ScienceDaily: Top News

'We're more alike than we might think'

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 02:08 PM PDT

A study published in advance of World Autism Day suggests we need a more evidence-based approach to neurodiversity.

Easy test can see if breeding bulls have the right stuff

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

Forget sending bull semen out for complicated laboratory tests to learn whether the agricultural animal is virile. Scientists have developed a faster, easier microfluidics method.

MARATHON measures mirror nuclei

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

Scientists are holding up a 'mirror' to protons and neutrons to learn more about the particles that build our visible universe. The MARATHON experiment has accessed new details about these particles' structures by comparing the so-called mirror nuclei, helium-3 and triton.

German and Austrian deer thus far spared SARS-CoV-2 infections, unlike in North America

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

In North America, SARS-CoV-2 has spread from humans to white-tailed deer. The deer are now considered SARS-CoV-2 reservoirs and may even spill virus back to humans. Scientists have now shown that in Germany and Austria this has not happened as all deer tested were negative for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies.

How giant viruses mature: New evidence from the medusavirus sheds light

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

Medusavirus, a giant virus, is more closely related to eukaryotic cells than other giant viruses are. In an exciting new study, scientists have used electron microscopy and time-course analysis to discover four different types of medusavirus particles within and outside infected amoeba cells, representing four different stages of virus maturation. Their results indicate that the medusavirus has a unique maturation process, providing new insights into the structural and behavioral diversity of giant viruses.

Graphene gets enhanced by flashing

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

Scientists who developed the flash Joule heating process to make graphene have found a way to produce doped graphene to customize it for applications.

Quantum 'shock absorbers' allow perovskite to exhibit superfluorescence at room temperature

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

Semiconducting perovskites that exhibit superfluorescence at room temperature do so due to built-in thermal 'shock absorbers' which protect dipoles within the material from thermal interference.

Technology has the potential to change the patient-provider relationship

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

As personal health records (AKA patient portals) allowing patients to see test results, medications and other health information gain in popularity, scientists studied cancer patients' and doctors' differing perceptions of this tool. Patients cited potential for personal health records to deepen their relationship with their healthcare provider and to allow them to be more understood. Physicians were interested in having more clinical information sharing to facilitate better patient care.

Researchers generate the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:15 PM PDT

Scientists have published the first complete, gapless sequence of a human genome, two decades after the Human Genome Project produced the first draft human genome sequence. According to researchers, having a complete, gap-free sequence of the roughly 3 billion bases (or 'letters') in our DNA is critical for understanding the full spectrum of human genomic variation and for understanding the genetic contributions to certain diseases.

Study shows gaps in how STEM organizations collect demographic information

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:14 PM PDT

Professional organizations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields could more effectively collect data on underrepresented groups in their fields, according to a new survey. With more robust information, STEM organizations could better target efforts to recruit and retain a more diverse membership.

New technology solves mystery of respiration in Tetrahymena

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:14 PM PDT

Tetrahymena, a tiny single celled-organism, turns out to be hiding a surprising secret: it's doing respiration -- using oxygen to generate cellular energy -- differently from other organisms such as plants, animals or yeasts. The discovery highlights the power of new techniques in structural biology and reveals gaps in our knowledge of a major branch of the tree of life.

Scientists bioprint tissue-like constructs capable of controlled, complex shape change

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:14 PM PDT

New cell-laden bioink, comprised of tightly-packed, flake-shaped microgels and living cells, the production of cell-rich 4D bioconstructs that can change shape under physiological conditions.

NIH experts discuss controlling COVID-19 in commentary on herd immunity

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:14 PM PDT

Achieving classical herd immunity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, may not be attainable, according to a new perspective article. However, widespread use of currently available public health interventions to prevent and control COVID-19 will enable resumption of most activities of daily life with minimal disruption, the authors note.

Easier, faster assay enables many more laboratories to identify COVID-19 variants

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:14 PM PDT

Using a commercially available test and simplified process, any laboratory that can run a real-time PCR assay can detect known SARS-CoV-2 variants in patient samples, researchers report.

