Reporting world updates to you
A new study has uncovered a new thalattosuchian — an ancient ‘sister’ of modern-day crocodiles’ ancestors. The discovery of Turnersuchus hingleyae follows an impressive unearthing of fossils on the Jurassic Coast, in Dorset, UK, including part of the head, backbone, and limbs. In fact, the find at the Charmouth Mudstone…
When pondering the probability of discovering technologically advanced extraterrestrial life, the question that often arises is, “if they’re out there, why haven’t we found them yet?” And often, the response is that we have only searched a tiny portion of the galaxy. Further, algorithms developed decades ago for the earliest…
Over the past decade, there has been a growing awareness that environmental and life science fields need to diversify their teaching syllabi. Many have suggested highlighting Black women scholars, hidden figures in the fields, and elevating Black, Indigenous, and People of Color scholars. However, faculty sometimes worry that their solitary…
A team of researchers, led by Trisha L. Andrew, professor of chemistry and chemical engineering at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, recently announced that they have synthesized a new material that solves one of the most difficult problems in the quest to create wearable, unobtrusive sensitive sensors: the problem of…
New Cornell research is providing a fresh view into the ways a common chemotherapy agent, etoposide, stalls and poisons the essential enzymes that allow cancer cells to flourish. The findings, from the lab of Michelle Wang, the James Gilbert White Distinguished Professor of the Physical Sciences and Howard Hughes Medical…
Researchers at Drexel University are one step closer to making wearable textile technology a reality. Recently published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Journal of Material’s Chemistry A, materials scientists from Drexel’s College of Engineering, in partnership with a team at Accenture Labs, have reported a new design of a…
CNN — Covid-19 remains a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said on Monday, but it acknowledged the pandemic is at a “transition point.” WHO’s International Health Regulations Emergency Committee discussed the pandemic on Friday at its 14th meeting on Covid-19, and Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus concurred that the…
London CNN — Ryanair expects it will be able to charge higher prices for flights over Easter and the summer, thanks to strong demand from American and Asian tourists and less competition from rivals. The low-cost European carrier told customers in an earnings statement on Monday to “book early” before…
CNN — A sweeping multi-day manhunt continues for a suspect accused of brutally beating and kidnapping a woman in Oregon who remains in critical condition, according to police. While Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, has evaded capture since Tuesday, police say he is still active on dating apps. The Grants Pass…
With some careful twisting and stacking, MIT physicists have revealed a new and exotic property in “magic-angle” graphene: superconductivity that can be turned on and off with an electric pulse, much like a light switch. The discovery could lead to ultrafast, energy-efficient superconducting transistors for neuromorphic devices — electronics designed…
A collaborative team from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation (TIBI) has developed a contact lens prototype that is specifically designed to prevent contact lens-induced dry eye (CLIDE). The lens alleviates this condition by facilitating tear flow in response to normal eye blinking. This approach can relieve the discomfort, visual…
Rice University researchers already knew the atoms in perovskites react favorably to light. Now they can see precisely how those atoms move. A breakthrough in visualization supports their efforts to squeeze every possible drop of utility out of perovskite-based materials, including solar cells, a long-standing project that only recently yielded…
About one-third of the food eaten by Americans comes from crops pollinated by honey bees, yet the insect is dying off at alarming rates. In one year alone, between April of 2019 and April of 2020, one study reported a 43% colony loss in honey bees across the United States.…
For anglers, landing a muskellunge, or muskie, is a big deal. The “fish of 10,000 casts” is notoriously elusive, making the massive fish an even bigger prize when one finally strikes a lure. In a new study, University of Illinois researchers got into the minds of muskies to learn what…
Researchers have developed a neural network model that uses terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) data for non-invasive burn assessment. They combined the new approach with a handheld imaging device that they developed specifically for fast THz-TDS imaging of burn injuries. “It is important for healthcare professionals to accurately assess the depth…
An innovative technique from Cornell University researchers finds seminal fluid protein transferred from male to female fruit flies during mating changes the expression of genes related to the fly’s circadian clock. The finding, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could help explain how this protein, called…
Dogs are humans’ best friendsand it is always distressing for dog owners when their beloved pets contract terminal illnesses. Canine cancer is the leading cause of death in dogs and when they are diagnosed with late-stage or terminal illness, there are often no treatment options available. In a recent study,…
The precious metals, such as platinum, palladium and rhodium, in catalytic converters make the vehicle devices attractive to thieves, but University of Central Florida researchers are working to reduce the amount of precious metals needed in them — down to single atoms — while still maximizing their effectiveness. Catalytic converters,…
If you’ve ever watched an ant searching for food, you probably assumed that they were just covering ground in a random fashion. But a study by researchers reporting in the journal iScience on January 30 now finds that at least one species of rock ant doesn’t walk randomly at all.…
New research challenges the prevailing hypothesis for how donor stem cell grafts cause graft-versus-host disease, or GVHD, and offers an alternative model that could guide development of novel therapies. Published today in Immunity, the study showed in a mouse model that GVHD, which often affects the skin, gut and liver,…
CNN — Lisa Loring, best known as the first actress to play Wednesday Addams in the original “The Addams Family” sitcom, has died at the age of 64. Loring “passed away on Saturday surrounded by her family,” longtime agent Chris Carbaugh told CNN in a statement on Monday. “She brought…
CNN — The Pakistani Taliban has claimed responsibility for a deadly blast in a mosque in Peshawar on Monday, the latest attack on the city in northwest Pakistan. A powerful explosion killed at least 46 people and left about 157 injured, according to Peshawar Police Chief Mohammad Aijaz Khan. Rescue…
Mahsa Shoaran of the Integrated Neurotechnologies Laboratory in the School of Engineering collaborated with Stéphanie Lacour in the Laboratory for Soft Bioelectronic Interfaces to develop NeuralTree: a closed-loop neuromodulation system-on-chip that can detect and alleviate disease symptoms. Thanks to a 256-channel high-resolution sensing array and an energy-efficient machine learning processor,…
CNN — TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify at an upcoming hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a committee spokesperson confirmed to CNN Monday. Chew will be the sole witness at the hearing, scheduled for March 23. He is expected to testify on TikTok’s privacy and data…
Often debilitating, chronic pain is one of the most common reasons individuals seek medical help. About 65 million adults in the United States are affected by chronic pain. Between 67 to 88 percent of them also suffer from sleep disturbances, including longer and more frequent nocturnal awakenings and poorer sleep…
Cooking a delicious risotto and making plastics are actually very similar processes. In both, ingredients come together and are heated to create a product, but current recipes for synthesizing bioplastics often fall flat, producing flimsy materials. So, taking a hint from chefs, researchers now report in ACS Sustainable Chemistry &…
Whether you call them comfort foods, highly processed foods, junk foods, empty calories or just some of Americans’ favorite foods and drinks, a sizable percentage of older Americans have an unhealthy relationship with them, according to a new poll. In fact, about 13% of people aged 50 to 80 showed…
A new study has for the first time predicted which invasive species could pose a future threat to the UK’s ecologically unique Overseas Territories. The 14 Territories — many of them small, remote islands such as St Helena and Pitcairn — are home to species found nowhere else in the…
Having levels of potassium that are too high or too low can be fatal. A new mathematical model sheds light on the often mysterious ways the body regulates this important electrolyte. Potassium, a common mineral abundant in food like bananas and leafy greens, is essential to normal cellular function. It…
The development of stimuli-responsive polymers has brought about a wealth of material-related opportunities for next-generation small-scale, wirelessly controlled soft-bodied robots. For some time now, engineers have known how to use these materials to make small robots that can walk, swim and jump. So far, no one has been able to…
