain.
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Modified plants to curb climate change
New technologies are needed to combat climate change. Now bioinformatics specialists might have found a way of enabling plants to store more carbon dioxide.
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Art speaks for itself and makes hearts beat faster
Information about an artwork has no effect on the aesthetic experience of museum visitors. The characteristics of the artwork itself have a much stronger impact on observers.
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Addressing global warming with new nanoparticles and sunshine
Harvesting sunlight, IBS scientists reported a new strategy to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen (O2) and pure carbon monoxide (CO) without side-products in water. This artificial photosynthesis method could bring new solutions to environmental pollution and global warming.
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Donald Trump's 'National Security' Impeachment Defense Is a Red Herring
The president's cry-wolf strategy is straight from Richard Nixon's playbook.
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Vitamin C-B1-steroid combo linked to lower septic shock mortality in kids
Treating septic shock in children with a combination of intravenous vitamin C, vitamin B1 and hydrocortisone (a commonly used steroid) is associated with lower mortality, according to a study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
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Air pollution in New York City linked to wildfires hundreds of miles away
A new study shows that air pollutants from the smoke of fires from as far as Canada and the southeastern US traveled hundreds of miles and several days to reach Connecticut and New York City, where it caused significant increases in pollution concentrations.
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Study: Pharmaceutical companies marketing stimulants to physicians
Results of a new study show that a large number of physicians in the US may have received marketing payments from pharmaceutical companies that produce stimulant medications. Led by researchers at Boston Medical Center's (BMC) Grayken Center for Addiction, the first of its kind study found that one in 18 physicians received some form of pharmaceutical marketing about stimulants, most often in the
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Our biological clock plays crucial role in healing from surgery
If you have just had knee, shoulder or hip surgery, you may want to take anti-inflammatories in the morning or at noon, but not at night. A McGill-led study shows, for the first time, that circadian clock genes are involved in healing from surgery. Indeed, the researchers demonstrated that anti-inflammatory medications are most effective in promoting post-operative healing and recovery when taken
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Four drum machines for hands-on beat making
Drums without drums. (Steve Harvery via Unsplash/) When drum machines burst onto the scene in the 1970s, it marked an enormous shift in popular music at large—not only because of the cutting-edge sound and functionality they introduced but because of the new world of possibilities they made available to artists. At their core, most of these devices are simply equal parts synthesizer and sequencer
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In China, Hazmat Teams Are Searching Flights For Deadly Outbreak
Now that Chinese officials have confirmed that the mysterious pneumonia-like virus known as 2019-nCoV can spread between humans, the government is taking extra precautions to curb the outbreak. That includes sending teams in hazmat suits onto airplanes to go down the aisle and scan passengers for the disease, Business Insider reports . The government has started taking the temperatures of passeng
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New species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in infected wound
A hitherto unknown antibiotic-resistant bacteria species, in the same family as E. coli and Salmonella spp., has been found and classified in Sweden. The proposed taxonomic name of the species — the first of the new genus — is Scandinavium goeteborgense, after the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, where the bacterium was isolated and the research was done.
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Insect bites and warmer climate means double-trouble for plants
Scientists think that current models are incomplete and that we may be underestimating crop losses. A new study shows that infested tomato plants, in their efforts to fight off caterpillars, don't adapt well to rising temperatures. This double-edged sword worsens their productivity.
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Walking sharks discovered in the tropics
Four new species of tropical sharks that use their fins to walk are causing a stir in waters off northern Australia and New Guinea.
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Maternal depression and atopic dermatitis in children linked
A recent study suggests that maternal depression in the postpartum period, and even beyond, is associated with the development of atopic dermatitis throughout childhood and adolescence.
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The Colorless Landscape Around Taal Volcano
Although Taal volcano has gone quiet since its eruption early last week , Philippine authorities are maintaining high alert levels, due to fears that the volcano may just be in a lull, building to another eruption soon. At least 50,000 residents were evacuated, but many have been making brief trips home, leading to stepped-up enforcement around the evacuation zone. Close to the volcano, the lands
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Astrobiologist Explains How Invisible Aliens Could Live on Earth
Alien Detection During a recent interview with The Observer, Helen Sharman, the first British astronaut, said not only that she believes aliens exist , but also that they could be living undetected among us here on Earth. Now, an astrobiologist has responded by detailing what form these invisible aliens might take — and how they might have gotten here. Shadow Biosphere Samantha Rolfe, the princip
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Impaired endothelium-mediated cerebrovascular reactivity promotes anxiety and respiration disorders in mice [Neuroscience]
Carbon dioxide (CO2), the major product of metabolism, has a strong impact on cerebral blood vessels, a phenomenon known as cerebrovascular reactivity. Several vascular risk factors such as hypertension or diabetes dampen this response, making cerebrovascular reactivity a useful diagnostic marker for incipient vascular pathology, but its functional relevance, if…
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NK cells clear {alpha}-synuclein and the depletion of NK cells exacerbates synuclein pathology in a mouse model of {alpha}-synucleinopathy [Neuroscience]
The pathological hallmark of synucleinopathies, including Lewy body dementia and Parkinson's disease (PD), is the presence of Lewy bodies, which are primarily composed of intracellular inclusions of misfolded α-synuclein (α-syn) among other proteins. α-Syn is found in extracellular biological fluids in PD patients and has been implicated in modulating immune…
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Cryo-EM structures of a lipid-sensitive pentameric ligand-gated ion channel embedded in a phosphatidylcholine-only bilayer [Physiology]
The lipid dependence of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor from the Torpedo electric organ has long been recognized, and one of the most consistent experimental observations is that, when reconstituted in membranes formed by zwitterionic phospholipids alone, exposure to agonist fails to elicit ion-flux activity. More recently, it has been suggested…
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Internal fluid pressure influences muscle contractile force [Physiology]
Fluid fills intracellular, extracellular, and capillary spaces within muscle. During normal physiological activity, intramuscular fluid pressures develop as muscle exerts a portion of its developed force internally. These pressures, typically ranging between 10 and 250 mmHg, are rarely considered in mechanical models of muscle but have the potential to affect…
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Specialized stellate cells offer a privileged route for rapid water flux in Drosophila renal tubule [Physiology]
Insects are highly successful, in part through an excellent ability to osmoregulate. The renal (Malpighian) tubules can secrete fluid faster on a per-cell basis than any other epithelium, but the route for these remarkable water fluxes has not been established. In Drosophila melanogaster, we show that 4 genes of the…
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The maize heterotrimeric G protein {beta} subunit controls shoot meristem development and immune responses [Plant Biology]
Heterotrimeric G proteins are important transducers of receptor signaling, functioning in plants with CLAVATA receptors in controlling shoot meristem size and with pathogen-associated molecular pattern receptors in basal immunity. However, whether specific members of the heterotrimeric complex potentiate cross-talk between development and defense, and the extent to which these functions…
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The rhizobial autotransporter determines the symbiotic nitrogen fixation activity of Lotus japonicus in a host-specific manner [Plant Biology]
Leguminous plants establish endosymbiotic associations with rhizobia and form root nodules in which the rhizobia fix atmospheric nitrogen. The host plant and intracellular rhizobia strictly control this symbiotic nitrogen fixation. We recently reported a Lotus japonicus Fix− mutant, apn1 (aspartic peptidase nodule-induced 1), that impairs symbiotic nitrogen fixation. APN1 encodes…
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Correction for Perkins, Core Concept: Albedo is a simple concept that plays complicated roles in climate and astronomy [Corrections]
CORE CONCEPTS Correction for "Core Concept: Albedo is a simple concept that plays complicated roles in climate and astronomy," by Sid Perkins, which was first published December 17, 2019; 10.1073/pnas.1918770116 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 25369–25371). The editors note that on page 25371, left column, third paragraph, a date…
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Correction for Mann, Core Concept: To improve weather and climate models, researchers are chasing atmospheric gravity waves [Corrections]
CORE CONCEPTS Correction for "Core Concept: To improve weather and climate models, researchers are chasing atmospheric gravity waves," by Adam Mann, which was first published September 24, 2019; 10.1073/pnas.1912426116 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 19218–19221). The editors note that reference 2 appeared incorrectly. The last name of the author…
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Correction for Porter et al., Epithelial to mesenchymal plasticity and differential response to therapies in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma [Corrections]
MEDICAL SCIENCES Correction for "Epithelial to mesenchymal plasticity and differential response to therapies in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma," by Rebecca L. Porter, Neelima K. C. Magnus, Vishal Thapar, Robert Morris, Annamaria Szabolcs, Azfar Neyaz, Anupriya S. Kulkarni, Eric Tai, Abhijit Chougule, Alessandra Hillis, Gabriel Golczer, Hongshan Guo, Teppei Yamada, Tomohiro Kurokawa,…
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Correction for Hu et al., Structural bases for F plasmid conjugation and F pilus biogenesis in Escherichia coli [Correction]
MICROBIOLOGY Correction for "Structural bases for F plasmid conjugation and F pilus biogenesis in Escherichia coli," by Bo Hu, Pratick Khara, and Peter J. Christie, which was first published June 25, 2019; 10.1073/pnas.1904428116 (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 116, 14222–14227). The authors note that the following statement should be added…
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In This Issue [This Week in PNAS]
Fin-to-limb transition in vertebrate evolution Artist's reconstruction of tetrapodomorphs. From Top to Bottom: S. taylori, E. foordi, and T. roseae. Dorsal and ventral fin rays shown in orange and blue, respectively. Image courtesy of Alex Boersma (artist). The transformation of fins into limbs is marked by the appearance of digits,…
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Further wet-taro evidence from Polynesia's southernmost Neolithic production margins [Social Sciences]
For Prebble et al. (1), the cultivation of introduced semiaquatic tropical taro (Colocasia esculenta) on cooler southern Pacific islands during the Polynesian "initial colonization period" (ICP) (1200 to 1500 CE) represents a "striking" Neolithic example of nonoptimal, marginal crop production. In that respect, ICP taro pollen from Ahuahu, a warm-temperate,…
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Reply to Barber: Marginal evidence for taro production in northern New Zealand between 1200 and 1500 CE [Social Sciences]
We welcome Barber's (1) comments and are grateful for the opportunity to respond. Our study of wetland taro (Colocasia esculenta) gardens during the initial colonization period (ICP) (1200 to 1500 CE) in New Zealand did not overlook the evidence from the Aupouri Peninsula (2–4). We agree that gardens were probably…
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Making inferences about racial disparities in police violence [Social Sciences]
A recent PNAS study, Johnson et al. (1), investigates the role of race in fatal police shootings. Unlike previous studies which focused on victim race alone, the paper features original data about the race of officers who use deadly force and offers a rare accounting of other shooting attributes that…
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Young unarmed nonsuicidal male victims of fatal use of force are 13 times more likely to be Black than White [Social Sciences]
A recent PNAS article reports "no evidence of anti-Black or anti-Hispanic disparities across [fatal] shootings" by police officers (ref. 1, p. 15877). This claim is based on the results of a regression model that suggested "a person fatally shot by police was 6.67 times less likely (odds ratio [OR] =…
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Reply to Knox and Mummolo and Schimmack and Carlsson: Controlling for crime and population rates [Social Sciences]
Recently, we (1) published a report showing that, among civilians fatally shot, officer race does not predict civilian race and there is no evidence of anti-Black or anti-Hispanic disparities. As Knox and Mummolo (2) correctly state, this is different from the likelihood of being shot given a person's race, Pr(shot∣race)….
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QnAs with Sangeeta N. Bhatia [QnAs]
More than 2% of the human genome is claimed by genes encoding proteases, or protein-degrading enzymes. A diverse family of more than 550 members, human proteases perform a raft of functions in cells, from recycling damaged proteins to regulating signaling and growth. So it follows that proteases have been implicated…
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Profile of Mary Lou Guerinot [Profiles]
On the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, Mary Lou Guerinot decided that she would major in biology in college in the hope of promoting environmental sustainability. As the 50th anniversary of Earth Day approaches, Guerinot, now a professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth College and a member of the…
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Chronic well leakage probability relative to basin and fluid characteristics [Environmental Sciences]
Regulation of wells is largely concerned with precluding leakage along them. Studies of the proportion of wells in large populations that leak provide one means of reviewing the effectiveness of these regulations. The article entitled "A portrait of wellbore leakage in northeastern British Columbia, Canada" in PNAS (1) provides the…
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The Australasian tektite source crater: Found at last? [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
In PNAS, Sieh et al. (1) present the best candidate yet for the long-sought source crater of the Australasian tektite strewn field. Unlike the other 4 or so tektite strewn fields, each of which can be traced back to a large impact crater, the Australasian field's source has yet to…
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Linking calcium signaling and mitochondrial function in fungal drug resistance [Microbiology]
The host range for Aspergillus fumigatus is wide, including mammals, aves, and insecta (stonebrood). This is linked to the significant adaptability of this important fungal pathogen. It is thermotolerant, able to grow up to 70 °C, and astonishingly also remains viable down to −20 °C (1). It is microaerophilic and…
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Biophysical principles of choanoflagellate self-organization [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Inspired by the patterns of multicellularity in choanoflagellates, the closest living relatives of animals, we quantify the biophysical processes underlying the morphogenesis of rosette colonies in the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. We find that rosettes reproducibly transition from an early stage of 2-dimensional (2D) growth to a later stage of 3D…
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Oxidized micrometeorites suggest either high pCO2 or low pN2 during the Neoarchean [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
Tomkins et al. [A. G. Tomkins et al., Nature 533, 235–238 (2016)] suggested that iron oxides contained in 2.7-Ga iron micrometeorites can be used to determine the concentration of O2 in the Archean upper atmosphere. Specifically, they argued that the presence of magnetite in these objects implies that O2 must…
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Bioinspired sonar reflectors as guiding beacons for autonomous navigation [Engineering]
Sonar sensors are universally applied in autonomous vehicles such as robots and driverless cars as they are inexpensive, energy-efficient, and provide accurate range measurements; however, they have some limitations. Their measurements can lead to ambiguous estimates and echo clutter can hamper target detection. In nature, echolocating bats experience similar problems…
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Cryo-EM analysis of a feline coronavirus spike protein reveals a unique structure and camouflaging glycans [Biochemistry]
Feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) is an alphacoronavirus that causes a nearly 100% mortality rate without effective treatment. Here we report a 3.3-Å cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structure of the serotype I FIPV spike (S) protein, which is responsible for host recognition and viral entry. Mass spectrometry provided site-specific compositions of…
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Rotary catalysis of bovine mitochondrial F1-ATPase studied by single-molecule experiments [Biochemistry]
The reaction scheme of rotary catalysis and the torque generation mechanism of bovine mitochondrial F1 (bMF1) were studied in single-molecule experiments. Under ATP-saturated concentrations, high-speed imaging of a single 40-nm gold bead attached to the γ subunit of bMF1 showed 2 types of intervening pauses during the rotation that were…
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Translation of the intrinsically disordered protein {alpha}-synuclein is inhibited by a small molecule targeting its structured mRNA [Biochemistry]
Many proteins are refractory to targeting because they lack small-molecule binding pockets. An alternative to drugging these proteins directly is to target the messenger (m)RNA that encodes them, thereby reducing protein levels. We describe such an approach for the difficult-to-target protein α-synuclein encoded by the SNCA gene. Multiplication of the…
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Molecular mechanism of the chitinolytic peroxygenase reaction [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs) are a recently discovered class of monocopper enzymes broadly distributed across the tree of life. Recent reports indicate that LPMOs can use H2O2 as an oxidant and thus carry out a novel type of peroxygenase reaction involving unprecedented copper chemistry. Here, we present a combined computational…
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Presynaptic MAST kinase controls opposing postsynaptic responses to convey stimulus valence in Caenorhabditis elegans [Genetics]
Presynaptic plasticity is known to modulate the strength of synaptic transmission. However, it remains unknown whether regulation in presynaptic neurons can evoke excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic responses. We report here that the Caenorhabditis elegans homologs of MAST kinase, Stomatin, and Diacylglycerol kinase act in a thermosensory neuron to elicit in…
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Structural insight into T cell coinhibition by PD-1H (VISTA) [Immunology and Inflammation]
Programmed death-1 homolog (PD-1H), a CD28/B7 family molecule, coinhibits T cell activation and is an attractive immunotherapeutic target for cancer and inflammatory diseases. The molecular basis of its function, however, is unknown. Bioinformatic analyses indicated that PD-1H has a very long Ig variable region (IgV)-like domain and extraordinarily high histidine…
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Retroconversion of estrogens into androgens by bacteria via a cobalamin-mediated methylation [Applied Biological Sciences]
Steroid estrogens modulate physiology and development of vertebrates. Conversion of C19 androgens into C18 estrogens is thought to be an irreversible reaction. Here, we report a denitrifying Denitratisoma sp. strain DHT3 capable of catabolizing estrogens or androgens anaerobically. Strain DHT3 genome contains a polycistronic gene cluster, emtABCD, differentially transcribed under…
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Bioderivatization as a concept for renewable production of chemicals that are toxic or poorly soluble in the liquid phase [Applied Biological Sciences]
Bio-based production technologies may complement or replace petroleum-based production of chemicals, but they face a number of technical challenges, including product toxicity and/or water insolubility. Plants and microorganisms naturally biosynthesize chemicals that often are converted into derivatives with reduced toxicity or enhanced solubility. Inspired by this principle, we propose a…
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Short solvent model for ion correlations and hydrophobic association [Applied Physical Sciences]
Coulomb interactions play a major role in determining the thermodynamics, structure, and dynamics of condensed-phase systems, but often present significant challenges. Computer simulations usually use periodic boundary conditions to minimize corrections from finite cell boundaries but the long range of the Coulomb interactions generates significant contributions from distant periodic images…
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Inner Workings: A massive star dies without a bang, revealing the sensitive nature of supernovae [Astronomy]
In 2008, a huge red star in another galaxy reached the end of its life. A star as heavy as this one, born with 25 times the mass of the Sun, was supposed to go out in a fiery flash of light known as a supernova, millions or billions of…
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The effector mechanism of siRNA spherical nucleic acids [Biochemistry]
Spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) are nanostructures formed by chemically conjugating short linear strands of oligonucleotides to a nanoparticle template. When made with modified small interfering RNA (siRNA) duplexes, SNAs act as single-entity transfection and gene silencing agents and have been used as lead therapeutic constructs in several disease models. However,…
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Activation by substoichiometric inhibition [Biochemistry]
Startling reports described the paradoxical triggering of the human mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway when a small-molecule inhibitor specifically inactivates the BRAF V600E protein kinase but not wt-BRAF. We performed a conceptual analysis of the general phenomenon "activation by inhibition" using bacterial and human HtrA proteases as models. Our data suggest…
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A de novo peroxidase is also a promiscuous yet stereoselective carbene transferase [Biochemistry]
By constructing an in vivo-assembled, catalytically proficient peroxidase, C45, we have recently demonstrated the catalytic potential of simple, de novo-designed heme proteins. Here, we show that C45's enzymatic activity extends to the efficient and stereoselective intermolecular transfer of carbenes to olefins, heterocycles, aldehydes, and amines. Not only is this a…
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Long-range interdomain communications in eIF5B regulate GTP hydrolysis and translation initiation [Biochemistry]
Translation initiation controls protein synthesis by regulating the delivery of the first aminoacyl-tRNA to messenger RNAs (mRNAs). In eukaryotes, initiation is sophisticated, requiring dozens of protein factors and 2 GTP-regulated steps. The GTPase eIF5B gates progression to elongation during the second GTP-regulated step. Using electron cryomicroscopy (cryo-EM), we imaged an…
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Intermediate states of molecular self-assembly from liquid-cell electron microscopy [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Traditional single-molecule methods do not report whole-molecule kinetic conformations, and their adaptive shape changes during the process of self-assembly. Here, using graphene liquid-cell electron microscopy with electrons of low energy at low dose, we show that this approach resolves the time dependence of conformational adaptations of macromolecules for times up…
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Braiding topology and the energy landscape of chromosome organization proteins [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Assemblies of structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) proteins and kleisin subunits are essential to chromosome organization and segregation across all kingdoms of life. While structural data exist for parts of the SMC−kleisin complexes, complete structures of the entire complexes have yet to be determined, making mechanistic studies difficult. Using an…
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Structures of cofilin-induced structural changes reveal local and asymmetric perturbations of actin filaments [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Members of the cofilin/ADF family of proteins sever actin filaments, increasing the number of filament ends available for polymerization or depolymerization. Cofilin binds actin filaments with positive cooperativity, forming clusters of contiguously bound cofilin along the filament lattice. Filament severing occurs preferentially at boundaries between bare and cofilin-decorated (cofilactin) segmen
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Cotranslational folding allows misfolding-prone proteins to circumvent deep kinetic traps [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Many large proteins suffer from slow or inefficient folding in vitro. It has long been known that this problem can be alleviated in vivo if proteins start folding cotranslationally. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this improvement have not been well established. To address this question, we use an all-atom simulation-based…
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Improved protein structure prediction using predicted interresidue orientations [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
The prediction of interresidue contacts and distances from coevolutionary data using deep learning has considerably advanced protein structure prediction. Here, we build on these advances by developing a deep residual network for predicting interresidue orientations, in addition to distances, and a Rosetta-constrained energy-minimization protocol for rapidly and accurately generating structure…
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A compartment size-dependent selective threshold limits mutation accumulation in hierarchical tissues [Biophysics and Computational Biology]
Cancer is a genetic disease fueled by somatic evolution. Hierarchical tissue organization can slow somatic evolution by two qualitatively different mechanisms: by cell differentiation along the hierarchy "washing out" harmful mutations and by limiting the number of cell divisions required to maintain a tissue. Here we explore the effects of…
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A cell atlas of the adult Drosophila midgut [Cell Biology]
Studies of the adult Drosophila midgut have led to many insights in our understanding of cell-type diversity, stem cell regeneration, tissue homeostasis, and cell fate decision. Advances in single-cell RNA sequencing provide opportunities to identify new cell types and molecular features. We used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize the transcriptome…
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Loss of TSC complex enhances gluconeogenesis via upregulation of Dlk1-Dio3 locus miRNAs [Cell Biology]
Loss of the tumor suppressor tuberous sclerosis complex 1 (Tsc1) in the liver promotes gluconeogenesis and glucose intolerance. We asked whether this could be attributed to aberrant expression of small RNAs. We performed small-RNA sequencing on liver of Tsc1-knockout mice, and found that miRNAs of the delta-like homolog 1 (Dlk1)–deiodinase…
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Quantitative microscopy reveals dynamics and fate of clustered IRE1{alpha} [Cell Biology]
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane-resident stress sensor inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) governs the most evolutionarily conserved branch of the unfolded protein response. Upon sensing an accumulation of unfolded proteins in the ER lumen, IRE1 activates its cytoplasmic kinase and ribonuclease domains to transduce the signal. IRE1 activity correlates with its…
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The clock gene Bmal1 inhibits macrophage motility, phagocytosis, and impairs defense against pneumonia [Cell Biology]
The circadian clock regulates many aspects of immunity. Bacterial infections are affected by time of day, but the mechanisms involved remain undefined. Here we show that loss of the core clock protein BMAL1 in macrophages confers protection against pneumococcal pneumonia. Infected mice show both reduced weight loss and lower bacterial…
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An anticancer gold(III)-activated porphyrin scaffold that covalently modifies protein cysteine thiols [Chemistry]
Cysteine thiols of many cancer-associated proteins are attractive targets of anticancer agents. Herein, we unequivocally demonstrate a distinct thiol-targeting property of gold(III) mesoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester (AuMesoIX) and its anticancer activities. While the binding of cysteine thiols with metal complexes usually occurs via M–S bond formation, AuMesoIX is unique in…
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Highly efficient binary copper-iron catalyst for photoelectrochemical carbon dioxide reduction toward methane [Chemistry]
A rational design of an electrocatalyst presents a promising avenue for solar fuels synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation but is extremely challenging. Herein, we use density functional theory calculations to study an inexpensive binary copper−iron catalyst for photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction toward methane. The calculations of reaction energetics suggest that…
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A unified machine-learning protocol for asymmetric catalysis as a proof of concept demonstration using asymmetric hydrogenation [Chemistry]
Design of asymmetric catalysts generally involves time- and resource-intensive heuristic endeavors. In view of the steady increase in interest toward efficient catalytic asymmetric reactions and the rapid growth in the field of machine learning (ML) in recent years, we envisaged dovetailing these two important domains. We selected a set of…
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Designing cyclic competence-stimulating peptide (CSP) analogs with pan-group quorum-sensing inhibition activity in Streptococcus pneumoniae [Chemistry]
Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic human pathogen that utilizes the competence regulon, a quorum-sensing circuitry, to acquire antibiotic resistance genes and initiate its attack on the human host. Interception of the competence regulon can therefore be utilized to study S. pneumoniae cell−cell communication and behavioral changes, as well as attenuate…
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Global shape of Toll activation is determined by wntD enhancer properties [Developmental Biology]
Buffering variability in morphogen distribution is essential for reproducible patterning. A theoretically proposed class of mechanisms, termed "distal pinning," achieves robustness by combining local sensing of morphogen levels with global modulation of gradient spread. Here, we demonstrate a critical role for morphogen sensing by a gene enhancer, which ultimately determines…
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The role of saltwater and waves in continental shelf formation with seaward migrating clinoform [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
Continental shelves have generally been interpreted as drowned coastal plains associated with the allogenic effect of sea-level variation. Here, without disputing this mechanism we describe an alternative autogenic mechanism for subaqueous shelf formation, driven by the presence of dissolved salt in seawater and surface waves. We use a numerical model…
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Australasian impact crater buried under the Bolaven volcanic field, Southern Laos [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
The crater and proximal effects of the largest known young meteorite impact on Earth have eluded discovery for nearly a century. We present 4 lines of evidence that the 0.79-Ma impact crater of the Australasian tektites lies buried beneath lavas of a long-lived, 910-km3 volcanic field in Southern Laos: 1)…
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Fast oxidation of sulfur dioxide by hydrogen peroxide in deliquesced aerosol particles [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
Atmospheric sulfate aerosols have important impacts on air quality, climate, and human and ecosystem health. However, current air-quality models generally underestimate the rate of conversion of sulfur dioxide (SO2) to sulfate during severe haze pollution events, indicating that our understanding of sulfate formation chemistry is incomplete. This may arise because…
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Geographically divergent evolutionary and ecological legacies shape mammal biodiversity in the global tropics and subtropics [Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences]
Studies of the factors governing global patterns of biodiversity are key to predicting community responses to ongoing and future abiotic and biotic changes. Although most research has focused on present-day climate, a growing body of evidence indicates that modern ecological communities may be significantly shaped by paleoclimatic change and past…
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Land-use history impacts functional diversity across multiple trophic groups [Ecology]
Land-use change is a major driver of biodiversity loss worldwide. Although biodiversity often shows a delayed response to land-use change, previous studies have typically focused on a narrow range of current landscape factors and have largely ignored the role of land-use history in shaping plant and animal communities and their…
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Scaling the risk landscape drives optimal life-history strategies and the evolution of grazing [Ecology]
Consumers face numerous risks that can be minimized by incorporating different life-history strategies. How much and when a consumer adds to its energetic reserves or invests in reproduction are key behavioral and physiological adaptations that structure communities. Here we develop a theoretical framework that explicitly accounts for stochastic fluctuations of…
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Recovery of critically endangered Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) in the Cayman Islands following targeted conservation actions [Ecology]
Many large-bodied marine fishes that form spawning aggregations, such as the Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus), have suffered regional overfishing due to exploitation during spawning. In response, marine resource managers in many locations have established marine protected areas or seasonal closures to recover these overfished stocks. The challenge in assessing management…
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Infrared optical and thermal properties of microstructures in butterfly wings [Engineering]
While surface microstructures of butterfly wings have been extensively studied for their structural coloration or optical properties within the visible spectrum, their properties in infrared wavelengths with potential ties to thermoregulation are relatively unknown. The midinfrared wavelengths of 7.5 to 14 µm are particularly important for radiative heat transfer in…
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Channelization cascade in landscape evolution [Environmental Sciences]
The hierarchy of channel networks in landscapes displays features that are characteristic of nonequilibrium complex systems. Here we show that a sequence of increasingly complex ridge and valley networks is produced by a system of partial differential equations coupling landscape evolution dynamics with a specific catchment area equation. By means…
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High productivity in hybrid-poplar plantations without isoprene emission to the atmosphere [Environmental Sciences]
Hybrid-poplar tree plantations provide a source for biofuel and biomass, but they also increase forest isoprene emissions. The consequences of increased isoprene emissions include higher rates of tropospheric ozone production, increases in the lifetime of methane, and increases in atmospheric aerosol production, all of which affect the global energy budget…
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Evidence of tool use in a seabird [Evolution]
Documenting novel cases of tool use in wild animals can inform our understanding of the evolutionary drivers of the behavior's emergence in the natural world. We describe a previously unknown tool-use behavior for wild birds, so far only documented in the wild in primates and elephants. We observed 2 Atlantic…
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Fin ray patterns at the fin-to-limb transition [Evolution]
The fin-to-limb transition was marked by the origin of digits and the loss of dermal fin rays. Paleontological research into this transformation has focused on the evolution of the endoskeleton, with little attention paid to fin ray structure and function. To address this knowledge gap, we study the dermal rays…
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Cystic fibrosis carriers are at increased risk for a wide range of cystic fibrosis-related conditions [Genetics]
Autosomal recessive diseases, such as cystic fibrosis (CF), require inheritance of 2 mutated genes. However, some studies indicate that CF carriers are at increased risk for some conditions associated with CF. These investigations focused on single conditions and included small numbers of subjects. Our goal was to determine whether CF…
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Large-scale contractions of Friedreich's ataxia GAA repeats in yeast occur during DNA replication due to their triplex-forming ability [Genetics]
Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is a human hereditary disease caused by the presence of expanded (GAA)n repeats in the first intron of the FXN gene [V. Campuzano et al., Science 271, 1423–1427 (1996)]. In somatic tissues of FRDA patients, (GAA)n repeat tracts are highly unstable, with contractions more common than expansions…
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Host protein glycosylation in nucleic acid vaccines as a potential hurdle in vaccine design for nonviral pathogens [Immunology and Inflammation]
Nucleic acid vaccines introduce the genetic materials encoding antigenic proteins into host cells. If these proteins are directed into the secretory pathway with a signal/leader sequence, they will be exposed to the host's glycosylation machinery, and, if their amino acid sequences contain consensus sequons for N-linked glycosylation, they may become…
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Identification and characterization of extrachromosomal circular DNA in maternal plasma [Medical Sciences]
We explored the presence of extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) in the plasma of pregnant women. Through sequencing following either restriction enzyme or Tn5 transposase treatment, we identified eccDNA molecules in the plasma of pregnant women. These eccDNA molecules showed bimodal size distributions peaking at ∼202 and ∼338 bp with distinct…
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High-dose ascorbic acid synergizes with anti-PD1 in a lymphoma mouse model [Medical Sciences]
Major efforts are underway to identify agents that can potentiate effects of immune checkpoint inhibition. Here, we show that ascorbic acid (AA) treatment caused genomewide demethylation and enhanced expression of endogenous retroviral elements in lymphoma cells. AA also increased 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) levels of CD8+ T cells and enhanced their cytotoxic…
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Expansion, in vivo-ex vivo cycling, and genetic manipulation of primary human hepatocytes [Medical Sciences]
Primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) are an essential tool for modeling drug metabolism and liver disease. However, variable plating efficiencies, short lifespan in culture, and resistance to genetic manipulation have limited their use. Here, we show that the pyrrolizidine alkaloid retrorsine improves PHH repopulation of chimeric mice on average 10-fold and…
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Bile acids and ceramide overcome the entry restriction for GII.3 human norovirus replication in human intestinal enteroids [Microbiology]
Human noroviruses (HuNoVs) cause sporadic and epidemic outbreaks of gastroenteritis in all age groups worldwide. We previously reported that stem cell-derived human intestinal enteroid (HIE) cultures support replication of multiple HuNoV strains and that some strains (e.g., GII.3) replicate only in the presence of bile. Heat- and trypsin-treatment of bile…
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Mitochondrial dysfunctions trigger the calcium signaling-dependent fungal multidrug resistance [Microbiology]
Drug resistance in fungal pathogens has risen steadily over the past decades due to long-term azole therapy or triazole usage in agriculture. Modification of the drug target protein to prevent drug binding is a major recognized route to induce drug resistance. However, mechanisms for nondrug target-induced resistance remain only loosely…
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A promiscuous inflammasome sparks replication of a common tumor virus [Microbiology]
Viruses activate inflammasomes but then subvert resulting inflammatory responses to avoid elimination. We asked whether viruses could instead use such activated or primed inflammasomes to directly aid their propagation and spread. Since herpesviruses are experts at coopting cellular functions, we investigated whether Epstein−Barr virus (EBV), an oncoherpesvirus, exploits inflammasomes to…
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Robust hepatitis E virus infection and transcriptional response in human hepatocytes [Microbiology]
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of hepatitis E in humans and the leading cause for acute viral hepatitis worldwide. The virus is classified as a member of the genus Orthohepevirus A within the Hepeviridae family. Due to the absence of a robust cell culture model for HEV…
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Microglial IRF5-IRF4 regulatory axis regulates neuroinflammation after cerebral ischemia and impacts stroke outcomes [Neuroscience]
Microglial activation plays a central role in poststroke inflammation and causes secondary neuronal damage; however, it also contributes in debris clearance and chronic recovery. Microglial pro- and antiinflammatory responses (or so-called M1-M2 phenotypes) coexist and antagonize each other throughout the disease progress. As a result of this balance, poststroke immune…
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Optimizing Brownian escape rates by potential shaping [Physics]
Brownian escape is key to a wealth of physico-chemical processes, including polymer folding and information storage. The frequency of thermally activated energy barrier crossings is assumed to generally decrease exponentially with increasing barrier height. Here, we show experimentally that higher, fine-tuned barrier profiles result in significantly enhanced escape rates, in…
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Scientists' incentives and attitudes toward public communication [Social Sciences]
In an era of large-scale science-related challenges and rapid advancements in groundbreaking science with major societal implications, communicating about science is critical. The profile of science communication has increased over the last few decades, with multiple sectors calling for such activities. As scientists respond to calls for public-facing communication, we…
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A randomized trial of a lab-embedded discourse intervention to improve research ethics [Social Sciences]
We report a randomized trial of a research ethics training intervention designed to enhance ethics communication in university science and engineering laboratories, focusing specifically on authorship and data management. The intervention is a project-based research ethics curriculum that was designed to enhance the ability of science and engineering research laboratory…
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Vitamin D supplementation linked to potential improvements in blood pressure in children
Overweight and obese vitamin D-deficient children who took a relatively high dose of vitamin D every day for six months had lower blood pressure and improved insulin sensitivity than their peers who took a lower dose. The study did not show improvements in other markers of cardiovascular and metabolic health, a finding that indicates vitamin D supplementation alone may not be the cure-all for chil
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New study debunks notion that salt consumption contributes to weight loss
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found that reducing sodium intake in adults with elevated blood pressure or hypertension decreased thirst, urine volume and blood pressure, but did not affect metabolic energy needs. These results support the traditional notion that decreasing sodium intake is critical to managing hypertension — disputing recent studies.
