ScienceDaily: Top News


Crayfish and carp among the invasive species pushing lakes towards ecosystem collapse

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:36 PM PDT

Certain invasive, non-native species can disrupt lakes to the point of rapid ecosystem collapse, contaminating water for drinking, aquaculture and recreation, a new study has found.

Smoggier skies, lower scores? A Brazilian study examines the effects of air pollution on students’ cognitive performance

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 02:07 PM PDT

A new study looks at the causal relationship between outdoor air pollution levels on nationwide university entry examination day and students' cognitive performance in Brazil.

Novel quantum effect discovered in naturally occurring graphene

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:01 PM PDT

Under special circumstances, the electrical resistance of a material can adopt a fixed value that is independent from the basic material properties and 'quantized'. This 'quantization' normally occurs within strong magnetic fields at very low temperatures when electrons move in two-dimensions. Now, a research team has succeeded in demonstrating this effect at low temperatures in the almost complete absence of a magnetic field in naturally occurring double-layer graphene, just two atoms thick.

New catalyst helps combine fuel cell, battery into one device

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:01 PM PDT

A team has developed a catalyst that can be used to both generate fuel and provide power.

Genetic analysis reveals differences in mate choice between wild and hatchery coho salmon

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:01 PM PDT

A new study of the genetic profiles of wild and hatchery coho salmon demonstrates important distinctions in how the two types of fish form mating pairs.

Better understanding of cystic fibrosis

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:01 PM PDT

New understanding of cellular defects related to Cystic Fibrosis (CF) could help pave the way for treatment.

Getting up to speed on the proton

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:01 PM PDT

A century ago, scientists first detected the proton in the atomic nucleus. Yet, much about its contents remains a mystery. Scientists report a new theory for understanding what's inside protons moving at the speed of light.

Record-breaking Texas drought more severe than previously thought

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:00 PM PDT

In 2011, Texas experienced one of its worst droughts ever. The dry, parched conditions caused over $7 billion in crop and livestock losses, sparked wildfires, pushed power grids to the limit, and reduced reservoirs to dangerously low levels. And according to a recent study led by geoscientists, the drought was worse than previously thought.

Small molecule may prevent metastasis in colorectal cancer

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:00 PM PDT

The compound works by hindering a key pathway that cancer cells rely upon to hoard energy, and is already undergoing clinical trials.

LEONARDO, the bipedal robot, can ride a skateboard and walk a slackline

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:00 PM PDT

LEO carves out a new type of locomotion somewhere between walking and flying.

Common diabetes drug promising against rare childhood brain tumor in laboratory studies

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Metformin, a drug commonly prescribed against diabetes, holds promise against a rare type of childhood brain tumor in laboratory studies, an international team of researchers.

Highly porous rocks responsible for Bennu's surprisingly craggy surface

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:00 PM PDT

Using data from NASA OSIRIS-REx mission, scientists concluded that asteroids with highly porous rocks, such as Bennu, should lack fine-grained material on their surfaces.

Massage doesn’t just make muscles feel better, it makes them heal faster and stronger

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 11:34 AM PDT

Massages feel good, but do they actually speed muscle recovery? Turns out, they do. Scientists applied precise, repeated forces to injured mouse leg muscles and found that they recovered stronger and faster than untreated muscles, likely because the compression squeezed inflammation-causing cells out of the muscle tissue. This work offers a non-invasive, drug-free treatment that can help regenerate many types of tissues, and confirms a functional link between mechanotherapy and immunotherapy.

Neurobiologists identify widely used assembling and stabilizing forces behind brain synapses

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 11:34 AM PDT

Scientists provide promising new evidence that the 'planar cell polarity,' a powerful signaling pathway, is a widely used mechanism for the formation and maintenance of a large number of synapses.

Dwarf planet Vesta a window to the early solar system

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 11:34 AM PDT

The dwarf planet Vesta is helping scientists better understand the earliest era in the formation of our solar system. Two recent articles use data from meteorites derived from Vesta to resolve the 'missing mantle problem' and push back our knowledge of the solar system to just a couple of million years after it began to form.

Maternal emergencies without a safety net

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 11:34 AM PDT

For millions of people living in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa, accessing timely care during maternal and neonatal emergencies remains a complex problem.

