205 articles from WEDNESDAY 10.11.2021

Ten Republican-led states sue over vaccine mandate for healthcare workers

Lawsuit follows similar ones challenging new Biden administration rules for federal contractors and large businessesA coalition of 10 states sued the federal government on Wednesday to try to block a Covid-19 vaccine requirement for healthcare workers, marking a new front in the resistance by Republican-led states to the pandemic policies of President Joe Biden’s administration.The lawsuit...

Tooth fast, tooth curious? New study uncovers novel approach to plant-based diet, unique to long-necked dinosaurs

How did the largest animals to ever walk the Earth dominate their environments? By doing something totally revolutionary: keeping it simple. Published in BMC Ecology and Evolution, a new study led by Postdoctoral Research Scientist and periodic dinosaur dentist Dr. Keegan Melstrom at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County's Dinosaur Institute reveals that colossal sauropod dinosaurs, the...

Pay-for-performance incentives may put innovation at risk

Managers looking to create social conditions that lead to open, diversified and large networks—which are known to spur innovation—should avoid implementing pay-for-performance incentives that rest on short-term and quantitative performance metrics. According to new research published in Strategic Management Journal, such pay incentives result in more closed and smaller networks in...

Inputs and impacts of human wastewater in coastal ecosystems

The tendency for most of us when it comes to human wastewater is out of sight, out of mind. Rarely do we consider what happens after we flush that toilet or turn off that tap. However, researchers have turned their attention and considerable computational power to the subject and its impacts on global coastal ecosystems. The results aren't pretty, but they are enlightening.

'Tug of war' between cells – When crucial connections are missing

The ability of cells to move together in harmony is crucial for numerous biological processes in our body, for example, wound healing, or the healthy development of an organism. This movement is made possible by the connections between individual cells. A research team has shown that particularly close connections -- 'tight junctions' -- play an important role in cell movement. In addition,...

Whole genome sequencing could save NHS millions of pounds, study suggests

Genomics England and NHS England findings highlight benefits of using WGS to help detect rare diseasesThe use of whole genome sequencing could save the NHS millions of pounds, a study suggests, after it found a quarter of people with rare illnesses received a diagnosis for their condition through the technology.In some cases, the findings have provided reassurance for families that they have not...

Humans are guilty of breaking an oceanic law of nature: study

A new international study carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) has examined the distribution of biomass across all life in the oceans, from bacteria to whales. Their quantification of human impact reveals a fundamental alteration to one of life's largest scale patterns.

Methane's short lifespan presents golden opportunity to quickly address climate change

Sébastien Biraud is a Berkeley Lab scientist leading an effort to identify and mitigate some of the largest emitters of methane in California's Southern San Joaquin Valley. Methane is a short-lived air pollutant and greenhouse gas capable of warming the atmosphere about 80 times as fast as the far longer-lived carbon dioxide over 20 years. This month the U.S. and European Union launched the...

'Tug of war' between cells: What happens when crucial connections are missing

The ability of cells to move together in harmony is crucial for numerous biological processes in our body, for example wound healing, or the healthy development of an organism. This movement is made possible by the connections between individual cells. These connections, in turn, are established by various protein molecules which transfer the necessary forces and information between neighboring...

New space telescope to peer back at the universe's first galaxies

On Dec. 18, NASA is set to launch its next flagship mission into space. The spacecraft, called the James Webb Space Telescope, brings a lot of risks: Its roughly 270-square-foot mirror, which will collect light streaming in from the far reaches of space, will launch folded up inside a rocket, then unfurl far from Earth.

Origins of ‘Transeurasian’ languages traced to Neolithic millet farmers

Research finds language family that includes modern Japanese, Korean and Turkish spread largely due to agricultureA study combining linguistic, genetic and archaeological evidence has traced the origins of a family of languages including modern Japanese, Korean, Turkish and Mongolian and the people who speak them to millet farmers who inhabited a region in northeastern China about 9,000 years...

Mosaic brain evolution in guppies helps to explain vertebrate cognitive evolution

Researchers have provided the first experimental evidence that brain regions can evolve independently of each other during cognitive evolution. This so called mosaic brain evolution was verified empirically in an artificial selection experiment with guppies (Poecilia reticulata) where telencephalon size (but no other regions) differed by 10 percent after only four generations of selection. The...

A newly discovered genetic link to non-alcoholic inflammatory liver disease

Researchers have shown that albino mice of the C57BL/6 line are highly susceptible to developing the inflammatory liver condition non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) when fed a high cholesterol diet. The albino mice carry a mutation in the tyrosinase gene leading to a deficiency of melanin synthesis. NASH is a serious illness in humans, and the identification of the involvement of tyrosinase in...

Compound provides innovative pain relief

Researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences are closer to developing a safe and effective non-opioid pain reliever after a study showed that a new compound they created reduces the sensation of pain by regulating a biological channel linked to pain.

A personalized exosuit for real-world walking

Researchers have developed a new approach in which robotic exosuit assistance can be calibrated to an individual and adapt to a variety of real-world walking tasks in a matter of seconds. The bioinspired system uses ultrasound measurements of muscle dynamics to develop a personalized and activity-specific assistance profile for users of the exosuit.

At COP26, China and the U.S. Pledge to Increase Cooperation on Climate Action

China and the United States have pledged to increase cooperation on climate action at U.N. talks in Glasgow, China’s climate envoy said Wednesday. As the talks approached a Friday deadline, Xie Zhenhua told reporters that the two biggest carbon polluters would outline their efforts in a joint statement based on the guidelines of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The agreement...