273 articles from MONDAY 24.8.2020
No safe level of coffee drinking for pregnant women, study says
Cut out caffeine to help avoid miscarriage, low birth weight and stillbirth, paper advisesPregnant women should cut out coffee completely to help avoid miscarriage, low birth weight and stillbirth, according to a study of international evidence about caffeine and pregnancy.In contradiction to official guidance in the UK, US and Europe, there is no safe level for caffeine consumption during...
Optical illusions explained in a fly's eyes
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 23:04
Why people perceive motion in some static images has mystified not only those who view these optical illusions but neuroscientists who have tried to explain the phenomenon. Now neuroscientists have found some answers in the eyes of flies.
Climate change and land use are accelerating soil erosion by water
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
Soil loss due to water runoff could increase greatly around the world over the next 50 years due to climate change and intensive land cultivation.
Advanced biofuels show real promise for replacing some fossil fuels
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
A new study predicted significant climate benefits stemming from the use of advanced biofuel technologies.
Machines rival expert analysis of stored red blood cell quality
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
Once outside the body, stored blood begins degrading until, by day 42, they're no longer usable. Until now, assessing its quality has required laborious microscopic examination by human experts. A new study reveals two methodologies that combine machine learning and state-of-the-art imaging to automate the process and eliminate human bias. If standardized, it could ensure more consistent, accurate...
Online searches for 'chest pain' rise, emergency visits for heart attack drop amid COVID-19
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
A study of search engine queries addressed the question of whether online searches for chest pain symptoms correlated to reports of fewer people going to the emergency department with acute heart problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reprogramming immune cells to reduce inflammation, promote tissue repair
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
A new study suggests that macrophage programming is more complex than previously thought.
Scientists get atomistic picture of platinum catalyst degradation
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
Degradation of platinum, used as a key electrode material in the hydrogen economy, severely shortens the lifetime of electrochemical energy conversion devices, such as fuel cells. For the first time, scientists elucidated the movements of the platinum atoms that lead to catalyst surface degradation.
Fossils reveal diversity of animal life roaming Europe 2 million years ago
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:56
A re-analysis of fossils from one of Europe's most significant paleontological sites reveals a wide diversity of animal species, including a large terrestrial monkey, short-necked giraffe, rhinos and saber-toothed cats. These and other species roamed the open grasslands of Eastern Europe approximately 2 million years ago.
Hong Kong researchers say they’ve found the world’s first case of covid-19 reinfection
The 33-year-old-man arrived by plane in Hong Kong on August 15. After disembarking, he headed to one of the airport’s covid-19 testing stations. Someone swabbed his throat, and then he waited for the results.
The man had come down with the coronavirus in March, suffered fever and headaches, and spent two weeks in a hospital. So he probably didn’t expect to test positive again just 142 days...
American Airlines' new plane disinfectant works for a full week, but doesn't stop the main way COVID-19 spreads
The EPA issued an emergency authorization for American Airlines to use a new anti-microbial spray which is reportedly effective for a full...
Gwich'in, 12 other groups suing U.S. over leasing program for Arctic wildlife refuge
In a press release Monday, several conservation groups say the U.S.'s leasing program for oil and gas development on the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge's coastal plain is...
Re-engineered enzyme could help reverse damage from spinal cord injury and stroke
A team of researchers from University of Toronto Engineering and the University of Michigan has redesigned and enhanced a natural enzyme that shows promise in promoting the regrowth of nerve tissue following injury.
Study: Despite training, Vermont police departments still show widespread racial bias
In the wake of the George Floyd killing and other incidents of racially motivated police violence, communities across the country are examining the practices of their local police departments more closely. Some are undertaking comprehensive training and education programs to address racial bias on their forces.
New approach to soft material flow may yield way to new materials, disaster prediction
How does toothpaste stay in its tube and not ooze out when we remove the cap? What causes seemingly solid ground to suddenly break free into a landslide? Defining exactly how soft materials flow and seize has eluded researchers for years, but a new study explains this complex motion using relatively simple experiments. The ability to define—and eventually predict—soft material flow will...
Habitats for endangered green sea turtles will be federally protected in Florida
Endangered green sea turtles will have some of their nesting beaches in Florida protected by federal agencies under a new legal agreement with conservation groups.
NASA tracking Tropical Storm Laura near Cuba
As Tropical Storm Laura continues to move through the Caribbean Sea NASA satellites are providing forecasters with visible, infrared and microwave data. Laura continued to move through the Caribbean Sea on a march toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Re-engineered enzyme could help reverse damage from spinal cord injury and stroke
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:04
Researchers have redesigned and enhanced a natural enzyme that shows promise in promoting the regrowth of nerve tissue following injury.
Inflammatory bowel disease linked to an immune cell run amok
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:04
Researchers report that the lasting nature of inflammatory bowel disease may be due to a type of long-lived immune cell that can provoke persistent, damaging inflammation in the intestinal tract.
In one cancer therapy, two halves are safer than a whole
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 22:02
Splitting one type of cancer drug in half and delivering the pieces separately to cancer cells could reduce life-threatening side effects and protect healthy, non-cancerous cells, a new study suggests.
Biologists discover a gene critical to the development of columbines' iconic spurs
Once in a while, over the history of life, a new trait evolves that leads to an explosion of diversity in a group of organisms. Take wings, for instance. Every group of animals that evolved them has spun off into a host of different species—birds, bats, insects and pterosaurs. Scientists call these "key innovations."
Velcro method for more precise binding of drug particles
In order to deliver drug particles to the right place in the body—a field known as nanomedicine—selectivity plays an important role. After all, the drug only has to attach itself to the cells that need it. A theory from 2011 predicts that selectivity is not only based on the type of receptor, but also on the number and strength of the receptors on the cell. Researchers at Eindhoven University...
Advanced biofuels show real promise for replacing some fossil fuels
Biofuel and bioenergy systems are integral to scenarios for displacing fossil fuel use and producing negative emissions through carbon capture and storage. But the net greenhouse gas mitigation benefit of these systems has been controversial, due to concerns around carbon losses from changes in land use and foregone sequestration benefits from alternative land uses.
Climate change and land use are accelerating soil erosion by water
Soil loss due to water runoff could increase greatly around the world over the next 50 years due to climate change and intensive land cultivation. This was the conclusion of an international team of researchers led by the University of Basel, which published the results from its model calculation in the scientific journal PNAS.
Each human gut has a viral 'fingerprint'
Each person's gut virus composition is as unique as a fingerprint, according to the first study to assemble a comprehensive database of viral populations in the human digestive system.