178 articles from MONDAY 2.12.2019

Study identifies brain networks that play crucial role in suicide risk

An international team of researchers has identified key networks within the brain they say interact to increase the risk that an individual will think about -- or attempt -- suicide. In an article published today in Molecular Psychiatry, the researchers say their review of existing literature highlights how little research has been done into one of the world's major killers, particularly among the...

Sustaining roads with grape and agricultural waste

The US spends $5 billion a year to repair damages to road infrastructure from winter snow and ice control operations and the use of traditional deicers. A team of researchers at WSU is developing a more sustainable solution using grape skins and other agricultural waste.

Sweet potato uses a single odor to warn its neighbors of insect attack

A single volatile substance can be sufficient to induce a defense response in sweet potatoes to herbivores. Researchers have identified this substance and shown that the mechanism is not only limited to the attacked plant itself but also alerts unaffected neighboring plants to defend themselves against attackers. This response is specific and not observed in every sweet potato cultivar. The...

Taste-related protein provides target for drugs to treat neurological disorders

Understanding how the brain processes sweet, bitter and umami tastes may one day help researchers design more effective drugs for neurological disorders. Van Andel Institute scientists have for the first time revealed the near atomic-level structure of a calcium homeostasis modulator (CALHM), a type of protein that plays critical roles in processing taste stimuli and mitigating toxicity in brain...

The impact of molecular rotation on a peculiar isotope effect on water hydrogen bonds

Quantum nature of hydrogen bonds in water manifests itself in peculiar physicochemical isotope effects: while deuteration often elongates and weakens hydrogen bonds of typical hydrogen-bonded systems composed of bulky constituent molecules, it elongates but strengthens hydrogen bonds of water molecular aggregates. The origin of this unique isotope effect of water molecules remains to be elucidated...

Tiny woodlands are more important than previously thought

Small woodlands in farmland have more benefits for humans per area, compared to large forests according to a new study. The small woodlands, sometimes even smaller than a football field, can easily go unnoticed in agricultural landscapes. Yet, these small forest remnants can store more carbon in the topsoil layer, are more suitable for hunting activities and host fewer ticks than large forests.

Astronomers find stellar black hole so large it shouldn't exist

Just because there's a picture of a black hole doesn't mean astronomers have figured out how they work. Chinese-led researchers have detected a stellar black hole in the Milky Way with a mass so large that it breaks current stellar evolution models. LB-1, a black hole 15,000 light-years away, has a mass 70 times greater than that of the Sun -- previous estimates suggested that no stellar...