297 articles from WEDNESDAY 26.8.2020
New Nitrogen-Assembly Carbon catalyst has potential to transform chemical manufacturing
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have discovered a metal-free carbon-based catalyst that has the potential to be much less expensive and more efficient for many industrial concerns, including manufacturing of bio- and fossil fuels, electrocatalysis, and fuel cells.
Study of Asia's hillstream loaches reveals keys to fish family's land-walking abilities
In a study published in the Journal of Morphology, a team of researchers from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Florida Museum of Natural History, Louisiana State University and Thailand's Maejo University have successfully pieced together the ancestral relationships that make up the family tree of hillstream loaches (Balitoridae), detailing for the first time a range of unusual pelvic...
Why hurricanes hardly ever hit Europe
Hurricane season can be a frightening time for people near the East Coast of the US, but Europe rarely ever sees full-on hurricanes reach its...
Testing traps to control lovely but destructive lionfish
The quest is on for a better way to kill beautiful but brutally destructive lionfish than shooting them one by one with spearguns. One is a lobster trap with an entry too skinny for legal lobsters. “We don’t think we’ll ever eliminate them but if we can get them under control maybe we can get our ecosystem back,” said Thomas R. Matthews, research administrator for Florida’s Fish and...
Transplanted brown-fat-like cells hold promise for obesity and diabetes
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:14
A potential therapy for obesity would transplant HUMBLE (human brown-like) fat cells, human white fat cells that have been genetically modified using CRISPR to become similar to heat-generating brown fat cells.
Overlooked 'housekeeping' gene plays unexpected role in seizures
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:14
Molecules known as tRNAs are often overlooked in studies of disease processes. Researchers have found that a mutation in a tRNA gene called n-Tr20 -- expressed only in the brain -- can disrupt the landscape of entire cells, leading to chain reactions that alter brain function and behavior.
Mount Everest summit success rates double, death rate stays the same over last 30 years
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:14
A new study finds that the success rate of summiting Mount Everest has doubled in the last three decades, even though the number of climbers has greatly increased, crowding the narrow route through the dangerous 'death zone' near the summit. However, the death rate for climbers has hovered unchanged at around 1% since 1990.
How cold was the ice age? Researchers now know
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:14
Scientists have nailed down the temperature of the last ice age -- the Last Glacial Maximum of 20,000 years ago - to about 46 degrees Fahrenheit.
Antarctic ice shelves vulnerable to sudden meltwater-driven fracturing, says study
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:14
A new study says that many of the ice shelves ringing Antarctica could be vulnerable to quick destruction if rising temperatures drive melt water into the numerous fractures that currently penetrate their surfaces. The shelves help slow interior glaciers' slide toward the ocean, so if they were to fail, sea levels around the world could surge rapidly as a result.
Additional data on blood thinner efficacy for COVID-19 and insight on best possible regimens
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:14
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers found that anticoagulation therapy was associated with improved survival among hospitalized COVID-19 patients. But many questions remained -- about the size of the potential benefit, and about what dosage of this therapy might be more effective. New research suggests some possible answers.
Key immune system protein discovered in plants
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:13
A new study has discovered the key calcium channel responsible for closing plant pores as an immune response to pathogen exposure. The findings are a major step toward understanding the defense mechanisms plants use to resist infection, which could eventually lead to healthier, more resistant and more productive crops.
Cosmic rays could pose a problem for future quantum computers
Quantum computing has the potential to handle complex problems at hyper-fast speeds. What makes this possible is the way it exploits qubits—typically subatomic particles such as electrons—that use quantum properties to represent numerous combinations beyond the 0 or 1 of conventional bits. When pairs of qubits are “entangled,” they can change each other’s state...
New neural network differentiates Middle and Late Stone Age toolkits
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:09
The change from Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Later Stone Age (LSA) marks a major cultural change amongst our hunter-gatherer ancestors, but distinguishing between these two industrial complexes is not straightforward. New researc demonstrates how machine learning can provide a valuable tool for archaeologists, and can identify what differentiates the MSA and LSA.
Don't forget to clean robotic support pets, study says
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:09
Robotic support pets used to reduce depression in older adults and people with dementia acquire bacteria over time, but a simple cleaning procedure can help them from spreading illnesses, according to a new study.
Why flat-faced dogs remain popular despite health problems
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:09
Owners of bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs are highly likely to want to own their breed again in the future, and to recommend their breed to other owners, according to a new study. The development of breed loyalty toward these so-called brachycephalic (flat-faced) dogs may lead to their continued proliferation and popularity, despite their substantial health risks.
New insights into mechanism of therapy to reduce liver fat and prevent fibrosis
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 20:09
Researchers have taken an important step forward in the goal of developing a potential treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Catching genes from chlamydiae allowed complex life to live without oxygen
An international team of researchers has discovered a new group of Chlamydiae—Anoxychlamydiales—living under the ocean floor without oxygen. These Chlamydiae have genes that allow them to survive without oxygen while making hydrogen gas. The researchers found that our single-cell ancestors 'caught' these hydrogen-producing genes from ancient Chlamydiae up to two-billion years ago—an event...
Mount Everest summit success rates double, death rate stays the same over last 30 years
As the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest draws more than 500 climbers each spring to attempt the summit during a small window of favorable conditions on the rugged Himalayan mountain that tops out at just over 29,000 feet.
Why flat-faced dogs remain popular despite health problems
Owners of bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs are highly likely to want to own their breed again in the future, and to recommend their breed to other owners, according to a study published August 26, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Rowena Packer of the Royal Veterinary College, UK, and colleagues. The development of breed loyalty toward these so-called brachycephalic (flat-faced) dogs...
Difficult, complex decisions underpin the future of the world's coral reefs
Effective solutions to the climate challenge threatening the world's coral reefs require complex decisions about risk and uncertainty, timing, quality versus quantity as well as which species to support for the most robust and productive future, according to a science paper released today.
New neural network differentiates Middle and Late Stone Age toolkits
The transition from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to the Later Stone Age (LSA) marks a major cultural change among human hunter-gatherer ancestors, but distinguishing between these two industrial complexes is not straightforward. New research published by a team from the University of Liverpool and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History this week demonstrates that machine learning...
A protein with an unprecedented fold helps bacteria uptake thiosulfate as a sulfur source
A new study led by researchers at Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST), Nara, Japan, published in Science Advances, reports the crystal structure of YeeE, a membrane protein that allows bacteria to uptake thiosulfate from the environment in order to synthesize L-cysteine. The structure reveals that YeeE has a characteristic hourglass shape that results in a sophisticated mechanism for...
Meteorite strikes may create unexpected form of silica
When a meteorite hurtles through the atmosphere and crashes to Earth, how does its violent impact alter the minerals found at the landing site? What can the short-lived chemical phases created by these extreme impacts teach scientists about the minerals existing at the high-temperature and pressure conditions found deep inside the planet?
Key to fish family's land-walking abilities revealed in study of Asia's hillstream loaches
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 19:18
A new genetic and morphological study of South Asia's hillstream loach (Balitoridae) family is shedding new light on the fishes' unusual land-walking capabilities, including that of the family's strangest relative -- Cryptotora thamicola -- a rare, blind cavefish from Thailand with an uncanny ability to walk on land and climb waterfalls using four limbs that move in salamander-like fashion.
New nitrogen assembly carbon catalyst has potential to transform chemical manufacturing
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/26 19:18
Scientists have discovered a metal-free carbon-based catalyst that has the potential to be much less expensive and more efficient for many industrial concerns, including manufacturing of bio- and fossil fuels, electrocatalysis, and fuel cells.