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Advanced polymers help streamline water purification, environmental remediation
It takes a lot of energy to collect, clean and dispose of contaminated water. Some contaminants, like arsenic, occur in low concentrations, calling for even more energy-intensive selective removal processes.
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Study verifies a missing piece to urban air quality puzzle
Air quality models have long failed to accurately predict atmospheric levels of secondary organic aerosol, which comprises a substantial fraction of the fine particulate matter in cities. But CMU researchers have found a missing source of emissions that may explain roughly half of that SOA, closing much of the model-measurement gap.
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Women still face barriers to breastfeed at work
Despite the protections in place to support breastfeeding for employees, the burden still falls on working mothers to advocate for the resources they need, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.
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Determining the atomic structure of natural products more rapidly and accurately
Many drugs are derived from natural products. But before natural products can be exploited, chemists must first determine their structure and stereochemistry. This can be a major challenge, particularly when the molecules cannot be crystallized and contain only few hydrogen atoms. A new NMR-based method, developed at the Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut für Molekulare Pharmakologie (FMP), now simplifies
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Study finds flooding damage to levees is cumulative — and often invisible
Recent research finds that repeated flooding events have a cumulative effect on the structural integrity of earthen levees, suggesting that the increase in extreme weather events associated with climate change could pose significant challenges for the nation's aging levee system.
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How raising a glass can make you an ass | Brief letters
Sea eagles in England | Loneliness and churches | Circumcision and Shakespeare | English usage | Sperm donations So a sea eagle has chosen to live in Oxfordshire ( Report , 18 January). It is not the first time. Archaeologists digging near Oxford have discovered sea eagle bones on bronze age and Anglo-Saxon sites. And the name of the village Earley, on the Thames near Reading, means "eagle wood" –
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Wuhan Coronavirus: C.D.C. Identifies First U.S. Case in Washington State
China Wuhan Chinese
A man in Washington State is infected with a new respiratory virus. Federal officials plan to expand screenings for the infection at major airports.
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R&D Systems: Biotinylated Proteins
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Autism study finds later diagnoses for girls, high rates of co-occurring disorders
A study analyzing the first 1,000 patients from the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment found that girls receive autism diagnoses an average of 1.5 years later than boys, and people with autism often have co-occurring medical and psychiatric conditions.
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Study provides the first data on concussion risk in youth football
'These are the first biomechanical data characterizing concussion risk in kids,' said Steve Rowson, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and mechanics and the director of the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab. 'Children aren't just scaled-down adults: Differences in anatomy and physiology, like head-neck proportions and brain development, contribute to differences in tolerance to head impact. T
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Low power metal detector senses magnetic fingerprints
Recent studies have shown metallic objects have their own magnetic fingerprints based on size, shape and physical composition. In AIP Advances, from AIP Publishing, scientists look to leverage these observations to potentially create a smaller and cheaper system that is just as effective as their larger counterparts.
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New study examines mortality costs of air pollution in US
Scholars from the Gies College of Business at Illinois studied the effects of acute fine particulate matter exposure on mortality, health care use and medical costs among older Americans through Medicare data and changes in local wind direction.
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'Love hormone' improves attachment issues in people with autism
Oxytocin, often dubbed the 'love hormone', is known to promote social bonding. Researchers at KU Leuven have now discovered that administering oxytocin to adult men with autism makes them more open to close emotional bonds with others. The hormone has positive long-term effects as well. The researchers published their findings in the journals Molecular Autism and Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive N
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Link found between maternal depression and atopic dermatitis in children
A recent study suggests that maternal depression in the postpartum period, and even beyond, is associated with the development of atopic dermatitis throughout childhood and adolescence.
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A model ecosystem fish story
Have I got a fish story for you. Any angler beginning a yarn like that usually ends up spinning a tall tale, an exaggeration or bald-faced lie. Michigan State University researchers, however, have demonstrated that anglers can produce accurate and complex environmental models similar to those of trained scientists.
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To reverse engineer dynamics of microbial communities, researchers construct their own
Scientific and public appreciation for microbes — and the key role their communal actions play in environmental health, food production, and human wellness — has grown in recent years. While initially considered to be static, uniform entities, microbial communities are highly complex and contain internal chemical swapfests that are in constant flux. Researchers at University of Illinois have dem
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USB microphones for easy, high-quality audio recording
Versatile, simple-to-use USB microphones. (Amazon/) Recording serious audio through a microphone tends to require a bounty of equipment: XLR cables, preamps, audio interfaces, and more. Luckily, there are several USB microphones on the market that can capture high-quality audio without all the fuss. Just plug them directly into your computer via USB and you're in business. Record podcasts and hit
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R&D Systems: Biotinylated Proteins
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'Prehabilitation' preps body and mind for surgery
A new program called "prehabilitation" designed to help patients get physically and mentally ready for an upcoming surgery may also help reduce overall costs and get them home faster, a new study shows. The program uses the weeks before surgery to encourage patients to move more, eat healthier, cut back on tobacco, breathe deeper, reduce their stress, and focus on post-operation goals. In 2017, a
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US political division has outpaced other democracies
Americans' feelings toward members of the other political party have worsened over time faster than those of residents of European and other prominent democracies, according to a new study. Political polarization among Americans has grown rapidly in the last 40 years—a phenomenon possibly due to increased racial division, the rise of partisan cable news, and changes in the composition of the Demo
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How fruit flies flock together in orderly clusters
Opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies to form orderly clusters, according to a study published today in eLife.
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New technique to study molecules and materials on quantum simulator discovered
A new technique to study the properties of molecules and materials on a quantum simulator has been discovered.
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Meteorite Impact 2 Billion Years Ago May Have Ended an Ice Age
The Australian crater Yarrabubba is the oldest known on Earth, according to new measurements, and it might be linked to the end of a "Snowball Earth" ice age.
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How fruit flies flock together in orderly clusters
Opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies to form orderly clusters, according to a study published today in eLife.
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New image analysis method for time-lapse microscopy shows how giant viruses infect amoeba
Viruses are probably the most peculiar "life forms" known to us, with each species having unique characteristics. One thing common to all viruses is that they attack a "host" cell and hijack its machinery, using it for its own replication. A type of large virus, called "giant virus," has interesting ways of attacking its host organism—an amoeba. Virologists have been trying to understand what make
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Advancing the application of genomic sequences through 'Kmasker plants'
The development of next-generation-sequencing (NGS) has enabled researchers to investigate genomes that might previously have been considered too complex or too expensive. Nevertheless, the analysis of complex plant genomes, which often have an enormous amount of repetitive sequences, is still a challenge. Therefore, bioinformatics researchers from Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plan
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Kid-friendly guitars for the aspiring young strummer
Smaller guitars for smaller hands. (Laith Abuabdu via Unsplash/) Picking up a guitar as a young kid can be intimidating and frustrating: pressing down on the strings feels painful, the bulky body is unwieldy, and the whole instrument keeps slipping off your lap! But all shredders have to start somewhere. That's why some guitars are made smaller and easier to handle than others. Thinner strings, s
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Lightweight MIDI keyboards for creating music on the road
MIDI keyboards for portable playing. (Amazon /) The MIDI keyboard is arguably the most indispensable tool for music recording available thanks to its sheer versatility. From the moment you plug it into your computer's USB port, you can use it to play any sound you can think of, from drum kits to synthesizers to pianos to violins. Many MIDI keyboards are full-sized so as to mimic the feel of a tra
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How Much Should The Public Be Told About Research Into Risky Viruses?
The U.S. government this week is pondering how much the public needs to know about funding decisions for studies and experiments that involve tinkering with already dangerous viruses. (Image credit: SPL/Dr. Klaus Boller/Science Source)
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Hannah Steinberg obituary
Pioneer of psychopharmacology who was one of the first researchers to test systematically how psychoactive drugs affect the mind The development of drugs to treat mental afflictions was historically a hit-and-miss affair, without much understanding of their actions on brain pathways, and even less of their wider psychological impact. Hannah Steinberg, who has died aged 95, was one of the first res
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Distek, Inc. Awarded the Prestigious IDEA Bronze Trophy for the BIOne 1250 Bioprocess Control System
Distek, Inc., a leading manufacturer of laboratory testing instruments for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry for over 40 years, along with our industrial design partner – Phase One Design, has been awarded the IDEA (International Design Excellence Awards) Bronze trophy for the BIOne 1250 Bioprocess Control System.
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The Australian outback hosts the world's oldest meteorite crater
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00145-x Collision with a huge object more than 2 billion years ago might even have altered the planet's climate.
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New image analysis method for time-lapse microscopy shows how giant viruses infect amoeba
Viruses are probably the most peculiar "life forms" known to us, with each species having unique characteristics. One thing common to all viruses is that they attack a "host" cell and hijack its machinery, using it for its own replication. A type of large virus, called "giant virus," has interesting ways of attacking its host organism—an amoeba. Virologists have been trying to understand what make
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Advancing the application of genomic sequences through 'Kmasker plants'
The development of next-generation-sequencing (NGS) has enabled researchers to investigate genomes that might previously have been considered too complex or too expensive. Nevertheless, the analysis of complex plant genomes, which often have an enormous amount of repetitive sequences, is still a challenge. Therefore, bioinformatics researchers from Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plan
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Five ways to turn carbon dioxide from pollution to a valuable product
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Australia to add 3.6GW of new solar and wind to grid in 2020
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Near-infinite-lasting power sources could derive from nuclear waste. Scientists from the University of Bristol are looking to recycle radioactive material.
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Is a Realistic Water Bubble Simulation Possible?
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Drilling and fracking for oil under the seabed produces 100 billion barrels of oil-contaminated wastewater every year by releasing tiny oil droplets into the sea water. Now, researchers have developed a sponge that removes over 90 percent of oil microdroplets from wastewater within 10 minutes.
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Physics Shows That Imperfections Make Perfect: Researchers have added a new dimension to the importance of diversity. For the first time, it was experimentally shown that certain systems with interacting entities can synchronize only if the entities within the system are different from one another.
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The Remote Work Report by Zapier
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Hull asks to be first UK city to trial universal basic income | UK news
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How higher education can adapt to the future of work – We are in the midst of a profound social and economic transformation that has been catalysed by breathtaking advances in automation and artificial intelligence, and unprecedented access to data and computation.
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Robot tanks: On patrol but not allowed to shoot
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Google CEO calls for regulation of artificial intelligence – Google's chief executive called Monday for a balanced approach to regulating artificial intelligence, telling a European audience that the technology brings benefits but also "negative consequences."
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IBM unveils Policy Lab, advocates 'precision regulation' of AI
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New research could reduce the risk of sudden cardiac death
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Spain's new government declared a national climate emergency on Tuesday, taking a formal first step toward enacting ambitious measures to fight climate change. Spain's coalition government wants up to 95% of the Mediterranean country's electricity to come from renewable sources by 2040.
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Office workers would welcome automation of repetitive digital tasks, says survey | ZDNet
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France could shut next two nuclear reactors sooner than expected
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Corals' partnership with microalgae helps in stressful times but there's a trade-off
In the warmer and brighter shallow waters of Kāne'ohe Bay, O'ahu, the Hawaiian rice coral (Montipora capitata) hosts more heat-tolerant symbiotic microalgae in their tissues compared to corals in deeper waters. This pattern was demonstrated in a recent study by scientists at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), and they suggest that whil
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Watch a SpaceX Rocket Explode in Mid-Flight
Big Fireball Early Sunday morning, SpaceX launched its astronaut-ferrying Crew Dragon spacecraft on top of a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Then, 84 seconds after launch, the rocket blew up in a gigantic fireball several miles above the Atlantic Ocean — a spectacular failure that was all part of the plan, Space.com reports . the only time you'll hear ppl
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Measuring the world of social phenomena
Economists working with Professor Marko Sarstedt from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg are demanding that the same scientific standards be applied to economics and the behavioral sciences in general as are used in the natural sciences. They believe that the inherent uncertainties in measured values must be described and quantified in order to enhance the reproducibility of measurement series
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Budget battle hampers EU in space
Space is becoming increasingly militarised and European satellites are under-protected, experts warned Tuesday, voicing dismay at cuts proposed in the EU's draft budget.
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Banning food waste: Lessons for rural America
While Vermonters support banning food waste from landfills—and a whopping 72 percent already compost or feed food scraps to their pets or livestock—few say they are willing to pay for curbside composting pick-up, new University of Vermont research shows.
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The little auks that lived in the Pacific
Findings from a 700,000-year-old fossil bone indicate that a close relative of the most abundant seabird species in the North Atlantic, the modern dovekie, or 'little auk,' used to thrive in the Pacific Ocean and Japan.
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Let the europium shine brighter
A stacked nanocarbon antenna makes a rare earth element shine 5 times more brightly than previous designs, with applications in molecular light-emitting devices.
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Corals' partnership with microalgae helps in stressful times but there's a trade-off
In the warmer and brighter shallow waters of Kāne'ohe Bay, O'ahu, the Hawaiian rice coral (Montipora capitata) hosts more heat-tolerant symbiotic microalgae in their tissues compared to corals in deeper waters. This pattern was demonstrated in a recent study by scientists at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), and they suggest that whil
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UMMS scientist shows gene therapy protection of eyesight in models of multiple sclerosis
Research from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, reveals the molecular process in which synaptic connections in the brain are damaged in multiple sclerosis and how this contributes to neurodegenerative symptoms. The paper, published in Immunity, also shows how gene therapy may be used to preserve neural circuits and protect against vision loss in the disease.
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Engagement and education key to changing attitudes towards virginity testing
Virginity testing is a complex, culturally mediated practice that is poorly understood by Western clinicians. Although there is published literature on the ethics of 'virginity' testing and on the lack of reliability of a hymen examination to determine 'virginity,' little practical guidance has been published for clinicians who may encounter requests for virginity testing in the clinical setting.
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Cultural difference play crucial role in when people would sacrifice one to save group
Cultural differences play a pivotal role in how people in different parts of the world perceive when it is acceptable to sacrifice one person to save a larger group, new research has shown.
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How fruit flies flock together in orderly clusters
Opposing desires to congregate and maintain some personal space drive fruit flies to form orderly clusters, according to a study published today in eLife.
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Novel composite antimicrobial film could take a bite out of foodborne illnesses
A novel composite film — created by the bonding of an antimicrobial layer to conventional, clear polyethylene plastic typically used to vacuum-package foods such as meat and fish — could help to decrease foodborne illness outbreaks, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
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Sustainable markets must be created and defended
Creating sustainable markets poses particular obstacles: a sustainable market must be continuously shaped and reshaped. This is the conclusion of three researchers in business administration and innovation at Linkoping University, who have used the Swedish biogas market as a case.
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New image analysis method for time-lapse microscopy shows how giant viruses infect amoeba
Host cells infected with giant viruses behave in a unique manner. To gain deeper insight into the infection mechanism of giant viruses, scientists at Tokyo University of Science developed a specialized algorithm that can track the movement of host cells. This method could also be used to study any other type of cells, such as cancer cells, neurons, and immune cells, serving as an efficient tool in
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Cell biology: All in a flash!
Scientists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have developed a tool to eliminate essential proteins from cells with a flash of light. The new method makes it possible to study the function of essential proteins.
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Coral 'helper' stays robust under ocean acidification
A type of algae crucial to the survival of coral reefs may be able to resist the impacts of ocean acidification caused by climate change. In a world-first, scientists discover coralline algae are able to build tolerance over multiple generations.
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New technique to study molecules and materials on quantum simulator discovered
A new technique to study the properties of molecules and materials on a quantum simulator has been discovered.
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IKBFU scientists developed capsule composition for enzyme against intellectual disability
Phenylpyrovirogradnaya oligophrenia is a disease that results in degradation of the amino acid called phenylalanine. This amino acid presents in protein-containing food. High levels of phenylalanine can cause problems of mental development throughout life.
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China battles spread of Sars-like coronavirus
Stocks fall as Beijing confirms human-to-human transmission ahead of Chinese new year
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Emissions of potent greenhouse gas have grown, contradicting reports of huge reductions
Despite reports that global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas were almost eliminated in 2017, an international team of scientists has found atmospheric levels growing at record values.
