174 articles from TUESDAY 28.6.2022
Is the pediatric hepatitis outbreak real? A top WHO physician weighs in
It has been 3 months since the United Kingdom reported severe, unexplained hepatitis was sending young children to hospitals in unusual numbers. The initial handful of cases reported in Scotland on 31 March were soon joined by dozens and then hundreds, primarily from Europe, the United States, and the United Kingdom. As of 22 June, the global total, from 33 countries, has swollen to...
Does warfare make societies more complex? Controversial study says yes
War is hell. It breaks apart families, destroys natural resources, and drives humans to commit unspeakable acts of violence. Yet according to a new analysis of human history, war may also prod the evolution of certain kinds of complex societies. The twin developments of agriculture and military technology—especially cavalries and iron weapons—have predicted the rise of empires....
Early human ancestors one million years older than earlier thought
Fossils from South African cave are 3.4 to 3.6m years old and walked the Earth at same time as east African relativesThe fossils of our earliest ancestors found in South Africa are a million years older than previously thought, meaning they walked the Earth around the same time as their east African relatives like the famous “Lucy”, according to new research.The Sterkfontein caves at the...
Extreme temperatures in major Latin American cities could be linked to nearly 1 million deaths
In mid-January, the southern tip of South America suffered its
worst heat wave
in years. In Argentina, temperatures in more than 50 cities rose above 40°C, more than 10°C warmer than the typical average temperature in cities such as Buenos Aires. The scorching heat sparked wildfires, worsened a drought, hurt agriculture, and temporarily collapsed Buenos Aires’s...
Whale entanglements drop, but remain major threat, feds say
The number of whales entangled in fishing gear has declined recently, but the entanglements remain a critical threat to rare species, the federal government said in a report released Tuesday.
Who trusts gene-edited foods? New study gauges public acceptance
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:02
Researchers surveyed a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. residents to gauge public acceptance of gene-edited foods. Social factors like food beliefs and trust in institutions played a big role in the participants' willingness to eat or actively avoid products made with gene-editing technologies.
Mantle cell lymphoma treatment varies according to setting
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
There is considerable variation in the management of mantle cell lymphoma across different clinical settings, and some strategies do not always conform with what might be expected, according to a recent analysis.
Robot overcomes uncertainty to retrieve buried objects
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
FuseBot is a new robotic system that fuses visual information and radio-frequency signals to efficiently find hidden items buried under a pile of objects, whether or not the targeted item has an RFID tag.
No more binge eating: Signal pathway in the brain that controls food intake discovered
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
Researchers have developed a novel approach to treating eating disorders. The scientists showed that a group of nerve cells in the hypothalamus (so-called AgRP, agouti-related peptide neurons) control the release of endogenous lysophospholipids, which in turn control the excitability of nerve cells in the cerebral cortex, which stimulates food intake.
New study investigates the microbiomes of dogs around the world
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
In a new study, researchers have sampled the fecal microbiomes across diverse geographical populations of dogs to better understand what they look like around the world.
Chemical risk assessment not up to par, researchers say
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
The current system of chemical risk assessment is inadequate and underestimates levels of flame retardants and other pollutants needed to cause harmful health effects, according to a recent analysis.
Is there a right-handed version of our left-handed universe?
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
To solve a long-standing puzzle about how long a neutron can 'live' outside an atomic nucleus, physicists entertained a wild but testable theory positing the existence of a right-handed version of our left-handed universe. They designed a mind-bending experiment to try to detect a particle that has been speculated but not spotted. If found, the theorized 'mirror neutron' -- a dark-matter twin to...
Double duty: Early research reveals how a single drug delivers twice the impact in fragile X
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
A new study shows how two major pathways -- AKT and NMD (nonsense-mediated mRNA decay) -- interact in the context of fragile X syndrome. Researchers also found that Afuresertib, a drug currently being tested in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials for several types of cancer, inhibits both pathways in neural stem cells that mimic the disease, leading the cells to act more like typical, non-disease cells....
Dynamic cells linked to brain tumor growth and recurrence
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 23:01
Researchers have discovered that aggressive tumors contain highly active cells that move throughout tissue in complicated patterns. What's more, the accumulations of these elongated, spindle-like cells found throughout the tumor, coined 'oncostreams,' serve as the basis for cancerous cells' behavior, determining how tumors grow and invade normal tissue.
U.K. set to abandon Europe’s top science funding program, go it alone
A few months ago, Teresa Thurston, a cellular microbiologist at Imperial College London, could not have imagined losing her €1.5 million European research grant. But the United Kingdom’s role in the European Union’s €95 billion Horizon Europe funding program is now crumbling thanks to lingering Brexit disputes, forcing many U.K. grant winners like Thurston to give up grants they...
