ScienceDaily: Top News

Component for brain-inspired computing

Posted: 18 May 2022 10:07 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a new material for an electronic component that can be used in a wider range of applications than its predecessors. Such components will help create electronic circuits that emulate the human brain and that are more efficient at performing machine-learning tasks.

Native plant gardening for species conservation

Posted: 18 May 2022 10:07 AM PDT

Declining native species could be planted in urban green spaces. Researchers now describe how to use this great potential for species protection. They recommend practical conservation gardening methods in a bid to restructure the horticultural industry and reverse plant species declines.

Scientists hone long-range forecasting of US tornadoes, hail

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:39 AM PDT

New research identifies three specific orientations of atmospheric phenomena occurring near the equator over the Maritime continent that increase the probability of severe U.S. weather events three to four weeks later.

Technique protects privacy when making online recommendations

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a novel privacy-preserving protocol that could enable an algorithm that provides recommendations to guarantee a user's personal information remains secure while ensuring recommendation results are accurate. Their technique is so efficient it can run on a smartphone over a very slow network.

On the road to cleaner, greener, and faster driving

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a technique to control a fleet of autonomous vehicles as they approach and pass through a signalized intersection in a way that reduces fuel consumption and greenhouse emissions from idling and stop-and-go traffic, while improving travel speeds.

New ALS 'drug' is more effective than existing ones

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

New preclinical research on the experimental drug, NU-9, to treat ALS shows it is more effective than existing FDA-approved drugs for the disease. More importantly, NU-9 has an enhanced effect when given in combination with those drugs.

Teaching physics to AI makes the student a master

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Researchers have demonstrated that incorporating known physics into machine learning algorithms can help the inscrutable black boxes attain new levels of transparency and insight into material properties.

Health screening, genetic tests might identify people at risk of premature heart disease

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Health screening and genetic tests might identify more than 1 million U.S. adults who have familial hypercholesterolemia, a common genetic disorder that causes elevated bad cholesterol levels, which may lead to premature cardiovascular disease. Identifying familial hypercholesterolemia early in adulthood creates an opportunity for early treatment aimed at preventing heart attack and death, according to a new study.

Physicists explain how type of aurora on Mars is formed

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Researchers have learned how a type of aurora on Mars is formed. The physicists report discrete aurora form through the interaction of the solar wind and the crust at Mars' southern hemisphere.

Rainforest trees may have been dying faster since the 1980s because of climate change

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Tropical trees in Australia's rainforests have been dying at double the previous rate since the 1980s, seemingly because of climate impacts, according to the findings of a long-term international study. This research has found the death rates of tropical trees have doubled in the last 35 years, as global warming increases the drying power of the atmosphere.

New weight-loss intervention targets instinctive desire to eat

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

People who are highly responsive to food lost more weight and kept it off using a new weight loss program that targets internal hunger cues and the ability to resist food.

Oat reference genome: Insights into a uniquely healthy cereal crop

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Cultivated oat (Avena sativa L.) is an old crop thought to have been domesticated over 3,000 years ago, while growing as a weed in wheat and barley fields. Oat has a low carbon footprint, substantial health benefits and the potential to replace animal-based food products. However, lack of genome resources has prevented the application modern methods of plant breeding. An international research team now presents a high-quality reference genome of A. sativa and its most closely related wild relatives.

Researchers create photonic materials for powerful, efficient light-based computing

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:38 AM PDT

Researchers are developing new photonic materials that could one day help enable low power, ultra-fast, light-based computing. The unique materials, known as topological insulators, are like wires that have been turned inside out, where the current runs along the outside and the interior is insulated. In their latest work the researchers demonstrated a new approach to create the materials that uses a novel, chained, honeycomb lattice design.

It's a female bonobo's world: Ecologists propose new tools to assess sex and power among wild animals

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:33 AM PDT

In the wild, it might seem like male animals run the show. But researchers have laid a new framework to assess power distribution between the sexes, and its application has shown that in some animal species, females rule the roost and their paths to power look very different from that of their male counterparts'.

Researchers use galaxy as a 'cosmic telescope' to study heart of the young universe

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:33 AM PDT

A unique new instrument, coupled with a powerful telescope and a little help from nature, has given researchers the ability to peer into galactic nurseries at the heart of the young universe.

Scallops swim into illuminated fishing pots

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:18 AM PDT

Scallops are drawn to illuminated fishing pots like moths to a flame. The study examined the effect of LED lights on crab and lobster pots used by fishing boats off the coast of Cornwall, UK, and the research team was stunned by the results. More than 500 scallops were caught -- 99.6% of them in pots with lights.

Nuclear physics and extreme environments of cosmic explosions

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:18 AM PDT

Researchers have helped peer inside a nova -- a type of astrophysical nuclear explosion -- without leaving Earth. These stellar events help forge the universe's chemical elements, and astronomers have explored their nature with an intense isotope beam and a custom experimental device with record-setting sensitivity.

