ScienceDaily: Top News

Researchers use supercomputers for largest-ever turbulence simulations of its kind

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 05:40 PM PST

Despite being among the most researched topics on supercomputers, a fundamental understanding of the effects of turbulent motion on fluid flows still eludes scientists. A new approach aims to change that.

Reacting to a changing environment involves inhibiting previous behavior

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 05:40 PM PST

Researchers teamed up to understand the role of flexibility and inhibition in problem solving and how they relate to each other in a behaviorally flexible urban bird species, the great-tailed grackle. The researchers assessed the cognitive abilities of individuals using multiple tests, and found that self control, a form of inhibition, was linked with flexibility, the ability to change preferences when circumstances change.

Astronomers discover a new type of star covered in helium burning ashes

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 03:33 PM PST

Astronomers have discovered a strange new type of star covered in the by-product of helium burning. It is possible that the stars might have been formed by a rare stellar merger event.

Ending the debate: New research solves longstanding Antarctic climate change mystery

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 03:33 PM PST

New research definitively resolves a long-standing discrepancy in the geologic record that pitted studies of marine ice-sheet behavior against those that reconstructed past conditions on land. The research lends additional weight to evidence that the Antarctic Ice Sheet is sensitive to small changes in carbon dioxide levels and that, in the past, large portions of the ice sheet could have disappeared under carbon dioxide levels similar to today.

New drug combination effective for patients with advanced ovarian cancer

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 03:33 PM PST

A new study shows ixabepilone plus bevacizumab (IXA+BEV) is a well-tolerated, effective combination for treatment of platinum/taxane-resistant ovarian cancer compared to ixabepilone (IXA) alone.

Time crystals leave the lab

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 03:33 PM PST

Cutting-edge research has observed time crystals in a system that is not isolated from its ambient environment. This major achievement brings scientists one step closer to developing time crystals for use in real-world applications.

Scientists discover new electrolyte for solid-state lithium-ion batteries

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 03:33 PM PST

Scientists have created a chlorine-based solid-state electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries that offers improved performance.

Researchers develop model to predict treatment response in gastric cancer

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 03:33 PM PST

A study is validating the use of genomic sequencing to predict the likelihood that patients with gastric cancer will derive benefit from chemotherapy or from immunotherapy.

Scientists develop biophysical model to help better diagnose and treat osteoarthritis

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:49 PM PST

Scientists have teamed up to explore cartilage tissue's unique properties with the hopes of improving osteoarthritis diagnosis and treatment.

High-resolution probe may help unlock secrets of brain function and neurological diseases

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

A novel probe developed in 2017 allowed unprecedented recording of brain activity but only in small lab animals. MGH researchers and colleagues have successfully used a modified version of the probe to measure brain activity in humans. Insights gleaned from data acquired by this modified tool could have profound implications for the understanding of how the brain functions in good health and in disease.

Dead or alive: Seagrasses continue to release methane after their die-off

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

Seagrass meadows play an important role in the marine carbon cycle and our climate. On the one hand, they sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it underground, on the other hand, they emit the potent greenhouse gas methane. Researchers have now investigated what controls methane production and release from seagrass meadows.

What lies beneath: Roots as drivers of South African landscape pattern

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

Research findings suggest that alternative stable states can be maintained through biotic mechanisms, such as root traits, in addition to the commonly understood abiotic factors like climate. This insight is critical to conserving threatened ecosystems around the world.

Tilting of Earth’s crust governed the flow of ancient megafloods

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

As ice sheets began melting at the end of the last ice age, a series of cataclysmic floods called the Missoula megafloods scoured the landscape of eastern Washington, carving long, deep channels and towering cliffs through an area now known as the Channeled Scablands. They were among the largest known floods in Earth's history, and geologists struggling to reconstruct them have now identified a crucial factor governing their flows. A new study shows how the changing weight of the ice sheets would have caused the entire landscape to tilt, changing the course of the megafloods.

At bioenergy crossroads, should corn ethanol be left in the rearview mirror?

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

A new analysis shows that the carbon emissions from using land to grow corn can negate or even reverse any climate advantages of corn ethanol relative to gasoline.