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Chinese Virus Is Spreading Between Humans, Prompting Outbreak Fears
In a troubling development, officials have now confirmed that the mysterious virus that recently surfaced in China can spread from person to person — and the number of confirmed cases is rising. Respiratory disease expert Zhong Nanshan, who's heading the Chinese government's investigation into the pneumonia-like virus, confirmed to state media that people exposed to other patients have started to
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The adaptability of debris is successfully proven as a raw material for roads
In 2009, 105 single-family homes in the city of Cordoba were demolished in order to expand the airport. At first, the debris from the demolition was going to be sent to a landfill, as is common procedure. But, the University of Cordoba came up with the idea to recycle all the debris in situ and use it to build an experimental stretch of road on the CH-2 highway that goes around the runway at the a
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Research supports new approach to mine reclamation
A new approach to reclaiming lands disturbed by surface mining is having the desired result of improving ecosystem diversity, including restoration of foundation species such as sagebrush, according to a study by University of Wyoming researchers.
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IBM's debating AI just got a lot closer to being a useful tool
A technique called argument mining lets machines comb through huge data sets to help us make decisions. It could supercharge voice assistants.
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Antiviral compound offers hope against deadly flu
A study in mice finds that a compound modeled on a protein found in bananas safely protects against multiple strains of the influenza virus, Ebola and coronaviruses.
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Zebrafish teach researchers more about atrial fibrillation
Genetic research in zebrafish at the University of Copenhagen has surprised the researchers behind the study. The results have the potential to change the prevalent perception of the cardiac disorder atrial fibrillation.
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New method to enable the production of cheaper, longer-lasting vaccines
A new method to produce vaccines that have a longer shelf-life, are cheaper and can be stored without the need for cooling is being presented in the open-access journal BMC Biotechnology.
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A chronicle of giant straight-tusked elephants
About 800,000 years ago, the giant straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon migrated out of Africa and became widespread across Europe and Asia.
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The little auks that lived in the Pacific
Findings from a 700,000-year-old fossil bone indicate that a close relative of the most abundant seabird species in the North Atlantic, the modern dovekie, or 'little auk,' used to thrive in the Pacific Ocean and Japan.
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Feeding the world without wrecking the planet is possible
A study led by researchers from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) now suggests a comprehensive solution package for feeding 10 billion people within our planet's environmental boundaries. Supplying a sufficient and healthy diet for every person whilst keeping our biosphere largely intact will require no less than a technological and socio-cultural U-turn. It includes adopting
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Maternal depression on rise in poor countries
Women in low and medium-income countries struggle with many health issues in pregnancy and childbirth, but little attention is given to antenatal depression — which is on the rise in many developing countries, new PLOS ONE paper shows. A study by Flinders University public health researchers found rising levels of reported antenatal depression in these countries, and recommends more services are
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Drug profiling and gene scissors open new avenues in immunotherapy
Researchers have discovered ways to boost CAR T-cell therapy.
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Environmentally friendly shipping helps to reduce freight costs
The shipping sector has potential to gain profit by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Recent research shows that shipping companies and ports can achieve cost savings by, for example, investing in digital route planning or equipping vessels with solar panels.
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Let the europium shine brighter
A stacked nanocarbon antenna makes a rare earth element shine 5 times more brightly than previous designs, with applications in molecular light-emitting devices.
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Insect bites and warmer climate means double-trouble for plants
Recent models are telling us that, as our climate warms up, herbivores and pests will cause increased damage to agricultural crops. One study predicted that crop yield lost to insects increases 10 to 25 percent for every 1 degree Celsius increase.
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Insect bites and warmer climate means double-trouble for plants
Recent models are telling us that, as our climate warms up, herbivores and pests will cause increased damage to agricultural crops. One study predicted that crop yield lost to insects increases 10 to 25 percent for every 1 degree Celsius increase.
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Astrophysicists find massive black holes wandering around dwarf galaxies
A new search led by Montana State University has revealed more than a dozen massive black holes in dwarf galaxies that were previously considered too small to host them, and surprised scientists with their location within the galaxies.
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New self-assembled monolayer is resistant to air
Organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been around for over forty years. The most widely used form is based on thiols, bound to a metal surface. However, although the thiol SAMs are very versatile, they are also chemically unstable. Exposure of these monolayers to air will lead to oxidation and breakdown within a single day. University of Groningen scientists have now created SAMs using buc
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Edible security tags on pills could fight fake drugs
Researchers are aiming to fight counterfeit drugs with an edible "security tag" they can embed into medicine. To imitate the drug, a counterfeiter would have to crack a complicated puzzle of patterns not fully visible to the naked eye. Counterfeit drugs are a thriving business, making up at least 10% of global pharmaceutical commerce while also claiming thousands of lives each year. Manufacturing
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Mitch McConnell's Potemkin Trial
Updated on January 21 at 1:45 p.m. Everyone's going to hate the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump. The president, who would prefer that there is no trial at all, will hate that it's happening in the first place. Senators as a whole, who may have to sit— sans chatter or phones —into the wee hours of the morning hearing the case, are going to be miserable. Most of the Democrats among those s
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Mars' water was mineral-rich and salty
Presently, Earth is the only known location where life exists in the Universe. This year the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three astronomers who proved, almost 20 years ago, that planets are common around stars beyond the solar system. Life comes in various forms, from cell-phone-toting organisms like humans to the ubiquitous micro-organisms that inhabit almost every square inch of the pla
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Fat cells can sense sunlight—not getting enough increases metabolic syndrome risk
Yes, fat cells deep under your skin can sense light. And when bodies do not get enough exposure to the right kinds of light, fat cells behave differently.
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Is Solar Worth It in 2020? This Free Cost Benefit Estimator Has Answers.
Solar energy has always been a good idea, in theory. It's good for the environment because it's 100 percent renewable and emissions free, and it's good for your long term finances because sunlight is free. But beyond the hypotheticals, is solar worth it in 2020? Have we finally reached the point where theory can become reality? For some people the answer is yes. But for others, the answer is stil
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Fat cells can sense sunlight—not getting enough increases metabolic syndrome risk
Yes, fat cells deep under your skin can sense light. And when bodies do not get enough exposure to the right kinds of light, fat cells behave differently.
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Deadly storm lashing Spain closes schools, cuts power
A winter storm which has killed three people lashed much of eastern Spain for a third day Tuesday, cutting power, forcing the closure of schools and severing road and rail links.
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Adidas bets on recycled material 'to combat ocean plastic'
German sportswear giant Adidas said Tuesday more than half of the polyester used in its products this year would come from recycled material, including millions of shoes made from plastic waste.
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2.229 billion years: Scientists date world's oldest meteor crater
A crater in western Australia was formed by a meteor strike more than 2.2 billion years ago and is the world's oldest known impact site, new research published Wednesday shows.
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Cardiac and visual degeneration arrested by a food supplement
Researchers (UNIGE) have identified the SLC6A6 gene, which encodes taurine. When there are pathogenic mutations of the SLC6A6 gene, an individual will suffer from a lack of taurine and will lose his sight and develops a weak heart. They hypothesized that a taurine supplement might make it possible to compensate for this deficiency. The supplement was given to a young girl to help stop the progress
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Entrepreneurs have different storytelling styles for presenting business
New pioneering research shows that entrepreneurs communicate to strengthen their professional image and stakeholder relationships — and avoid blaming others.
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Recreational marijuana availability in Oregon and use among adolescents
New research from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation suggests that legalization and greater retail availability of recreational marijuana is positively associated with marijuana use among adolescents.
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Modified plants to curb climate change
New technologies are needed to combat climate change. Now bioinformatics specialists from Würzburg might have found a way of enabling plants to store more carbon dioxide.
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The adaptability of debris is successfully proven as a raw material for roads
A research project at the University of Cordoba (Spain) studied the behavior of a highway made from recycled materials in situ from nearby demolished homes for 10 years.
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Kazan University chemists teach neural networks to predict properties of compounds
The international team works on a computational model able to predict the properties of new molecules based on the analysis of fundamental chemical laws. The project was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (title 'Using AI methods for the planning of chemical synthesis').
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Blue light triggers memory and emphatic fear in mice via a non-invasive approach
IBS researchers have engineered an improved biological tool that controls calcium (Ca2+) levels in the brain via blue light. This monster-OptoSTIM1 causes a change in mice's fear learning behavior without the need of optic fiber implants in the brain.
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Dying people give last gift to help cure HIV
New year, new promise? Despite decades of research, scientists do not fully know all the places HIV hides in the human body. A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation enrolled people with HIV who also happened to have a terminal illness to study where HIV hides in the human body so doctors can better treat and maybe even cure HIV.
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Kids rice snacks in Australia contain arsenic above EU guidelines: Study
Three out of four rice-based products tested have concentrations of arsenic that exceed the EU guideline for safe rice consumption for babies and toddlers. The research used European guidelines because Australia does not have safety standards specifically for children.
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Esports organisations look to optimise player sleep
A study has used sleep tracking devices and mood measures (anxiety and depression) to determine how well esports athletes around the world sleep, and the effect this has on their mental health and well being. Preliminary results have shown that esports athletes are not getting the sleep (7-9hrs p/night for young adults aged 18-25) needed to best support optimal mental health and performance.
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Well-designed substrates make large single crystal bi-/tri-layer graphene possible
IBS CMCM scientists have reported the fabrication and use of single crystal copper-nickel alloy foil substrates for the growth of large-area, single crystal bilayer and trilayer graphene films.
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SpaceX Says It'll Drive Astronauts to Launchpad in Tesla Model X
New Wheels After SpaceX nailed its most recent critical test of its Crew Dragon spacecraft over the weekend, NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Doug Hurley are inching closer to the first crewed SpaceX mission headed for the International Space Station. The two space veterans were put through a dry run of pre-launch activities over the weekend, riding from the crew quarters to the launch pad in s
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Discovery of beneficial fungal taxa may help restore native plant in the PNW
Camas, a seed-producing forb, grows in prairie and wetland habitats in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and carries profound prehistoric and current significance as a food resource and article of commerce among indigenous cultures of the PNW. The forb once flourished among the region but decreased in population after the conversion to modern forms of agricultural production.
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News aggregator websites play critical role in driving readers to media outlet websites
News aggregators help to simplify consumers' search for news stories by gathering content based on viewing history or other factors. Commonly used aggregators include Google News, Yahoo! News, and others. They offer links to news stories published by news outlets and save consumers considerable time and effort in finding news.
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Two alternatives to Microsoft Word that are free and customizable
If you don't like how an open-source word processor is presenting your beautiful, timeless prose, you can dig into the code and make it do what you want. (Andrew Neel via Unsplash/) Computers normally come stocked with rudimentary word processing and text editing software, such as WordPad and Notepad on Windows. But once you're ready to go beyond the basics, you usually end up staring down a rath
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Discovery of beneficial fungal taxa may help restore native plant in the PNW
Camas, a seed-producing forb, grows in prairie and wetland habitats in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and carries profound prehistoric and current significance as a food resource and article of commerce among indigenous cultures of the PNW. The forb once flourished among the region but decreased in population after the conversion to modern forms of agricultural production.
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China virus latest: first US case confirmed
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00154-w Updates on the Wuhan respiratory illness, which has infected hundreds of people.
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Daily briefing: Ozone-killing gases could be responsible for half of Arctic warming
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00156-8 The good news: the worst ozone-depleting gases are already banned. Plus, top biologists name the technology to watch in 2020 and the alternative theories challenging the Big Bang.
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Faster drug discovery to hit 'undruggable' targets
Medicines made from coiled protein fragments could provide a new handle on hard-to-treat diseases like cancer, but they are difficult to design. But a new technique, developed at the University of Michigan, could change that.
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An improved method for protein crystal structure visualization
X-ray crystal structure visualization technique has been known for over a hundred years. While it keeps improving, it is extremely difficult to focus rays on objects that are invisible to the naked eye, such as proteins. However, to get a clear image and effectively visualize the structure of a crystal, a sample should be positioned correctly. An international team of scientists suggested an optic
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Dialing up the heat on nanoparticles
Rapid progress in the field of metallic nanotechnology is sparking a science revolution that is likely to impact all areas of society, according to professor of physics Ventsislav Valev and his team at the University of Bath in the UK.
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Clubs and bars must support women by cracking down on sexual aggression
Nightclubs and bars must create a supportive environment that cracks down on unwanted sexual attention and allows women to enjoy their nights out, according to a new study.
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Scientists study bacterial cells in the photo-emission spectrum
A team of Russian scientists working in cooperation with international colleagues used a new method combining visual microscopic observations and photoemission spectrum registration that can be used to create a map of the physical and chemical state of a cell surface. The team studied the cells of the colon bacillus Escherichia coli that are a promising material for the development of nature-like
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Faster drug discovery to hit 'undruggable' targets
Medicines made from coiled protein fragments could provide a new handle on hard-to-treat diseases like cancer, but they are difficult to design. But a new technique, developed at the University of Michigan, could change that.
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Light-up wheels: Unique organic light-emitting molecular emitters
Researchers synthesized novel OLEDs based on efficient ring-shaped molecular macrocycles. This work may help lead to sensitive, yet inexpensive, chemical detectors.
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The salt of the comet
Researchers have found an explanation for why very little nitrogen could previously be accounted for in the nebulous covering of comets: the building block for life predominantly occurs in the form of ammonium salts, the occurrence of which could not previously be measured. The salts may be a further indication that comet impacts may have made life on Earth possible in the first place.
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Human exposure to aluminum linked to familial Alzheimer's disease
A new study supports a growing body of research that links human exposure to aluminum with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Researchers found significant amounts of aluminum content in brain tissue from donors with familial AD. The study also found a high degree of co-location with the amyloid-beta protein, which leads to early onset of the disease.
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Dialing up the heat on nanoparticles
Rapid progress in the field of metallic nanotechnology is sparking a science revolution that is likely to impact all areas of society, according to a professor of physics.
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Light-up wheels: Unique organic light-emitting molecular emitters
Researchers synthesized novel OLEDs based on efficient ring-shaped molecular macrocycles. This work may help lead to sensitive, yet inexpensive, chemical detectors.
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Platypus on brink of extinction
New research calls for action to minimize the risk of the platypus vanishing due to habitat destruction, dams and weirs.
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TB bacteria survive in amoebae found in soil
Scientists have discovered that the bacterium which causes bovine TB can survive and grow in small, single-celled organisms found in soil and dung. It is believed that originally the bacterium evolved to survive in these single-celled organisms known as amoebae and in time progressed to infect and cause TB in larger animals such as cattle.
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Insecticides are becoming more toxic to honey bees
Researchers discover that neonicotinoid seed treatments are driving a dramatic increase in insecticide toxicity in U.S. agricultural landscapes, despite evidence that these treatments have little to no benefit in many crops.
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Arctic sea ice can't 'bounce back'
Arctic sea ice cannot 'quickly bounce back' if climate change causes it to melt, new research suggests.
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Schitt's Creek Has Been Building to This Point About Love
This story contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Schitt's Creek Season 6. Even without the Kardashian-esque budget he'd been accustomed to before his family's bankruptcy, Schitt's Creek 's David Rose (played by Dan Levy) loves to throw a good soiree. Toward the end of the sitcom's fifth season last year, a minor calamity ensued when David planned a surprise birthday party for his boyfri
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Solar storms are a threat to our electricity-dependent world
Society needs the knowledge to be able to cope without power for extended periods
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How to Watch Donald Trump's Impeachment Trial
The Senate gets set to debate the rules for Trump's trial today. Tomorrow, the opening arguments begin.
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Certain liver cells may help prevent organ rejection after transplant, study finds
Mesenchymal stromal cells from fat tissue and bone marrow are widely used in therapeutic trials for their anti-inflammatory qualities, but new Mayo Clinic research finds that liver cells may be of greater value. The study, published in Liver Transplantation, finds that liver mesenchymal stromal cells have immunoregulatory qualities that make them more effective than similar cells derived from adip
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Taming electrons with bacteria parts
In a new study, scientists at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory report a new synthetic system that could guide electron transfer over long distances.
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News aggregator websites play critical role in driving readers to media outlet websites
News aggregators help to simplify consumers' search for news stories by gathering content based on viewing history or other factors. Commonly used aggregators include Google News, Yahoo! News, and others. They offer links to news stories published by news outlets and save consumers considerable time and effort in finding news.
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Fat cells can sense sunlight — not getting enough increases metabolic syndrome risk
Fat cells beneath the skin can sense light, and they behave differently when exposed to light that mimics indoor lighting vs. natural sunlight. Not enough sunlight can affect the body's metabolism, according to new study in Cell Reports from experts at Cincinnati Children's.
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Walking sharks discovered in the tropics
Four new species of tropical sharks that use their fins to walk are causing a stir in waters off northern Australia and New Guinea.
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Brain activity patterns linked with improved learning and memory in multiple sclerosis
'The decreased brain activation seen in this study may be a sign of more efficient processing after treatment,' said Dr. Boukrina. 'At baseline, individuals with MS often show hyperactivation during cognitive tasks which may be a necessary compensation in order to complete the task. After treatment, the task becomes less demanding, and this may account for the reduction in activation.' Identifying
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Insect bites and warmer climate means double-trouble for plants
Michigan State University scientists think that current models are incomplete and that we may be underestimating crop losses. A new study shows that infested tomato plants, in their efforts to fight off caterpillars, don't adapt well to rising temperatures. This double-edged sword worsens their productivity.
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New species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in infected wound
A hitherto unknown antibiotic-resistant bacteria species, in the same family as E. coli and Salmonella spp., has been found and classified in Sweden. The proposed taxonomic name of the species — the first of the new genus — is Scandinavium goeteborgense, after the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, where the bacterium was isolated and the research was done.
