ScienceDaily: Top News

Researchers have developed a new theoretical model to better assess the risks of spreading viruses such as COVID-19 -- with and without a face mask. The results show how the standard 'safe' distance of two meters does not always apply but varies greatly depending on a range of environmental factors, and that face masks can indeed play a crucial role.

Small particles from tires inhibited the growth and caused adverse behavioral changes in organisms found in freshwater and coastal estuary ecosystems, two new research papers found.

Semiconductor experiments reveal a surprising new source of conductivity from oxygen atoms trapped inside the material.

Scientists demonstrate an optical trapping technique using nanotextured black silicon that can efficiently trap polymer chains. By adjusting the laser intensity, these 'optical tweezers' can control the florescence color emitted through a local concentration of a perylene-modified polymer solution. From a low intensity blue to high intensity orange, this reversible and fully remote technology can almost reach the entire RGB spectrum.

The innate immune system plays a crucial role in regulating host-microbe interactions, and especially in providing protection against pathogens that invade the mucosa. Using an intestinal infection model, scientists discovered that innate effector cells -- group 3 innate lymphoid cells -- act not only during the early stages of infection but can also be trained to develop an innate form of immunological memory that can protect the host during reinfection.

Melanoma patients receiving therapy that helps their immune system kill cancer cells respond to treatment differently depending on the types of microbes in their gut, and new research suggests the microorganisms hindering therapy have more influence than the beneficial ones.

Whether they're getting a new shirt, a new computer, or taking a trip, people derive less 'purchase happiness' from buying things when they feel financial stress, new research shows.

Researchers detail a breakthrough discovery in nanomaterials and light-wave interactions that paves the way for development of small, low-energy optical computers capable of advanced computing.