Extinction and origination patterns change after mass extinctions

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 11:34 AM PDT

A sweeping analysis of marine fossils from most of the past half-billion years shows the usual rules of body size evolution change during mass extinctions and their recoveries. The discovery is an early step toward predicting how evolution will play out on the other side of the current extinction crisis.

Tiny bubbles can be future treatment for inflammation

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 10:49 AM PDT

Scientists hope that tiny sacs of material excreted by cells -- so-called extracellular vesicles -- can be used to deliver drugs inside the body. Researchers now show that these nano-bubbles can transport protein drugs that reduce inflammation caused by different diseases. The technique shows promising results in animal models.

Protecting the ozone layer is delivering vast health benefits

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 10:49 AM PDT

An international agreement to protect the ozone layer is expected to prevent 443 million cases of skin cancer and 63 million cataract cases for people born in the United States through the end of this century, according to new research. The research team developed a computer modeling approach that revealed the effect of the Montreal Protocol and subsequent amendments on stratospheric ozone, the associated reductions in ultraviolet radiation, and the resulting health benefits.

Sense of purpose associated with better memory

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 10:49 AM PDT

A new study showed a link between an individual's sense of purpose and their ability to recall vivid details. The researchers found that while both a sense of purpose and cognitive function made memories easier to recall, only a sense of purpose bestowed the benefits of vividness and coherence.

How ‘ice needles’ weave patterns of stones in frozen landscapes

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 10:49 AM PDT

Experiments and modeling work offers new insights into the striking patterns of repeating stones seen in frost-prone landscapes.

Cancer costs US more than $156 billion annually, with drugs a leading expense

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 10:23 AM PDT

Care for the 15 most prevalent types of cancer in the U.S. cost approximately $156.2 billion in 2018, according to a team researchers. The team also found that medication was the biggest expense and that medication expense for breast, lung, lymphoma and colorectal cancers incurred the most costs.

Of two common weight loss surgeries, one is safer but less effective

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 10:23 AM PDT

When comparing two of the most common weight loss surgeries, a research team found that long-term, sleeve gastrectomy is safer than gastric bypass for Medicare patients.

Weighing cancer cells to personalize drug choices

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:27 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a new way to determine whether individual patients will respond to a specific cancer drug or not. This kind of test could help doctors to choose alternative therapies for patients who don't respond to the therapies normally used to treat their cancer.

Earth’s ‘solid’ inner core may contain both mushy and hard iron

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:27 AM PDT

New research suggests that Earth's 'solid' inner core is, in fact, endowed with a range of liquid, soft, and hard structures which vary across the top 150 miles of the inner core.

Catalysts found to convert carbon dioxide to fuel

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:27 AM PDT

The goal of tackling global warming by turning carbon dioxide into fuel could be one step closer with researchers using a supercomputer to identify a group of 'single-atom' catalysts that could play a key role.

Skyrmion research: Braids of nanovortices discovered

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

A team of scientists has discovered a new physical phenomenon: complex braided structures made of tiny magnetic vortices known as skyrmions. Skyrmions were first detected experimentally a little over a decade ago and have since been the subject of numerous studies, as well as providing a possible basis for innovative concepts in information processing that offer better performance and lower energy consumption. Furthermore, skyrmions influence the magnetoresistive and thermodynamic properties of a material. The discovery therefore has relevance for both applied and basic research.

Brain cell differences could be key to learning in humans and AI

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

Researchers have found that variability between brain cells might speed up learning and improve the performance of the brain and future AI.

Early human activities impacted Earth’s atmosphere more than previously known

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

An international team of scientists used data from Antarctic ice cores to trace a 700-year old increase in black carbon to an unlikely source: ancient Maori land-burning practices in New Zealand, conducted at a scale that impacted the atmosphere across much of the Southern Hemisphere and dwarfed other preindustrial emissions in the region during the past 2,000 years. Their results make it clear that human activities have impacted Earth's atmosphere and climate earlier and at larger scales than previously known.

Toxic fatty acids to blame for brain cell death after injury

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

Cells that normally nourish healthy brain cells called neurons release toxic fatty acids after neurons are damaged, a new study in rodents shows. This phenomenon is likely the driving factor behind most, if not all, diseases that affect brain function, as well as the natural breakdown of brain cells seen in aging, researchers say.