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Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak Poses a Test to China's Leadership
The new virus has killed at least six and infected nearly 300 people in China, with confirmed cases in the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
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Trump Says He Now Regrets Pushing for Vape Ban
United States President Donald Trump reportedly wishes he'd kept his thoughts on a flavored vape ban to himself. In September, soon after the vaping-related illness now known as EVALI killed a sixth person, Trump announced that his administration was considering banning all flavored vape juices , the kind often preferred by — and seemingly targeted toward — minors. "Not only is it a problem overa
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First detailed electronic study of new nickelate superconductor finds 3D metallic state
Unlike cuprates — the first known class of unconventional superconductors — the new nickelates are inherently metallic, sharing electrons with intervening layers of rare earth material to create a 3D metallic state. This is an entirely new type of ground state for transition metal oxides such as cuprates and nickelates, researchers said. It opens new directions for experiments and theoretical st
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First detailed electronic study of new nickelate superconductor finds 3D metallic state
Unlike cuprates — the first known class of unconventional superconductors — the new nickelates are inherently metallic, sharing electrons with intervening layers of rare earth material to create a 3D metallic state. This is an entirely new type of ground state for transition metal oxides such as cuprates and nickelates, researchers said. It opens new directions for experiments and theoretical st
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Parrots collaborate with invisible partners
New study shows that peach-fronted conures have a surprisingly advanced talent for collaboration when it comes to finding food. This is important knowledge for biologists working with conservation of wild bird populations.
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Warmer and acidified oceans can lead to 'hidden' changes in species behavior
Scientists have shown that the peppery furrow shell (Scrobicularia plana) makes considerable changes to its feeding habits when faced with warmer and more acidified oceans.
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Record-breaking terahertz laser beam
Terahertz radiation is used for security checks at airports, for medical examinations and also for quality checks in industry. However, radiation in the terahertz range is extremely difficult to generate. Scientists have now succeeded in developing a terahertz radiation source that breaks several records: it is extremely efficient, and its spectrum is very broad — it generates different wavelengt
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Discovery of beneficial fungal taxa may help restore native plant in the PNW
Camas, a seed-producing forb, grows in prairie and wetland habitats in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and carries profound prehistoric and current significance as a food resource and article of commerce among indigenous cultures of the PNW. The forb once flourished among the region but decreased in population after the conversion to modern forms of agricultural production.
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Scientists show we don't need horses to treat diphtheria
A project taking the first steps towards ending the use of horses to treat diphtheria has succeeded. Funded by the PETA International Science Consortium Ltd. and carried out at the Institute of Biochemistry, Biotechnology, and Bioinformatics at the Technische Universität Braunschweig in Germany, the project created human antibodies capable of blocking the poisonous toxin that causes diphtheria. Th
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'Reading' with aphasia is easier than 'running'
Neurolinguists from HSE University have confirmed experimentally that for people with aphasia, it is easier to retrieve verbs describing situations with several participants (such as 'someone is doing something'), although such verbs give rise to more grammar difficulties. The results of the study have been published in Aphasiology.
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Cancer: Faster drug discovery to hit 'undruggable' targets
Medicines made from coiled protein fragments could provide a new handle on hard-to-treat diseases like cancer, but they are difficult to design. But a new technique, developed at the University of Michigan, could change that.
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Electrified artificial skin can feel exactly where it is touched
Orange-coloured gel has been made into artificial skin that can be 3D printed in any shape and detect human touch – one day it could help robots feel
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Feral Cats Break Into Research Facility, Eat Human Cadavers
Can Haz A body farm — that's a research facility that studies human decomposition — had a devastating break-in: feral cats showed up to munch on the cadavers. The Forensic Investigation Research Station at Colorado Mesa University was prepared for hungry animals, Newsweek reports . The facility had infrared cameras already in place, which captured footage they're now using to glean new insights i
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First detailed electronic study of new nickelate superconductor finds 3D metallic state
Unlike cuprates — the first known class of unconventional superconductors — the new nickelates are inherently metallic, sharing electrons with intervening layers of rare earth material to create a 3D metallic state. This is an entirely new type of ground state for transition metal oxides such as cuprates and nickelates, researchers said. It opens new directions for experiments and theoretical st
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Changing cancer care, one organoid at a time
A patient-specific tumor organoid platform developed by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) researchers and their cancer center colleagues could someday take the guessing game out of immunotherapy treatments.
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Treatment for depression must also restore proper functioning of the blood-brain barrier
To better treat people with depression, not only must we treat the neurons affected by the disease, but we must also restore the integrity of the barrier that regulates exchanges between blood circulation and the brain. This is the conclusion of a study published today in PNAS by Université Laval researchers and their international collaborators.
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Glutamate in the brain has unexpected qualities, researchers show with new analysis method
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and Gothenburg University in Sweden have achieved something long thought almost impossible — counting the molecules of the neurotransmitter glutamate released when a signal is transferred between two brain cells. With a new analysis method, they showed that the brain regulates its signals using glutamate in more ways than previously realised.
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Immune cell health discovery could optimise cancer therapies
Scientists at UCL have discovered how immune cells, essential for tackling life-threatening infections and cancers, are able to 'recycle' material within themselves in order to stay healthy and function, a breakthrough finding which could lead to more effective immunotherapies.
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New opportunity for cancer drug development
After years of research on cell surface receptors called Frizzleds, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden provide the proof-of-principle that these receptors are druggable by small molecules. The results, which are published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, open for new strategies to treat different types of cancer.
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Plants absorb lead from perovskite solar cells more than expected
Lead from metal-organic perovskite compounds can be absorbed particularly easily by plants. The bioavailability is significantly higher than that of lead from inorganic compounds as found in batteries. This is shown in a study by HZB researcher Antonio Abate with partners in China and Italy, published in Nature communications.
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Opioid prescriptions affected by computer settings
Researchers found that when default settings, showing a preset number of opioid pills, were modified downward, physicians prescribed fewer pills. Fewer pills could improve prescription practices and protect patients from developing opioid addictions.
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Examining low-carbohydrate, low-fat diets, risk of death
An analysis of self-reported national dietary data from more than 37,000 US adults suggests associations between low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets and the risk of death may depend on the quality and food sources of the carbohydrates, proteins and fats people eat.
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Study assesses absorption, blood levels of active ingredients in sunscreen
A randomized clinical trial with 48 healthy volunteers assessed the absorption of six active ingredients (avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, homosalate, octisalate and octinoxate) in four sunscreen products formulated as lotion and sprays (aerosol, nonaerosol and pump). This study builds on a prior trial from Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers published by JAMA in 2019.
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Opioid addiction treatment is increasing, except in the young
National statistics on medication treatment for opioid addiction show that buprenorphrine use is increasing in all age groups except the young.
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Head collision rates at World Cups similar but women received more medical assessments
According to research published in JAMA, female and male soccer players had similar rates of head collision events during elite tournaments such as the World Cup but half of the female players involved received medical assessments, compared with only one third of the impacted male players.
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Visits to pediatricians on the decline
Commercially insured children in the US are seeing pediatricians less often than they did a decade ago, according to a new analysis led by a pediatrician-scientist at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. But whether that's good or bad is unclear, the researchers say in the study, published today in JAMA Pediatrics.
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Editing RNA delivers precision strike on triple-negative breast cancer
An abundance of microRNA-21 predicts lower survival in people with hard-to-treat 'triple-negative' breast cancer. An innovative compound from Disney Lab targets the oncogenic sequence and removes it, killing the cancer cells and stopping their spread in a mouse model, while leaving healthy cells untouched.
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Unscrambled Eggs
This is a rather eerie result . Two researchers at Stanford report that the often-used model system of Xenopus frog eggs have self-organizing properties. Extracts from homogenized eggs had already been known to be more functional than one might have predicted (the paper has a number of references to such studies), but this paper finds that homogenate from such eggs, if left standing, organizes it
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WHO Calls for Emergency Meeting as Chinese Virus Spreads to Health Care Workers
The new coronavirus has sickened people in several countries, and there has been at least one confirmed case of human-to-human transmission — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Desktop guitar amps that deliver excellent sound in a more convenient package
Smaller amps for when you don't have the room. (Markus Spiske via Unsplash/) Getting the perfect guitar tone doesn't always require a heavy amp. If you've got limited space, can't play at blaring volumes, or simply don't want to lug something around that weighs half your body weight, getting a desktop amp might be the move for you. The biggest names in guitar amps are now making lightweight model
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Marine parks need to move along with the animals they're protecting
A colony of arctic terns in Iceland (Melinda Conners, Stony Brook University/) When we think of areas set aside to protect species, they tend to be fixed land expanses: national parks, wilderness reserves, and refuges. But such rigid definitions of protected habitat don't cut it for many creatures swimming in the open seas, inhabiting zones with more fluid boundaries. That's why scientists want p
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Earth's Oldest Asteroid Impact Found in Australia
The cataclysm, which occurred roughly 2.2 billion years ago, might have catapulted the planet out of an ice age.
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Yarrabubba is Earth's oldest known impact structure
Geological dating provides precise age for event that helped change our climate.
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Soil tests raise health concerns about perovskite
Results suggest current risk assumptions are too low.
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Traditional record of a modern problem
Japanese fish rubbings provide information about threatened species.
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Plants absorb lead from perovskite solar cells more than expected
Lead from metal-organic perovskite compounds can be absorbed particularly easily by plants. The bioavailability is significantly higher than that of lead from inorganic compounds, as found in batteries. This is shown in a study by HZB researcher Antonio Abate with partners in China and Italy, published in Nature Communications.
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Researcher discovers previously rejected function in the brain's blood vessels
Contrary to previous belief, a neuroscientist from the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences has shown the existence of a particular type of sphincter in the brain's blood supply in mice. The discovery changes the understanding of the blood circulation and may lead to new knowledge about migraine and dementia.
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Avatar worms help to identify factors that modify genetic diseases
C. elegans worms were genetically edited by CRISPR to introduce human mutations that cause retinitis pigmentaria. The final aim of the project was study which factors influence disease development apart from the main mutation.
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New study highlights importance of grain foods in infant diets
Undertaken to inform the development of the first-ever Dietary Guidelines (2020-2025) to include specific recommendations for infants and toddlers, this study analyzed infant data from the 2001-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). It found grain consumption by infants aged 6-23 months was generally associated with significantly higher nutrient intakes, better diet qualit
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Select few cancer patients enroll in potentially life-extending clinical trials
Patient enrollment in clinical trials as the first course of treatment after cancer diagnosis is low, despite the fact that enrollment may increase life expectancy, according to researchers at Penn State. They also found that white males with private health insurance and metastatic cancers treated at academic medical centers are more likely than other groups to enroll in clinical trials.
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Researchers solve protein structures to fight asthma
Biophysicists shed light on the structure and functioning mechanism of the CysLT receptors, which regulate inflammatory responses associated with allergic disorders. Their findings are reported in Nature Communications.
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Dialing up the heat on nanoparticles
Rapid progress in the field of metallic nanotechnology is sparking a science revolution that is likely to impact all areas of society, according to professor of physics Ventsislav Valev and his team at the University of Bath in the UK.
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Zika inhibits the proliferation of prostate cancer cells
Experiments performed by Brazilian scientists showed that Zika virus inhibits tumor cell proliferation even when inactivated by high temperature. The study was supported by FAPESP and published in Scientific Reports.
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Study points to positive effects of guided self-help for depression in autistic adults
The new study published in the journal Autism suggests a form of low intensity CBT could offer new hope for people with co-occurring autism and depression.
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Melting reveals drug targets in a living organism
Developing new medicines and understanding how they target specific organs often gives a crucial advantage in the fight against human diseases. An international team led by researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory and Cellzome, a GSK company, has developed a technology to systematically identify drug targets in living animals. In their results, published in Nature Biotechnology on
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New drug prevents liver damage, obesity and glucose intolerance in mice on high-fat diet
Mice given a new drug targeting a key gene involved in lipid and glucose metabolism could tolerate a high-fat diet regimen (composed of 60% fat from lard) without developing significant liver damage, becoming obese, or disrupting their body's glucose balance.
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The salt of the comet
Under the leadership of astrophysicist Kathrin Altwegg, Bernese researchers have found an explanation for why very little nitrogen could previously be accounted for in the nebulous covering of comets: the building block for life predominantly occurs in the form of ammonium salts, the occurrence of which could not previously be measured. The salts may be a further indication that comet impacts may
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Proteins that protect against joint inflammation identified
Endogenous proteins that play a vital part in allergies and parasitic infection can prevent the immune system from wrongly attacking the body and causing inflamed joints, a study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the scientific journal PNAS reports. The researchers hope that the results will give rise to new drugs for rheumatoid arthritis.
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Plants absorb lead from perovskite solar cells more than expected
Lead from metal-organic perovskite compounds can be absorbed particularly easily by plants. The bioavailability is significantly higher than that of lead from inorganic compounds, as found in batteries. This is shown in a study by HZB researcher Antonio Abate with partners in China and Italy, published in Nature Communications.
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Tesla Blames Crash Reports on Short-Seller
Crash Course Reuters reported last week that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) may launch an investigation into driver complaints about crash-causing "sudden unintended acceleration" that might affect half a million Tesla vehicles. But Tesla fired back in a strongly worded statement Monday, saying the claims were "completely false" and "brought by a Tesla short-seller." B
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How designing brand-new enzymes could change the world | Adam Garske
"If DNA is the blueprint of life, enzymes are the laborers that carry out its instructions," says chemical biologist Adam Garske. In this fun talk and demo, he shows how scientists can now edit and design enzymes for specific functions — to help treat diseases like diabetes, create energy-efficient laundry detergent and even capture greenhouse gases — and performs his own enzyme experiment onsta
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Tracking the scent of warming tundra
Climate change is causing subarctic tundra to warm twice as fast as the global average, and this warming is speeding up the activity of the plant life. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany, have now elucidated how this warming affects the tundra ecosystem and the origin of an increased amount of volatile compounds released from the tund
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A simple way to predict tropical cyclones undergoing rapid intensification
"Yellow streaks in sunset sky, wind and daylong rain is nigh." This old weather proverb originates from fishermen who found colors and shapes in clouds at sunset could predict an incoming storm. Nowadays, state-of-the-art satellite observations for tropical cyclone cloud structures, as well as the evolution of surrounding weather systems, are utilized to assist weather forecasters to make decision
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What a Billionaire Thinks Every Kid Should Know
What has made Ray Dalio, the billionaire who founded the biggest hedge fund in the world, so financially successful? Dalio himself has offered an explanation: In 2017, he summed up his accumulated wisdom in a book called Principles: Life & Work , which was purchased by more than 2 million people worldwide and received testimonials from a phalanx of other billionaires, including Bill Gates, Mark C
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WHO holder hastemøde: Er den nye Kina-virus en international trussel?
PLUS. Corona-virussen fra Kina viser sig måske alligevel at smitte mennesker imellem. WHO diskuterer omfanget i morgen, og dansk forsker følger spændt med.
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Tracking the scent of warming tundra
Climate change is causing subarctic tundra to warm twice as fast as the global average, and this warming is speeding up the activity of the plant life. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany, have now elucidated how this warming affects the tundra ecosystem and the origin of an increased amount of volatile compounds released from the tund
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Insecticides are becoming more toxic to honey bees
Researchers discover that neonicotinoid seed treatments are driving a dramatic increase in insecticide toxicity in U.S. agricultural landscapes, despite evidence that these treatments have little to no benefit in many crops.
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University of Barcelona study links weekend eating jet lag to obesity
A new study by the University of Barcelona (UB) concluded that irregularity in eating schedules during the weekend, named by the authors as eating jet lag, could be related to the increase of body mass index (BMI), a formula that measures weight and height to determine whether someone's weight is healthy.
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Kazan University chemists teach neural networks to predict properties of compounds
The international team works on a computational model able to predict the properties of new molecules based on the analysis of fundamental chemical laws. The project was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (title 'Using AI methods for the planning of chemical synthesis').
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Arctic sea ice can't 'bounce back'
Arctic sea ice cannot 'quickly bounce back' if climate change causes it to melt, new research suggests.
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Clubs and bars must support women by cracking down on sexual aggression
Nightclubs and bars must create a supportive environment that cracks down on unwanted sexual attention and allows women to enjoy their nights out, according to a new study.
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Human exposure to aluminum linked to familial Alzheimer's disease
A new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (JAD) supports a growing body of research that links human exposure to aluminum with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Researchers found significant amounts of aluminum content in brain tissue from donors with familial AD. The study also found a high degree of co-location with the amyloid-beta protein, which leads to early onset of the disease.
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Platelets instead of spheres make screens more economical
ETH scientists have further developed QLED technology for screens. They have produced light sources that for the first time emit high-intensity light in only one direction. This reduces scattering losses, which makes the technology extremely energy efficient.
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Light therapy for immune cells helps with side effects of cancer therapy
A frequent side effect of cancer immunotherapies can probably be stopped by light activation of immune cells, as researchers at the Medical Center — University of Freiburg have shown.
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Brazilian wildfire pollution worsens air quality in distant cities — study
Wildfires in south eastern Brazil produce airborne pollution that worsens air quality in major cities such as Sao Paulo — cancelling out efforts to improve the urban environment and posing health risks to citizens, according to a new study.
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Algorithm turns cancer gene discovery on its head
Prediction method could help personalize cancer treatments and reveal new drug targets.
