ScienceDaily: Top Environment News

An innovative scientific instrument, the Compact Color Biofinder may change the game in the search for signs of extraterrestrial life.

Researchers describe how the microbiomes of people and the homes they live in interact and change each other.

While lower vertebrates can repair their adult hearts after a heart attack, mammals -- including humans -- cannot. The ability to regenerate dead muscle tissue in mammalian hearts disappears just a few days after birth because the heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, exit the cell cycle. In 2020, researchers reported that surgery to remove the left ventricle apex of the heart of pigs, one day after birth, somehow extended the replication ability of heart muscle cells. To better understand the underlying gene expression changes in this extended regeneration window, researchers now report nuclear RNA-sequencing of heart muscle cells, using this porcine model. From such knowledge, and much further research yet to come, clinicians may potentially learn how to regenerate adult heart cardiomyocytes after a heart attack.

A research group has explored the potential production of micro-scale organic electronics for use in bioelectronics via multiphoton 3-D printers.

Along with high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking, environmental factors such as air pollution are highly predictive of people's chances of dying, especially from heart attack and stroke, a new study shows.

In the largest epidemiologic study of arsenic and birth outcomes to date, researchers estimated arsenic levels in U.S. private well water sources by county and compared estimates to documented birth outcomes. They found an association between estimated groundwater arsenic concentration and risk of low birth weight.

The neural and cognitive complexity of the octopus could originate from a molecular analogy with the human brain, according to a new study. The research shows that the same 'jumping genes' are active both in the human brain and in the brain of two species, Octopus vulgaris, the common octopus, and Octopus bimaculoides, the Californian octopus.

The female hormone estradiol was found to suppress psoriasis in mice by regulating neutrophil and macrophage cells. The conditional knockout mice without the natural ovarian hormones estradiol showed symptoms of severe skin inflammation.

Researchers say people with developmental dyslexia have specific strengths relating to exploring the unknown that have contributed to the successful adaptation and survival of our species.

The effects of global climate change already are resulting in the loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise, and longer and more intense heat waves, among other threats. Now, a survey of planktonic lipids in the global ocean predicts a temperature-linked decrease in the production of essential omega-3 fatty acids, an important subset of lipid molecules. A significant implication of the survey is that as global warming proceeds, there will be fewer and fewer omega-3 fatty acids produced by plankton at the base of the food web, which will mean less omega-3 fatty acids available for fish and for people.

A new study paints a vivid image of how forests developed over centuries and contribute to Earth's carbon balance -- a crucial component to maintaining a steady global climate. The study reconstructed the natural pace and pattern of carbon storage in forests of the Midwestern United States over 10,000 years. The findings have the potential to shift ongoing debates about how landscapes can be managed to maximize carbon storage while meeting conservation goals.