155 articles from TUESDAY 19.11.2019

Endangered whales react to environmental changes

Some 'canaries' are 50 feet long, weigh 70 tons, and are nowhere near a coal mine. But the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale is sending the same kind of message about disruptive change in the environment by rapidly altering its use of important habitat areas off the New England coast.

Evidence in mice that childhood asthma is influenced by the neurotransmitter dopamine

Neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine communicate with T cells to enhance allergic inflammation in the lungs of young mice but not older mice, researchers report. The findings potentially explain why asthma susceptibility is higher in children. By highlighting the important role of interactions between the nervous system and the immune system in childhood asthma, the results could...

Scientists use modern technology to understand how ochre paint was created in pictographs

Ochre was often used as a vivid red paint in ancient rock art known as pictographs. Despite its broad use throughout human history and a modern focus on how the artistic symbolism is interpreted, little research exists on the paint itself and how it was produced. Now, scientists are using electron microscopes to understand how ochre paint was created by hunter-gatherers in North America to produce...

Study on surface damage to vehicles traveling at hypersonic speeds

Vehicles moving at hypersonic speeds are bombarded with ice crystals and dust particles in the surrounding atmosphere, making the surface material vulnerable to damage such as erosion and sputtering with each tiny collision. Researchers studied this interaction one molecule at a time to understand the processes, then scaled up the data to make it compatible with simulations that require a larger...

Dopamine fasting: why Silicon Valley is trying to avoid all forms of stimulation

It’s the latest trend in the world’s tech capital. But is it really possible to cut yourself off from everything in life that excites you – and can it be any good for you?They have done biohacking, clean sleeping and the keto diet, but now Silicon Valley types have coined a new health trend – dopamine fasting. It is thought that depriving yourself of the neurotransmitter, a chemical...