feed info

40 articles from ScienceDaily

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.

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.

‘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...