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| Genetic strategy reverses insecticide resistance Posted: 14 Jan 2022 04:26 PM PST Using CRISPR/Cas9 technology, scientists have genetically engineered a method to reverse insecticide resistance. The gene replacement method offers a new way to fight deadly malaria spread and reduce the use of pesticides that protect valuable food crops. |
| Before horses, ass hybrids were bred for warfare Posted: 14 Jan 2022 12:33 PM PST Before the introduction of the domestic horse in Mesopotamia, valuable equids were being harnessed to ceremonial or military four wheeled wagons and used as royal gifts, but their true nature remained unknown. According to a palaeogenetic study, these prestigious animals were the result of a cross between a domestic donkey and a wild ass from Syria, now extinct. This makes them the oldest example of an animal hybrid produced by humans. |
| Creating a reference map to explore the electronic device mimicking brain activity Posted: 14 Jan 2022 08:56 AM PST Just like explorers need maps, scientists require guides to better understand and advance new technology. A neuromorphic device, which can mimic the neural cells in our brain, has lacked such a guideline and created headaches for scientists trying to understand their operational mechanisms. That is until now after a research group created a map that provides rational design guidelines for neuromorphic devices, paving the way for advancements in brain-inspired computers. |
| New study overturns popular theory on evolution of termite size Posted: 14 Jan 2022 08:56 AM PST Researchers have completed a comprehensive analysis of the head width of over 1500 modern and fossilized species of termites and determined that their size isn't shrinking at a geological timescale. |
| Do we get our most creative ideas when walking? Posted: 14 Jan 2022 08:56 AM PST Do we have our best ideas while walking? Indeed, but even small movements while sitting improve creativity, as two researchers have discovered. |
| Earth’s interior is cooling faster than expected Posted: 14 Jan 2022 08:56 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated in the lab how well a mineral common at the boundary between the Earth's core and mantle conducts heat. This leads them to suspect that the Earth's heat may dissipate sooner than previously thought. |
| Systematically examining the way spatial structure influences the evolution of cancer Posted: 14 Jan 2022 07:30 AM PST Characterizing the way, manner or pattern of evolution in tumors may be important for clinical forecasting and optimizing cancer treatment. Researchers are systematically examining how spatial structure influences tumor evolution. To do this the group developed a computational model with the flexibility to simulate alternative spatial structures and types of cell dispersal. |
| Meet a colorful but colorblind spider Posted: 14 Jan 2022 07:30 AM PST An international team of researchers found that the brightly colored jumping spider Saitis barbipes could not see its own vivid reds. |
| The first AI breast cancer sleuth that shows its work Posted: 14 Jan 2022 07:30 AM PST Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence platform to analyze potentially cancerous lesions in mammography scans to determine if a patient should receive an invasive biopsy. But unlike its many predecessors, the algorithm is interpretable, meaning it shows physicians exactly how it came to its conclusions. |
| Hostile takeover in the cell: Pathogens hijack host mitochondria Posted: 14 Jan 2022 06:28 AM PST A research team reports that a parasite tricks mitochondria into shedding large structures from their 'skin', thus turning off their defenses. |
| Novel treatment target for heart disease found in the blood vessel wall Posted: 14 Jan 2022 04:45 AM PST A molecule of RNA called CARMN has been found in abundance in the healthy smooth muscle cells that help give our blood vessels strength and flexibility, and distinctly decreased in vascular diseases like atherosclerosis, a major cause of heart attack and stroke, scientists report. |
| Risk of schizophrenia linked to brain cell development Posted: 14 Jan 2022 04:44 AM PST Scientists have discovered new links between the breakdown in brain cell development and the risk of schizophrenia and other psychiatric disorders. |
| Past eight years: Warmest since modern recordkeeping began Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:01 PM PST Earth's global average surface temperature in 2021 tied with 2018 as the sixth warmest on record, according to independent analyses done by NASA and NOAA. Collectively, the past eight years are the warmest years since modern recordkeeping began in 1880. |
| Strong evidence shows Sixth Mass Extinction of global biodiversity in progress Posted: 13 Jan 2022 04:49 PM PST The history of life on Earth has been marked five times by events of mass biodiversity extinction caused by extreme natural phenomena. Today, many experts warn that a Sixth Mass Extinction crisis is underway, this time entirely caused by human activities. A comprehensive assessment of evidence of this ongoing extinction event was recently published. |
| Unusual team finds gigantic planet hidden in plain sight Posted: 13 Jan 2022 04:41 PM PST An astronomer and a group of eagle-eyed citizen scientists have discovered a giant gas planet hidden from view by typical stargazing tools. |