Pitching with too much passion? 'More enthusiastic' pitches turn off investors, study finds
A new study offers entrepreneurs some savvy sales advice: When pitching to investors for funding, a high-octane product pitch with great enthusiasm can be a double-edged sword.
Understanding how microbiota thrive in their human hosts
A research team lead by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tübingen, Germany, has now made substantial progress in understanding how gut bacteria succeed in their human hosts on a molecular level. They investigated how bacteria produce inositol lipids, substances vital for many cellular processes in humans and other eukaryotes but hitherto rarely observed in bacteria. The...
Republicans and Democrats see their own party's falsehoods as more acceptable
Society recognizes that many politicians lie. In five new studies, researchers have examined how conservative and liberal Americans responded to media reports of politicians' falsehoods. Even accounting for partisan biases in how much people dismissed the reports as fake news and assumed the lies were unintentional, the studies consistently identified partisan evaluations in how much these...
Physicists confront the neutron lifetime puzzle
To solve a long-standing puzzle about how long a neutron can "live" outside an atomic nucleus, physicists entertained a wild but testable theory positing the existence of a right-handed version of our left-handed universe. They designed a mind-bending experiment at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory to try to detect a particle that has been speculated but not spotted. If...
Chesapeake Bay 'dead zone' predicted to be 13% lower than average this summer
This summer's Chesapeake Bay "dead zone" is expected to be smaller than the long-term average, according to a forecast released today by researchers from the University of Michigan, Chesapeake Bay Program, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and U.S. Geological Survey.
Shine a light: New research shows how low-energy light can bend plastic
A team of Florida State University researchers has uncovered a way to use low-energy light to manipulate photopolymers or plastic films—a finding that has implications for a wide range of technologies that use light as an energy source to create shape-shifting structures.
Are your COVID-19 vaccinations up to date? It might depend on your politics, new study suggests
Some Americans still say no to getting any COVID-19 vaccination even as others are currently committing to their fourth shot. What accounts for differences in attitude between the fully vaccinated and those who opt out? The biggest factor could be political ideology, a new survey from the University of Houston shows.
Study shows chemical's extent in the Fairbanks winter air
A chemical compound discovered in 2019 in the wintertime air of Fairbanks, Alaska accounts for a significant portion of the community's fine particulate pollution, according to new research that seeks to better understand the causes and makeup of the dirty air.
Researchers explain why people with lower economic status don't trust politicians as much
The "anomie" concept—that the society is disintegrating and losing moral standards—explains why people with low socioeconomic status trust politics less than those with a higher one, concludes a new study published in the scientific journal Social Psychological Bulletin.
Chemicals in Fairbanks winter air
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 20:46
A chemical compound discovered in 2019 in Fairbanks' wintertime air accounts for a significant portion of the community's fine particulate pollution, according to new research that seeks to better understand the causes and makeup of the dirty air. The finding is the first measurement of how much hydroxymethanesulfonate, or HMS, is in Fairbanks' air.
Many pain medications can be used for spine-related pain in older adults
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 20:46
Now a new review study has found acetaminophen is safe in older adults, but non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen) may be more effective for spine-related pain. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories should be used short-term in lower dose courses with gastrointestinal precaution while corticosteroids show the least evidence for treating nonspecific back pain.
Identifying bird species by sound, an app opens new avenues for citizen science
The BirdNET app, a free machine-learning powered tool that can identify over 3,000 birds by sound alone, generates reliable scientific data and makes it easier for people to contribute citizen-science data on birds by simply recording sounds.
Nearly 1 in 4 globally at risk from severe flooding: study
Almost a quarter of the world's population are exposed to significant flood risks, according to new research published Tuesday, which warned those in poorer countries were more vulnerable.
Identifying bird species by sound, the BirdNET app opens new avenues for citizen science
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 20:05
The BirdNET app, a free machine-learning powered tool that can identify over 3,000 birds by sound alone, generates reliable scientific data and makes it easier for people to contribute citizen-science data on birds by simply recording sounds.
Help NASA scientists find clouds on Mars
NASA scientists hope to solve a fundamental mystery about Mars' atmosphere, and you can help. They've organized a project called Cloudspotting on Mars that invites the public to identify Martian clouds using the citizen science platform Zooniverse. The information may help researchers figure out why the planet's atmosphere is just 1% as dense as Earth's even though ample evidence suggests the...
The youngest Canadian bilinguals are not a monolithic group, new research shows
A new Concordia study of early childhood bilingualism in Canada reveals a portrait of language acquisition in the home that reflects the country's diversity. Immigration patterns, urban–rural demography and Indigenous populations are some of the main contributing factors to this varied picture.
Strategies beyond recycling to bolster circular economy for solar and battery technologies
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 19:39
In a new comprehensive literature review, researchers have discovered that alternatives to recycling may have untapped potential to build an effective circular economy for solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery technologies. These alternative strategies, such as reducing the use of virgin materials in manufacturing, reusing for new applications, and extending product life spans, may provide new paths...
