242 articles from WEDNESDAY 4.12.2019

NASA's Parker Solar Probe sheds new light on the sun

Since its 2018 launch, NASA's Parker Solar Probe (record-holder for closest-ever spacecraft to the Sun) has finished three of 24 planned passes through never-before-explored parts of the Sun's atmosphere. On Dec. 4, four new papers describe what scientists have learned from its unprecedented exploration, and what they look forward to learning next.

New 'hyper glue' formula developed by UBCO and UVic researchers

With many of the products we use every day held together by adhesives, researchers from UBC's Okanagan campus and the University of Victoria hope to make everything from protective clothing to medical implants and residential plumbing stronger and more corrosion resistant thanks to a newly-developed 'hyper glue' formula.

New cell models for ocular drug discovery

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland have developed two new cell models that can open up new avenues for ocular drug discovery. The new cell models are continuously growing retinal pigment epithelial cells, which have many benefits over the models currently used by researchers and pharmaceutical companies.

New diagnostic techniques and drug may slow and even reverse cognitive decline from aging

When given the new drug to reduce inflammation, senile mice had fewer signs of dysfunctional brain electrical activity and were better able to learn new tasks, becoming almost cognitively adept as mice half their age. Other findings indicate two practical pathways -- measuring the leakiness of the blood-brain barrier via MRI and abnormal electrical brain activity via EEG -- that can be used to...

New technology CF LINK for protein bioconjugation and structural proteomics

CF Plus Chemicals, a spin-off of ETH Zurich, IOCB Prague, and IMIC have developed a new technology called CF LINK for site-selective bioconjugation of proteins and also their structural characterization. The recently published, patent-pending technology allows to selectively prepare protein conjugates via their tryptophan residues and perform posttranslational modification of aromatic amino acids....

Online therapy helped cardiovascular disease patients with depression

Researchers at Linköping University have developed a treatment for depression among people with cardiovascular disease. The results, recently published in JMIR Mental Health, show that cardiovascular disease patients who underwent internet-based therapy for their depression became less depressed and gained a better quality of life.

Parker Solar Probe traces solar wind to its source on sun's surface: coronal holes

New data from the Parker Solar Probe, which got closer to the sun than any other spacecraft, allowed physicists to map the source of a major component of the solar wind that continually peppers Earth. The slow solar wind seems to emerge from coronal holes along the sun's equator. Data also reveal strange magnetic field reversals that could be accelerating solar wind particles, and an unexpectedly...

Permanent hair dye and straighteners may increase breast cancer risk

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health found that women who use permanent hair dye and chemical hair straighteners have a higher risk of developing breast cancer than women who don't use these products. The study published online Dec. 4 in the International Journal of Cancer and suggests that breast cancer risk increased with more frequent use of these chemical hair products.

Probiotic may help treat colic in infants

Probiotics -- or 'good bacteria' -- have been used to treat infant colic with varying success. In a new trial published in the journal Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, investigators have shown that drops containing a particular probiotic strain (Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12) reduced the duration of daily crying by more than 50% in 80% of the 40 infants who received the...

Researchers decipher small Dead Sea mammal's vocal communication

With the Law of Brevity in mind, researchers examined whether call amplitude, rather than call duration, might be the main factor by which animal vocal repertoires are optimized. They fitted rock hyraxes with audio recorders and logged all of their calls, creating full vocal repertoire. The researchers demonstrate how changing necessities can affect the development of different voices for various...

Researchers discover a new, young volcano in the Pacific

Researchers from Tohoku University have discovered a new petit-spot volcano at the oldest section of the Pacific Plate. The research team, led by Associate Professor Naoto Hirano of the Center for Northeast Asian Studies, published their discovery in the in the journal Deep-Sea Research Part I.

Respiration key to increase oxygen in the brain

Contrary to accepted knowledge, blood can bring more oxygen to mice brains when they exercise because the increased respiration packs more oxygen into the hemoglobin, according to an international team of researchers who believe that this holds true for all mammals.