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Record-breaking terahertz laser beam
Terahertz radiation is used for security checks at airports, for medical examinations and also for quality checks in industry. However, radiation in the terahertz range is extremely difficult to generate. Scientists at TU Wien have now succeeded in developing a terahertz radiation source that breaks several records: it is extremely efficient, and its spectrum is very broad — it generates differen
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Magnetic nanomaterials become an effective treatment against liver fibrosis
Fibrosis may affect different body organs. It develops as a reaction to long-time inflammation and is supposed to isolate the inflammation site from surrounding tissues. For example, chronic liver fibrosis may occur if the liver is constantly influenced by toxins, viruses, or metabolic disturbances. Liver damage is caused by the hepatocytes death, the main type of liver cells that secure the funct
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An improved method for protein crystal structure visualization
During crystallization atoms are arranged in a 3D lattice structured in a specific way. The distances between the atoms in that lattice are determined by the atoms themselves. The X-ray wavelength is comparable to interatomic distances, so the rays can be refracted on the planes. Due to this effect one can analyze crystal structure. The X-ray images show the distances between the planes.
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Discovery of new T-cell raises prospect of 'universal' cancer therapy
Researchers at Cardiff University have discovered a new type of killer T-cell that offers hope of a 'one-size-fits-all' cancer therapy.
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Warmer and acidified oceans can lead to 'hidden' changes in species behavior
Research by scientists at Ghent University (Belgium), University of Plymouth (UK) and University of South Carolina (USA) shows the peppery furrow shell (Scrobicularia plana) makes considerable changes to its feeding habits when faced with warmer and more acidified oceans.
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Varför skjuts det så mycket i Sverige?
För unga män har risken att utsättas för skjutvapenvåld i Sverige femfaldigats sedan 1996. Orsaken är oklar, men en hypotes är att det varit för lite brottsförebyggande arbete. Den 2 december 2019 sköts en 25-årig man till döds i stadsdelen Hermodsdal i Malmö. Tre dagar senare larmades polis och ambulans till en annan del av staden. Där hittade de en 20-årig man, också han skjuten till döds. Det
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Cell injections may restore fertility lost through cancer treatment
An injection of egg-containing cells appears to rejuvenate the ovaries of mice, and could help restore fertility in women without surgery
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Is Iron Deficiency Causing Your Hair Loss?
Is your hair falling out? Nutrient deficiencies may be to blame. Reversing it starts with finding the cause — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Research shows potential for zero-deforestation pledges to protect wildlife in oil palm
New research has found that environmental efforts aimed at eliminating deforestation from oil palm production have the potential to benefit vulnerable tropical mammals.
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Cave fights for food: Voracious spiders vs. assassin bugs
Killing and eating of potential competitors, also known as intraguild predation, is a rare event that occurs only in specific situations such as severe scarcity of food resources, resulting in the competition between predators.
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Research shows potential for zero-deforestation pledges to protect wildlife in oil palm
New research has found that environmental efforts aimed at eliminating deforestation from oil palm production have the potential to benefit vulnerable tropical mammals.
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Cave fights for food: Voracious spiders vs. assassin bugs
Killing and eating of potential competitors, also known as intraguild predation, is a rare event that occurs only in specific situations such as severe scarcity of food resources, resulting in the competition between predators.
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TB bacteria survive in amoebae found in soil
Scientists from the University of Surrey and University of Geneva have discovered that the bacterium which causes bovine TB can survive and grow in small, single-celled organisms found in soil and dung. It is believed that originally the bacterium evolved to survive in these single-celled organisms known as amoebae and in time progressed to infect and cause TB in larger animals such as cattle.
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The properties of thin titanium oxide films have been studied
Some titanium oxides are known for their unique properties, such as increased photocatalytic activity (i.e. they effectively use light to speed up chemical reactions). Titanium oxide-based coatings are able to clean themselves under the influence of light. Moreover, they can potentially be used to purify air and water from harmful substances and to desalinate seawater.
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Cybercrime: Internet erodes teenage impulse controls
Many teenagers are struggling to control their impulses on the internet, in a scramble for quick thrills and a sense of power online, potentially increasing their risks of becoming cyber criminals.
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Advancing the application of genomic sequences through 'Kmasker plants'
The correct assembly of plant genomes can be hampered by a large amount of repetitive sequences. Researchers have developed a bioinformatics tool for the automatic detection of repetitive genome regions, based on the identification of k-mers (nucleotide sequences of a pre-determined length). The tool was published under the name "Kmasker plants" in The Plant Journal.
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Platypus on brink of extinction
New UNSW research calls for national action to minimise the risk of the platypus vanishing due to habitat destruction, dams and weirs.
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'Ancient' cellular discovery key to new cancer therapies
Australian researchers have uncovered a metabolic system which could lead to new strategies for therapeutic cancer treatment. A team at Flinders University and the St Vincent's Institute of Medical Research have found a link between a metabolic system in a yeast, and now mammals, which is critical for the regulation of cell growth and proliferation.
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Groups publish statements on CT contrast use in patients with kidney disease
The risk of administering modern intravenous iodinated contrast media in patients with reduced kidney function has been overstated, according to new consensus statements from the American College of Radiology and the National Kidney Foundation.
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Light scattered by thrombocytes can improve the treatment of cardiovascular diseases
A team of scientists from Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University used Raman spectroscopy to study the thrombocytes of patients with cardiovascular diseases and compared their spectra with those of healthy people. The researchers identified informative areas of the spectra and confirmed that Raman spectroscopy was a promising method allowing one to diagnose the diseases associated with changes in
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Smart materials are becoming smarter
Composites are a new type of materials that consist of heterogeneous components (metals, ceramics, glass, plastic, carbon, etc.) and combine their properties. To create such a material, a filler with certain stability and rigidity is placed into a flexible matrix. Various compositions and matrix-filler ratios create a wide range of materials with given sets of characteristics.
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Parrots collaborate with invisible partners
New study shows that peach-fronted conures have a surprisingly advanced talent for collaboration when it comes to finding food. This is important knowledge for biologists working with conservation of wild bird populations.
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Art speaks for itself and makes hearts beat faster
Information about an artwork has no effect on the aesthetic experience of museum visitors. The characteristics of the artwork itself have a much stronger impact on observers. Psychologists from the University of Basel reached these conclusions in a new study.
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Research shows potential for zero-deforestation pledges to protect wildlife in oil palm
New research has found that environmental efforts aimed at eliminating deforestation from oil palm production have the potential to benefit vulnerable tropical mammals.
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Scientists Studied bacterial cells in the photoemission spectrum
Nature-like object studies are an actively developing field of science based on the use of biological materials. Among other things, it includes technologies for the development of nanosized constructions on the basis of biological macromolecules: DNA, protein capsules and conjugators, and nucleoprotein complexes.
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Tracking the scent of warming tundra
Climate change is causing the subarctic tundra to warm twice as fast as the global average, and this warming is speeding up the activity of the plant life. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany, have now elucidated how this warming affects the tundra ecosystem and the origin of an increased amount of volatile compounds released from the
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How human social structures emerge
What rules shaped humanity's original social networks? The earliest social networks were tightly knit cultural groups made of multiple biologically related families. That single group would then develop relationships with other cultural groups in their local area. Researchers used statistical physics and computer models common in evolutionary biology to explain the origin of common community struc
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Making bismuth behave like a transition metal
A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institut für Kohlenforschung has found a way to get bismuth to behave like a transition metal. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their method to get bismuth to orchestrate bond-swapping events.
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Triumph, embrace or offset? Entrepreneurs have different storytelling styles for presenting business closure
New pioneering research shows that entrepreneurs communicate to strengthen their professional image and stakeholder relationships—and avoid blaming others.
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Scanning Raman picoscopy: A new methodology for determining molecular chemical structure
Precise determination of the chemical structure of a molecule is of vital importance to any molecular related field and is the key to a deep understanding of its chemical, physical, and biological functions. Scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy have outstanding abilities to image molecular skeletons in real space, but these techniques usually lack chemical information necessar
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Researchers find a way to harness the entire spectrum of sunlight
Scientists for the first time have developed a single molecule that can absorb sunlight efficiently and also act as a catalyst to transform solar energy into hydrogen, a clean alternative to fuel for things like gas-powered vehicles.
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New study reveals a life aquatic for many spider species
From sea shores to salt flats, a high incidence of spiders spin a life in or around water. Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and William Paterson University found that nearly one fifth of all spider families are associated with saltwater or freshwater aquatic habitats. Their findings—recently published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society and aptly titled "The Life Aqua
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Sixth person dies as Wuhan coronavirus spreads between people
Six deaths and nearly 300 cases have been linked to a new virus that originated in China. Authorities now believe the virus can spread from person to person
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New study reveals a life aquatic for many spider species
From sea shores to salt flats, a high incidence of spiders spin a life in or around water. Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and William Paterson University found that nearly one fifth of all spider families are associated with saltwater or freshwater aquatic habitats. Their findings—recently published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society and aptly titled "The Life Aqua
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Report emphasizes importance of communication in climate change resilience
In the wake of a major storm, like the one that battered the Connecticut shoreline in 2012, community resilience could depend on communication.
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Warming up for the sun
Today, the Solar Orbiter control team is simulating launch for the penultimate time, before the sun-seeking spacecraft lifts-off for real.
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The 7 Best Messenger Bags: Peak Design, Mission Workshop, and More
We rounded up the best hip packs, rainstorm-ready work packs, and more.
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Greta Thunberg's Remarks at the Davos Economic Forum
The Swedish climate activist spoke Tuesday afternoon at an event hosted by The New York Times and the World Economic Forum.
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Light-up wheels: Unique organic light-emitting molecular emitters
Researchers at Osaka University synthesized novel OLEDs based on efficient ring-shaped molecular macrocycles. This work may help lead to sensitive, yet inexpensive, chemical detectors.
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Mars' water was mineral-rich and salty
Presently, many scientists believe Mars is the best candidate in the search for life beyond Earth because it is relatively nearby and there is good evidence that liquid water flowed on Mars' surface billions of years ago. A new study provides evidence that some early Martian minerals were formed in watery environments that were salty and near neutral pH, similar to Earth's modern oceans, and thus
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Addressing global warming with new nanoparticles and sunshine
Harvesting sunlight, IBS scientists reported a new strategy to transform carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen (O2) and pure carbon monoxide (CO) without side-products in water. This artificial photosynthesis method could bring new solutions to environmental pollution and global warming.
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Researchers identify a possible cause and treatment for inflammatory bowel disease
In a study published online in PNAS on Jan. 20, 2020, Prof. SUN Bing's team from the Center for Excellence in Molecular and Cellular Science, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. LIU Jie from Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, revealed a new mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of IBD and suggested therapeutic targets for cli
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A simple way to predict tropical cyclones undergoing rapid intensification
Scientsits propose a simple way to predict tropical cyclones undergoing rapid intensification.
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The right to silence — compassionate approach to interrogation more effective, study shows
A University of Liverpool research paper, published in American Psychologist, provides new evidence for using a humane, respectful and compassionate approach to interrogating high-value detainees (HVDs — i.e., terrorist suspects) to encourage cooperation and disclosure of information.
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How diarrhea pathogens switch into attack mode at body temperature
Many bacterial pathogens excrete toxins as soon as they have entered the host in order to suppress its immune response. Researchers at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have analysed what happens on the molecular level when the diarrhea pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis switches into attack mode. To this end, they examined so-called RNA thermometers, which signal to the bacteria whether they are in
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Cave fights for food: Voracious spiders vs. assassin bugs
Killing and eating of potential competitors has rarely been documented in the zoological literature, even though this type of interaction can affect population dynamics. In a recent publication in the open-access journal Subterranean Biology, Brazilian scientists presented their notes regarding the predation of an assassin bug by a spider in neotropical caves. Underground, where food resources are
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Measuring the world of social phenomena
Economists working with Professor Marko Sarstedt from University of Magdeburg are demanding that the same scientific standards be applied to economics and the behavioral sciences in general as are used in the natural sciences.
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The Brain Predicts Reward Like an AI, Says New DeepMind Research
The idea of reinforcement learning—or learning based on reward—has been around for so long it's easy to forget we don't really know how it works. If DeepMind's new bombshell paper in Nature is any indication, a common approach in AI, one that's led to humanity's defeat in the game of Go against machines, may have the answer. We all subconsciously learn complex behaviors in response to positive an
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Primary school children benefit from learning with a social robot
Research has shown that explaining aloud what you are learning, whether to yourself or to someone else, leads to a better understanding of the subject. But in situations where you are working independently, it is not particularly intuitive to start explaining things. Researchers at the University of Twente have discovered that primary school children can better explain what they are studying when
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Mayfly populations falling fast in North America
A team of researchers from the University of Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and the University of Notre Dame has found that populations of mayflies in parts of North America have fallen dramatically in recent years. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes using weather radar data to calculate mayfly populations and what they learned about them.
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Insecticides becoming more toxic to honey bees
During the past 20 years, insecticides applied to U.S. agricultural landscapes have become significantly more toxic—over 120-fold in some midwestern states—to honey bees when ingested, according to a team of researchers, who identified rising neonicotinoid seed treatments in corn and soy as the primary driver of this change. The study is the first to characterize the geographic patterns of insecti
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Mayfly populations falling fast in North America
A team of researchers from the University of Oklahoma, Virginia Tech and the University of Notre Dame has found that populations of mayflies in parts of North America have fallen dramatically in recent years. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes using weather radar data to calculate mayfly populations and what they learned about them.
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Insecticides becoming more toxic to honey bees
During the past 20 years, insecticides applied to U.S. agricultural landscapes have become significantly more toxic—over 120-fold in some midwestern states—to honey bees when ingested, according to a team of researchers, who identified rising neonicotinoid seed treatments in corn and soy as the primary driver of this change. The study is the first to characterize the geographic patterns of insecti
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Scientists create 3-D printed parts that can kill bacteria
Researchers from the University of Sheffield have, for the first time, manufactured 3-D printed parts that show resistance to common bacteria. This could stop the spread of infections such as MRSA in hospitals and care homes, saving the lives of vulnerable patients.
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Method triggers selective degradation of proteins for analysis
Scientists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have developed a tool to eliminate essential proteins from cells with a flash of light. The new method makes it possible to study the function of essential proteins.
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Lizard and snake size unrelated to climate
For well over a century, scientists have thought climate is a key factor affecting the evolution of animal body sizes. However, a recent study has shown that, for squamates, a group of reptiles that includes lizards and snakes, there are no consistent global correlations between body size and climate.
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Fanged frogs, dwarf crocodiles and folding tortoises? Welcome to West Africa
Forget the peculiar creatures populating the pages of Alice in Wonderland. This is your chance to follow in the footsteps of the intrepid explorers who have just delved deep into a West African fantasy world filled with fanged frogs, lipstick-wearing snakes and folding tortoises.
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Scientists create 3-D printed parts that can kill bacteria
Researchers from the University of Sheffield have, for the first time, manufactured 3-D printed parts that show resistance to common bacteria. This could stop the spread of infections such as MRSA in hospitals and care homes, saving the lives of vulnerable patients.
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Method triggers selective degradation of proteins for analysis
Scientists of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have developed a tool to eliminate essential proteins from cells with a flash of light. The new method makes it possible to study the function of essential proteins.
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The politics and cost of adapting to climate change in New York City
This past week the New York Times reported on a set of studies now underway by the U.S. Corps of Engineers of projects designed to protect this region from floodwaters. One proposal is for a six-mile-long sea wall that would cost around $120 billion and take over two decades to build. A recent piece by Anne Barnard in the New York Times discussed the controversy about the flood control options bei
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London just broke a 300-year-old weather record—but you probably didn't even notice it
In the early hours of Monday January 20 2020, something unusual was happening in the atmosphere above the southern British Isles. Just after midnight, air pressure records for London were broken at Heathrow airport, where the barometer reached 1,049.6 millibars. That's the highest level since records began in 1692. It broke the previous record for London of 1,049.1 millibars, which was recorded at
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Lizard and snake size unrelated to climate
For well over a century, scientists have thought climate is a key factor affecting the evolution of animal body sizes. However, a recent study has shown that, for squamates, a group of reptiles that includes lizards and snakes, there are no consistent global correlations between body size and climate.
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Fanged frogs, dwarf crocodiles and folding tortoises? Welcome to West Africa
Forget the peculiar creatures populating the pages of Alice in Wonderland. This is your chance to follow in the footsteps of the intrepid explorers who have just delved deep into a West African fantasy world filled with fanged frogs, lipstick-wearing snakes and folding tortoises.
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Feeding the world without wrecking the planet is possible
Almost half of current food production is harmful to our planet—causing biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and water stress. But as world population continues to grow, can that last?
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Trolley dilemma: When it's acceptable to sacrifice one person to save others is informed by culture
Cultural differences play a pivotal role in how people in different parts of the world perceive when it is acceptable to sacrifice one person to save a larger group, new research has shown.
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Source position and duration of a solar type III radio burst observed by LOFAR
Type III solar radio bursts are generated by non-thermal electron beams propagating through the solar corona and interplanetary space. In dynamic spectra, the flux of solar type III radio bursts have a time profile of rising and decay phases at a given frequency, which has been actively studied since the 1970s.
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Human cultural evolution found to be just as slow as biological evolution
A team of researchers from several institutions in the U.K. and one in the U.S. has found that human culture evolves just as slowly as biological evolution. In their paper published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, the group describes how they developed metrics for cultural evolution and compared them with metrics for biological evolution.
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How quickly does the Wuhan virus spread?