Light pollution increasing year round for some migrating birds

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 12:12 PM PDT

Nighttime light pollution levels are increasing the most in the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Central America--findings based on year-round data collected over the last two decades in the Western Hemisphere.

New study explores relationship between psychedelics and consciousness

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 10:42 AM PDT

A new study addresses the question of whether psychedelics might change the attribution of consciousness to a range of living and nonliving things.

Can an image-based electrocardiographic algorithm improve access to care in remote settings?

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 10:42 AM PDT

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based model for clinical diagnosis that can use electrocardiogram (ECG) images, regardless of format or layout, to diagnose multiple heart rhythm and conduction disorders.

Fruit flies adapt activity to 'white nights'

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 10:42 AM PDT

Fruit flies with a new variant of a 'clock gene' are spreading northwards. Neurobiologists have now found an explanation for this phenomenon.

Blood vessels are guides for stimulating implants

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 10:42 AM PDT

A wireless neurostimulator a little bigger than a grain of rice can be put in place alongside blood vessels to treat neurological diseases and chronic pain.

Increased heat and drought stunt tropical trees, a major carbon sink

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 10:42 AM PDT

For a long time, ecologists assumed tree rings to be absent in tropical trees because of a lack of temperature and rain fluctuations in the trees' environment. But in recent decades, the formation of growth rings has been proven for hundreds of tropical tree species, which are sensitive to drought and usually experience at least a month or two of slightly reduced rainfall every year.

Meltwater drainage, break-away icebergs linked at shrinking Helheim Glacier

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 09:12 AM PDT

Dark patches of open sea that appear in the ice-choked water around Helheim Glacier may reveal new clues about how a rapidly changing Greenland glacier loses ice, according to scientists.

Structure of a bacterial 'drug pump' reveals new way to counter hospital-borne infection

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 09:12 AM PDT

By revealing the structure of a protein used by bacteria to pump out antibiotics, a research team designed an early-stage therapeutic that sabotages the pump and restores the effectiveness of antibiotics.

Researchers identify new targets for immunotherapy in colon cancer

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 09:12 AM PDT

Scientists identify a pathway of immune cell inhibition that may provide the basis for novel approaches to immunotherapy of colon cancer. Their results also highlight important roles of the intestinal microbiota in the development of the disease.

Men with high blood pressure have a biased recognition of other people’s anger

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 09:12 AM PDT

Men with high blood pressure have a biased recognition of other people's anger, as shown in a new study.

How is haze formed?

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 09:12 AM PDT

Haze is formed when a cocktail of various gaseous pollutants is oxidized and forms particulate matter diffusing sunlight. This process is mainly mediated by hydroxyl radicals (OH), and researchers have now discovered a new route to their formation. This newly discovered radical-building mechanism could also offer new perspectives for air purification and the energy industry, as the study shows.

Apples and other fruits can host drug-resistant, pathogenic yeasts on surfaces, study finds

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 09:11 AM PDT

Fungicides used to prolong shelf life of fruits may select for pathogenic yeasts and boost transmission. Those pathogens include Candida auris, a drug-resistant pathogenic yeast found in stored apples in a recent study.

Making physics instruction more equitable

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:16 AM PDT

In The Physics Teacher, researchers explore the goal of culturally relevant pedagogy, which is to center students' cultural resources as a bridge to learning. It relies on a framework of academic excellence, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness and encourages teachers to push their students toward using what they learn within the classroom to challenge injustices in society. These investments in students can be invaluable in turning classrooms into places where students recognize their worth.

Convalescent plasma can be effective early COVID-19 therapy, study finds

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:16 AM PDT

Research shows that high-titer (antibody-rich) COVID convalescent plasma -- when administered to COVID-19 outpatients within nine days after testing positive -- reduced the need for hospitalization for more than half of a study's predominantly unvaccinated outpatients.

Global disparities persist in opioid painkiller access

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:16 AM PDT

Global opioid sales increased by an estimated 4% annually from 2015 to 2019, but massive disparities in access to essential pain relief medications persist between countries, a new study finds.

