ScienceDaily: Top News

A new study characterizes the role of fire refugia -- the green islands of live trees that remain after forest fires -- in forest regeneration following large and severe fires in the High Cascade mountains of Oregon and Washington. The results of this study can help determine when human intervention in the form of tree replanting is warranted, when it isn't, where replanting efforts should be targeted and what species should be prioritized. This is important to know since overplanting can be needlessly expensive and actually place forests at increased risk of future fires.

Researchers have identified the role of transcription factors Runx1 and Runx2 in the inhibition of fibrosis, the abnormal build-up of connective tissue with severe hematopoietic defects, in the bone marrow. Mice lacking both Runx1 and Runx2 in CAR cells, a major component of the hematopoietic stem cell niche, demonstrated severe myelofibrosis and defects in the production of blood cells. Runx1 and Runx2 may act as potential targets in the diagnosis and treatment of myelofibrosis.

People who systematically underestimate themselves and their own performance suffer from so-called Impostor Phenomenon. They think that any success is due to external circumstances or just luck and chance. Those people live in constant fear that their 'deception' will be exposed. Psychologists now show that even under real-life conditions the phenomenon can appear regardless of age, gender, and intelligence.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an important chemical, with a wide variety of applications. However, the current method used to manufacture H2O2 is expensive and generates a considerable amount of waste, making it an unsustainable approach. In this study, a group of researchers produced H2O2 from waste coffee grounds and tea leaves, and then demonstrated its industrial use. Their novel method proved to be simple, cost-effective, and most importantly, sustainable.

Intestinal flora plays an important role in health -- including mental health. Researchers have shown that probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants and help to alleviate depression.

The makers of climate policy should rethink how people think: Researchers show that abiding by climate-friendly policies actually changes the way people think about what they do. People's preferences are more dynamic than textbook economics often assumes. The researchers' advice to policy makers is to take changing preferences into account when tailoring policies like carbon taxes or building low-carbon infrastructure.

When a plant community is exposed to drought, the different species undergo evolutionary changes. An international study with UZH participation now shows that this leads to improved resilience to future drought stress over time.

Researchers have developed a tiny, flexible neural probe that can be implanted for longer time periods to record and stimulate neural activity, while minimizing injury to the surrounding tissue. The probe would be ideal for studying small and dynamic areas of the nervous system like peripheral nerves or the spinal cord.

Scientists have refined the use of magnetic fields to improve the performance of doughnut-shaped fusion facilities known as tokamaks. The improved technique protects internal parts from damage by instabilities and allows tokamaks to operate for longer without pausing.

Extensively used grassland is host to a high degree of biodiversity, and performs an important climate protection function as a carbon sink and also serves for fodder and food production. However, these ecosystem services are jeopardized if productivity on these lands is maximized and their use therefore intensified. Researchers have now described how satellite data and machine learning methods enable to assess land-use intensity.

Researchers have discovered that the interferon gamma receptor (IFNgR) signaling pathway is critical for susceptibility of glioblastoma tumors to killing by CAR T-cell immunotherapy.