317 articles from TUESDAY 26.5.2020

Researchers call for new approach to some mental disorders

Depression, anxiety and PTSD might not be disorders at all, according to a recent paper by Washington State University biological anthropologists. In the paper, the researchers propose a new approach to mental illness that would be informed by human evolution, noting that modern psychology, and in particular its use of drugs like antidepressants, has largely failed to reduce the prevalence of...

Researchers capture rarely heard narwhal vocalizations (video)

With the help of Inuit hunters, geophysicists recently recorded the various calls, buzzes, clicks and whistles of narwhals as they summered in a Greenland fjord. The recordings help scientists better understand the soundscape of Arctic glacial fjords and provide valuable insight into the behavior of these shy and mysterious creatures, according to the researchers.

Schizophrenia: When the thalamus misleads the ear

Scientists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the Synapsy National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) have succeeded in linking the onset of auditory hallucinations - one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia - with the abnormal development of certain substructures of a region deep in the brain called the thalamus. The results, published in the journal Biological Psychiatry: CNNI,...

Scientists find optimal age of stem cells

Biophysicists from MIPT and Vladimirsky Moscow Regional Clinical Research Institute have determined the optimal age of reprogrammed stem cells suitable for restoring heart tissue. It spans the period roughly from day 15 until day 28 of maturation.

Similar to humans, chimpanzees develop slowly

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have systematically investigated developmental milestones in wild chimpanzees of the Taï National Park (Ivory Coast) and found that they develop slowly, requiring more than five years to reach key motor, communication and social milestones. This timeframe is similar to humans, suggesting slow maturation...

Study finds electrical fields can throw a curveball

MIT researchers have discovered a phenomenon that could be harnessed to control the movement of tiny particles floating in suspension. This approach, which requires simply applying an external electric field, may ultimately lead to new ways of performing certain industrial or medical processes that require separation of tiny suspended materials.

Sugar turns brown algae into good carbon stores

Brown algae are important players in the global carbon cycle by fixing large amounts of carbon dioxide and thus extracting this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Moreover, because microbial decomposition of dead brown algae is slower than that of other marine plants, carbon dioxide fixed by brown algae remains much longer in the sea. Scientists from Bremen therefore explored why brown algae...

Terrestrial bacteria can grow on nutrients from space

As inevitable fellow travellers on the bodies of astronauts, spaceships, or equipment, terrestrial microorganisms will undoubtedly come into contact with extraterrestrial environments. Researchers from the Radboudumc describe in an article in Astrobiology that bacteria can survive on an 'extraterrestrial diet', which affected their pathogenic potential.

The first 3D map of the heart's neurons

An interdisciplinary research team establishes a new technological pipeline to build a 3D map of the neurons in the heart, revealing foundational insight into their role in heart attacks and other cardiac conditions.