Role identified for key gene in developmental disability syndrome
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 19:39
A single gene that was previously found to be the driving force in a rare syndrome linked to epilepsy, autism and developmental disability has been identified as a linchpin in the formation of healthy neurons. Researchers say the gene, DDX3X, forms a cellular machine called a helicase, whose job it is to split open the hairpins and cul-de-sacs of RNA so that its code can be read by the...
Scientists identify new brain mechanism involved in impulsive cocaine-seeking in rats
- ScienceDaily
- 22/6/28 19:39
Researchers have found that blocking certain acetylcholine receptors in the lateral habenula (LHb), an area of the brain that balances reward and aversion, made it harder to resist seeking cocaine in a rat model of impulsive behavior. These findings identify a new role for these receptors that may represent a future target for the development of treatments for cocaine use disorder. There are...
Who trusts gene-edited foods? New study gauges public acceptance
Through CRISPR and other gene-editing technologies, researchers and developers are poised to bring dozens—if not hundreds—of new products to grocery stores: mushrooms with longer shelf lives, drought-resistant corn and bananas impervious to a fungus threatening the global supply. A few, including a soybean variety that produces a healthier cooking oil, are already being sold commercially in...
Can beavers catch chronic wasting disease?
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is an infectious disease that affects the central nervous systems of animals, typically affecting cervids such as deer, elk and moose.
Climate change is shrinking and fragmenting salmon habitat
Salmon famously travel hundreds of miles upstream to reach their home waters to spawn, but climate change is shrinking their destination. A new study offers high-resolution details on how Chinook salmon habitats are being lost on Bear Valley Creek, a headwater stream of the Salmon River in central Idaho.
New technology turns the whole fish into food
In the meat industry, it's common practice to turn the whole animal into food products. In the fish industry, over half of the weight of the fish ends up as side-streams which never reach our plates. This takes a toll on the environment and is out of step with Swedish food and fisheries strategies. Now, food researchers at Chalmers are introducing a new sorting technology that means we get five...
Flooding exacerbates pollution exposure in at-risk urban communities
Increased flooding in the U.S. is exposing more people to industrial pollution, especially in racially marginalized urban communities, according to new research from Rice University, New York University and Brown University.
Wild tomato genome will benefit domesticated cousins
A team of researchers has assembled a reference genome for Solanum lycopersicoides, a wild relative of the cultivated tomato, and developed web-based tools to help plant researchers and breeders improve the crop.
Examining heated tobacco product emissions
A new paper examining whether heated tobacco products emit smoke has been published in the academic journal American Chemical Society Omega.
Are pockets of Covid in the gut causing long-term symptoms?
Scientists are investigating whether reservoirs of virus ‘hiding’ in the body are contributing to long CovidSince the early days of the pandemic it has been clear some people shed genetic material from the virus in their stools for months after catching Covid-19. The findings were initially regarded as a curiosity, but there is mounting evidence to support the idea that persistent pockets of...
Human urine-derived stem cells have robust regenerative potential
The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) researchers, who were the first to identify that stem cells in human urine have potential for tissue regenerative effects, continue their investigation into the power of these cells. In their latest published study, they focus on how telomerase activity affects the regenerative potential of these and other types of stem cells.
Valleytronics researchers fabricate novel 2D material enjoying long-life excitons
The emerging field of valleytronics, which exploits the momentum preference of excited electrons, or excitons, in a variety of optoelectronic devices, is closely tied to the fabrication of novel 2D materials just atoms thick. This month, a group of valleytronics researchers from Central South University in Changsha, China, have developed one such 2D material that significantly enhances the utility...
New study shows how the ancient world adapted to climate change
A new study of the ancient world of Anatolia—now Turkey—shows how they adapted to climate change but offers a warning for today's climate emergency.
Understanding earthquakes triggered by wastewater injection
Since 2009, many central U.S. residents have faced increasing earthquake activity. Research has suggested that these tremors are linked to wastewater injection into deep wells by oil and gas companies. However, the precise dynamics of these earthquakes are still being revealed.
New study investigates the microbiomes of dogs around the world
Although the microbiome—the collection of all microbes that live in the body—in the fecal matter of dogs has been investigated extensively, those studies have mostly been limited to domesticated dogs. In a new study, researchers have sampled the fecal microbiomes across diverse geographical populations to better understand what they look like around the world.
Next-generation Radar Receiver Set to Supply Scientists with Improved Weather Data
PROJECT
Global Navigation Satellite System bistatic radar receiver (NGRx)
SNAPSHOT
An SMD-sponsored team is developing a new radar receiver that will enable future spaceborne instruments to process more signals and produce data at much higher resolution—greatly enhancing scientists’ ability to study storms, observe polar ice, predict floods, and measure sea surface height.
In 2018,...