ScienceDaily: Top News

Bringing the sun into the lab

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 11:56 AM PST

Why the sun's corona reaches temperatures of several million degrees Celsius is one of the great mysteries of solar physics. A 'hot' trail to explain this effect leads to a region of the solar atmosphere just below the corona, where sound waves and certain plasma waves travel at the same speed. In an experiment using the molten alkali metal rubidium and pulsed high magnetic fields, researchers have developed a laboratory model and experimentally confirmed the theoretically predicted behavior of these plasma waves.

Lymphoma cell metabolism may provide new cancer target

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 11:56 AM PST

Aggressive and relatively common lymphomas called diffuse large B cell lymphomas (DLBCLs) have a critical metabolic vulnerability that can be exploited to trick these cancers into starving themselves, according to a new study.

Choline during pregnancy impacts children’s sustained attention

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 11:55 AM PST

Seven-year-old children performed better on a challenging task requiring sustained attention if their mothers consumed twice the recommended amount of choline during their pregnancy, a new study has found.

When mom talks, are infants with ASD listening?

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 11:55 AM PST

Researchers pinpoint the regions of the brain and neural mechanisms responsible for normal or impaired development of a child's response to baby talk and why infants with autism do not typically respond well.

Anthropologists study the energetics of uniquely human subsistence strategies

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 11:55 AM PST

Among our closest living relatives -- the great apes -- we humans are unique: We have larger brains, reproduce more quickly and have longer life spans. These traits are obviously valuable, but the extra energy required to sustain them is quite significant. So how did we manage to afford them?

COVID-19 patients have severely increased levels of oxidative stress and oxidant damage, and glutathione deficiency, study finds

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had significantly increased levels of oxidative stress and oxidant damage, and markedly reduced levels of glutathione, the most abundant physiological antioxidant, according to a new study.

Researchers develop a model of yeast nuclear pore complex

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Using rapid plunge freezing and cryo-EM (electron microscopy) with computational methods, researchers have produced a comprehensive model of the yeast NPC (nuclear pore complex) which reveals the interconnected architecture of its core scaffold.

New method to complete genetic data

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Genome sequencing is now much cheaper than it was, but still accounts for a large part of the costs in animal and plant breeding. One trick to reduce these costs is to sequence only a very small and randomly selected part of the genome and to complete the remaining gaps using mathematical and statistical techniques. Researchers have developed a new approach to do this.

More insight into how vision works

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Scientists have shed light on an important component of the eye: a protein in the rod cells of the retina which helps us see in dim light. Acting as an ion channel in the cell membrane, the protein is responsible for relaying the optical signal from the eye to the brain. If a genetic disorder disrupts the molecular function in a person, they will go blind. Scientists have deciphered the protein's three-dimensional structure, preparing the way for innovative medical treatments.

Study finds reduced microbial diversity in guts of wild bears that eat human food

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

A new study suggests that eating human food reduces microbial diversity in the guts of wild bears.

Snapshots from the quantum world

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

A research collaboration can read out optically previously indistinguishable spin states by using a newly developed spectroscopy method.

3D semiconductor particles offer 2D properties

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Researchers have discovered that the junctures at the facet edges of 3D semiconductor particles have 2D properties, which can be leveraged for photoelectrochemical processes -- in which light is used to drive chemical reactions -- that can boost solar energy conversion technologies.

Neuroprotective mechanism altered by Alzheimer's disease risk genes

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Researchers have discovered that gene variants associated with risk of developing Alzheimer's disease disturb the brain's natural protective mechanism against the condition.

Lychee genome tells a colorful story about a colorful tropical fruit

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:17 AM PST

Radiant and flavorful, lychees were so beloved that they were domesticated not just once in ancient times, but independently in two different regions of China, a study finds.

Researchers identify biomarker for depression, antidepressant response

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 09:15 AM PST

Researchers have identified a biomarker in human platelets that tracks the extent of depression.

Self-healing nanomaterials usable in solar panels and other electronic devices

Posted: 03 Jan 2022 07:46 AM PST

The field of self-repairing materials is rapidly expanding, and what used to be science fiction might soon become reality, thanks to scientists who developed eco-friendly nanocrystal semiconductors capable of self-healing. Their findings describe the process, in which a group of materials called double perovskites display self-healing properties after being damaged by the radiation of an electron beam.

COVID-19 can trigger self-attacking antibodies

Posted: 30 Dec 2021 10:09 AM PST

Infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 can trigger an immune response that lasts well beyond the initial infection and recovery -- even among people who had mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to investigators.