291 articles from TUESDAY 4.8.2020

New molecule reverses Alzheimer's-like memory decline

A drug candidate previously shown to slow aging in brain cells, successfully reversed memory loss in a mouse model of inherited Alzheimer's disease. The new research also revealed that the drug, CMS121, works by changing how brain cells metabolize fatty molecules known as lipids.

Researchers discover how a protein reduces the adverse impact of water loss in cells

A University of Houston College of Medicine researcher has found how a protein inside the body reduces the adverse effects of hypertonicity, an imbalance of water and solutes inside cells. Hypertonicity causes cell shrinkage and eventual cell death. The findings could have implications for a wide range of illnesses including edema from brain tumors, autoimmune diseases and kidney damage.

Terrawatch: lasting legacy of Taiwan's 2009 typhoon season

Typhoon Morakot left country with more quakes after changing stress pattern in Earth’s crustEleven years ago, Typhoon Morakot slammed into Taiwan, deluging the country with 3,000 litres of rain per square metre in three days. Catastrophic flooding and landslides followed and more than 600 people died.It is considered one of the worst tropical cyclones in Taiwan’s recorded history. But that...

NASA's Aqua satellite shows two views of the Apple Fire

NASA's Aqua satellite took images of the Apple Fire as it continued to spread north across the head of the Mill Creek Canyon, and east into the San Gorgonio Wilderness near San Bernardino, Calif. on Aug. 03, 2020. The fire is now burning into more wilderness (where vegetation is sparse) than wooded area limiting the intensity of the fire due to a lack of fuel. Continued fire activity is due to the...

Scientists propose a novel method for controlling fusion reactions

Scientists have found a novel way to prevent pesky magnetic bubbles in plasma from interfering with fusion reactions—delivering a potential way to improve the performance of fusion energy devices. And it comes from managing radio frequency (RF) waves to stabilize the magnetic bubbles, which can expand and create disruptions that can limit the performance of ITER, the international facility under...

AI may offer a better way to ID drug-resistant superbugs

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have shown that different strains of the same bacterial pathogen can be distinguished by a machine learning analysis of their growth dynamics alone, which can then also accurately predict other traits such as resistance to antibiotics. The demonstration could point to methods for identifying diseases and predicting their behaviors that are faster, simpler,...

In a warming world, New England's trees are storing more carbon

Climate change has increased the productivity of forests, according to a new study that synthesizes hundreds of thousands of carbon observations collected over the last quarter century at the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research site, one of the most intensively studied forests in the world.

Surprisingly dense exoplanet challenges planet formation theories

New detailed observations with NSF's NOIRLab facilities reveal a young exoplanet, orbiting a young star in the Hyades cluster, that is unusually dense for its size and age. Weighing in at 25 Earth-masses, and slightly smaller than Neptune, this exoplanet's existence is at odds with the predictions of leading planet formation theories.

Scientists Uncover Biological Signatures of the Worst COVID-19 Cases

Scientists are beginning to untangle one of the most complex biological mysteries of the coronavirus pandemic: Why do some people get severely sick, whereas others quickly recover?In certain patients, according to a flurry of recent studies, the virus appears to make the immune system go haywire.Unable to marshal the right cells and molecules to fight off the invader, the bodies of the infected...