204 articles from FRIDAY 22.1.2021

Australian drug shortage sparks calls to loosen prescription rules

Australia hit by shortages of contraceptive pills and antidepressantsThe Pharmaceutical Society of Australia has called on the federal government to allow pharmacists to be able to substitute medicines for same drugs of a different brand to address shortages of government-subsidised drugs.The move comes amid significant shortages of the most widely prescribed antidepressant. Continue...

Possible new combo therapy for head and neck cancer

Researchers have tested a new combination therapy in animal models to see if they could find a way to make an already effective treatment even better. Since they're using a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug to do it, this could help people sooner than later.

Crystal structures in super slow motion

Laser beams are used to change the properties of materials in an extremely precise way. However, the underlying processes generally take place at such unimaginably fast speeds and at such a small scale that they have so far eluded direct observation. Researchers have now managed to film, for the first time, the laser transformation of a crystal structure with nanometer resolution and in slow...

From fins to limbs

In a new study an international team of researchers examined three-dimensional digital models of the bones, joints, and muscles of the fins and limbs of two extinct early tetrapods and a closely related fossil fish and discover these early tetrapods had a very distinct pattern of muscle leverage that didn't look like a fish fin or modern tetrapod limbs and their limbs were more adapted for...

Exercising muscle combats chronic inflammation on its own

Biomedical engineers have demonstrated that human muscle has an innate ability to ward off damaging effects of chronic inflammation when exercised. The discovery was made possible through the use of lab-grown, engineered human muscle, demonstrating the potential power of the first-of-its-kind platform in such research endeavors.

Tiny particles that seed clouds can form from trace gases over open sea

New results from an atmospheric study over the Eastern North Atlantic reveal that tiny aerosol particles that seed the formation of clouds can form out of next to nothingness over the open ocean. The findings will improve how aerosols and clouds are represented in models that describe Earth's climate so scientists can understand how the particles -- and the processes that control them -- might...

Climate and carbon cycle trends of the past 50 million years reconciled

Predictions of future climate change require a clear and nuanced understanding of Earth's past climate. In a study published today in Science Advances, University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa oceanographers fully reconciled climate and carbon cycle trends of the past 50 million years—solving a controversy debated in the scientific literature for decades.

Reasons why Covid variant could kill more people are uncertain

Whatever the answer, everyone has to try even harder not to catch it in the first placeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThose who may have been comforted in recent weeks by the evolutionary theory of virus mutation – that the more transmissible they become, the less lethal they are – may now be pondering the news that the variant that originated in Kent not only...

Study examines how clean air act affects municipal bond market

Research has studied the effects of climate risk on financial markets, but few studies have addressed the effect of environmental policy on those markets. A new study examined whether federal policy aimed at mitigating local air pollution—specifically, the Clean Air Act—affected the municipal bond market from 2005 to 2019. The study concludes that increases in regulatory stringency or...

Covid vaccines: what are the implications of new variants of virus?

UK, South Africa and Brazil variants indicate changes may be neededCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn common with others, the virus that causes Covid-19 mutates as it spreads. Most mutations have little or no effect, but some can change the behaviour of the virus. Mutations in a variant found in the UK in September has helped the virus spread more easily and...

Tiny particles that seed clouds can form from trace gases over open sea

New results from an atmospheric study over the Eastern North Atlantic reveal that tiny aerosol particles that seed the formation of clouds can form out of next to nothingness over the open ocean. This "new particle formation" occurs when sunlight reacts with molecules of trace gases in the marine boundary layer, the atmosphere within about the first kilometer above Earth's surface. The findings,...

Rediscovery of the 'extinct' Pinatubo volcano mouse

In June 1991, Mount Pinatubo, a volcanic peak on the Philippine Island of Luzon, literally blew its top. It was the second-most powerful volcanic eruption of the 20th century, ten times stronger than Mount Saint Helens, and its effects were devastating. Lava and ash spewed into the surrounding environment in the Zambales Mountains, pooling in layers up to 600 feet thick in the valleys. Following...

New blueprint for more stable quantum computers

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) have put forward a detailed plan of how faster and better defined quantum bits—qubits—can be created. The central elements are magnetic atoms from the class of so-called rare-earth metals, which would be selectively implanted into the crystal lattice of a material. Each of these atoms represents one qubit. The researchers have demonstrated how...

Researcher expands plant genome editing with newly engineered variant of CRISPR-Cas9

Alongside Dennis van Engelsdorp, associate professor at the University of Maryland (UMD) in Entomology named for the fifth year in a row for his work in honey bee and pollinator health, Yiping Qi, associate professor in Plant Science, represented the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources on the Web of Science 2020 list of Highly Cited Researchers for the first time. This list includes...

Astronomers unmask cosmic eruptions in nearby galaxies

A brief burst of high-energy light swept through the solar system on April 15, triggering many space-based instruments, including those aboard NASA and European missions. Now, multiple international science teams conclude that the blast came from a supermagnetized stellar remnant known as a magnetar located in a neighboring galaxy.

Reducing traps increases performance of organic photodetectors

Physicists at the Dresden Integrated Center for Applied Physics and Photonic Materials (IAPP) discovered that trap states rule the performance of organic photodetectors, ultimately limiting their detectivity. These highly promising results have now been published in the renowned scientific journal Nature Communications.

The Biden administration’s AI plans: what we might expect

On Wednesday, the US waited with bated breath as president Trump handed the government reins over to president Biden. The transition of power ended up peaceful, and Biden promptly ushered in his new vision for America with a flurry of executive orders. At the moment, the most pressing issues on his table are fighting the coronavirus pandemic, providing financial relief for Americans, and...

Antigen or antibody? UK adults confused by Covid terminology

Almost half the population unclear what ‘antigen’ or ‘epidemiologist’ mean, while two in five would struggle to explain ‘circuit breaker’ Lots of people are unsure what many of the key words and phrases used by experts and politicians discussing Covid-19 actually mean, research shows.Almost half the population is unclear what “antigen” or “epidemiologist” mean, while two in...

New UK Covid variant may be 30% more deadly, says Johnson

PM warns B117 may increase death rate as well as being up to 70% more transmissibleCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe new UK coronavirus variant may be 30% more deadly, Boris Johnson said on Friday as he warned of stricter travel curbs and continued lockdown measures while the infection rate remains “forbiddingly high”.In findings that dampened hopes of the...

Geographic factors that affect HPV vaccination rates

A team of researchers have conducted the first-ever systematic review of area-level data reported in the United States between 2006 and 2020 to determine how geography, neighborhoods and sociodemographic factors impact HPV vaccination rates among adolescents and young adults.

AI trained to read electric vehicle charging station reviews to find infrastructure gaps

Although electric vehicles that reduce greenhouse gas emissions attract many drivers, the lack of confidence in charging services deters others. Building a reliable network of charging stations is difficult in part because it's challenging to aggregate data from independent station operators. But now, researchers have developed an AI that can analyze user reviews of these stations, allowing it to...