ScienceDaily: Top News

'Smart saddle' could help equestrians hit their stride

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:05 AM PST

Researchers have developed a prototype 'smart saddle' that could help equestrians improve their biomechanics. Moreover, the self-powered saddle can alert others when a rider takes a fall.

A bioelectronic tongue 'tastes' sweetness

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:05 AM PST

Researchers have developed an ultrasensitive bioelectronic tongue that measures sweetness by mimicking human taste buds.

What’s good for the heart is good for the brain

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:05 AM PST

While heart disease remains the #1 cause of death worldwide, experts have noted that diseases of the brain -- especially Alzheimer's disease and dementia -- are substantially increasing, and they are often associated with many of the same risk factors that cause heart disease, including high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and tobacco use.

Kirigami robotic grippers are delicate enough to lift egg yolks

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:05 AM PST

Engineering researchers have demonstrated a new type of flexible, robotic grippers that are able to lift delicate egg yolks without breaking them, and that are precise enough to lift a human hair. The work has applications for both soft robotics and biomedical technologies.

Urban greening 'not a panacea' for dealing with extreme weather

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:05 AM PST

Urban greening is unlikely to provide a single fix for tackling extreme weather events brought on by climate change, scientists have suggested.

A virtual reality 'Shopping Task' could help test for cognitive decline in adults

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:05 AM PST

New research suggests that a virtual reality test in which participants 'go to the shops' could offer a potentially promising way of effectively assessing functional cognition, the thinking and processing skills needed to accomplish complex everyday activities.

New hair dyes avoid allergic reactions

Posted: 26 Jan 2022 06:04 AM PST

Researchers have developed a range of permanent hair dyes that avoid the allergenic properties of traditional formulations.

New economic model finds wetlands provide billions in filtration value

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 02:32 PM PST

Southern Ontario wetlands provide $4.2 billion worth of sediment filtration and phosphorus removal services each year, keeping our drinking water sources clean and helping to mitigate harmful and nuisance algal blooms in our lakes and rivers.

Scientists discover new avian immunological pathway

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 01:48 PM PST

Biomedical scientists have discovered a new immune pathway in chickens that viruses may be targeting. The discovery, which has implications also for diseases affecting other birds, sheds greater light on birds' immune responses to zoonotic viruses -- specifically, how those may differ from responses seen in humans.

Stem cell discoveries hold potential to improve cancer treatment

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 01:24 PM PST

Recent discoveries by stem cell scientists may help make cancer treatment more efficient and shorten the time it takes for people to recover from radiation and chemotherapy.

Faulty BRCA genes linked to prostate and pancreatic cancers

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 01:24 PM PST

Faulty versions of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are well known to increase the risk of breast cancer in men and women, and in ovarian cancer. Now BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been linked to several other cancers, including those that affect men.

How a smart electric grid will power our future

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 12:10 PM PST

A novel plan that offers partnership in keeping the United States electric grid stable and reliable could be a win-win for consumers and utility operators.

Silicon fluorescence shines through microcracks in cement, revealing early signs of damage

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 12:10 PM PST

Scientists and engineers discover fluorescence from silicon nanoparticles in cement and show how it can be used to reveal early signs of damage in concrete structures.

Hospitalization for COVID-19 linked to greater risk of later readmission or death

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 12:10 PM PST

A large study conducted in England found that, compared to the general population, people who had been hospitalized for COVID-19 -- and survived for at least one week after discharge -- were more than twice as likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital in the next several months.

Hungry yeast are tiny, living thermometers

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 12:10 PM PST

Researchers report that a yeast cells can actively regulate a process called phase separation in one of their membranes. During phase separation, the membrane remains intact but partitions into multiple, distinct zones or domains that segregate lipids and proteins. The new findings show for the first time that, in response to environmental conditions, yeast cells precisely regulate the temperature at which their membrane undergoes phase separation.

Atomic Armor for accelerators enables discoveries

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 12:10 PM PST

Protective coatings are common for many things in daily life that see a lot of use: we coat wood floors with finish; apply Teflon to the paint on cars; even use diamond coatings on medical devices. Protective coatings are also essential in many demanding research and industrial applications.

Fat injections could treat common cause of foot pain, plantar fasciitis

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 10:37 AM PST

A novel technique that transplants a patient's own fat into the sole of their foot could offer relief to those suffering from a common and painful condition called plantar fasciitis.

How the timing of dinner and genetics affect individuals’ blood sugar control

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 09:40 AM PST

Eating dinner close to bedtime, when melatonin levels are high, disturbs blood sugar control, especially in individuals with a genetic variant in the melatonin receptor MTNR1B, which has been linked to an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes. The high melatonin levels and food intake associated with late eating impairs blood sugar control in carriers of the MTNR1B genetic risk variant through a defect in insulin secretion.

Vision loss and retinal changes in Stargardt disease

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 09:40 AM PST

Researchers developed and validated an artificial-intelligence-based method to evaluate patients with Stargardt, an eye disease that can lead to childhood vision loss. The method quantifies disease-related loss of light-sensing retina cells, yielding information for monitoring patients, understanding genetic causes of the disease, and developing therapies to treat it.

Asymmetry is key to creating more stable blue perovskite LEDs

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 09:40 AM PST

For the first time, researchers have created blue LEDs using layers of metal halide perovskite linked with asymmetrical bridges, solving a critical instability problem.

Lead lurking in your soil? New Chicago project maps distribution

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 08:26 AM PST

Lead haunts old homes in chipping paint and pipes, but it also lurks outside, in soil. It's the stuff of mud pies and garden plots, crumbling from boot treads to join household dust in forgotten corners. It's easily overlooked, but soil can be an important source of lead where children live and play.

'Lefty' tightens control of embryonic development

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 08:26 AM PST

A protein known as Lefty pumps the brakes as human embryos begin to differentiate into the bones, soft tissues and organs that make us.

Combined 3D modelling technique predicts abnormal heart rhythms in patients with genetic heart disease

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 08:26 AM PST

Modelling the heart in 3D using combined imaging techniques can help predict heart rhythm abnormalities, or arrhythmias, in patients with the genetic heart disease hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Southern Ocean storms cause outgassing of carbon dioxide

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 08:25 AM PST

Storms over the waters around Antarctica drive an outgassing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to a new international study. The research group used advanced ocean robots for the study, which provides a better understanding of climate change and can lead to better global climate models.

An unexpected attraction of nucleic acids and fat

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 06:30 AM PST

All cells on Earth are enveloped in a fatty layer of lipids. Lipid membranes protect the content of the cells, including genetic information such as RNA and DNA. A new study reveals how lipids and RNA can directly interact and how this regulates RNA activity in unexpected ways. The study could help explain how RNA could be regulated in primordial or synthetic biological systems and lead to improvements in the design of RNA vaccines.

Novel research identifies fresh 'mixers' in river pollution 'cocktail'

Posted: 25 Jan 2022 06:29 AM PST

Water quality in rivers is affected by underpinning 'natural' hydrogeological and biogeochemical processes, as well as interactions between people and their environment that are accelerating stress on water resources at unprecedented rates. Pollutants can move at different speeds and accumulate in varying quantities along rivers where the mix of the complex 'cocktail' of chemicals that is making its way towards the ocean is constantly changing, a new study reveals.