268 articles from MONDAY 3.5.2021

Study examines movement in children with autism

Researchers have used real-time 3D animation to investigate motor impairments in children who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The study found that when teaching or coaching new movements to an individual with autism, the teacher or coach needs to understand the individual with autism's specific motor learning characteristics.

Speeding new treatments

Researchers have created an open-source online suite of computational models that will help scientists rapidly screen small molecules for their potential COVID-fighting properties.

Using social values for profit cheapens them, a new study cautions

Businesses sometimes align themselves with important values such as a clean environment, feminism, or racial justice, thinking it's a win-win: the value gets boosted along with the company's bottom line. But be careful, warns new research. Using these values primarily for self-interested purposes such as profit or reputation can ultimately undermine their special status and erode people's...

Local impacts from fracking the Eagle Ford

Scientists simulated the local risk of damaging or nuisance-level shaking caused by hydraulic fracturing across the Eagle Ford shale formation in Texas. The results could inform a new approach to managing human-caused earthquakes.

Revealing the secret cocoa pollinators

The importance of pollinators to ensure successful harvests and thus global food security is widely acknowledged. However, the specific pollinators for even major crops - such as cocoa - haven't yet been identified. Now an international research team has found that in fact ants and flies - but not ceratopogonid midges - appear to have a crucial role to play.

Solar development: Super bloom or super bust for desert species?

Throughout the history of the West, human actions have often rushed the desert—and their actions backfired. In the 1920s, the Colorado River Compact notoriously overallocated water still used today by several western states because water measurements were taken during a wet period.

Previously unrecognized tsunami hazard identified in coastal cities

A new study found overlooked tsunami hazards related to undersea, near-shore strike-slip faults, especially for coastal cities adjacent to faults that traverse inland bays. Several areas around the world may fall into this category, including the San Francisco Bay area, Izmit Bay in Turkey and the Gulf of Al-Aqaba in Egypt.

Unraveling a mystery of dinoflagellate genomic architecture

New work from a Stanford University-led team of researchers including Carnegie's Arthur Grossman and Tingting Xiang unravels a longstanding mystery about the relationship between form and function in the genetic material of a diverse group of algae called dinoflagellates.

Previously unrecognized tsunami hazard identified in coastal cities

A new study found overlooked tsunami hazards related to undersea, near-shore strike-slip faults, especially for coastal cities adjacent to faults that traverse inland bays. Several areas around the world may fall into this category, including the San Francisco Bay area, Izmit Bay in Turkey and the Gulf of Al-Aqaba in Egypt.

Northern Red Sea corals pass heat stress test with flying colors

Even under the most optimistic scenarios, most of the coral reef ecosystems on our planet—whether in Australia, the Maldives or the Caribbean—will have disappeared or be in very bad shape by the end of this century. That's because global warming is pushing ocean temperatures above the limit that single-cell algae, which are corals' main allies, can withstand. These algae live inside coral...

Sequenced genome of extinct date palms germinated from 2,000 year-old seeds

Researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology have successfully sequenced the genome of previously extinct date palm varieties that lived more than 2,000 years ago. They did so using date palm seeds that were recovered from archaeological sites in the southern Levant region and radiocarbon-dated from the 4th century BCE to the 2nd century CE. The seeds were germinated to...

Mating with relatives? Not a big deal in nature

The idea that animals should avoid mating with relatives has been the starting point for hundreds of scientific studies performed among many species. But new research shows that there is little support for this assumption. The study provides a synthesis of 139 experimental studies in 88 species and 40 years of research, settling the debate about if and when animals should avoid inbreeding.

Cell atlas of stony corals is boost for coral reef conservation efforts

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals 40 different cell types in Stylophora pistillata, a reef-building stony coral native to the Indo-Pacific oceans. The calcium carbonate skeleton of stony coral colonies are the main habitat for a huge diversity of marine species. The study has detected the presence of specialized immune cells in corals or any cnidaria. The findings will aid present and future...

Bornean rajah scops owl rediscovered after 125 years

The Bornean subspecies of Rajah scops owl (Otus brookii brookii), documented in the wild for the first time since 1892, may be its own unique species and deserving of a conservation designation. Researchers reported the rediscovery and photographed this elusive subspecies in the mountainous forests of Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.

Short-term exposure to air pollution may impede cognition; Aspirin could help

Exposure to air pollution, even over the course of just a few weeks, can impede mental performance, according to a new study. However, these adverse effects were lessened in people taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like aspirin. The study is among the first to explore short-term air pollution exposures and the use of NSAIDs to mitigate their effects.

CVS and Walgreens wasted 128,500 Covid vaccine doses, report finds

US pharmacy chains responsible for vast majority of the recorded 182,874 wasted doses, according to Kaiser Health NewsUS pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens are responsible for the vast majority of wasted vaccine doses, which total more than 180,000 reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to a story from Kaiser Health News.As of late March, the CDC recorded...

EPA rule to phase out gases used in refrigerators, coolants

In the first Biden administration rule aimed at combating climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to phase down production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

Equipping crop plants for climate change

Biologists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU in Munich) have significantly enhanced the tolerance of blue-green algae to high light levels—with the aid of artificial evolution in the laboratory. 

Will your future clothes be made of algae?

Living materials, which are made by housing biological cells within a non-living matrix, have gained popularity in recent years as scientists recognize that often the most robust materials are those that mimic nature.

When will your elevator arrive? Two physicists do the math

The human world is, increasingly, an urban one—and that means elevators. Hong Kong, the hometown of physicist Zhijie Feng (Boston University), adds new elevators at the rate of roughly 1500 every year...making vertical transport an alluring topic for quantitative research.

The level of satisfaction with life in Spain is marked by household financial capacity

In recent decades, Spain has undergone rapid social changes in terms of gender equality, despite, as a result of the Franco dictatorship, starting from a more backward position than most European countries. This process is hampered by the economic downturn that began in 2008, underlining the importance of the economic context in the development of gender inequality levels. Little attention has...