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Sea salt hides a secret: tiny droplets of the seawater from which it came, preserving geologic history. Using specializing equipment obtained from National Science Foundation grant funds, Mebrahtu Weldeghebriel, PhD ’22, a postdoctoral fellow at Princeton University, and Binghamton University Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences Tim Lowenstein were able to…
The universe is humming with gravitational radiation — a very low-frequency rumble that rhythmically stretches and compresses spacetime and the matter embedded in it. That is the conclusion of several groups of researchers from around the world who simultaneously published a slew of journal articles in June describing more than…
The first gene mapping study on human scalp hair whorls not only shows that hair whorl direction has a genetic basis, but also that it is affected by multiple genes. Four associated genetic variants that are likely to influence hair whorl direction are identified, as reported in the Journal of…
A classic movie was once promoted with the punchline: “In space, no one can hear you scream.” Physicists Zhuoran Geng and Ilari Maasilta from the Nanoscience Center at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, have demonstrated, on the contrary, that in certain situations sound can be transmitted strongly across a vacuum…
Dam constructions have flooded over 1.13 million acres of tribal land in the US contributing to the historic and ongoing struggle against land dispossession for Indigenous peoples in the United States. New research, published in Environmental Research Letters, has identified that a region of tribal land larger than the state…
Innovative technology that creates ultra-thin layers of human cells in tube-like structures could spur development of lifelike blood vessels and intestines in the lab. The technique, known as RIFLE — rotational internal flow layer engineering — enables the construction of separate layers as delicate as one cell thick. Such versatility…
A new DNA study has nuanced the picture of how different groups intermingled during the European Stone Age, but also how certain groups of people were actually isolated. The study was carried out by researchers at Uppsala University working with an international team of researchers, who produced new genetic data…
The impact of particulate matter air pollution on death and disability is on the rise worldwide, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association. Previous research established the association of particulate matter (PM) pollution…
Scientists at St. Anna Children’s Cancer Research Institute and the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen have shown that immunotherapy after stem cell transplantation effectively combats certain nerve tumors in children. Crucially, stem cells from a parent provide children with a new immune system that responds much better to immunotherapies. These…
A collaborative study between LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, the University of Rochester and Cellestia Biotech AG, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, provides compelling evidence that combining an investigational oral drug with standard-of-care medications reverts hormone resistance and increases Rx effectiveness in experimental models of estrogen-receptor…
While some parts of the world suffer extreme heat and persistent drought, others are being flooded. Overall, continental water volumes vary so much over time that global sea levels fluctuate significantly too. By combining the hydrological model WaterGAP with GRACE satellite data, a team of geodesists at the University of…
Breastfeeding has long been used as a method to help keep newborns healthy and protected against a variety of diseases. But certain sugars naturally found in breastmilk could also help prevent infections before a baby arrives. Researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have found that these sugars can stop a…
By some estimates, the human nose can detect up to a trillion different smells with its hundreds of scent receptors. But even just catching a quick whiff of certain chemicals known as nerve agents can be lethal, even in tiny amounts. Researchers now reporting in ACS Sensors have developed a…
Everywhere scientists look for microplastics, they’ve found them — food, water, air and some parts of the human body. But examinations of our innermost organs that aren’t directly exposed to the environment are still limited. Now, in a pilot study of people who underwent heart surgery, researchers in ACS’ Environmental…
In recent years, hydrogen gas has gained momentum as the fuel for a clean and green future. This carbon-neutral fuel source releases huge amounts of energy via combustion in the presence of oxygen with water vapor as the by-product. One of the most popular methods of hydrogen production is the…
A couple of months each year, groupers (Epinephelidae) gather in the hundreds and even thousands to mate under the full moon. This concentrated nature and short duration of mating, however, renders these species susceptible to incidental fishing and poaching. Although protective measures are in place through marine managed areas, these…
Alzheimer’s, stroke, multiple sclerosis and other neurological diseases cause severe damage due to neuroinflammation mediated by immune cells. Managing this inflammation poses a significant medical challenge because the brain is protected by the skull and additional surrounding membranes that make the brain less accessible for treatment approaches. Scientists had previously…
Scientific excellence requires diversity — research conducted by men and women, by people from different backgrounds and with varied worldviews. The need for diversity extends to scientific experiments themselves, but even today the vast majority of studies in the life sciences are done on male mice only, which could harm…
A 390-million-year-old moss called Takakia lives in some of Earth’s most remote places, including the icy cliffs of the Tibetan Plateau. In a decade-long project, a team of scientists climbed some of the tallest peaks in the world to find Takakia, sequence its DNA for the first time, and study…
Researchers have long thought that rewards like food or money encourage learning in the brain by causing the release of the “feel-good” hormone dopamine, known to reinforce storage of new information. Now, a new study in rodents describes how learning still occurs in the absence of an immediate incentive. Led…
Scientists studying how poxviruses evade natural defences in human cells have identified a new approach to treatment that may be more durable than current treatments. This follows their discovery of how poxviruses exploit a cellular protein to evade the host cell defences, and thereby replicate and spread effectively. Existing drugs…
Climate change has long been considered as one of the greatest drivers of declining coral reefs, but the specifics of human impact have been largely unverified. In a new paper published in Nature, researchers tracked coral reef health in Hawai’i for 20 years — measuring increasing water acidification, land-based pollution,…
Simple home workouts using exercise apps can effectively reduce depressive symptoms in healthcare workers and could be a major tool to combat the global mental health crisis in the sector, says new University of British Columbia research. The study, published today in JAMA Psychiatry, divided participants into either a waitlisted…
A telecommunications fiber optic cable deployed offshore of Oliktok Point, Alaska recorded ambient seismic noise that can be used to finely track the formation and retreat of sea ice in the area, researchers report in The Seismic Record. Andres Felipe Peña Castro of the University of New Mexico and colleagues…
High temperatures exacerbate ground-level ozone production, resulting in a deadly combination of extreme heat and poor air quality that is especially dangerous for children, seniors, and people suffering from preexisting respiratory illnesses. Like most of the globe, China is dealing with increasing temperatures and longer and more frequent heat waves.…
CNN — Russia is ramping up its efforts to ensure even its youngest citizens fall in line with the official narrative when it comes to the war in Ukraine. The country’s Ministry of Education this week unveiled new history textbooks with sections about what it calls the “special military operation”…
Rome CNN — Forty-one people reportedly died in a migrant shipwreck near the Italian island of Lampedusa, survivors say, the latest tragedy amid a spike in efforts in people making the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe. The survivors told the Red Cross that the migrant boat left…
CNN — At least 25 people were injured in an explosion at an industrial plant northeast of Moscow, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported Wednesday. The blast took place in the area of the boiler room at Zagorsk Optical and Mechanical Plant, in the town of Sergiev Posad, state…
Paris CNN — Eleven people are unaccounted for after a fire broke out at a vacation home in eastern France early Wednesday morning, authorities said. The fire in the Wintzenheim, a small town near the German border about 315 miles east of Paris, broke out at about 6:30 a.m. local…
Fifty years ago, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) stopped enforcing deceptive pricing regulations, assuming that competition would keep retailers honest. Since then, competition has increased significantly — yet the practice of posting false, inflated comparison prices alongside sale prices has continued unchecked. Think of an advertisement from a furniture store…
