288 articles from TUESDAY 4.5.2021

Emissive supramolecular metallacages via coordination-driven self-assembly

Metallacages prepared via coordination-driven self-assembly have received extensive attention because of their three-dimensional layout and cavity-cored nature. The construction of light-emitting materials employing metallacages as a platform has also gained significant interest due to their good modularity in photophysical properties, which bring emerging applications in fields as diverse as...

3D 'bioprinting' used to create nose cartilage

A team of University of Alberta researchers has discovered a way to use 3-D bioprinting technology to create custom-shaped cartilage for use in surgical procedures. The work aims to make it easier for surgeons to safely restore the features of skin cancer patients living with nasal cartilage defects after surgery.

Your stomach may be the secret to fighting obesity

Scientists believe a stomach-specific protein plays a major role in the progression of obesity, according to new research. The study could help with development of therapeutics that would help individuals struggling with achieving and maintaining weight loss.

No surge testing for India variants despite Hancock pledge

Following health secretary’s statement last month, Public Health England confirms it is carrying out ‘targeted testing’ insteadCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSurge testing is not being carried out in England for coronavirus variants first detected in India, despite the government claiming it would be deployed, the Guardian has learned.The coronavirus variant...

Breakthrough study shows no-take marine reserves benefit overfished reefs

A powerful, long-term study from WCS adds scientific backing for global calls for conserving 30 percent of the world's ocean. The studied no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) increased the growth of fish populations by 42 percent when fishing was unsustainable in surrounding areas, achieving the benefits of stable and high production of fish populations for fishers, while protecting threatened...

Soybean cyst nematode is the most damaging soybean pathogen—and it's rapidly spreading

The soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is the most damaging pathogen of soybeans in the United States and Canada and it is spreading rapidly, according to information compiled by Gregory Tylka and Christopher Marett, nematologists at Iowa State University. SCN was first found in the United States in 1954 and most recent estimates show that SCN results in $1.5 billion in annual yield losses.

New neuroimaging technique studies brain stimulation for depression

Despite increased use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in psychiatry, the rates at which patients respond to the therapy and experience remission of often-disabling symptoms have been modest at best. Now, a team of psychiatrists and biomedical engineers applied an emerging functional neuroimaging technology, known as diffuse optical tomography (DOT), to better understand how rTMS...

The sensitive brain at rest

You know that raw overwhelm people have been reporting after months of a pandemic, compounded by economic issues and social unrest? Does fatigue and compulsive social media scrolling strike a familiar chord?

New graphite-based sensor technology for wearable medical devices

Researchers have developed next-generation, graphene-based sensing technology using their innovative G-Putty material. The team's printed sensors are 50 times more sensitive than the industry standard and outperform other comparable nano-enabled sensors in an important metric seen as a game-changer in the industry: flexibility.

As UK nears zero Covid deaths, there’s good reason for optimism

Analysis: the vaccine strategy and staggered easing of restrictions have worked well. The next step is crucialCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe handling of the coronavirus crisis in the UK has provided few moments to celebrate, but the day we reach zero deaths from the disease will clearly be one to toast. That day may not be far off. On Tuesday, the UK reported...

Bringing up baby: A crocodile's changing niche

Relatives of the giant crocodile might have been kings of the waterways during the Cretaceous period, eating anything—including dinosaurs—that got a little too close to the water's edge, but the largest of these apex predators still started off small. Figuring out how these little crocs grew up in a world surrounded by giants is no small task. Now crocs fossils from Texas are shedding light on...

How big is a 'fragment'?

When a drinking glass falls on the floor and breaks, the shards will vary in size from large to extremely small. For the broken glass of a bus shelter, the story is different: all fragments have roughly the same size. Researchers from the University of Amsterdam, Unilever Vlaardingen and EPFL Lausanne investigated the breaking phenomenon, and discovered that two very different processes cause the...

Tiny plastic particles in the environment

Wherever scientists look, they can spot them: whether in remote mountain lakes, in Arctic sea ice, in the deep-ocean floor or in air samples, even in edible fish—thousands upon thousands of microscopic plastic particles in the micro to millimeter range. This microplastic is now even considered one of the defining features of the Anthropocene, the age of the Earth shaped by modern humans.

Confirmation of an auroral phenomenon

A new auroral phenomenon discovered by Finnish researchers a year ago is probably caused by areas of increased oxygen atom density occurring in an atmospheric wave channel. The speculative explanation offered by the researchers gained support from a new study.

New look at a bright stellar nursery

This overlay shows radio (orange) and infrared images of a giant molecular cloud called W49A, where new stars are being formed. A team of astronomers led by Chris DePree of Agnes Scott College used the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) to make new, high-resolution radio images of this cluster of still-forming, massive stars. W49A, 36,000 light-years from Earth,...

Pyrosomes: Enigmatic marine inhabitants with an important role in the Cabo Verde ecosystem

Pyrosomes, named after the Greek words for 'fire bodies' due their bright bioluminescence, are pelagic tunicates that spend their entire lives swimming in the open ocean. They are made up of many smaller animals, known as zooids, that sit together in a tubular matrix, known as tunic (hence the name pelagic tunicates). Because they live in the open ocean, they generally go unnoticed. In spite of...

Polarization and mobilization on social media affect infection figures

Measures to contain the Corona pandemic are the subject of politically charged debate and tend to polarize segments of the population. Those who support the measures motivate their acquaintances to follow the rules, while those who oppose them call for resistance in social media. But how exactly do politicization and social mobilization affect the incidence of infection? Researchers at the Max...

Can’t leave your phone alone? You’re just trying to blend in

Keep checking your smartphone without knowing why? You may be unconsciously copying those around you, according to Italian research into the ‘chameleon effect’Name: The Chameleon Effect.Age: About 22 years old. It was discovered and named by the sociologist John A Bargh and the social psychologist Tanya L Chartrand, who published a paper about it in 1999. Continue...

Chronic exposure to low levels of blast may be associated with neurotrauma

Scientists demonstrated that TBI biomarkers were elevated among law enforcement and military personnel, including those without a diagnosed brain injury or concussion, repeatedly exposed to low level blast. Repeated exposure have been linked to a series of reported symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, dizziness, memory difficulties, and tinnitus. Researchers hope these data are the first step to...

Confirmation of an auroral phenomenon

A new auroral phenomenon discovered a year ago is probably caused by areas of increased oxygen atom density occurring in an atmospheric wave channel. The speculative explanation offered by the researchers gained support from a new study.

Nanoplastics -- an underestimated problem?

Giant vortices of floating plastic trash in the world's oceans with sometimes devastating consequences for their inhabitants - the sobering legacy of our modern lifestyle. Weathering and degradation processes produce countless tiny particles that can now be detected in virtually all ecosystems. But how dangerous are the smallest of them, so-called nanoplastics?

A sweet solution to hard brain implants

By using silicone polymers, scientists have made the softest brain implant to date with the thickness of a thin sewing thread (~0.2 mm), and the consistency of soft pudding - as soft as the brain itself. They were then able to implant it into the brain using a trick from a cookbook.