Global study finds the extent of pharmaceutical pollution in the world's rivers

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

A new study looking at the presence of pharmaceuticals in the world's rivers found concentrations at potentially toxic levels in more than a quarter of the locations studied.

For female yellowthroats, there’s more than one way to spot a winning mate

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 12:48 PM PST

One population of female common yellowthroats prefer males with larger black masks, but another group of females favors a larger yellow bib. A new study has found that both kinds of ornaments are linked to superior genes.

First get your heart in shape then get pregnant

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

More than one in two young women between the ages of 20 and 44 who gave birth in the United States in 2019 had poor heart health before becoming pregnant, the study found. Poor heart health puts expectant mothers and their babies at risk, with heart disease causing more than one in four pregnancy-related deaths.

Solar-powered system offers a route to inexpensive desalination

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

Researchers developed a desalination system that is more efficient and less expensive than previous methods. In addition to providing fresh water, the process could be used to treat contaminated wastewater or generate steam for sterilizing medical instruments, all without requiring a power source other than sunlight.

Highly responsive immune cells seem to be beneficial for the brain

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

New findings support the view that hyperactive immune cells in the brain can have a protective effect in the course of neurodegenerative diseases.

Behind a good mutation: How a gene variant protects against Alzheimer’s

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

While the word 'mutation' may conjure up alarming notions, a mutation in brain immune cells serves a positive role in protecting people against Alzheimer's disease. Now biologists have discovered the mechanisms behind this crucial process.

Sustainable bioeconomy: Development of environmentally friendly bio-shampoos and plant protection agent technologies

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

With the early assessment of sustainable, newly developed chemicals and products it is possible to assess a potential risk of toxic substances being released at a later point in product cascades. In the course of the study the toxicity of sustainable biosurfactants, potentially applied in, e.g., bio-shampoos, and of a new technology for the economical deployment of plant protection agents were analyzed using a combination of computer modelling and laboratory experiments. The study is the first step towards a safe bioeconomy from an eco-toxicological stance, and which uses sustainable resources and processes to reduce environmental burdens significantly.

Secondary cratering on Earth: The Wyoming impact crater field

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

Several dozen small impact craters, 10--70-m in size, have been discovered in southeastern Wyoming. A team of U.S. and German geoscientists found these ancient craters in exposed sedimentary layers from the Permian period (280 million years ago). After discovering the first craters, the team initially suspected that they are a crater-strewn field, formed by the breakup of an asteroid that entered the atmosphere. However, with the discovery of more and more craters over a wide area, this interpretation was ruled out.

New study reveals potential target for alcohol-associated liver disease

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

Researchers have uncovered a new pathway that helps explain how consuming too much alcohol causes damage to the liver, specifically mitochondrial dysfunction in alcohol-associated liver disease.

Studies compare best ways to treat wide-neck aneurysms

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 11:40 AM PST

Coils and stents less invasively repair brain aneurysms, but are they superior to clips implanted during surgery? A study compares the treatments.

Neutrinos are lighter than 0.8 electronvolts

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 08:17 AM PST

New research has broken an important 'barrier' in neutrino physics which is relevant for both particle physics and cosmology. A new upper limit of 0.8 electronvolt (eV) for the mass of the neutrino has been obtained. This first push into the sub-eV mass scale of neutrinos by a model-independent laboratory method allows KATRIN to constrain the mass of these 'lightweights of the universe' with unprecedented precision.

High levels of hazardous chemicals found in Canadian nail salons

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 06:58 AM PST

An assessment of chemical exposures among nail salon technicians in Canada found unexpectedly high exposures to several chemicals used as plasticizers and flame retardants.

Decline of vultures and rise of dogs carries disease risks

Posted: 14 Feb 2022 06:57 AM PST

This is a story about vultures, feral dogs, rabies -- and piles of rotting animal carcasses. Buckle up. But in the end, it's about the power of conservation to keep ecosystems, even urban ecosystems, in balance, benefiting the people who live there.

Plant smoke detectors evolve as hormone sensors

Posted: 11 Feb 2022 01:13 PM PST

Proteins discovered as 'smoke detectors' in plants that depend on fire exposure for germination have been adapted as strigolactone hormone detectors in other plants, researchers found.