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| Study shows differences between brains of girls, boys with autism Posted: 17 Feb 2022 03:17 PM PST Girls with autism differ in several brain centers compared with boys with autism, suggesting gender-specific diagnostics are needed, a new study using artificial intelligence finds. |
| How superbugs uses mirror images to create antibiotic resistance Posted: 17 Feb 2022 03:17 PM PST Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a bacterial infection that has become resistant to most of the antibiotics used to treat regular staph infections. Computer scientists are working to develop new enzyme inhibitors to fight MRSA. In recent research, the team discovered how a single small mutation makes a big difference in drug efficacy. |
| How motor neurons develop into subtypes that activate different muscles Posted: 17 Feb 2022 03:17 PM PST Motor neurons play a vital role in movement, linking the central nervous system with different muscles in the body. A new study has uncovered details about the process through which motor neurons develop into subtypes that connect the spinal cord with different target muscles and help to control different body parts. The research concludes that a gene called Kdm6b helps control motor neurons' fate. |
| Engineered bacterial strains could fertilize crops, reduce waterways pollution Posted: 17 Feb 2022 01:30 PM PST Researchers have engineered strains of the ubiquitous, nitrogen-fixing soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii to produce ammonia and excrete it at high concentrations, transferring it into crop plants in lieu of conventional chemical fertilizers. |
| An easier way to grow model organs Posted: 17 Feb 2022 12:52 PM PST A laboratory has developed a new, significantly simpler way of cultivating a 3D model of the intestine that leads to increased complexity and organization. |
| Fewer rainy days leading to earlier spring in northern climes Posted: 17 Feb 2022 12:52 PM PST A drop in the total number of rainy days each year is contributing to an earlier arrival of spring for plants in northern climates, a new study finds. |
| U.S. coastline to see up to a foot of sea level rise by 2050 Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:24 AM PST The United States is expected to experience as much sea level rise by the year 2050 as it witnessed in the previous hundred years. That's according to a NOAA-led report updating sea level rise decision-support information for the U.S. released in partnership with half a dozen other U.S.federal agencies. |
| New medicines for treating heart patients Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST New research discovered a unique class of medications that act as blood thinners by inhibiting an enzyme in the genes of tick saliva. The research focused on novel direct thrombin inhibitors from tick salivary transcriptomes, or messenger RNA molecules expressed by an organism. The result is the development of new anticoagulant medications that can be used to treat patients with a variety of coronary issues, including heart attacks. |
| Well-functioning fat may be the key to fewer old-age ailments Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Fat tissue plays an important role in human health. However, our fat tissue loses function as we age, which can lead to type 2 diabetes, obesity, cancer and other ailments. High levels of lifelong exercise seem to counteract this deterioration. |
| CROPSR: A new tool to accelerate genetic discoveries Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Scientists have developed CROPSR, the first open-source software tool for genome-wide design and evaluation of guide RNA (gRNA) sequences for CRISPR/Cas9 experiments. This tool significantly shortens the time required to design a CRISPR experiment and reduces the challenge of working with complex crop genomes. It should accelerate bioenergy crop development as well as broader crop improvements and other gene-editing research. |
| Scientists reveal how Venus fly trap plants snap shut Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Scientists have revealed the three-dimensional structure of Flycatcher1, an aptly named protein channel that may enable Venus fly trap plants to snap shut in response to prey. The structure of Flycatcher1 helps shed light on longstanding questions about the remarkably sensitive touch response of Venus fly traps. The structure also gives the researchers a better understanding of how similar proteins in organisms including plants and bacteria, as well as proteins in the human body with similar functions (called mechanosensitive ion channels), might operate. |
| More evidence suggests self-awareness is also for some fish Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Researchers address criticisms to previous work by providing additional evidence to suggest the cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus has Mirror Self-Recognition. |
| Groundbreaking study finds widespread lead poisoning in bald and golden eagles Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST A first-of-its-kind, eight-year study has found widespread and frequent lead poisoning in North American bald and golden eagles impacting both species' populations. Researchers evaluated lead exposure in bald and golden eagles from 2010 to 2018. |