Mercury has magnetic storms

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:16 AM PDT

An international team of scientists has proved that Mercury, our solar system's smallest planet, has geomagnetic storms similar to those on Earth. Their finding, a first, answers the question of whether other planets, including those outside our solar system, can have geomagnetic storms regardless of the size of their magnetosphere or whether they have an Earth-like ionosphere.

Those who ogle also more likely to have harmful attitudes, study finds

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

New research examining 'eye gaze behavior' has found that looking at people's bodies, rather than their faces, is linked with harmful attitudes towards sexual assault.

African network protects key turtle sites

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

A network of West African Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covers key sites used by green turtles, new research shows.

How e-scooters can safely operate in a city

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

E-scooters have become a familiar sight in cities worldwide in recent years, with many new companies renting them for use. But their arrival has also brought new safety concerns. Now, researchers present a framework for comparing how different micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, and bicycles move in cities, a methodology that can benefit companies and local authorities alike, and -- most importantly -- contribute to improving traffic safety.

Scavenger nanoparticles could make fuel cell-powered vehicles a reality

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

Engineers have developed a material that could give fuel cell systems a competitive edge over the battery systems that currently power most electric vehicles.

Classification of 16 adult sleep patterns based on large-scale sleep analysis

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

A research group found that the human sleep patterns could be classified into 16 types by combining ACCEL, their original machine learning algorithm for sleep-wake classification, the dimension reduction method and the clustering method. The acceleration data of approximately 100,000 people in the UK Biobank were analyzed in detail, and some life-style-related patterns and insomnia-like patterns were reported.

Married mothers who earn more than their husbands take on an even greater share of the housework, research finds

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

While new mothers frequently take on a greater share of housework than their spouses, this effect is even more pronounced in mothers who earn more than fathers, new research shows.

Heart complications after a stroke increase the risk of future cardiovascular events

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

A large, observational study found that heart complications within one month after an ischemic stroke (blocked blood flow to the brain) are very common. This 'stroke-heart syndrome' may put stroke survivors at higher risk for death, heart attack or another stroke within five years.

A scaffold with a twist: Cryo-EM reveals the building blocks of poxvirus

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

Researchers have revealed how poxviruses build their scaffold - a temporary protein coat that forms and disappears as the virus matures.

New study solves mystery of how soft liquid droplets erode hard surfaces

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

A new study shows why liquid droplets have the ability to erode hard surfaces, a discovery that could help engineers design more erosion-resistant materials.

Law enforcement seizures of pills containing fentanyl increased dramatically between 2018-2021, U.S. study finds

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

Law enforcement seizures of pills containing illicit fentanyl increased dramatically between January 2018 and December 2021, according to a new U.S. study. The number of individual pills seized by law enforcement increased nearly 50-fold from the first quarter of 2018 to the last quarter of 2021 and the proportion of pills to total seizures more than doubled, with pills representing over a quarter of illicit fentanyl seizures by the end of 2021. The study also found an increase in the number of fentanyl-containing powder seizures during this time.

Researchers outline bias in epidemic research -- and offer new simulation tool to guide future work

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

A team of researchers unpacks a series of biases in epidemic research, ranging from clinical trials to data collection, and offers a game-theory approach to address them, in a new analysis. The work sheds new light on the pitfalls associated with technology development and deployment in combating global crises like COVID-19, with a look toward future pandemic scenarios.

Rising parental expectations linked to perfectionism in college students

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:15 AM PDT

Rising parental expectations and criticism are linked to an increase in perfectionism among college students, which can have damaging mental health consequences, according to new research.

Babies exposed to cannabis in the womb may be at risk for obesity, high blood sugar

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:14 AM PDT

Cannabis use among pregnant women is on the rise and may be associated with negative health outcomes in children, according to a new study.

Device directs sperm to ‘go against the flow’ to help infertility

Posted: 31 Mar 2022 07:14 AM PDT

Out of about 100 million sperm, only a few hundred make it to the fallopian tubes. A directional movement called rheotaxis, guides sperm cells to swim against the cervical mucus flow to reach the egg for fertilization. Swimming the right way is key, especially for those combating infertility. Using this natural rheotaxis behavior of sperm, researchers have developed a microfluidic chip for sperm sorting that is fast, inexpensive, easy to operate and efficiently isolates healthy sperm directly from semen. Importantly, it effortlessly collects sorted sperm cells from the collecting chamber while minimizing contamination by deformed or dead sperm cells.

