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45 articles from ScienceDaily

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.

Surprisingly dense exoplanet challenges planet formation theories

New detailed observations 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.

Recovering data: Neural network model finds small objects in dense images

In efforts to automatically capture important data from scientific papers, computer scientists have developed a method that can accurately detect small, geometric objects such as triangles within dense, low-quality plots contained in image data. Employing a neural network approach designed to detect patterns, the model has many possible applications in modern life.

Artificial organelles created to control cellular behavior

Biomedical engineers have demonstrated a method for controlling the phase separation of an emerging class of proteins to create artificial membrane-less organelles within human cells. The advance, similar to controlling how vinegar forms droplets within oil, creates opportunities for engineering synthetic structures to modulate existing cell functions or create entirely new behaviors within cells....

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

Biomedical engineers 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, less expensive and...

Between shark and ray: The evolutionary advantage of the sea angels

Angel sharks are sharks, but with their peculiarly flat body they rather resemble rays. An international research team has now investigated the origin of this body shape. The results illustrate how these sharks evolved into highly specialized, exclusively bottom-dwelling ambush predators and thus also contribute to a better understanding of their threat from environmental changes.

The wrong track: How papillomaviruses trick the immune system

Specific antibodies protect us against viral infections - or do they not? Researchers studied the immune response to papillomaviruses in mice and discovered a hitherto unknown mechanism by which the pathogens outwit the immune system: At the beginning of the infection cycle, they produce a longer version of a protein that surrounds the viral genome. The body produces antibodies against this...

Nanostructures modeled on moth eyes effective for anti-icing

Researchers have been working for decades on improving the anti-icing performance of functional surfaces and new work investigates a unique nanostructure, modeled on moth eyes, that has anti-icing properties. Moth eyes are of interest because they have a distinct ice-phobic and transparent surface. The researchers fabricated the moth eye nanostructure on a quartz substrate that was covered with a...

The problem with microwaving tea

Through convection, as the liquid toward the bottom of a container warms up, it becomes less dense and moves to the top, allowing a cooler section of the liquid to contact the heating source. This ultimately results in a uniform temperature. Inside a microwave, however, the electric field acting as the heating source exists everywhere and the convection process does not occur.

A normal DNA repair process can become a major source of mutations in cancer

The mechanism unveiled triggers a mutation fog, causing hundreds of mutations in each tumor, which spread through the genome of lung, head-and-neck and breast cancers. Researchers have identified the antiviral APOBEC3A enzyme as the major cause of this new type of hypermutation. Published in Nature Genetics, the study shows how the mutation fog process generates many oncogenic ''cancer driver''...

New study shows how infrared lasers destroy harmful protein aggregates in Alzheimer's

The agglomeration of proteins into structures called amyloid plaques is a common feature of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's. Now, scientists reveal, through experiments and simulations, how resonance with an infrared laser, when it is tuned to a specific frequency, causes amyloid fibrils to disintegrate from the inside out. Their findings open doors to novel therapeutic...

The quiet Sun is much more active than we thought

For a long time, researchers have believed that there is not much of interest going on in the Sun during the passive period, therefore not worth studying. Now this assumption is showed to be false. This is the first time that astronomers are systematically studying the phenomena of the solar minimum.