| Reducing negative impacts of Amazon hydropower expansion on people and nature Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST Rapid hydroelectric dam expansion in the Amazon poses a serious threat to Earth's largest and most biodiverse river basin. There are 158 dams in the Amazon River basin, with another 351 proposed; these projects are typically assessed individually, with little coordinated planning. A new study provides a computational approach for evaluating basin-level tradeoffs between hydropower and ecosystem services, with the goal of guiding sustainable dam siting. |
| Vortex microscope sees more than ever before Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST A new imaging technology uses polarized 'optical vortices' to provide a detailed, dynamic view of molecules in motion. |
| More chemicals, fewer words: Exposure to chemical mixtures during pregnancy alters brain development Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:13 AM PST By linking human population studies with experiments in cell and animal models, researchers have provided evidence that complex mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals impact children's brain development and language acquisition. With their novel approach, the scientists show that up to 54 per cent of pregnant women were exposed to experimentally defined levels of concern. While current risk assessment tackles chemicals one at a time, these findings show the need to take mixtures into account for future risk assessment approaches. |
| Measuring the tempo of Utah's red rock towers Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Geologists know well how rock towers and arches shimmy, twist and sway in response to far-off earthquakes, wind and even ocean waves. Their latest research compiles a first-of-its-kind dataset to show that the dynamic properties, i.e. the frequencies at which the rocks vibrate and the ways they deform during that vibration, can be largely predicted using the same mathematics that describe how beams in built structures resonate. |
| Scientists think a peptide could stop, reverse damage to nerve cells Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Researchers found a way to inhibit the mitochondrial fission in nerve cell axons, which can promote normal growth and potentially stop further damage in neurodegenerative disorders like hereditary spastic paraplegia and Parkinson's disease. |
| Chaining atoms together yields quantum storage Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Data stored in spin states of ytterbium atoms can be transferred to surrounding atoms in a crystal matrix. |
| Flies possess more sophisticated cognitive abilities than previously known Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Common flies feature more advanced cognitive abilities than previously believed. Using a custom-built immersive virtual reality arena, neurogenetics and real-time brain activity imaging, researchers found attention, working memory and conscious awareness-like capabilities in fruit flies. |
| Molecular 'culprit' caught driving cell death and inflammation Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST A new study has identified a molecular 'culprit' responsible for causing damaging levels of cell death and inflammation in the body. The findings could lead to improved treatment options for a range of conditions driven by inflammatory cell death, including the SARS-CoV-2 virus. |
| Astronomers discover widest separation of brown dwarf pair to date Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST A team of astronomers has discovered a rare pair of brown dwarfs that has the widest separation of any brown dwarf binary system found to date. They're 12 billion miles apart, or three times the separation of Pluto from the Sun. The discovery is exceptional considering brown dwarf binaries share a weaker gravitational force than binary stars with the same separation, and thus are more likely to break up over time. |
| London produces up to a third more methane than estimates suggest Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Measurements of London's atmosphere show the city is releasing more of the potent greenhouse gas methane, primarily from natural gas leaks. |
| Tall trees in the Amazon can suffer from warmer temperatures Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Tall trees in Central Amazonia are impacted by periods of high maximum temperatures, which can cause them to shed their leaves and branches. With deforestation increasing, forests are becoming fragmented and this exposes their interiors and increases the temperatures they experience, making these losses even worse. With climate change jeopardizing tall trees around the world, this new evidence of spiraling negative effects from fragmentation is bad news, and highlights the urgent need to reduce deforestation in the Amazon. |
| Scientists pinpoint genetic target with promise for treating many forms of blindness Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Developing therapies for genetic forms of blindness is extremely challenging, in part because they vary so widely, but scientists have now highlighted a target with great promise for treating a range of these conditions. The scientists have highlighted that a specific gene (SARM1) is a key driver in the damage that ultimately leads to impaired vision (and sometimes blindness), and -- in a disease model -- showed that deleting this gene protects vision after a chemical kick-starts the chain of dysfunction that mimics a host of ocular conditions. |