| Risky food-finding strategy could be the key to human success Posted: 13 Jan 2022 04:41 PM PST When it comes to feeding behavior, humans are the inefficient gas-guzzlers of the primate family, according to a new study of hunter-gatherer energy budgets. Unlike our herbivorous cousins who spend much of the day lounging while chewing their fibrous diets, early humans made high-risk, high-energy investments in finding big calories they could share with the group. And that in turn, likely led to free time and culture. |
| Fuzzy molecular threesome is basis of gene expression Posted: 13 Jan 2022 04:41 PM PST Scientists have investigated how genes are accessed if so tightly packed away? How can these molecules be broken apart to promote gene expression? |
| Nanostructures get complex with electron equivalents Posted: 13 Jan 2022 04:41 PM PST Complex crystals that mimic metals -- including a structure for which there is no natural equivalent -- can be achieved with a new approach to guiding nanoparticle self-assembly. |
| Aphid ‘honeydew’ may promote bacteria that kill them Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:14 PM PST The word 'honeydew' sounds benign, but the sugary waste product of aphids can promote growth of bacteria that are highly virulent to the pests, according to a new study. |
| Two new species of freshwater goby fish discovered in Palawan, Philippines Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:14 PM PST Biologists have found two new species of goby fish in Palawan, a Philippine archipelago. The goby fish both belonged to the genus, Rhinogobius. |
| New research advocates a basic strategy for native fish recovery: Access to water Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:14 PM PST Rivers need water -- a fact that may seem ridiculously obvious, but in times of increasing water development, drought, and climate change, the quantity of natural streamflow that remains in river channels is coming into question, especially in the Colorado River basin. Newly published research poses a tough question in these days of falling reservoir levels and high-stakes urban development: whether the continued development of rivers for water supply can be balanced with fish conservation. |
| E-cigarette users who test positive for COVID-19 are more likely to experience COVID-19 symptoms Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:14 PM PST People who use electronic cigarettes and test positive for COVID-19 have a higher frequency of experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, compared to people who don't vape, according to new research. |
| Tuberculosis vaccine could assist future COVID-19 vaccine development Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:13 PM PST A computational biologist is reporting that the tuberculosis vaccine, which could be associated with a reduced number and/or severity of COVID-19 cases, could assist future COVID-19 vaccine development. |
| Mouse study finds age, disease change body temperature rhythms Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:13 PM PST A new study finds that while young and healthy mice show clear differences between daytime and nighttime body temperature rhythms, in older and diseased animals the difference essentially disappeared. |
| Posted: 13 Jan 2022 12:10 PM PST Data indicate that pregnant women with COVID-19 had an increased risk for stillbirth when the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was the dominant strain in the United States. Researchers identified the Delta variant in the blood and placentas of several women with COVID-19 who had stillbirths and pregnancy complications. |
| Protective gene variant against COVID-19 identified Posted: 13 Jan 2022 09:07 AM PST Researchers have identified a specific gene variant that protects against severe COVID-19 infection. The researchers managed to pinpoint the variant by studying people of different ancestries, a feat they say highlights the importance of conducting clinical trials that include people of diverse descents. |
| Powerful sensors on planes detect crop nitrogen with high accuracy Posted: 13 Jan 2022 09:07 AM PST Synthetic nitrogen fertilizers transformed agriculture as we know it during the Green Revolution, catapulting crop yields and food security to new heights. Yet, despite improvements in crop nitrogen use efficiency, fears of underperformance spur fertilizer overapplication to this day. Excess nitrogen then ends up in waterways, including groundwater, and in the atmosphere in the form of potent greenhouse gases. |
| Heart disease causes early brain dysfunction and can treble key Alzheimer’s protein Posted: 13 Jan 2022 09:07 AM PST Heart disease can directly cause brain dysfunction early on which could lead to dementia and can treble the amount of an Alzheimer's protein in the brain, say scientists. |
| Next-generation tissue expansion method improves neural imaging Posted: 13 Jan 2022 09:07 AM PST 'eMAP' enables labeling of more than a dozen more synaptic proteins than its predecessor MAP, allowing for deeper studies of circuit junctions in brain tissue. |