Why are people with allergic asthma less susceptible to severe COVID?

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 01:45 PM PDT

Scientists show how cells packed with SARS-CoV-2 detach from the upper airway and spread deep into lungs where severe COVID can take root. They also discovered how an asthmatic reaction to allergens battles the virus to hold severe COVID at bay.

Experimental drug linked to reduced tics in children, teens with Tourette Syndrome

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 01:45 PM PDT

According to a new preliminary study, children and teens with Tourette syndrome who are treated with an experimental drug called ecopipam may have improved scores on tests of tic severity three months later.

Critical signature sound when rocks crack

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 01:45 PM PDT

Finding the specific sound a rock makes when it cracks and breaks seems impossible when surrounded by other subsurface noises. But researchers have now discovered a way to hear and validate that sound.

High rate of diabetes, high blood pressure in Puerto Ricans linked to brain changes

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 01:45 PM PDT

The high rate of diabetes and high blood pressure combined in Puerto Rican people may be linked to structural changes in the brain, according to a new study.

How would a nuclear winter impact food production?

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 01:45 PM PDT

Research focuses on how meeting food security and nutrition in the face of potential risks is one of humanity's major challenges over the next decades.

New method purifies hydrogen from heavy carbon monoxide mixtures

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 01:45 PM PDT

Refining metals, manufacturing fertilizers and powering fuel cells for heavy vehicles are all processes that require purified hydrogen. But purifying, or separating, that hydrogen from a mix of other gases can be difficult, with several steps. Chemical engineers have now demonstrated that the process can be simplified using a pump outfitted with newly developed membrane materials.

Anti-inflammatories show promise for treating a late-pregnancy complication

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 12:35 PM PDT

Experts report that two drugs known to block inflammatory signaling prevent lung damage linked to chorioamnionitis in animal models.

The 25 happiest U.S. city park systems, ranked by scientists

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

Feeling unhappy? Go find a city park -- the bigger the better -- and try taking a walk outdoors. So says a major new study measuring the happiness effects of city parks in the 25 largest U.S. cities. The happiness benefit of urban nature on users was akin to the mood spike people experience on holidays like Thanksgiving or New Year's Day. The research is the largest study of its kind -- using massive amounts of data from social media -- to quantify the mood boosting benefits on urban nature. The happiest place on Twitter? The great outdoors.

Predicting sudden cardiac arrest

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

Clinician-scientists have developed a clinical algorithm that, for the first time, distinguishes between treatable sudden cardiac arrest and untreatable forms of the condition.

Researchers’ novel tool to help develop safer pesticides

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a new computational approach to rapidly screen pesticides for safety, performance and how long they will endure in the environment. Moreover, and most importantly, the new approach will aid in the design of next-generation molecules to develop safer pesticides.

Subsidy would improve fruit and veggie intake by as much as 15%, say economists

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

High fixed costs for retailing fresh fruit and vegetables means that they cost 40% more than would be efficient, unlike unhealthy alternatives, which trade close to marginal cost, a new study demonstrates.

New strategy to preserve insulin-producing cells in diabetes

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

High blood glucose is responsible for several complications in type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Researchers have identified a new antidiabetic substance that preserves the activity of insulin-producing beta cells and prevents high blood glucose in mice.

Cancer repair mechanism could be potential drug target

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

Searching for ways to extend the survival benefit of targeted therapies, a team led by researchers has identified a potential new tactic to disrupt the repair mechanism that cancer cells use after treatment, blunting their ability to regenerate. The approach could present a new treatment strategy.

Personality traits are associated with well-being and satisfaction in life after work

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

A new study has identified novel associations between older adults' personality traits, the routes they took to leave their jobs, and their well-being after exiting the workforce.

Tools reveal patterns of Neandertal extinction in the Iberian Peninsula

Posted: 30 Mar 2022 11:14 AM PDT

Neandertal populations in the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived, according to a new study.