28 articles from SATURDAY 14.12.2019

Following the lizard lung labyrinth

Birds and mammals are on extreme ends of the airflow spectrum. Mammals inhale oxygen-rich air and they exhale depleted air, exhibiting a so-called tidal flow pattern. In contrast, bird breath travels tidally through part of the respiratory system, but in a one-way loop throughout most of the lung. Biologists have discovered that Savannah monitor lizards have lung structures that are hybrid system...

Conscious visual perception occurs outside the visual system

A new study finds that the conscious perception of visual location occurs in the frontal lobes of the brain, rather than in the visual system in the back of the brain. The results are significant given the ongoing debate among neuroscientists on what consciousness is and where it happens in the brain.

Mitochondria are the 'canary in the coal mine' for cellular stress

Mitochondria, tiny structures present in most cells, are known for their energy-generating machinery. Now, researchers have discovered a new function of mitochondria: they set off molecular alarms when cells are exposed to stress or chemicals that can damage DNA, such as chemotherapy. The results could lead to new cancer treatments that prevent tumors from becoming resistant to chemotherapy.

Excessive antibiotic prescriptions for children in low-, middle-income countries

Between 2007 and 2017, children in eight low- and middle-income countries received, on average, 25 antibiotic prescriptions from birth through age 5 -- up to five times higher than the already high levels observed in high-income settings. The number of antibiotic prescriptions for young children ranged from one per year for children in Senegal to 12 per year for children in Uganda.

UN climate talks unravelling, face failure

A UN climate summit in Madrid risked collapsing Saturday after all-night negotiations between countries left them more divided than ever over on how to fight global warming and pay for its ravages.

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock: ‘I have no doubt that aliens are out there’

The space scientist, 51, on appearing in The Clangers, being the class clown, how science can save us and extraterrestial life formsI can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by space. I was born in 1968, a year before the moon landings. It’s hard now to comprehend just how exciting that was for my generation. It really was moon madness. But it was also because of The Clangers, the...

Researchers get their hands dirty in one of the last frontiers of science

Several researchers from across Canada have teamed up to get the dirt on dirt."It's fascinating because soil is one of the last frontiers," said Claudia Goyer of Agriculture Canada in Fredericton.Goyer and her colleagues are attempting to collect and document all of the organic matter and micro-organisms in topsoil — with a focus on agricultural land and forests.They'll compile...

US finally giving boot to official foot measurement

Change is afoot for the official measuring stick used to size up big places in America. Some land surveyors use what’s known as the U.S. survey foot. Others use the definition that’s more accepted by the broader world: the international...

Mitochondria are the 'canary in the coal mine' for cellular stress

Mitochondria, tiny structures present in most cells, are known for their energy-generating machinery. Now, Salk researchers have discovered a new function of mitochondria: they set off molecular alarms when cells are exposed to stress or chemicals that can damage DNA, such as chemotherapy. The results, published online in Nature Metabolism on December 9, 2019, could lead to new cancer treatments...

Richer nations accused of stalling progress on climate crisis

Brazil, India and China singled out in UN talks as acting to block agreement on article 6 of Paris agreementPoor countries have accused a handful of richer nations of holding up progress on tackling the climate crisis at UN talks in Madrid, as demonstrators and activists vented their frustration in the final hours of two weeks of negotiations.The talks, which had been due to end on Friday, dragged...

Satellite evades ‘day of reckoning' to discover puzzling weather phenomenon on Jupiter

At first glance, these newly released images by NASA may look like lava churning in the heart of a volcano, but they reveal otherworldly storm systems whirling in a way that surprised scientists.The swirls in the photos are cyclones around Jupiter's south pole, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Nov. 3, 2019. Juno has been orbiting the solar system's largest planet since 2016 and...