315 articles from MONDAY 18.5.2020

First tunable, chip-based 'vortex microlaser' and detector

To break through a looming bandwidth bottleneck, engineers are exploring some of light's harder-to-control properties. Now, two new studies have shown a system that can manipulate and detect one such property: orbital angular momentum. Critically, they are the first to do so on small semiconductor chips and with enough precision that it can be used as a medium for transmitting information.

Scientists find brain center that 'profoundly' shuts down pain

A research team has found a small area of the brain in mice that can profoundly control the animals' sense of pain. Somewhat unexpectedly, this brain center turns pain off, not on. It's located in an area where few people would have thought to look for an anti-pain center, the amygdala, which is often considered the home of negative emotions and responses, like the fight or flight response and...

Even biodiverse coral reefs still vulnerable to climate change and invasive species

A new study reveals clear evidence highlighting the importance of fish biodiversity to the health of spectacular tropical coral reef ecosystems. However, the study's results show that even though strong relationships between diversity and a healthy ecosystem persist, human-driven pressures of warming oceans and invasive species still diminish ecosystems in various ways.

How climate killed corals

A squad of climate-related factors is responsible for the massive Australian coral bleaching event of 2016. If we're counting culprits: it's two by sea, one by land.

Mother roundworms have ultra-protective instincts

Biologists have learned animals can alert future offspring of dangers they will encounter when born. In studies with roundworms and mouse cells, researchers showed how mothers pass chemical signals to their unfertilized eggs, where the warning is stored in the egg cells and passed to offspring after birth.

High five! It's possible to create proximity online

Despite physical distance, it's possible to create proximity between family members located in different places. This is according to a study that has investigated how video calls bring family members together. The results show that proximity in video calls is established mainly by way of the body and the senses, e.g. by giving a digital high five.

A new tool to map the flow of info within living cells

Researchers created a way to study the intricacies of intercellular signaling -- when, where, and how tiny parts of cells communicate -- to make cells move. The work provides insights into the movement mechanisms in healthy cells and what these change might look like disease states, such as cancer metastasis.

Global study confirms influential theory behind loss aversion

A new global study offers a powerful confirmation of one of the most influential frameworks in all of behavioral sciences and behavioral economics: prospect theory, which when introduced in 1979 led to a sea change in understanding the irrational and paradoxical ways individuals make decisions and interpret risk. The new study in 19 countries and 13 languages replicates the original study that...

Mindfulness training shows promise for people with MS

New research suggests mindfulness training may help multiple sclerosis patients in two very different ways: regulating negative emotions and improving processing speed. People with MS who underwent the four-week mindfulness training not only improved more compared to those who did nothing - they also improved compared to those who tried another treatment, called adaptive cognitive training.

Graphene-reinforced carbon fiber may lead to affordable, stronger car materials

A new way of creating carbon fibers -- which are typically expensive to make -- could one day lead to using these lightweight, high-strength materials to improve safety and reduce the cost of producing cars, according to a team of researchers. Using a mix of computer simulations and laboratory experiments, the team found that adding small amounts of the 2D graphene to the production process both...

Maintaining heart health may protect against cognitive decline

People with a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease have increased cognitive decline, including an increase in typical markers of Alzheimer's disease, suggesting that monitoring and controlling for heart disease may be key to maintaining and improving cognitive health later in life.