Machine learning helps reveal cells’ inner structures in new detail

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

Scientists have created a set of tools to make annotated 3D images of cells, showing the relationships between different organelles.

Boosting the cell's power house

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

Severe fatigue, muscle weakness, even blindness -- mitochondrial diseases have various symptoms. In fact, the majority of genetic diseases are caused by defects of the mitochondria. Hence, understanding these 'power houses' of our cells is crucial for the developments of new treatments. Researchers now show the structure of a protein complex essential for their work.

Very potent antiviral against dengue

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:26 AM PDT

Researchers have developed an ultrapotent inhibitor of the dengue virus, which causes the tropical disease known as dengue. The antiviral molecule is exceptionally effective against all known dengue variants and could be used for therapeutic and prevention purposes.

The role of diet in the rise of modern shark communities

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 07:44 AM PDT

The availability of prey and the ability to adapt to changing environments played key roles in the evolution of sharks. A new study, in which over 3,000 shark teeth were analyzed, provides new insight into how modern shark communities were established.

Intelligence emerging from random polymer networks

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 07:44 AM PDT

A team of researchers assembled a sulfonated polyaniline (SPAN) organic electrochemical network device (OEND) for use in reservoir computing. SPAN was deposited on gold electrodes which formed a disordered network providing humidity-dependent electrical properties. The SPAN OEND was tested for reservoir computing using benchmark tasks and spoken-digit classification, which showed 70% accuracy. The device has the potential to be applied to a wide range of artificial intelligence tasks including speech recognition.

'Living medicine' created to treat drug-resistant infections

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 06:55 AM PDT

Researchers have created 'living medicine' to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria growing on the surfaces of medical implants. The researchers created the treatment by removing a common bacteria's ability to cause disease and repurposing it to attack harmful microbes instead. The findings are an important first step for the development of new treatments for these type of infections, which account for 80% of all infections acquired in hospital settings.

Scientists can switch on plants’ response to light

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:05 AM PDT

Scientists have figured out how plants respond to light and can flip this genetic switch to encourage food growth, even in shade. The discovery could help increase food supply for an expanding population with shrinking opportunities for farming.

Years of exposure to air pollution and road traffic noise may raise heart failure risk

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:05 AM PDT

A study including more than 22,000 female nurses in Denmark evaluated exposure over 15-20 years to air pollution and road traffic noise to evaluate the impact on heart failure. Exposure to small particulate matter and road traffic noise over three years was associated with an increased risk for heart failure. The risks were greater among women who were former smokers or women who had high blood pressure.

Honeybees’ waggle dance reveals bees in rural areas travel farther for food

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:05 AM PDT

By decoding honeybees' waggle dances, which tell other bees where to find food, researchers have found that bees in agricultural areas travel farther for food than those in urban areas.

Onset of Allergies including asthma and hay fever not directly causally linked to mental health traits

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:05 AM PDT

Allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever do not cause the onset of mental health conditions or vice versa, according to the new findings.

Concentrate farming to leave room for species and carbon, better than ‘eco-friendly’ agriculture

Posted: 05 Oct 2021 04:10 PM PDT

Farming should be as high-yield as possible so it can be limited to relatively small areas, allowing much more land to be left as natural habitats while still meeting future food targets, according to a major new analysis of over a decade of research.

Smart parrots need more stimulation

Posted: 05 Oct 2021 04:09 PM PDT

The smarter the bird, the more unique welfare needs it has in captivity, according to a new study that helps to explain why many intelligent animals struggle in captivity. The findings are also important to owners of intelligent birds to ensure they provide them with naturalistic diets rather than processed foods.

Large scale solar parks cool surrounding land

Posted: 05 Oct 2021 09:48 AM PDT

Researchers studying two solar parks, situated in arid locations, found they produced 'cool islands' extending around 700 meters from the solar park boundaries. The temperature of surrounding land surface was reduced by up to 2.3 degrees at 100 meters away from the solar park, with the cooling effects reducing exponentially to 700 meters. This new discovery is important as it shows the solar park could impact ecological processes, including productivity, decomposition, and ultimately the carbon balance, in the surrounding landscape.

New type of magnetism unveiled in an iconic material

Posted: 05 Oct 2021 09:47 AM PDT

Scientists have made a path-breaking discovery in strontium ruthenate -- with potential for new applications in quantum electronics.