186 articles from WEDNESDAY 25.8.2021

Add it up: Could this test equal a way to determine dementia risk?

People whose scores on a dementia risk test indicated a less brain-healthy lifestyle, including smoking, high blood pressure and a poor diet, may also have the following: lower scores on thinking skills tests, more changes on brain scans and a higher risk of cognitive impairment, according to a new study.

Engineers are 'driving' innovation to help eliminate plastic waste

Each year in the United States, millions of tons of plastic waste are discarded and not recycled, leading to serious environmental problems. In an effort to help keep this waste from ending up in the environment, engineers at the University of Missouri are partnering with Dow and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to test mixing plastic waste into the asphalt pavement mixtures for...

How a Japanese far-right hate group helped popularize anti-Korean sentiment

Studies show that anti-Korean sentiment in Japan has grown steadily in the past decade, despite the growing acceptance of more visibly "foreign" Southeast Asian migrants in Japan. A University of Notre Dame researcher conducted two years of ethnographic fieldwork in a historic Korean ghetto in Osaka, Japan, to shed light on the legacy of discrimination that third- and fourth-generation Korean...

Protecting the Ozone Layer Also Protects Earth’s Ability to Sequester Carbon

Portal origin URL: Protecting the Ozone Layer Also Protects Earth’s Ability to Sequester CarbonPortal origin nid: 473516Published: Wednesday, August 25, 2021 - 16:08Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: Protecting the ozone layer also protects Earth’s vegetation and has prevented the planet from an additional 0.85 degrees Celsius of warming, according...

Robot mimics the powerful punch of the mantis shrimp

Mantis shrimp pack the strongest punch of any creature in the animal kingdom. How mantis shrimp produce these deadly, ultra-fast movements has long fascinated biologists. Now, an interdisciplinary team of roboticists, engineers and biologists have modeled the mechanics of the mantis shrimp's punch and built a robot that mimics the movement. The research sheds light on the biology of these...

Biomarker may help predict benefits of immunotherapy

A group of researchers reported that a specific pattern, or 'signature,' of markers on immune cells in the blood is a likely biomarker of response to checkpoint immunotherapy. Within this immune signature, a molecule LAG-3 provided key information identifying patients with poorer outcomes.

Underlying instincts: An appetite for survival

Microscopic roundworms may hold the key to understanding what is happening in the brain when the instinct of an animal changes in order to survive. In a newly published paper in the journal Current Biology, University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found that a signaling system in the brain changes to redirect the behavior of an animal when their survival is at risk because there is not...

The boiling crisis and how to avoid it

It's rare for a pre-teen to become enamored with thermodynamics, but those consumed by such a passion may consider themselves lucky to end up at a place like MIT. Madhumitha Ravichandran certainly does. A Ph.D. student in Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE), Ravichandran first encountered the laws of thermodynamics as a middle school student in Chennai, India. "They made complete sense to me,"...

Team captures data from unarmed Minuteman III test launch

A team from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) successfully collected data from the recent operational test of an Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Researchers develop method to engineer new cell functionalities on thin films

Researchers at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) and Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a method to engineer new functionalities into cells. The results were published today in the journal Cell in the article "Dual film-like organelles enable spatial separation of orthogonal eukaryotic translation."

‘Nanojars’ capture dissolved carbon dioxide, toxic ions from water

Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in waterways, forming bicarbonate ions and other compounds that change water chemistry, with possible harmful effects on aquatic organisms. In addition, bicarbonate can reenter the atmosphere as carbon dioxide later. Now, researchers have developed tiny 'nanojars' that split bicarbonate into carbonate and capture it, as well as certain toxic anions, so...

Physicists make laser beams visible in vacuum

A beam of light can only be seen when it hits matter particles and is scattered or reflected by them. In a vacuum, however, it is invisible. Physicists have now developed a method that allows laser beams to be visualized even under these conditions. The method makes it easier to perform the ultra-precise laser alignment required to manipulate individual atoms.

Fossils illuminate dinosaur evolution in eastern North America

Tyrannosaurus rex, the fearsome predator that once roamed what is now western North America, appears to have had an East Coast cousin. A new study describes two dinosaurs that inhabited Appalachia -- a once isolated land mass that today composes much of the eastern United States -- about 85 million years ago: an herbivorous duck-billed hadrosaur and a carnivorous tyrannosaur.

Central European prehistory was highly dynamic

Recent archaeogenetic studies have shown that human movements like migrations and expansions played a major role in driving the spread of cultures and genes in ancient Europe. However, it is only now with detailed regional studies and dense sampling that researchers start to better understand the magnitude, rate and social implications of these changes.

Protecting gardens and crops from insects using the ‘smell of fear’

For home gardeners and farmers, herbivorous insects present a major threat. The predator insects that feed on these bugs emit odors that pests can sense, which changes the pests' behavior and physiology to avoid being eaten. With bugs becoming more resistant to traditional pesticides, researchers now report they have bottled the 'smell of fear' produced by predators to repel and disrupt insects...