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00146-w Chinese officials have confirmed that the virus is spreading between people, but it's still unclear how easily this happens.
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Some kinds of emissions cuts actually make air pollution worse
As levels of NOx emissions in urban areas, primarily due to diesel emissions, fall, we may face exposure to more hazardous ultrafine particles than researchers had previously believed. Despite the clear public health benefits from reduced NOx emissions, a reduction in NOx gases does not mean that we have completely removed air pollution. Other airborne health hazards are present, including ultraf
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School gardens reconnect kids with food
Rural school gardens get students back in touch with their food, a new study finds. As technology and supermarkets have made buying food easier and more convenient than ever, researchers believe people are growing more distant from the food they consume. As knowledge about crops, food production, and healthy eating is lost over generations—a process sociologists call "de-skilling"—some school dis
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New glaucoma test to help prevent blindness
Researchers have identified 107 genes that increase a person's risk of developing the eye disease glaucoma, and now developed a genetic test to detect those at risk of going blind from it. The research, led by QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute and Flinders University in Australia, has been published today in the international Nature Genetics journal.
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New self-assembled monolayer is resistant to air
Organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been around for over forty years. The most widely used form is based on thiols, bound to a metal surface. However, exposure of these monolayers to air will lead to breakdown within a single day. University of Groningen scientists have now created SAMs using buckyballs functionalized with 'tails' of ethylene glycol. These have all the properties of thio
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Scanning Raman picoscopy: A new methodology for determining molecular chemical structure
The strong spatial confinement of a plasmonic field at an atomically sharp tip has made it possible to visualize the inner structure of a single molecule and image its vibrational modes in real space. Researchers from University of Science and Technology of China demonstrate that Ångström-resolved Raman maps for vibrational modes can be used to visually construct the chemical structure of a molecu
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New study reveals a life aquatic for many spider species
Researchers at the California Academy of Sciences and William Paterson University found that nearly one fifth of all spider families are associated with saltwater or freshwater aquatic habitats. Their findings–recently published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society and aptly titled 'The Life Aquatic with Spiders'–address the common misconception that all spiders dwell on land, and re
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Designer-defect clamping of ferroelectric domain walls for more-stable nanoelectronics
Engineered defects in ferroelectric materials provides key to improved polarisation stability, a significant step forward for domain-wall nanoelectronics in data storage. Researchers achieved stability greater than one year (a 2000% improvement).
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Arctic sea ice can't 'bounce back'
Arctic sea ice cannot "quickly bounce back" if climate change causes it to melt, new research suggests.
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Computing with spins of light
A laser system that generates spinning light particles could lead to the strong kind of computational power needed to solve complex biological problems. The system, which improves on previous ones, is described in the journal Quantum Science and Technology.
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Taming electrons with bacteria parts
Electrons are tough to pin down in biology. Learning how to harness electrons is no fool's errand because, when electrons move, they are the electricity that powers life.
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Taming electrons with bacteria parts
Electrons are tough to pin down in biology. Learning how to harness electrons is no fool's errand because, when electrons move, they are the electricity that powers life.
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'Shazam for fish': Acoustic monitoring a window into health of waterways
Listening to the environment—singing birds and chirping crickets—is increasingly used as a means of monitoring change in ecosystems. Together with two colleagues from Melbourne and Paris, Griffith University senior lecturer Dr. Simon Linke has led a major drive to kickstart acoustic monitoring in freshwater systems.
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'Shazam for fish': Acoustic monitoring a window into health of waterways
Listening to the environment—singing birds and chirping crickets—is increasingly used as a means of monitoring change in ecosystems. Together with two colleagues from Melbourne and Paris, Griffith University senior lecturer Dr. Simon Linke has led a major drive to kickstart acoustic monitoring in freshwater systems.
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High-precision distributed sensing using an entangled quantum network
Quantum-enhanced metrology has been an active area of research for several years now due to its many possible applications, ranging from atomic clocks to biological imaging. Past physics research established that having a non-classical probe, such as squeezed light or an entangled spin state, can have significant benefits compared to classical probes. This idea was explored further in several rece
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A new strategy for directly detecting light particle dark matter
For almost a century, astronomers have hypothesized that the universe contains more matter than what can be observed by the human eye. It is now believed that approximately 80 percent of the universe's mass is made up of a type of matter that does not emit light or energy and that scientists are still unable to observe directly, referred to as dark matter.
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Can trees control algal blooms?
Griffith University researchers have shown that leaf litter can play an important role in controlling algal blooms.
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Corals' partnership with microalgae helps in stressful times but there's a trade-off
In the warmer and brighter shallow waters of Kāne'ohe Bay, O'ahu Hawaiian rice coral host more heat-tolerant microbes in their tissues compared to rice coral communities in cooler and darker deep waters, according to research published recently by scientists at the University of Hawai'i. While this is advantageous in the short term–helping corals weather a heat wave, for example–the price they p
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Research supports new approach to mine reclamation
Geomorphic reclamation is a relatively novel approach intended to mimic the topography of nearby undisturbed lands, with a wide variety of terrain that is stable and less susceptible to erosion.
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Montana State astrophysicist finds massive black holes wandering around dwarf galaxies
A new search led by MSU astrophysicist Amy Reines has revealed more than a dozen massive black holes in dwarf galaxies that were previously considered too small to host them, surprising scientists with their location within the galaxies.
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Traumatic brain injury impairs hormone production, disrupting sleep, cognition, memory
The team has learned more about how a TBI triggers a reduction in growth hormone secretion and why most TBI patients improve after growth hormone replacement treatment.
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Banning food waste: Lessons for rural America
Effective July 1, 2020, Vermont will be the first state in the nation to ban all household food waste from landfills statewide. New research shows a whopping 72% of Vermonters already compost or feed food scraps to pets/livestock, but few are willing to pay for curbside composting pickup, a strategy being implemented in many urban areas. The study offers important considerations for municipalities
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Techathlon Podcast: Endgame
Sorry if you got this logo tattooed on you. (Techathlon/) Consider this the Techathlon closing ceremonies. We're unfurling the flags, firing up the coordinated drone performances, and cranking Journey songs throughout the Techathlon stadium because this is officially our last show. The past year doing this show has brought about the full gamut of emotions. We've laughed. We've pretended we weren'
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Making Air From Moon Dust: Scientists Create a Prototype Lunar Oxygen Plant
Researchers are testing a method for extracting oxygen from imitation moon rocks, which could be invaluable to future lunar settlers.
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Many of our plants and animals have adapted to fires, but now the fires are changing
Australia is a land that has known fire. Our diverse plant and animal species have become accustomed to life with fire, and in fact some require it to procreate.
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China's 500-meter FAST radio telescope is now operational
The world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope is officially open for business, according to Xinhua, China's official state-run media. The FAST Radio Telescope saw fist light in 2016, but has been undergoing testing and commissioning since then. FAST stands for Five-hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope.
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Many of our plants and animals have adapted to fires, but now the fires are changing
Australia is a land that has known fire. Our diverse plant and animal species have become accustomed to life with fire, and in fact some require it to procreate.
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Australia: show the world what climate action looks like
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00152-y The fires are a wake-up call. The country's leaders must now act on overwhelming evidence and public opinion.
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Stop the Wuhan virus
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00153-x Vigilance, preparedness, speed, transparency and global coordination are now crucial to stopping a new infectious disease from becoming a global emergency.
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From the archive
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00095-4 How Nature reported an interview with Einstein from 1920, and fears that England was losing the race to reach the North Pole, from 1870.
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Why is climate skepticism so successful in the United States?
2019 is set to be the second warmest year on record, ending the warmest decade on record, another reminder that climate change is the defining issue of our time.
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Conservation scientists are grieving after the bushfires—but we must not give up
That a billion animals may die as a result of this summer's fires has horrified the world. For many conservation biologists and land managers, however, the unprecedented extent and ferocity of the fires has incinerated much more than koalas and their kin.
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Sonos Will Soon End Software Support for Its Older Speakers
The company will also launch a trade-in program if you want to upgrade your soon-to-be-obsolete Sonos hardware.
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Maps Are Biased Against Animals
Protecting the ecosystems we share starts with acknowledging that humans aren't the only species with pathways and landmarks.
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Astronomers perform a comprehensive study of young open cluster NGC 1960
Indian astronomers have conducted a comprehensive photometric, kinematic and variability study of a young open cluster known as NGC 1960. Results of the research shed more light on the properties of this cluster and its member stars. The study was detailed in a paper published January 13 on arXiv.org.
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Prisoner numbers in Australia have decreased, but we're not really sure why yet
The latest release of the Australian Bureau of Statistics Prisoners in Australia data provides a surprising change: for the first time in seven years, the national imprisonment rate has not increased. In fact, it has decreased by 1%.
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Canada can better prepare to retrain workers displaced by disruptive technologies
Canada must prepare for the growing need to retrain workers displaced by disruptive technologies. To do so, governments must have a thorough sense of the effectiveness of current employment retraining programs.
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Conservation scientists are grieving after the bushfires—but we must not give up
That a billion animals may die as a result of this summer's fires has horrified the world. For many conservation biologists and land managers, however, the unprecedented extent and ferocity of the fires has incinerated much more than koalas and their kin.
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Five ways to turn carbon dioxide from pollution to a valuable product
It's far easier to avoid burning fossil fuels than it is to clean up CO2 emissions once they're in the Earth's atmosphere. But the world no longer has the luxury of choice—drastic emission reductions and rapid CO2 removal and storage will both be necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global heating.
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Scientist Alan Turing's degree, medal and memorabilia recovered in Colorado
Computer pioneer's things taken from British school in 1984 Items seized after woman offered them for loan to university The British scientist Alan Turing's Princeton doctoral degree, OBE medal and other items of memorabilia have been recovered in Colorado , 35 years after they were taken from Sherborne School in Dorset . Related: Alan Turing on the £50 note is a triumph for British science – and
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Nordmænd antænder tre ton flydende brint for at sikkerhedsteste færge
PLUS. Sikkerhedstesten skal simulere en lækage ved fyldning af brintfærgen, som skal idriftsættes i norske Rogaland i 2021. Flydende brint er aldrig blevet testet i så stor skala før.
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Modified plants to curb climate change
Each year, an average of 120 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) worldwide is released through soil and vegetation respiration. Plants are capable of taking in nearly 123 gigatons through photosynthesis in the same period. But as humans release another ten gigatons of carbon dioxide into this cycle, mainly by burning fossil fuels such as crude oil and natural gas, there are seven gigatons of excess C
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How international trade can unlock the potential of the cultural economy in developing countries
There is growing interest in the creative economy in emerging markets in terms of its impact on employment and economic growth, as well as social and cultural impacts.
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Environmentally friendly shipping helps to reduce freight costs
Improved ship utilization rates and investments in environmentally sustainable technologies for enhanced energy efficiency would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions within navigation. A recent study carried out in the Laboratory of Industrial Management at Åbo Akademi University also indicates that such measures would contribute to lowering of freight costs.
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How social structures emerge: Computer simulations uncover universality in cultural anthropology observations
What rules shaped humanity's original social networks? Researchers in Japan developed new mathematical models to understand what conditions produced traditional community structures and conventions around the world, including taboos about incest.
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New exhaust gas measurement registers ultrafine pollutant particles for the first time
A few days ago, the European Commission presented its Green Deal, which aims to make the EU climate neutral by 2050 in order to protect the environment and improve people's health and quality of life. One of the planned measures is the introduction of stricter exhaust regulations. The limit values for pollutant emissions from vehicles have already been laid down by law. The current target value is
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Modified plants to curb climate change
Each year, an average of 120 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) worldwide is released through soil and vegetation respiration. Plants are capable of taking in nearly 123 gigatons through photosynthesis in the same period. But as humans release another ten gigatons of carbon dioxide into this cycle, mainly by burning fossil fuels such as crude oil and natural gas, there are seven gigatons of excess C
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Global Gaia campaign reveals secrets of stellar pair
A 500-day global observation campaign spearheaded more than three years ago by ESA's galaxy-mapping powerhouse Gaia has provided unprecedented insights into the binary system of stars that caused an unusual brightening of an even more distant star.
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Survey reveals huge negative impact on people of EU settlement scheme
The largest survey of the EU Settlement Scheme to date, with over 3,000 respondents, has revealed the serious negative impacts on EU/EEA and Swiss citizens and their family members in the UK.
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First detailed electronic study of new nickelate superconductor
The discovery last year of the first nickel oxide material that shows clear signs of superconductivity set off a race by scientists around the world to find out more. The crystal structure of the material is similar to copper oxides, or cuprates, which hold the world record for conducting electricity with no loss at relatively high temperatures and normal pressures. But do its electrons behave in
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Merparten mikroplast i havet fragment av större plast från land
Industriell råplast, som plastpellets, ger upphov till höga koncentrationer nära utsläppskällorna. Men de flesta plastartiklar i havet är fragment av större plast. Det visar nya studier vid Göteborgs universitet. – Mängderna industriell råplast som vi hittar visar att det är mycket viktigt att existerande regelverk, som exempelvis miljöbalken, tillämpas för att undvika onödigt spill av plast, säg
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Lack of antibiotics in low income countries 'worsening superbugs threat'
Only three new treatments available in 10 or more poorer countries, report finds Many antibiotics are unavailable in poorer countries despite higher infection rates, exacerbating the threat of drug-resistant superbugs, according to a report to be presented to world leaders and the bosses of top pharmaceutical companies in Davos. The report, released by the Access to Medicine Foundation, an Amster
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Einsteins rumtid har talt: De langsomme passagerer skal ind i flyet først
Et fly bliver hurtigst klar til afgang, hvis småbørnsforældre, gangbesværede og andre langsommere passagerer sætter sig først. Det viser fysikere, der har forsøgt at optimere boarding-tiden ved hjælp af geometrien bag Einsteins rumtid.
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Brazilian wildfire pollution worsens air quality in distant cities
Greenwald Brazil Bolsonaro
Wildfires in south eastern Brazil produce airborne pollution that worsens air quality in major cities such as Sao Paulo—canceling out efforts to improve the urban environment and posing health risks to citizens, according to a new study.
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New report outlines potential yield challenges to scale-up of zero budget natural farming in India
A new report published in Nature Sustainability this week examines the potential impacts on food production of zero budget natural farming, a farming system that is sweeping India.
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Warmer and acidified oceans can lead to 'hidden' changes in species behavior
Projected ocean warming and acidification not only impacts the behavior of individual species but also the wider marine ecosystems which are influenced by them, a new study shows.
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Walking sharks discovered in the tropics
Four new species of tropical sharks that use their fins to walk are causing a stir in waters off northern Australia and New Guinea.
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Novel composite antimicrobial film could take a bite out of foodborne illnesses
A novel composite film—created by the bonding of an antimicrobial layer to conventional, clear polyethylene plastic typically used to vacuum-package foods such as meat and fish—could help to decrease foodborne illness outbreaks, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
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Counting Antarctic penguins with AI
the British Antarctic Survey, the world's largest Emperor penguin colony has suffered unprecedented breeding issues for the past three years, is uniquely vulnerable to ongoing and projected climate change, and could virtually disappear by the year 2100. In order to study penguin populations, researchers first need to accurately count them. A new crowd counting solution from Intel AI Builder member
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Crucial reef species may survive ocean changes under climate change
A seaweed species crucial to the survival of coral reefs may be able to gain resistance to ocean changes caused by climate change, new Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington research recently published in Nature Climate Change shows.
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Migrants and the bond with God: Attachment and survival are linked
Life can be very challenging for new migrants who are faced with the realities of racism, loneliness and underemployment in their adopted countries. It is important for host communities to understand how best to help migrants settle in and achieve well-being.
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Warmer and acidified oceans can lead to 'hidden' changes in species behavior
Projected ocean warming and acidification not only impacts the behavior of individual species but also the wider marine ecosystems which are influenced by them, a new study shows.
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Walking sharks discovered in the tropics
Four new species of tropical sharks that use their fins to walk are causing a stir in waters off northern Australia and New Guinea.
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Novel composite antimicrobial film could take a bite out of foodborne illnesses
A novel composite film—created by the bonding of an antimicrobial layer to conventional, clear polyethylene plastic typically used to vacuum-package foods such as meat and fish—could help to decrease foodborne illness outbreaks, according to researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
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Counting Antarctic penguins with AI
the British Antarctic Survey, the world's largest Emperor penguin colony has suffered unprecedented breeding issues for the past three years, is uniquely vulnerable to ongoing and projected climate change, and could virtually disappear by the year 2100. In order to study penguin populations, researchers first need to accurately count them. A new crowd counting solution from Intel AI Builder member
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Crucial reef species may survive ocean changes under climate change
A seaweed species crucial to the survival of coral reefs may be able to gain resistance to ocean changes caused by climate change, new Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington research recently published in Nature Climate Change shows.
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Our best weapons against cancer are not magic bullets
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00116-2 Better health and social policy would save more lives than sophisticated drugs.
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Davos: Trump decries climate 'prophets of doom' with Thunberg in audience
The US president attacks activists at the World Economic Forum, with Greta Thunberg in the audience.
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Guns Are No Mere Symbol
Few places in the United States concentrate as much history in 14 acres as the grounds of the Virginia state capitol. Thomas Jefferson designed the capitol building; Patrick Henry laid its cornerstone; in 1807, Chief Justice John Marshall sat there to preside over the treason trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr. The capitol's second floor displays a Carrara-marble statue of George Washingto
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The Macabre Science of Mass Animal Die-Offs
Researchers are replicating "mass mortality events" with pig carcasses. The ecological consequences could hint at what's happening in Australia right now.
