183 articles from THURSDAY 19.1.2023

New research quantifies the 'wow' factor of sunrise and sunset

A new study has identified the impact that fleeting natural events, such as sunrises and sunsets, can have on people, and sought to quantify their effects. Researchers used the latest computer graphics to show carefully controlled images of both urban and natural environments to more than 2,500 participants. When these scenes featured elements such as sunrise and sunset, participants considered...

Active matter theory explains fire-ant group behavior

Ants are social insects and the Solenopsis invicta species -- known as the fire ant -- is no exception. The social interactions of this invasive insect, which comes from South America, are framed within the context of the theory of Active Matter, which would explain the ants' group behavior as a reaction to the intrinsic mechanisms in the system.

'Living medicine' created to tackle drug-resistant lung infections

Researchers demonstrate that a bacteria can be modified to act as 'living medicine' in the lung. The treatment significantly reduced acute lung infections in mice and doubled their survival rate. It showed no signs of toxicity in the lungs and once the treatment had finished its course, it was cleared by the immune system in a period of four days. The treatment also cleared biofilms that...

Scientists demonstrate quantum recoil for the first time, paving the way for precise X-ray imaging

For the first time since it was proposed more than 80 years ago, scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have demonstrated the phenomenon of "quantum recoil," which describes how the particle nature of light has a major impact on electrons moving through materials. The research is published online today (January 19) in the journal Nature Photonics.

Carbon capture: how does CO2 removal work?

With global temperatures still on the rise, even the most sceptical of scientists agree that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is crucial to meet the Paris Agreement goal of capping global warming below two degrees Celsius.

Evolutionary loss of a ryanodine receptor isoform appears to explain how resting muscles produce heat

A team of researchers from the University of Queensland, La Trobe University and Monash University, all in Australia, has found evidence that suggests the evolutionary loss of a ryanodine receptor isoform may explain how muscles in warm-blooded creatures evolved to allow for the generation of heat even when at rest. The paper is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Thousands at risk of heart attacks due to Covid disruption, experts warn

Patients in England, Scotland and Wales missed out on starting blood pressure-lowering drugs, British Heart Foundation saysThousands of people are at risk of avoidable heart attacks and strokes, experts have warned, after nearly 500,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales missed out on starting blood pressure-lowering drugs during the pandemic.Researchers said that thousands of people could...

GM bacteria could combat antibiotic resistance, study suggests

Re-engineered bacteria able to target drug-resistant infections in mice, research findsGenetically modified bacteria could be used to treat intractable lung infections, according to research aiming to combat the threat of antibiotic resistance.The research, in mice, showed that a re-engineered bacteria could be used to target drug-resistant infections and make them susceptible to antibiotics that...

Anti-Asian discrimination cost Chinese restaurants $7.4 billion during the pandemic's first year, new study finds

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-China fervor stoked consumer discrimination that cost Chinese restaurants $7.4 billion in lost revenue in 2020—losses 18.4 percent greater than at other types of restaurants—according to a new study by researchers from Boston College, the University of Michigan, and Microsoft Research, published today in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

Researchers decipher comprehensive black-legged tick genome

A University of Maryland-led team of scientists has deciphered the first comprehensive, continuous genome for a parasite responsible for transmitting Lyme disease and other serious infections to hundreds of thousands of Americans yearly. With their newly described genome for the black-legged tick, or deer tick, the researchers identified thousands of novel genes and new protein functions,...