Key to reducing defects in multimaterials

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:18 AM PDT

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) are high-performance materials with expected applications in aerospace, automobiles, defense, and medicine. These materials are usually employed in conditions of extreme temperature and pressure, therefore making it important for them to be as defect-free as possible. Now, researchers have found a way to minimize defects in FGMs by manipulating the gradient of the elemental composition.

New model could improve matches between students and schools

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:17 AM PDT

Simultaneous and uncoordinated school admissions in situations where students have multiple options can lead to unfilled seats and a lot of stress for families and administrators. To create a fairer, more efficient system, market design researchers created a matchmaking model that draws from game theory, computer science and industrial engineering.

Viral infections during pregnancy affect maternal care behavior

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:17 AM PDT

Viral infections during pregnancy affect the mother's brain and her postpartum care behavior. These are the findings of a research study in a mouse model.

Dopamine makes you feel happy, but we probably still have to rewrite the textbooks

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:17 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered a new piece in the puzzle of the brain's 'feel good' substance, dopamine. According to one of the researchers behind the new study, the discovery may facilitate the development of drugs for i.e. cocaine addiction and ADHD and is most likely to change the general notion of how dopamine is removed from the brain.

Bringing order to the chaos of sea level projections

Posted: 18 May 2022 07:17 AM PDT

In their effort to provide decisionmakers with insight into the consequences of climate change, climate researchers are bringing order to the large amount of sea level projections, translating climate models to expected sea level rise.

Reliable diagnostics at the tip of your finger

Posted: 18 May 2022 05:06 AM PDT

Biomarkers are components that may be present in biological samples and are related to specific diseases. Therefore, doctors can analyze biological samples from a patient to check their health condition or to monitor the progress of a specific therapy. Typically, these samples need to be purified and diluted before the analysis, and current medical diagnostic techniques rely on healthcare facilities and laboratories for these routine analyses. This is a lengthy process that requires trained personnel and expensive instrumentation to extract, transport, store, process, and analyze the samples in centralized locations. Moreover, during a period of global crisis like the ongoing pandemic, the pressure of thousands of analysis requests can saturate and collapse the healthcare system.

How the brain changes during depression treatment

Posted: 18 May 2022 05:05 AM PDT

Researchers have shown what happens to the brain when a person receives a depression treatment known as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). rTMS is a depression treatment typically used when other approaches -- such as medications -- haven't been effective for a patient. By stimulating the dorsolateral pre-frontal cortex, rTMS activates several other regions of the brain involved in multiple functions, from managing emotional responses to memory and motor control.

Energy-efficient AI hardware technology via a brain-inspired stashing system?

Posted: 17 May 2022 06:04 PM PDT

Researchers have proposed a novel system inspired by the neuromodulation of the brain, referred to as a 'stashing system,' that requires less energy consumption. Computer scientists have now developed a technology that can efficiently handle mathematical operations for artificial intelligence by imitating the continuous changes in the topology of the neural network according to the situation.

New material can 'capture toxic pollutants from air'

Posted: 17 May 2022 06:04 PM PDT

A new material is capable of capturing trace amounts of benzene, a toxic pollutant, from the air and crucially use less energy than existing materials to do so.

Study gives animal testing alternatives a confidence boost

Posted: 17 May 2022 06:04 PM PDT

As part of a government effort to reduce animal testing, researchers have worked to produce a new protocol for screening skin allergens. The method is potentially cheaper and faster than animal testing, while maintaining a similar performance.

Time-restricted eating may lower CVD risk for older breast cancer survivors

Posted: 17 May 2022 12:18 PM PDT

Older breast cancer survivors with cardiometabolic risk factors who restricted food intake to eight hours during the weekday, followed by 16 hours of fasting, lowered their risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) after a few weeks, according to a new research letter.

Statins may provide protection against depression

Posted: 17 May 2022 10:07 AM PDT

Statins have been hailed as a wonder drug; the cholesterol-lowering drugs have been prescribed to tens of millions of people since their approval in the late 1980s to prevent heart attack and stroke. But the drugs may yet have additional benefits, some research has hinted, including on mental health. Now, a new study examines the influence of statins on emotional bias, a marker for risk of depression.

Scientists see signs of traumatic brain injury in headbutting muskox

Posted: 17 May 2022 10:07 AM PDT

Scientists saw for the first time hallmarks of concussions and other head trauma in the brains of deceased headbutting animals -- muskoxen and bighorn sheep. The results may contradict the commonly-held belief that ramming animals do not suffer brain injuries and support the notion that studies on animals with brains evolutionarily similar to those of humans may help researchers understand and reduce traumatic brain injuries.

Study identifies cellular 'chaperone' for zinc

Posted: 17 May 2022 08:22 AM PDT

A team has described and characterized the first zinc metallochaperone: a protein that puts zinc into other 'client' proteins. The findings shed light on the public health issue of zinc deficiency and open an entirely new area of biology for exploration.