Reporting world updates to you
The climate-driven advance of beavers into the Arctic tundra is causing the release of more methane — a greenhouse gas — into the atmosphere. Beavers, as everyone knows, like to make dams. Those dams cause flooding, which inundates vegetation and turns Arctic streams and creeks into a series of ponds.…
Music can take on many forms in cultures across the globe, but Yale researchers have found in a new study that some themes are universally recognizable by people everywhere with one notable exception — love songs. “All around the world, people sing in similar ways,” said senior author Samuel Mehr,…
A new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) presents major findings on the gravity of impacts from invasive alien species on our planet. Researchers found more than 37,000 alien species have been introduced by human activities over the centuries, and this conservative estimate is rising…
Engineers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new device that can warn consumers about early risks of tooth decay from diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis. Gingivitis, the earliest form of gum disease, is caused by bacteria. But not just any bacteria. The problem for researchers was getting…
The modern world is filled with synthetic polymers, long-chained molecules designed by scientists to fill all manner of applications. Researchers at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering have developed two closely related polymers that respond differently to high and low temperature thresholds, despite their similar design. The polymer pair could be used…
A new study by University of Maryland Economist Louis Preonas provides empirical evidence that railroads are likely to cut transportation prices to prop up coal-fired plants if U.S. climate policies further disadvantage coal in favor of less carbon-intensive energy sources. One strategy being considered to help reduce the country’s contribution…
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified the structure of a special transporter found in red blood cells and how it interacts with drugs. Details on the findings, which were reported in the September 7 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, could lead to…
When Richard O’Neil, Ph.D., joined MUSC Hollings Cancer Center two years ago, he knew that he wanted to continue finding ways to make CAR-T-cell therapy easier on patients. What he didn’t expect was that a side project — worked on by Megan Tennant, a graduate student in his lab, as…
Paris CNN — France’s highest court on Thursday upheld the government’s ban on students in public schools from wearing the abaya, a long, robe-like garment often worn by Muslim women, in a decision that rights groups warn will lead to more discrimination. “As things stand, the judge considers that the…
People who primarily use their own gut feeling to determine what is true and false are more likely to believe conspiracy theories. That is the conclusion of researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, who have investigated the relationship between susceptibility to misleading information and the conviction that the truth is relative.…
Patent-pending adhesive formulations developed at Purdue University from fully sustainable, bio-based components establish bonds that grow stronger when underwater or exposed to wet conditions. Gudrun Schmidt, an associate professor of practice in Purdue’s Department of Chemistry, and a team of researchers developed the formulations from zein, a protein found in…
After exposure in space aboard the International Space Station, a new kind of surface treatment significantly reduced the growth of biofilms, scientists report. Biofilms are mats of microbial or fungal growth that can clog hoses or filters in water processing systems, or potentially cause illness in people. In the experiment,…
In the race to draw down greenhouse gas emissions around the world, scientists at MIT are looking to carbon-capture technologies to decarbonize the most stubborn industrial emitters. Steel, cement, and chemical manufacturing are especially difficult industries to decarbonize, as carbon and fossil fuels are inherent ingredients in their production. Technologies…
A ‘near total’ lack of transparency is making it impossible to assess the quality of corporate-led ecosystem restoration projects, according to a Lancaster University-led study published today in Science. Efforts to rebuild degraded environments are vital for achieving global biodiversity targets. The United Nations has launched a Decade on Ecosystem…
Northwestern University researchers have developed the first electronic device for continuously monitoring the health of transplanted organs in real time. Sitting directly on a transplanted kidney, the ultrathin, soft implant can detect temperature irregularities associated with inflammation and other body responses that arise with transplant rejection. Then, it alerts the…
Who can forget the stomach-churning moments when “Survivor” contestants forced down crunchy insects, among other unappetizing edibles, for a chance to win $1 million? In daring culinary challenges, the TV show’s contestants exhibited gastronomic bravery as viewers watched in discomfort. Digesting a crunchy critter starts with the audible grinding of…
CNN — More than 800 people have been rescued over the past two days from severe floods in Greece, local officials said, after extreme rainfall turned streets into deadly rivers, tore down buildings and bridges and left whole villages submerged. The rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing at…
As many as 5.8 million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition associated with progressive cognitive decline, including loss of memory capabilities . Protein aggregates, composed of beta-amyloid or other proteins, form in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer’s. These beta-amyloid plaques appear to be a significant…
Large-bodied mammals play crucial roles in ecosystems. They create habitats, serve as prey, help plants thrive, and even influence how wildfires burn. But now, fewer than half of the large mammal species that were alive 50,000 years ago exist today, and those that remain are threatened with extinction from intensifying…
Every day we encounter circumstances we consider wrong: a starving child, a corrupt politician, an unfaithful partner, a fraudulent scientist. These examples highlight several moral issues, including matters of care, fairness and betrayal. But does anything unite them all? Philosophers, psychologists and neuroscientists have passionately argued whether moral judgments share…
People who had high blood pressure while lying flat on their backs had a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure or premature death, according to new research to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2023, to be held Sept. 7-10, 2023, in Boston. The…
Blood pressure among patients diagnosed with hypertension appeared to slightly increase and rates of systolic, or top number, blood pressure being controlled during an outpatient visit appeared to slightly decrease during winter months, according to a new study to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions 2023,…
Children of a parent with alcohol or drug use disorder have a greater risk of intellectual disability, even if the problem only lies with the father, researchers from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report. According to the study, which is published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, preventive measures should be directed at…
One might think that people living in more violent neighborhoods see the world as less safe, or that those whose socioeconomic status improved see the world as getting better, or that chronic pain patients view the world as significantly less pleasurable. But a new study from The Primals Project at…
An international consortium of scientists, led by Jeff Kidd, Ph.D. of University of Michigan, Jennifer R. S. Meadows of Uppsala University in Sweden, and Elaine A. Ostrander, Ph.D. of the NIH National Human Genome Research Institute, is using an unprecedentedly large database of canine DNA to take an unbiased look…
An artificial intelligence tool developed by researchers at the University of Rochester can help people with Parkinson’s disease remotely assess the severity of their symptoms within minutes. A study in npj Digital Medicine describes the new tool, which has users tap their fingers 10 times in front of a webcam…
Millions of Americans have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which occurs in one of two forms: Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. Though the two have similar symptoms, they require different treatment strategies, and tests to distinguish between them are invasive. Reporting in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research, researchers now show that…
Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health researchers have successfully created chimeric embryos containing a combination of human and pig cells. When transferred into surrogate pig mothers, the developing humanized kidneys had normal structure and tubule formation after 28 days. This is the first time that scientists have been able to…
Between 1840 and 1867, thousands of enslaved Africans who had been “liberated” from slave ships intercepted by the British Royal Navy were taken to the South Atlantic island of St Helena. But little is written in history books or otherwise known about the lives of these individuals. Now, ancient DNA…
In many animals, including ants, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) ensures normal brain function by controlling the movement of various substances in and out of the brain. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Cell on September 7 have made the unexpected discovery that the BBB in carpenter ants plays an active…
