Older women who live in locations with higher levels of air pollution may have more brain shrinkage, the kind seen in Alzheimer's disease, than women who live in locations with lower levels, according to a new study.

In a study on human ovarian cancer cells in mice, researchers discovered a transient, cooperative interaction between cell subpopulations that allows otherwise nonmetastatic tumor cells to become aggressive and spread.

Researchers have demonstrated that the CRISPR/Cas9 system is very effective in treating metastatic cancers, a significant step on the way to finding a cure for cancer. The researchers developed a novel lipid nanoparticle-based delivery system that specifically targets cancer cells and destroys them by genetic manipulation. The system, called CRISPR-LNPs, carries a genetic messenger (messenger...

Researchers have identified three drugs, already approved for other uses in humans, as possible therapeutics for COVID-19, the illness caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Aging is a process that affects not only living beings. Many materials, like plastics and glasses, also age -- ie they change slowly as their particles try to pack better. Biological materials, such as living tissue, show similar behavior to glasses except that the particles are actual cells with their own propulsion. Researchers used computer simulations to explore the aging behavior of these...

Researchers reveals how the microstructure of small finlets on owl feathers enable silent flight.

New findings could inform design of environmental technologies behind water purification processes and electric energy storage.

An international team of scientists has defied nature to make diamonds in minutes in a laboratory at room temperature - a process that normally requires billions of years, huge amounts of pressure and super-hot temperatures.

3D bioprinted algae can be harnessed as a sustainable source of oxygen for human cells in engineered vascularized tissues, researchers report. They embedded the bioprinted photosynthetic algae, along with human liver-derived cells, in a 3D hydrogel matrix to create honeycomb-shaped tissues with lobules, similar to the human liver.

In a new study, people who spent more time on their phones -- particularly on gaming or social media apps -- were more likely to reject larger, delayed rewards in favor of smaller, immediate rewards.

An easy way to make millirobots by coating objects with a glue-like magnetic spray has been developed. Driven by the magnetic field, the coated objects can crawl, walk, or roll on different surfaces. As the magnetic coating is biocompatible and can be disintegrated into powders when needed, this technology demonstrates the potential for biomedical applications, including catheter navigation and...

Curved origami structures provide tunable flexibility to robots.

Lake Tanganyika in Africa is a true hotspot of organismal diversity. Approximately 240 species of cichlid fishes have evolved in this lake in less than 10 million years. A research team has investigated this phenomenon of 'explosive speciation' and provides new insights into the origins of biological diversity.

Researchers have created new artificial intelligence software that gives robots the speed and skill to grasp and smoothly move objects, making it feasible for them to soon assist humans in warehouse environments.

A team of biologists found that the picture of dramatically declining vertebrate populations of all kinds is driven by a small number of outlier populations whose numbers are dropping at extreme rates. Once these outliers are separated from the mix, a very different and far more hopeful picture of global biodiversity emerges.

Researchers have analyzed the causes of many cost overruns on new nuclear power plants in the US, which have soared in the past 50 years. The findings may help designers of new plants build in resilience to prevent such added costs.

Biologists have recently discovered that endogenous viral elements that originate from giant viruses are much more common in chlorophyte green algae than previously thought.

Scientists have discovered how a common virus in the human gut infects and takes over bacterial cells - a finding that could be used to control the composition of the gut microbiome, which is important for human health. The research could aid efforts to engineer beneficial bacteria that produce medicines and fuels and clean up pollutants.

Researchers have created tiny building blocks that exhibit unique mechanical properties, such as the ability to produce a twisting motion when squeezed. These subunits could potentially be assembled by robots into a nearly limitless variety of objects with built-in functionality, including vehicles, large industrial parts, or specialized robots that can be repeatedly reassembled in different...

Implicit racial attitudes within a community can effectively explain racial disparities seen in rates of COVID-19 in the United States, according to a new study.

Scientists have devised a system that combines robotics and artificial intelligence to fully automate the routine aspects of synthesizing, testing, and optimizing new materials according to fabrication conditions. Their approach can produce and test compounds ten times faster than scientists doing manual work, allowing for the rapid creation of huge shared databases. In turn, the autonomous system...

Researchers have identified a molecule that protects mice from brain infections caused by Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV), a mosquito-borne virus notorious for causing fast-spreading, deadly outbreaks in Mexico, Central America and northern South America.

Researchers find a key mutation causing abnormal transport of BACE1, the enzyme responsible for processing the Alzheimer's disease-linked amyloid protein. Identification of this mutation, which is more common among African Americans with Alzheimer's, may allow early intervention.

Last year, researchers identified the early origins of neural crest cells -- embryonic cells in vertebrates that travel throughout the body and generate many cell types -- in chick embryos. Now the researchers have used a human model to figure out when neural crest cells acquire distinctive molecular and functional attributes.