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The Tiny Brain Cells That Connect Our Mental and Physical Health
A new understanding of long-overlooked cells called microglia is challenging the assumption that body and brain function are completely independent.
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Making Public Transit Fairer to Women Demands Way More Data
Most transit systems aren't designed for women, who tend to run errands and care for children. But cities can't fix a problem they don't understand.
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Hidden hearing loss is hitting people of all ages. Neuroscientists are still debating why.
Some of the hearing loss we've blamed on age might be due to how many fire trucks we've stood next to. But there are still ways to diagnose—and protect—against that environmental damage. (Anthony Gerace/) Tucked inside the air traffic control tower in Portland, Maine, Samantha Bassett was busy making sure planes didn't crash into each other. All systems seemed normal that day in May 2014. Aircraf
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Image of the Day: 70 Years of Disease Research
A video chronicles the course of disease research and prompts questions about where scientists may focus their studies in the future.
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Physicists Probe Validity of Einstein's Gravity on Cosmic Scales
New tests could verify the general theory of relativity, or find flaws — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Davos: 'Forget about net zero, we need real zero' – Greta Thunberg
The 17-year-old activist tells world leaders that 'fiddling around with numbers' will not be enough.
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The Referees Have Taken Trump's Side
I've covered sports for 40 years, not politics. Maybe that's why I'm so bamboozled by this impeachment case in the U.S. Senate. Republicans are going to try Donald Trump with no witnesses? Some jurors have already announced they're voting not guilty ? The guy who makes the rules—Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky—gets his marching orders from the accused himself? Can you imagine if we did sports
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Technologies to watch in 2020
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00114-4 Thought leaders predict the tech developments that could have a big impact in the coming year.
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Scientists fear major volcanic eruption in the Philippines
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00128-y Activity on the volcanic island Taal has eased, but scientists say the threat is far from over.
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Tesla Hit With Reports of Unintended Acceleration
Tesla has made waves in the car industry, recently becoming the most valuable US auto manufacturer. It reached this lofty position on the strength of its all-electric designs and a robust autonomous system called Autopilot. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now investigating reports that Tesla's vehicles are suffering from unintended acceleration. When you hear the phr
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Immunology Cancer Discovery
The BBC headline reads: Immune discovery 'may treat all cancer' . Most health headlines, even of legitimate scientific discoveries, tend to be overhyped. All health discoveries, apparently, will either eventually cure cancer or the common cold. This headline is also overhyped, in my opinion, but this is a legitimate discovery with possible implications for future cancer treatment. What the scient
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New study confirms the importance of tiger population in Thailand forest complex
A new scientific survey has reinforced the importance of one of the world's only remaining breeding populations of Indochinese tigers and provided evidence of tiger cubs in eastern Thailand's Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex.
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New study confirms the importance of tiger population in Thailand forest complex
A new scientific survey has reinforced the importance of one of the world's only remaining breeding populations of Indochinese tigers and provided evidence of tiger cubs in eastern Thailand's Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex.
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Study uses physics to explain democratic elections
It may seem surprising, but theories and formulas derived from physics turn out to be useful tools for understanding the ways democratic elections work, including how these systems break down and how they could be improved.
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A chronicle of giant straight-tusked elephants
About 800,000 years ago, the giant straight-tusked elephant Palaeoloxodon migrated out of Africa and became widespread across Europe and Asia.
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Deep Antarctic drilling will reveal climate secrets trapped in 1.5 million-year-old ice
An ambitious mission to drill into the Antarctic ice sheet to extract some of the oldest ice on the planet will provide vital clues about a mysterious shift in the behaviour of our planet's climate.
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Solving an ancient dairy mystery could help cure modern food ills
Genghis Khan's conquering armies fed on dried curd as they crossed the vast steppes of Eurasia, ancient Romans imported pungent cheeses from France, and Bedouin tribes crossing the Arabian Desert have for centuries survived on camel's milk.
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Astronomers use 'cosmic echolocation' to map black hole surroundings
Material falling into a black hole casts X-rays out into space—and now astronomers have used the echoes of this radiation to map the dynamic behavior and surroundings of a black hole itself.
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Amazon to roll out 10,000 electric rickshaws in india by 2025. The initiative is part of the company's commitment to the climate pledge and amazon's aim to reduce carbon emissions the environmental impact of its delivery operations.
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Will SpaceX launch 33 starships a day for 30 days every 26 months? So make and fill 38 starships a month for 26 months??
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-plans-1-million-people-to-mars-by-2050-2020-1 Elon says that he plans to have 1 million people on Mars by 2050. 1,000 Starships will be launched every 26 months (during the Earth-Mars transfer window) over a period of 30 days (so an average of 33 starships a day). Each starship will carry 100 passengers, so thats 100,000 passengers to Mars every 26 months
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Toyota and BIG set to build futuristic city at the foot of Mt Fuji
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Immune cell which kills most cancers discovered by accident by British scientists in major breakthrough
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The global public overwhelmingly blames global warming on human activity, with some regions less trusting of climate science in 2020. The findings reinforce the urgent need for a collective approach from business, government and civil society to advance societal and environmental agendas
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Setting fires to avoid fires: Study outlines approaches countries like Australia must take to enable more prescribed burns in the future.
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Emissions of potent greenhouse gas rises, contradicting reports of huge reductions
Despite reports that global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) were almost eliminated in 2017, an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has found atmospheric levels growing at record values.
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Flight through the comet Chury's dust cloud resolves chemical mystery
Under the leadership of astrophysicist Kathrin Altwegg, Bernese researchers have found an explanation for why very little nitrogen could previously be accounted for in the nebulous covering of comets: the building block for life predominantly occurs in the form of ammonium salts, the occurrence of which could not previously be measured. The salts may be a further indication that comet impacts may
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Trump Davos speech: 'This is not a time for pessimism'
The US president called for the rejection of "the perennial prophets of doom" during his speech.
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Can the Universe Provide Us with the Meaning of Life?
Astronomy and space exploration might offer a new perspective on our purpose in the cosmos — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Hookworm Runs Rampant in Schools
Originally published in March 1915 — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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America's Most Powerful Medical-Debt Collector
SAN MARCOS, Texas—In the autumn of 2012, Ricardo Gonzalez Jurado was 25 feet off the ground, balancing on metal scaffolding as he sawed a stack of wood. Gonzalez Jurado owns a Central Texas yoga retreat—an oasis deep in the woods where he's built a cluster of small houses for customers seeking a few days of bodily and spiritual cleansing. That day, he was precariously constructing a large, hollow
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US, UK ratify treaty to protect Titanic wreck
Britain on Tuesday hailed a new treaty with the United States that seeks to protect the wreck of the Titanic from damage by explorers and tourists.
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Bangladesh factories ordered shut to save key river
Bangladesh's high court has ordered the shutdown of 231 factories that have contributed to Dhaka's main river becoming one of the world's most polluted, a lawyer said Tuesday.
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Global resource consumption tops 100 bn tonnes for first time
The world is using up more than 100 billion tonnes of natural resources per year for the first time ever while global recycling of raw materials has fallen, according to a report released Tuesday.
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AI Can Do Great Things—if It Doesn't Burn the Planet
The computing power required for AI landmarks, such as recognizing images and defeating humans at Go, increased 300,000-fold from 2012 to 2018.
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Can the Universe Provide Us with the Meaning of Life?
Astronomy and space exploration might offer a new perspective on our purpose in the cosmos — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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This Is Not the Senate the Framers Imagined
Alexander Hamilton called it—almost. In his essay "Federalist No. 65," Hamilton recognized the possibility that the Senate's judgment in an impeachment trial "will be regulated more by the comparative strength of parties, than by the real demonstrations of innocence or guilt." He pushed that concern aside, though, and concluded that only the Senate was up to the task of conducting a presidential-
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A Simple Twist of Thermodynamics Could Lead to Greener Refrigeration
Fibers that become colder when they are untwisted could inspire more environmentally-friendly fridges — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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A Simple Twist of Thermodynamics Could Lead to Greener Refrigeration
Fibers that become colder when they are untwisted could inspire more environmentally-friendly fridges — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Greta Thunberg's Message at Davos Forum: 'Our House Is Still on Fire'
The activist punched a hole in the promises emerging from a forum of the global political and business elite at Davos, telling the leaders to stop investing in fossil fuels immediately.
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Nordhavn-metro står klar til april – men sådan vil det ikke se ud på overfladen
PLUS. Når metroen til Nordhavn åbner omkring 1. april, vil pladserne omkring metrostationerne stadig fremstå ufærdige. Først i 2025 vil begge stationspladser være helt færdige.
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More Data On The Midlife Crisis
An economist uses a broad range of data from 132 countries to understand why middle age is such a drag. (Image credit: Nick Youngson/ImageCreator)
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The path to less stress? Strategic pessimism.
The centuries old philosophy of Stoicism may hold the key to a kind of happiness that is more grounded in reality. The two main ideas of stoic happiness are that problems are caused by your reactions to events not the events themselves, and the only things you can control are your thoughts and your actions. Choosing strategic pessimism over optimism and positive thinking is one way to avoid "unne
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Grafik: Slusepumpe forhindrer oversvømmelser i Ishøj
PLUS. Danmark har meget kystnær beboelse, der ligger lavt ved å-systemer. Når man er truet af vand fra to sider, kan nødpumpestationer være en god løsning – som pumpen ved Ishøj Havn, der holder vandstanden nede i et å-system i hele seks kommuner.
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Coronavirus: keep calm, carry on
Fear of financial contagion is a bigger risk to markets than the medical kind
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Sharing space with 34 million dead insects
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00115-3 Museum entomologist Erica McAlister finds joy in the huge and growing diversity of her collections while extracting DNA from century-old specimens.
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Journal retracts 30-year-old paper by controversial psychologist Hans Eysenck
The International Journal of Sport Psychology has retracted a paper by the late — and controversial — psychologist Hans Eysenck, whose work has faced doubts since the early 1990s. The paper, published in 1990, was one of dozens by Eysenck and Ronald Grossarth-Maticek found to be "unsafe" by King's College London, but appears to be … Continue reading
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The Disintegration of the American Presidency
On January 13, 2020, a political scientist named Daniel Drezner tweeted a screenshot of a Washington Post article, along with a cheeky comment: "I'll believe that Trump is growing into the presidency when his staff stops talking about him like a toddler." The screenshot showed a quotation about handling the president from a former senior administration official: "He'd get spun up, and if you boug
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Dyson's New Task Light Is Easy on the Eyes
The sleek, internet-connected lamp uses real-time data to illuminate your workspace and protect your precious peepers from strain.
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The Unbearable Softness of Engineered Fabrics
The human senses never cease detecting things the brain finds a way to dread.
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Worried About Privacy at Home? There's an AI for That
How edge AI will provide devices with just enough smarts to get the job done without spilling all your secrets to the mothership.
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The Secret History of Facial Recognition
Sixty years ago, a sharecropper's son invented a technology to identify faces. Then the record of his role all but vanished. Who was Woody Bledsoe, and who was he working for?
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Behind the Scenes at Rotten Tomatoes
Humans, not algorithms, determine those ubiquitous scores. Good ingredients, imperfect recipe.
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The Blurred Boundaries of Work-From-Home Parenting
The same technology that's made working from home easier than ever has fundamentally changed what "home" means to me.
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All the Cool Kids Are Using Tiny Clackety Keyboards
People love mechanical keyboards for their tactile springiness, but their size can overwhelm your desk space. Try a compact version instead.
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Six-World Sci-Fi: Reboot Democracy for the Digital Age
Each month we publish a six-word story—and it could be written by you.
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ASMR and the Soothing Power of Experts
Come for the tingly auditory triggers, stay for the existential coping mechanism.
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Angry Nerd: YouTube Can't Help You
All I wanted was some advice on fixing my Xbox voice chat. I'm never getting that time back.
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Upgrade Your Business Trip With These In-Flight Essentials
Stay productive, comfortable, and entertained while you wing your way to another very important meeting.
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These Standing Desks Rise Above the Competition
Get up, get down. Get your work done at a flexible desk. Here are two outstanding options.
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Automated Solar Arrays Could Help Incinerate Global Warming
Software-driven systems can produce enough searing heat to power manufacturing processes that now gorge on fossil fuels.
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New EU science chief warns of drop-off in UK research funding
Mauro Ferrari joins organisation at a tricky time and says his focus is on identifying 'breakthrough people' At the age of 43, Mauro Ferrari astonished his peers by giving up his career as a highly regarded professor of engineering at the University of California in Berkeley to enrol at medical school. He had been driven to find a cure for the cancer that had killed his wife at the age of 32, lea
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Kommune sendte personlige elevdata til Google uden samtykke
Helsingør Kommune har udleveret personoplysninger på kommunens elever til Youtube uden at have fået samtykke fra forældrene. Da problemet blev opdaget, orienterede kommunen ikke Datatilsynet om sagen.
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Zebrafisk gør forskere klogere på hjerteflimmer
Genetisk forskning i zebrafisk på Københavns Universitet har overrasket forskerne, der står…
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Tværkommunalt rygestoptilbud modtager stor initiativpris
På fem år er er der sket en fordobling af antallet af rygere, der siger ja tak til at være med i Vestegnen og Sydamagers rygestoptilbud 'Bliv en vinder uden tobak'. Det er et forbilledligt initiativ, som gør projektet til vinder af Kommunal Sundheds store initiativpris 'Den Gyldne Tråd'.
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Preparing land for palm oil causes most climate damage
New research has found preparing land for palm oil plantations and the growth of young plants causes significantly more damage to the environment, emitting double the amount of greenhouse gases than mature plantations.
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Emissions of potent greenhouse gas have grown, contradicting reports of huge reductions
Despite reports that global emissions of the potent greenhouse gas were almost eliminated in 2017, an international team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, has found atmospheric levels growing at record values.
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Photonic integrated field-programmable disk array signal processor
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-14249-0 FPGAs have long been of interest as reconfigurable circuits, but their electronic nature provides eventual limitations. Here the authors demonstrate a photonic digital signal processor that is field programmable using arrays of microdisk resonators.
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Structure-guided design of pure orthosteric inhibitors of αIIbβ3 that prevent thrombosis but preserve hemostasis
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-13928-2 Current inhibitors of platelet integrin αIIbβ3 cause excessive bleeding, which limited their clinical use in cardiac patients. Here the authors design pure orthosteric αIIbβ3 inhibitors that prevent platelet aggregation and thrombosis without causing bleeding in humanized mouse models of thrombosis
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Interplay of water and a supramolecular capsule for catalysis of reductive elimination reaction from gold
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-14251-6 Supramolecular catalytic assemblies attract enormous interest due to their activity that rivals natural enzymes. Using ab initio molecular dynamics, the authors show that a gold catalyst in a Ga4L612- nanocage, while impeded by reorganization energy, is accelerated by hosting a catalytic water molecule.
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Reaction scope and mechanistic insights of nickel-catalyzed migratory Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-14016-1 Migratory cross-coupling reactions are powerful tools to form bonds at predictable positions. Here the authors report a nickel-catalyzed migratory Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling of unactivated alkyl electrophiles with aryl and vinyl boron reagents and provide experimental and computational mechanistic evidence
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Synthesis of difluoromethylated allenes through trifunctionalization of 1,3-enynes
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-14254-3 Fluorinated or fluoroalkylated allenes are versatile building blocks for medicinal and material chemistry. Here, the authors show a regioselective trifunctionalization of 1,3-enynes proceeding through double C-F bond formation and concomitant installation of a -NSO2Ph group to the allene moiety.
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Hepatitis Delta Virus histone mimicry drives the recruitment of chromatin remodelers for viral RNA replication
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14299-9 Histone mimicry of viral components is a strategy to subvert host factors for virus replication. Here, the authors show that an acetylated histone-like motif of the small Hepatitis Delta Antigen (S-HDAg) interacts with the chromatin remodeler BAZ2B to recruit the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase II for HDV RNA re
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Functionalization of remote C(sp3)-H bonds enabled by copper-catalyzed coupling of O-acyloximes with terminal alkynes
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14292-2 Sonogashira cross-coupling is a powerful strategy to prepare functionalized internal alkynes. Here, the authors report a domino sequence for the generation of γ-/δ-alkynyl nitriles and γ-alkynyl ketones from the coupling of terminal alkynes with O-acyloximes derived from cycloalkanones and acylic ketones, res
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Haplotyping the Vitis collinear core genome with rhAmpSeq improves marker transferability in a diverse genus
Nature Communications, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-019-14280-1 Trait introgression requires universal markers, but cross-species transferability of current SNP markers can be as low as 2%. Here, the authors use an AmpSeq haplotype strategy targeting the collinear core genome for marker development and show transferability increases to 91.4% in the Vitis genus.
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Derfor går Den Gyldne Tråd til 'Bliv en vinder uden tobak'
'Bliv en vinder uden tobak' er en tværsektoriel indsats, der med en enkel metode har opnået markante resultater på et område, der kan være svært at lykkes med, lyder det fra to medlemmer af Den Gyldne Tråds dommerkomite.
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Grant lottery: don't stall ideas and careers
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00136-y
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Climate change: how to pack a punch at meetings
Nature, Published online: 21 January 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00134-0
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