ScienceDaily: Top News

Researchers develop liquid biopsy technique to help detect cancer in blood

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 09:22 AM PDT

Researchers have found a new way to track metastatic cancer cells in the body, which in the future could help identify cancer earlier and give patients more treatment options.

Fuel cells: Novel multi-proton carrier complex as efficient proton conductor at high temps

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 09:22 AM PDT

Fuel cells often fall short when it comes to operating at temperatures beyond 100 degrees Celsius owing to their dependence on water as a proton conduction medium. To overcome this issue, a team of researchers designed a new hydrogen-bonded starburst-shaped metal complex consisting of ruthenium (III) ion and six imidazole-imidazolate groups. The resulting single molecular crystal shows excellent proton conductivity even at temperatures as high as 180°C and as low as --70 °C.

Insects harbor over a thousand genes from microbes, which help them survive

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 09:22 AM PDT

Hundreds of millions of years ago, microbes and plants might have given insects an evolutionary advantage by passing genes to them through horizontal gene transfer. Researchers now report that more than 1,400 genes across 218 insect species, including butterflies and moths, originated from bacteria, viruses, fungi, and plants. The study argues that these genes might have been essential for insect evolution by allowing them to develop beneficial traits in mating behavior, nutrition, growth, and adaptation to environmental changes.

'Black hole police' discover a dormant black hole outside our galaxy

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 09:22 AM PDT

A team of international experts, renowned for debunking several black hole discoveries, have found a stellar-mass black hole in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbor galaxy to our own. The researchers found that the star that gave rise to the black hole vanished without any sign of a powerful explosion.

Robot dog learns to walk in one hour

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 09:22 AM PDT

Like a newborn animal, a four-legged robot stumbles around during its first walking attempts. But while a foal or a giraffe needs much longer to master walking, the robot learns to move forward fluently in just one hour. A computer program acts as the artificial presentation of the animal's spinal cord, and learns to optimize the robot's movement in a short time. The artificial neural network is not yet ideally adjusted at the beginning, but rapidly self-adjusts.

Cooperation among strangers has increased since the 1950s

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:45 AM PDT

Despite common concerns that the social fabric is fraying, cooperation among strangers has gradually increased in the U.S. since the 1950s, according to new research.

When natural disaster strikes, these Americans may not be ready

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:45 AM PDT

A new national study shows which Americans are least likely to be prepared to take necessary actions when faced with disasters such as hurricanes, floods and wildfires.

Just half of parents recognize screen time impact on children's eye health

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:45 AM PDT

Most parents overlook simple steps to protect children's eyes.

Prognosis of prostate cancer patients improved

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:45 AM PDT

Prostate cancer is a common form of cancer. Researchers have now discovered a faster and easier way to determine who has an aggressive form of cancer, and who has not.

Bees boost crops and could steady food prices

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:44 AM PDT

More than 200 experiments comparing yields of crop plants with an without insect pollination analyzed, revealing 32% less variability in yields of plants visited by pollinators. The study suggests that supporting and conserving pollinators like bees could stabilize food supply, with the potential to prevent future spikes in food food prices.

Over half of threatened species require targeted recovery actions

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:44 AM PDT

The world's governments are presently negotiating a Global Biodiversity Framework, containing goals and targets for saving nature, which is due to be adopted at the end of 2022. Conservation experts explored how the suggested targets in the Framework, could contribute to reducing extinction risk of threatened vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. Their findings show that while targets to expand protected areas or reduce pollution will benefit many species, 57% would still need targeted recovery actions.

Anti-rejection medication and immunotherapy kicks cancer and protects kidney transplants

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:44 AM PDT

Adding immunotherapy to standard anti-rejection medication could change the lives of thousands of kidney transplant patients with incurable cancer, as new research shows it can reduce this risk of organ rejection and eliminate cancer in a quarter of patients.

How Nemo fits in his anemone: Study reveals how clown anemonefish adjust their growth to their environments

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:44 AM PDT

Research has shown how clown anemonefish control their growth to match the size of their anemone host.

Synthetic tools conduct messages from station to station in DNA

Posted: 18 Jul 2022 06:44 AM PDT

Bioengineers used deactivated Cas9 fusion proteins to synthetically control gene expression and reveal new details about natural processes in human cells.

What the mechanical forces behind protein folding can tell us about metastatic cancer

Posted: 15 Jul 2022 11:21 AM PDT

Cells communicate with themselves and their cellular environment through mechanical bonds. This work advances understanding of the role of these forces on proteins as they interact to accomplish their biological functions, including the control of cancer.