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39 articles from ScienceDaily
Biblical military campaigns reconstructed using geomagnetic field data
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Researchers reconstructed the geomagnetic fields recorded in 21 archaeological destruction layers throughout Israel and used the data to develop a reliable new scientific tool for archaeological dating. The new tool enables the verification of Old Testament accounts of the Egyptian, Aramean, Assyrian, and Babylonian military campaigns against the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
Study uncovers mechanisms necessary for SARS-CoV-2 infection in macrophages
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Researchers have identified a receptor, CD169 (also called Siglec1), that is exclusively expressed on macrophages and contributes to the hyper-inflammatory response of macrophages upon infection with SARS-CoV-2. These findings, they believe, may provide an explanation of how SARS-CoV-2 infection of macrophages in lungs of COVID-19 patients promote inflammatory responses.
Fossil bird's skull reconstruction reveals a brain made for smelling and eyes made for daylight
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Piecing together the crushed skull of a fossil bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs helped researchers extrapolate what its brain would have looked like: big olfactory bulbs would have meant that this bird, the earliest known animal to eat fruit, had a better sense of smell than most modern birds. And the bones around its eye sockets revealed that it would have been better at seeing by day than...
Study looks inside the brain during sleep to show how memory is stored
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
A new study looks deep inside the brain, where previous learning was reactivated during sleep, resulting in improved memory. Neuroscientists teamed up with clinicians to study the brain electrical activity in five of the center's patients in response to sounds administered by the research team as part of a learning exercise. While prior studies have used EEG recordings captured by electrodes on...
A new approach, not currently described by the Clean Air Act, could eliminate air pollution disparities
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Researchers wanted to know if the Clean Air Act is capable of reducing air pollution disparities or if a new approach would be needed. The team compared two approaches that mirror main aspects of the Clean Air Act and a third approach that is not commonly used to see if it would be better at addressing disparities across the contiguous U.S.
Young child's brain, not age, determines nap transitions, research suggests
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Why do some 4- and 5-year-olds still nap like clockwork every afternoon, while other preschoolers start giving up habitual napping at age 3? It's a question many parents no doubt ponder and one that a sleep scientist has been considering for years. Now, sleep scientists describe a new theory about why and when young children transition out of naps. It's not about age as much as the brain.
Real-time air quality data 'life saving'
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Research has found sharing real-time air quality readings in developing countries can reduce air pollution and lead to lower mortality rates.
During sleep, one brain region teaches another, converting novel data into enduring memories
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:36
Using a neural network model, neuroscientists have found that, as the brain moves between REM and slow-wave sleep cycles, the hippocampus teaches the neocortex what it learned. This process seems to convert novel, fleeting data into enduring memories.
Laying geological groundwork for life on Earth
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 21:33
New research analyzing pieces of the most ancient rocks on the planet adds some of the sharpest evidence yet that Earth's crust was pushing and pulling in a manner similar to modern plate tectonics at least 3.25 billion years ago. The study also provides the earliest proof of when the planet's magnetic north and south poles swapped places.
Evidence for new theory of genetic recombination
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
New findings suggest an explanation for the century-old mystery of how chromosome recombination is regulated during sexual reproduction.
'That just sounds wrong' -- New study shows how our brains tell us when a sound is off
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
Whether it's a car door not properly closed, a shanked kick in football, or a misplaced note in music, our ears tell us when something doesn't sound right. A team of neuroscientists has recently uncovered how the brain works to make distinctions between 'right' and 'wrong' sounds -- research that provides a deeper understanding of how we learn complex audio-motor tasks like speaking or playing...
Study explains why adults' hearts don't regenerate
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
As heart cells mature in mice, the number of communication pathways called nuclear pores dramatically decreases, according to new research. While this might protect the organ from damaging signals, it could also prevent adult heart cells from regenerating, the researchers found.
Insects contribute to atmospheric electricity
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
By measuring the electrical fields near swarming honeybees, researchers have discovered that insects can produce as much atmospheric electric charge as a thunderstorm cloud. This type of electricity helps shape weather events, aids insects in finding food, and lifts spiders up in the air to migrate over large distances. The research demonstrates that living things can have an impact on atmospheric...
One in 10 older Americans has dementia
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
In the first nationally representative study of cognitive impairment prevalence in more than 20 years, researchers found almost 10% of older adults have dementia and 22% have mild cognitive impairment.
UK's oldest human DNA obtained, revealing two distinct Palaeolithic populations
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
The first genetic data from Palaeolithic human individuals in the UK -- the oldest human DNA obtained from the British Isles so far -- indicates the presence of two distinct groups that migrated to Britain at the end of the last ice age, according to new research. Published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, the new study by UCL Institute of Archaeology, the Natural History Museum and the...
Tandem solar cells with perovskite: Nanostructures help in many ways
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
By the end of 2021, scientists had presented perovskite silicon tandem solar cells with an efficiency close to 30 percent. This value was a world record for eight months, a long time for this hotly contested field of research. Scientists now describe how they achieved this record value with nanooptical structuring and reflective coatings.
To break new ground with frequency combs, an innovation plays with the beat
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
An improvement to a Nobel Prize-winning technology called a frequency comb enables it to measure light pulse arrival times with greater sensitivity than was previously possible -- potentially improving measurements of distance along with applications such as precision timing and atmospheric sensing.
Prescribed fire could reduce tick populations and pathogen transmission
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
Prescribed fire -- a tool increasingly used by forest managers and landowners to combat invasive species, improve wildlife habitat and restore ecosystem health -- also could play a role in reducing the abundance of ticks and the transmission of disease pathogens they carry, according to a team of scientists.
The environmental footprint of food
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
In an age of industrialized farming and complex supply chains, the true environmental pressures of our global food system are often obscure and difficult to assess.
The lightness of water vapor adds heft to global climate models
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
Including the lightness of water vapor in climate models can improve cloud simulations and the accuracy of climate change forecasts, scientists found.
Forest recovery after Montana's 2017 fire season
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
Researchers found thousands of seedlings growing after recent fires in Montana, especially at sites with cooler, damper conditions -- often found in the shade of the dead trees and upper canopy, as well as on the north side of mountains with higher elevations and more undergrowth. Researchers found fewer seedlings at sites with less shade and drier, hotter conditions.
Gestational exposure to flame retardant alters brain development in rats
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
Exposure in utero to a specific flame retardant, or to its individual brominated (BFR) or organophosphate ester (OPFR) components, resulted in altered brain development in newborn rats.
Using carbon-carbon clumping to detect the signature of biotic hydrocarbons
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
The mystery of the origin of hydrocarbons found in extraterrestrial environment may finally be resolved, thanks to a technique based on a 13C-13C abundance analysis. By measuring the abundance of clumped 13C-13C isotope in the hydrocarbons, it can be inferred if a hydrocarbon was produced via biological processes. This could open doors to distinguishing such hydrocarbons from abiotic ones, aiding...
Positive YouTube videos help deflect blame from sharks
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
In a new study, researchers found more people shifted blame for shark bites away from the animals after watching positive YouTube videos about them.
Intranasal COVID vaccine that works against variants in animals
- ScienceDaily
- 22/10/24 19:10
An intranasal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 could quickly get to the respiratory tract, where the virus most commonly causes symptoms. And a spray or droplets could be a more palatable option for people who fear needles. But so far, only a few countries have approved COVID nasal vaccines. Now researchers report that they've developed one that can fight off the original virus and two variants in...