169 articles from WEDNESDAY 2.11.2022

Study finds evidence of ‘considerable’ presymptomatic spread of monkeypox

Research could help explain how virus got so out of control this year, while also refining efforts to combat itBritish researchers have identified evidence of “considerable” transmission of monkeypox in the few days before symptoms of the virus emerge.If replicated, the finding would upend received wisdom about how the virus spreads. It could help explain how monkeypox, which causes sometimes...

‘Just madness’: Concerned scientists lobby to save space station’s forest-mapping laser

Since April 2019, a fridge-size instrument attached to the International Space Station (ISS) has tickled the treetops of much of the planet with laser light, mapping forests’ carbon stores and the wildlife habitat they provide. Yet in early 2023, the laser is set to be jettisoned into Earth’s atmosphere, where it will burn up unless NASA approves a plan to extend its tenure....

Invasive plant species are increasing exponentially, but no one knows how many species there are

Invasive plants can have devastating effects on local ecologies, comparable to the effects wrought by global warming. And yet, there is currently no reliable understanding of how many invasive plant species there are in the world. New research, led by the University of Massachusetts Amherst and recently published in Ecological Applications, is the first to comprehensively pinpoint the various...

NASA fieldwork studies signs of climate change in Arctic and boreal regions

From the window of a NASA Gulfstream III research aircraft, Alaska looks like a pristine wilderness untouched by humans. The land is covered in lush, green vegetation and dotted with bright blue lakes. Snow-capped mountains reach toward the sky, and chocolate milk-colored rivers snake across the landscape. The obvious signs of human activity—cities, roads, infrastructure—are hard to spot.

In the latest human vs. machine match, artificial intelligence wins by a hair

Vikas Nanda has spent more than two decades studying the intricacies of proteins, the highly complex substances present in all living organisms. The Rutgers scientist has long contemplated how the unique patterns of amino acids that comprise proteins determine whether they become anything from hemoglobin to collagen, as well as the subsequent, mysterious step of self-assembly where only certain...

Nanosensors target enzymes to monitor and study cancer

Cancer is characterized by a number of key biological processes known as the "hallmarks of cancer," which remodel cells and their immediate environment so that tumors can form, grow, and thrive. Many of these changes are mediated by specific genes and proteins, working in tandem with other cellular processes, but the specifics vary from cancer type to cancer type, and even from patient to patient.

Magic mushrooms’ psilocybin can alleviate severe depression when used with therapy

Nearly third of patients on largest trial using psychedelic compound went into rapid remissionThe psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms can help alleviate severe depression when combined with psychotherapy, according to a trial that raises hopes for people failed by existing antidepressants.Nearly a third of patients with severe depression went into rapid remission after a single 25mg dose...

Invasive plant species are increasing exponentially, but no one knows how many invasive plant species there are

Invasive plants can have devastating effects on local ecologies, comparable to the effects wrought by global warming. And yet, there is currently no reliable understanding of how many invasive plant species there are in the world. New research comprehensively pinpoints the various unknowns that need to be addressed in order to intelligently manage invasive species around the world.

Insight into immune mechanisms of inflammatory disease

Innate lymphoid cells are a recently discovered family of white blood cells that reside in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, airways and other barrier tissues of the body. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) have an essential role in protecting these tissues from parasitic infections as well as damage associated with allergic inflammation and asthma, according to a new study.

Machine learning facilitates 'turbulence tracking' in fusion reactors

Researchers demonstrated the use of computer-vision models to monitor turbulent structures that appear in plasma created in controlled-nuclear-fusion research. They created a synthetic dataset to train these models to identify and track the structures, which can affect the interactions between the plasma and the walls of the plasma vessel.

Same-sex married couples handle stress better than different-sex couples, study finds

Stress is common in all marriages, but same-sex married couples cope with that stress more positively and collaboratively than different-sex couples, according to a new study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. The study also found that women married to men report more negative support—meaning that their spouses react ambivalently or even hostilely in response to stress—than...

Unipolar quantum optoelectronic devices: Higher speeds in free-space optical communications in the midinfrared band

Telecommunications have reshaped many aspects of our lives over the past few decades by providing incredibly convenient ways to share and access information. One of the most important enablers for this transformation has been the adoption and improvement of broadband technologies, which cram enormous amounts of data over wide frequency bands to achieve unprecedented transfer speeds. Today, most...