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Equipping cancer-infecting, or oncolytic, viruses with tumor-inhibiting genetic cargo stimulates the immune system and helps immunotherapy to shrink or completely clear aggressive tumors in mice, according to a new study in the Journal of Experimental Medicineled by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC researchers. The results pave the way for clinical…
Older adults who play digital puzzle games have the same memory abilities as people in their 20s, a new study has shown. The study, from the University of York, also found that adults aged 60 and over who play digital puzzle games had a greater ability to ignore irrelevant distractions,…
A deafened adult cannot recover the ability to hear, because the sensory hearing cells of the inner ear don’t regenerate after damage. In two new studies, partially funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences (PNAS), USC Stem Cell…
Scientific journals and research papers are evaluated by a metric known as their “impact factor,” which is based on how many times a given paper is cited by other papers. However, a new study from MIT and other institutions suggests that this measure does not accurately capture the impact of…
Scientists have completed a deep analysis of the proteins driving cancer across multiple tumor types, information that can’t be assessed by genome sequencing alone. Understanding how proteins operate in cancer cells raises the prospect of new therapies that block key proteins that drive cancer growth, or therapies that trigger immune…
In 2020, 771 million people worldwide still lacked access to clean drinking water, according to UNICEF and the World Health Organization. For this reason, many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) prioritize building new water projects, including handpumps and small piped systems, to bring clean water to rural areas of developing countries. Alfonso…
In the rush to harness artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to make care more efficient at hospitals nationwide, a new study points to another possible use: identifying patients with non-medical needs that could affect their health and ability to receive care. These social determinants of health — everything from…
High-temperature flames are used to create a wide variety of materials — but once you start a fire, it can be difficult to control how the flame interacts with the material you are trying to process. Researchers have now developed a technique that utilizes a molecule-thin protective layer to control…
Columbia researchers have identified brain injuries that may underlie hidden consciousness, a puzzling phenomenon in which brain-injured patients are unable to respond to simple commands, making them appear unconscious despite having some level of awareness. “Our study suggests that patients with hidden consciousness can hear and comprehend verbal commands, but…
Imagine using insects as a source of chemicals to make plastics that can biodegrade later — with the help of that very same type of bug. That concept is closer to reality than you might expect. Today, researchers will describe their progress to date, including isolation and purification of insect-derived…
Dangerous “forever chemicals” left in the soil from firefighting foam could be destroyed by grinding, according to a proof-of-concept study by University of Auckland scientists collaborating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Ball milling” appears viable for decontaminating soil from military bases, airports, and refineries around the world where the…
One of the biggest obstacles to the uptake of plant-based alternatives to meat is their very dry and astringent feel when they are eaten. Scientists, led by Professor Anwesha Sarkar at the University of Leeds, are revolutionising the sensation of plant proteins, transforming them from a substance that can be…
A study published in Science indicates that climatic shifts over the past 400,000 years have influenced Neanderthal and Denisovan interbreeding. Recent paleogenomic research revealed that interbreeding was common among early human species. However, little was known about when, where, and how often this hominin interbreeding took place. Using paleoanthropological evidence,…
With climate change, irrigating more crops in the United States will be critical to sustaining future yields, as drought conditions are likely to increase due to warmer temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns. Yet less than 20% of croplands are equipped for irrigation. A Dartmouth-led study finds that by the middle…
They’re found on Mount Everest, in the deep seas, aboard the International Space Station and thousands of them have even crash landed and been spilled onto the moon. The microscopic water bear has a nearly unfathomable ability to survive in the most hostile environments. New research from the University of…
How can the amazing abilities of our memory be explained on the basis of brain anatomy? It is known that different brain functions are anchored in different areas and structures of the brain. For example, we know that certain areas of the cerebral cortex are responsible for perception of the…
Extreme weather exacerbated by climate change is already devastating parts of Africa — but the continent has only a tiny fraction of the monitoring capabilities of the west. There are just 37 weather stations covering the African continent, and only half provide enough data for forecasting. Investment in ‘hydromet systems’…
The precise segregation of DNA and the faithful inheritance of plasmids are crucial steps in bacterial cell division. Now, a team of researchers led by Seán Murray at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology has developed a computational simulation that explains a key mechanism of DNA segregation. Their findings…
Less than two hours’ drive from the metropolis of Rome, bears still roam the woods. The Marsican or Apennine brown bears, a subspecies of the European brown bear, currently number some 70. For now. Thanks to improved protection, educational work and measures to prevent the damage these animals sometimes cause,…
Iron is well-known for rusting, but this doesn’t just happen on contact with oxygen and water. Some bacteria are also able to able to decompose iron anaerobically in a process referred to as electrobiocorrosion. The sediment-dwelling bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens uses electrically conductive protein threads for this purpose, as a team…
Medical imaging via X-rays, CT scans, MRIs and ultrasounds provide health-care professionals with unique perspectives and a better understanding of what’s happening inside a patient’s body. Using various forms of waves, these machines can visualize many unseen ailments and diseases. This imaging is beneficial for health-care professionals to make correct…
Dry lightning can still be disastrous even when conditions aren’t so dry, a study has found. These cloud-to-ground strikes during little to no rainfall were previously thought to pose wildfire danger only if occurring with less than 2.5 mm of rain in a day (about 0.10 inches). A Washington State…
Unexpected new insights into how COVID-19 infects cells may help explain why coronaviruses are so good at jumping from species to species and will help scientists better predict how COVID-19 will evolve. Throughout the pandemic, there has been much discussion of how COVID-19 infiltrates cells by hijacking a protein called…
As climate change causes levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to rapidly rise, scientists have widely believed that the increase might play a role in helping to improve the way plants consume water, known as water use efficiency (WUE). The thought was that higher levels of WUE meant plants…
A team of scientists from Ames National Laboratory and Texas A&M University developed a new way to predict metal ductility. This quantum-mechanics-based approach fills a need for an inexpensive, efficient, high-throughput way to predict ductility. The team demonstrated its effectiveness on refractory multi-principal-element alloys. These are materials of interest for…
A new study finds that “connected” vehicles, which share data with each other wirelessly, significantly improve travel time through intersections — but automated vehicles can actually slow down travel time through intersections if they are not connected to each other. The culprit? Safety. “There are two significant reasons that people…
A form of gene therapy currently used to treat Parkinson’s disease may dramatically reduce alcohol use among chronic heavy drinkers, researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and institutions across the country have found. The study in nonhuman primates showed that implanting a specific type of molecule that induces cell…
Expensive noble metals often play a vital role in illuminating screens or converting solar energy into fuels. Now, chemists at the University of Basel have succeeded in replacing these rare elements with a significantly cheaper metal. In terms of their properties, the new materials are very similar to those used…
A system of ancient ceramic water pipes, the oldest ever unearthed in China, shows that neolithic people were capable of complex engineering feats without the need for a centralised state authority, finds a new study by UCL researchers. In a study published in Nature Water, the archaeological team describe a…
Organoids have now been created from stem cells to secrete the proteins that form dental enamel, the substance that protects teeth from damage and decay. A multi-disciplinary team of scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle led this effort. “This is a critical first step to our long-term goal…