| AI accurately diagnoses prostate cancer, study shows Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST Researchers have completed a comprehensive international validation of artificial intelligence (AI) for diagnosing and grading prostate cancer. The study shows that AI systems can identify and grade prostate cancer in tissue samples from different countries equally well as pathologists. The results suggest AI systems are ready to be responsibly introduced as a complementary tool in prostate cancer care, researchers say. |
| An ice-inspired lubricant improves osteoarthritis symptoms in rats Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST With the Winter Olympics approaching, many people will soon be tuning in to watch events that take place on ice, such as figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey. An ultrathin, super-lubricating layer of water on the ice's surface is essential for skaters' graceful glides. Inspired by this surface, researchers have developed a treatment for osteoarthritis that enhances lubrication and reduces friction and inflammation in a rat model of the disease. |
| What will it take to save the regent honeyeater from extinction? Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST New research shows unless conservation actions are urgently stepped up, one of our most beautiful songbirds, the regent honeyeater, will be extinct within 20 years. |
| Green-med diet seems to slow age-related neurodegeneration, study finds Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST A green Mediterranean diet, high in polyphenols and low in red and processed meat, seems to slow age-related brain atrophy, according to a new study. The DIRECT PLUS 18-month long randomized control trial among approximately 300 participants is one of the longest and largest brain MRI trials in the world. |
| The 'gold' of the Midas cichlids Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:15 AM PST Evolutionary biologists describe a new gene in the Central American Midas cichlid fish and identify a variant caused by a 'jumping gene' (transposon). This variant of the 'goldentouch gene' is most likely the reason for the golden coloration that can be found in a small percentage of animals of this species complex. |
| A treasure map for the realm of electrocatalysts Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Efficient electrocatalysts, which are needed for the production of green hydrogen, for example, are hidden in materials composed of five or more elements. A team has developed an efficient method for identifying promising candidates in the myriad of possible materials. To this end, the researchers combined experiments and simulation. |
| Discovery could hold the key to alleviating metabolic disease Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST A newly characterized fat protein could provide the missing link to explain a rare metabolic disease while offering fresh insight into common disorders such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. |
| Deadly combination: New direct trigger for cell death discovered Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Understanding the basic mechanisms that lead to cell death (apoptosis) is essential for the development of therapies for cancer and other diseases. Scientists have now discovered a protein interaction that directly triggers cell death. |
| Reducing air pollution: Policies that pay off Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Fine particle pollution affects most of the world's population, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases as well as premature deaths, all at a cost to society. A multidisciplinary research team has now drawn up various scenarios that would reduce the mortality caused by fine particles by two thirds over the entire conurbation, and has shown that the benefits obtained would exceed the costs of the policies implemented. |
| Rising atmospheric CO2 concentrations globally affect photosynthesis of peat-forming mosses Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Scientists have developed ways to decipher effects of the CO2 rise during the past 100 years on metabolic fluxes of the key plant species in peatlands, mosses. Analyses of cellulose in peat cores collected by collaborating scientists working in five continents indicate that a CO2-driven increase in photosynthesis of mosses is strongly dependent on the water table, which may change the species composition of peat moss communities. |
| A case of mistaken identity: Researchers unmask cellular source of Barrett’s esophagus Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Scientists correct a longstanding misconception about the origins of Barrett's esophagus, and in doing so may point to new avenues of treatment or prevention to lower the risk of esophageal cancer. |
| Unexpected insight of lymphatic vessels in the heart Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Researchers identified a protein called VE-cadherin as a key factor in the maintenance of lymphatic vessels serving the heart. Deleting VE-cadherin from the lymphatic vessels in newborn and adult lab mice caused the lymphatic vessels in the heart to regress and eventually disappear. |
| Researchers make important new findings about how to test cancer-fighting drugs Posted: 13 Jan 2022 08:14 AM PST Researchers are discovering new ways to find out how effective a drug might be against cancer. |
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