Roads, pet dogs and more may pose hidden threat to Africa’s primates

Many of the hallmarks of human civilization — from roads and power lines to pet dogs — are taking a larger-than-expected toll on non-human primates living in Africa, according to two recent studies. The findings result from a collaboration between the University of Colorado Boulder and three South Africa-based institutions:…

Trained dogs can sniff out a deadly deer disease

Charlie, Jari, and Kiwi are pet dogs with a superpower: Their sensitive noses can distinguish between a healthy deer and one sick with chronic wasting disease (CWD), all from a whiff of the deer’s poop. That’s the finding of a study by scientists from Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, published…

‘We’re not all that different’: Study IDs bacterial weapons that could be harnessed to treat human disease: Discovery of ancient immune-fighting machinery paves way toward more ‘CRISPR’-like technologies

When it comes to fighting off invaders, bacteria operate in a remarkably similar way to human cells, possessing the same core machinery required to switch immune pathways on and off, according to new University of Colorado Boulder research. The study, published Feb. 8 in the journal Nature, also sheds light…

Video: Why the earthquake in Turkey and Syria was so deadly | CNN

Here’s why the earthquake in Turkey and Syria was so deadly A powerful fault-line, cold temperatures, aftershocks, lack of infrastructure and limited aid. CNN breaks down the reasons this earthquake was so deadly and the factors that may contribute to a rising death toll in its aftermath. Source link

Protein droplets may cause many types of genetic disease

Most proteins localize to distinct protein-rich droplets in cells, also known as “cellular condensates.” Such proteins contain sequence features that function as address labels, telling the protein which condensate to move into. When the labels get screwed up, proteins may end up in the wrong condensate. According to an international…

Controllable ‘defects’ improve performance of lithium-ion batteries

A new North Carolina State University study, performed in collaboration with battery testing researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, shows that extremely short pulses from a high-powered laser can cause tiny defects in lithium-ion battery materials — defects that can enhance battery performance. The technique,…

Current microbiome analyses may falsely detect species that are not actually present: Study of simulated microbial communities shows analyses are flawed by incomplete DNA databases

Common approaches to analyze DNA from a community of microbes, called a microbiome, can yield erroneous results, in large part due to the incomplete databases used to identify microbial DNA sequences. A team led by Aiese Cigliano of Sequentia Biotech SL, and Clemente Fernandez Arias and Federica Bertocchini of the…

Geoengineering to cool earth: Space dust as Earth’s sun shield

On a cold winter day, the warmth of the sun is welcome. Yet as humanity emits more and more greenhouse gases, the Earth’satmosphere traps more and more of the sun’s energy and steadily increases the Earth’s temperature. One strategy for reversing this trend is to intercept a fraction of sunlight…

Video shows newborn baby rescued from rubble in Syria | CNN

Stunning video shows newborn baby pulled from rubble in Syria Thousands have been killed and tens of thousands injured after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, according to officials. CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz reports on the ongoing rescue efforts in war-torn Syria where a humanitarian crisis was already unfolding…

Causal mechanism behind rare hereditary diseases

Researchers from Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (MPIMG), and the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) have investigated in detail how BPTA syndrome, an extremely rare hereditary condition, arises. A change in the charge of a protein disrupts cellular self-organization, resulting in a developmental disorder. The…

Novel control method of aircraft with no tail

A research team at Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech), led by Professor David Williams, has for the first time demonstrated the use of a novel control method in an aircraft with no tail. The technology allows an aircraft to be as smooth and sleek as possible, making it safer…

‘Game-changing’ findings for sustainable hydrogen production

Hydrogen fuel could be a more viable alternative to traditional fossil fuels according to University of Surrey researchers who have found that a type of metal-free catalysts could contribute to the development of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen production technologies. The study has shown promising results for the use of edge-decorated…

Complications in pregnancy linked to increased risk of heart disease

Certain complications during pregnancy bring an increased risk of heart disease later on. However, there is still much to learn about how arteriosclerosis develops between pregnancy and heart disease later in life. A large new study led by researchers from Lund University in Sweden shows that narrowing and calcification of…

Distortion-free forms of structured light

An exciting prospect in modern optics is to exploit “patterns of light,” how the light looks in its many degrees of freedom, often referred to as structured light. Each pattern could form an encoding alphabet for optical communication or might be used in manufacturing to enhance performance and productivity. Unfortunately,…

Warning signs of poor mental health in athletes

‘Put down’ language is a key indicator of poor mental health in athletes, recent research shows. More than 400 athletes across a variety of sports, ages and levels of experience were questioned for the study by sports psychology experts from Staffordshire University and Manchester Metropolitan University. The findings reveal that…