| Nano-sized plastics may enter and permeate cell membranes Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Researchers have used molecular modelling methods to investigate the movement of nano-sized plastics in membrane structures. The results indicate that for some microplastics, passive transport through the cell membrane may be a significant gateway into the cell. |
| Discovery of key protein in malaria parasite opens door to novel treatment Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST An international team has discovered a protein that plays a key biological role in a parasite that causes malaria. Deactivating this protein reduces in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum, the protozoa behind the most virulent form of the disease, by more than 75%. |
| Less antibiotic use in dentistry gave no increase in endocarditis Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Sweden is one of the few countries that have removed the dental health recommendation to give prophylactic antibiotics to people at a higher risk of infection of the heart valves, so-called infective endocarditis. Since the recommendation was removed in 2012, there has been no increase in this disease, a registry study shows. |
| Study analyzes brain changes associated with juvenile fibromyalgia Posted: 17 Feb 2022 11:12 AM PST Analyzing the brain changes that occur in the first stages of juvenile fibromyalgia could help to better understand the pathophysiology of this syndrome. |
| Temperature, reproduction link holds promise for insect control Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:47 AM PST Scientists have uncovered a set of neurons in fruit flies that shut down in cold temperatures and slow reproduction, a system conserved in many insects, including mosquitoes, which could provide a target for pest control. |
| Ancient dwarf galaxy reconstructed with MilkyWay@home volunteer computer Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:47 AM PST Astrophysicists for the first time have calculated the original mass and size of a dwarf galaxy that was shredded in a collision with the Milky Way billions of years ago. |
| Rogue antibodies make cells 'sticky' to trigger blood clots in COVID-19 patients Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:19 AM PST Scientists have discovered that 'rogue' antibodies found circulating in the blood of COVID-19 patients have the potential to cause endothelial cells to lose their resistance to clotting. These antiphospholipid autoantibodies can trigger blood clots in the arteries and veins of patients with autoimmune disorders, including lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome. The findings provide an even stronger connection between autoantibody formation and clotting in COVID-19. |
| Sediment cores from ocean floor could contain 23-million-year-old climate change clues Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:19 AM PST Sediment cores taken from the Southern Ocean dating back 23 million years are providing insight into how ancient methane escaping from the seafloor could have led to regional or global climate and environmental changes, according to a new study. |
| Musicians, chemists use sound to better understand science Posted: 17 Feb 2022 10:19 AM PST A team of researchers from music, chemistry and computer science is using sound to better understand biochemical processes such as the physical mechanisms of protein folding. |
| Study strengthens case that vitamins cannot treat COVID-19 Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST A meta-analysis of 26 studies that included more than 5,600 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has found that taking immune-boosting micronutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc do not lessen a patient's chance of dying from COVID-19. |
| A fish story with a human tell Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Elephant sharks offer a novel perspective on how humans evolved. A new study parses some previously unexplained reproductive differences. |
| Uncovering unexpected properties in a complex quantum material Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST A new study describes previously unexpected properties in a complex quantum material, findings that have implications for future quantum devices. |
| The surprising structural reason your kitchen sponge is disgusting Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Researchers have uncovered a basic but surprising fact: your kitchen sponge is a better incubator for diverse bacterial communities than a laboratory Petri dish. But it's not just the trapped leftovers that make the cornucopia of microbes swarming around so happy and productive, it's the structure of the sponge itself. |
| Size matters in particle treatments of traumatic injuries Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Chemical engineers tested how different-sized polymer nanoparticles circulate in the body and interact with platelets, the cells that promote blood clotting. Such particles could be used to help stop internal bleeding after traumatic injuries. |
| Depression and Alzheimer’s disease share genetic roots Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Epidemiological data have long linked depression with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive dementia that affects nearly 6 million Americans. Now, a new study identifies common genetic factors in both depression and AD. Importantly, the researchers found that depression played a causal role in AD development, and those with worse depression experienced a faster decline in memory. |
| New DNA computer assesses water quality Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Synthetic biologists have developed a low-cost, easy-to-use, hand-held device that can let users know -- within mere minutes -- if their water is safe to drink. The new device works by using powerful and programmable genetic networks, which mimic electronic circuits, to perform a range of logic functions. |
| Dendrites may help neurons perform complicated calculations Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated how dendrites -- branch-like extensions that protrude from neurons -- help neurons perform computations on information that comes in from other parts of the brain. |
| Monte Carlo simulations bring new focus to electron microscopy Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST A new method is using Monte Carlo simulations to extend the capabilities of transmission electron microscopy and answer fundamental questions in polymer science. |
| MRI may lower breast cancer deaths from variants in 3 genes Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Annual MRI screenings starting at ages 30 to 35 may reduce breast-cancer mortality by more than 50% among women who carry certain genetic changes in three genes, according to a comparative modeling analysis. The predictions involve pathogenic variants in ATM, CHEK2 and PALB2 genes -- which collectively are as prevalent as the much-reported BRCA1/2 gene mutations. |
| Researchers combine piezoelectric thin film and metasurfaces to create lens with tunable focus Posted: 17 Feb 2022 09:23 AM PST Tunability in lenses typically requires bulky components, but researchers have created a metasurface lens that uses a piezoelectric thin film to change focal length when a small voltage is applied. The compact and lightweight lens could be useful for portable medical diagnostic instruments, drone-based 3D mapping and other applications where miniaturization can open new possibilities. |
| Research reveals high-risk subtype of relapsed pediatric AML Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Scientists have found a previously overlooked mutation in a subtype of pediatric leukemia that has implications for identifying high-risk patients. |
| Superfluids provide new insight into turbulence Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Eddies in an exotic liquid known as a superfluid merge to form large vortices, analogous to how cyclones form in the turbulent atmosphere. |
| Rare bacterial strain isolated and sequenced Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Certain types of bacteria are unable to survive and thrive outside host organisms. This makes their isolation and identification technically challenging. Recently, a researcher successfully isolated a new bacterial strain of the candidate bacterial group, Candidatus phylum Dependentiae, from a pond. |
| Defeating leukemia cells by depriving them of energy Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Acute myeloid leukemia, which affects blood and bone marrow cells, is a particularly dangerous form of cancer. More than half of patients under the age of 60 die. This proportion rises to 85% for patients over 60. A team has now identified a previously unknown mechanism that could lead to the development of new therapies. The selective activation of AMPK, a key enzyme in the energy balance of tumor cells, would indeed lead to their death by triggering the cells stress response. Moreover, the scientists have successfully exploited this energy gap in an animal model of the disease: a combination of two drugs -- one of which is already on the market -- has indeed shown promise. However, their effectiveness has yet to be confirmed on leukaemia stem cells, which have the ability to escape many treatments to restart tumor growth. |
| Independent evolution of a complex sucking pump in arthropods Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Whether nectar-sucking butterflies or blood-sucking mosquitoes - the ingestion of liquid food has long been known for many insects and other arthropods. A research team now shows that millipedes also use a sucking pump to ingest liquid food. A sucking pump has thus evolved independently in different groups of organisms over several 100 million years. In the process, astonishingly similar biomechanical solutions for ingesting liquid food have evolved in widely distant animal groups. |
| Explosive fossil fruit found buried beneath ancient Indian lava flows Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST Just before the closing scenes of the Cretaceous Period, India was a rogue subcontinent on a collision course with Asia. Before the two landmasses merged, however, India rafted over a 'hot spot' within the Earth's crust, triggering one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, which likely contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs. In a recent study, scientists excavating the fossilized remains of plant material wedged between layers of volcanic rock describe a new plant species based on the presence of distinctive fruit capsules that likely exploded to disperse their seeds. |
| Researchers identify biomarkers to predict patient response to immunotherapy treatment for melanoma Posted: 17 Feb 2022 07:20 AM PST A team of researchers has discovered blood biomarkers that can potentially predict patient response in the treatment of melanoma. |
| Core strength could help dogs avoid knee injuries Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:07 AM PST Agility dogs lacking core strength from routine physical exercise may be more susceptible to one of the most common canine knee injuries, a cranial cruciate ligament rupture, which is similar to an ACL tear in humans. According to a research survey documenting activity and injury odds of more than 1,200 agility dogs, just about any physical exercise seems to lower the risk of rupturing the ligament, but some exercises seem to increase the risk. In addition, the size and shape of the dog -- and thereby certain breeds -- were also found to be at higher risk. Balance and core strengthening exercises as well as activities like dock diving, barn hunt and scent work are associated with a decreased rate of ligament rupture. |
| New imaging scan reveals a culprit in cognitive decline of Alzheimer’s Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:07 AM PST Advanced imaging technology has helped scientists confirm that the destruction of brain synapses underlies the cognitive deficits experienced by patients with Alzheimer's disease. For many years, scientists have assumed that the loss of connections between brain cells caused Alzheimer's-related symptoms, including memory loss, but actual evidence of the role of synaptic loss had been limited to a small number of brain biopsies and post-mortem brain exams conducted on patients with moderate or advanced disease. However, the emergence of a positron emission tomography (PET) scanning technology has allowed researchers to observe the loss of synapses in living patients with even mild symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. |
| How picking up your smartphone could reveal your identity Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:07 AM PST The time a person spends on different smartphone apps is enough to identify them from a larger group in more than one in three cases say researchers, who warn of the implications for security and privacy. They fed 4,680 days of app usage data into statistical models. Each of these days was paired with one of the 780 users, such that the models learnt people's daily app use patterns. The researchers then tested whether models could identify an individual when provided with only a single day of smartphone activity that was anonymous and not yet paired with a user. Software granted access to a smartphone's standard activity logging could render a reasonable prediction about a user's identity even when they were logged out of their account. An identification is possible with no monitoring of conversations or behaviors within apps themselves. |
| Exercise can help older adults retain their memories Posted: 17 Feb 2022 06:06 AM PST Conducting a meta-analysis of 3,000 patients over 36 studies (carefully vetted from more than 1,200 studies in all), psychologists were able to find that specific exercise helps episodic memory -- 3 times a week for 4 months, with greater improvements among those who are age 55 to 68 years. |
| All abuzz: Larvicidal flavonoids inhibit key enzyme in yellow fever mosquitoes Posted: 16 Feb 2022 05:48 PM PST Researchers have discovered how certain flavonoids -- a type of metabolic product from plants and other organisms -- can kill yellow fever mosquito larvae. These compounds inhibit an enzyme, called Nobo, which is used to synthesize ecdysone, a key hormone in the life cycle of insects. The most efficient flavonoid tested, desmethylglycitein (DMG), could be used to make new types of insecticides to replace current ones, to which mosquitoes are becoming resistant. |
| Posted: 16 Feb 2022 04:18 PM PST Repetitive headers and accidental head impacts in soccer are leading to changes in blood patterns, linked to brain signalling pathways and potential alterations -- the latest study to assess potential dangers of heading in soccer shows. |
| A possible cure for sickle cell? Posted: 16 Feb 2022 02:02 PM PST Sickle cell anemia is an inherited blood disorder where red blood cells become sickle/crescent shaped. It causes frequent infections, swelling in the hands and legs, pain, severe tiredness and delayed growth or puberty. Treatment typically focuses on controlling symptoms and may include pain medicines during crises; hydroxyurea to reduce the number of pain episodes; antibiotics and vaccines to prevent bacterial infections and blood transfusions. While a remedy for this severe disease has remained elusive, a recent study, if proven applicable, may be a possible cure. |
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