From Italy and the World

Struggling with a teenager who refuses to ditch digital devices at night and wakes up grumpy? Boarding school could be the answer. A new study by University of South Australia researchers shows that boarders get 40 minutes more sleep most nights than day students, due to fixed bedtimes and stricter…

Various medical circumstances, including heart attacks and extreme cases of COVID-19, necessitate the use of anticoagulants, medicines that prevent blood clots. But the most commonly used, heparin, can induce potentially fatal side effects by making the blood clots worse rather than better. This only happens in a minority of patients…

Anti-estrogenic therapies can suppress the growth of cancer that does not express estrogen receptors; when combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies, they halt tumor progression in mice models. Estrogen, a group of female hormones, is known to be involved in cancer progression, especially breast cancer. About 75 % of breast…

In recent years, pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) have emerged as promising actuators for simulating human-like movements, with prominent applications in various industries including robotics, rehabilitation, and prosthetics. PAMs are usually composed of rubber and covered with braided yarn and can mimic the mechanics of human muscles. They can stiffen and…

As a single organ, our skin is able to perform a broad repertoire of vital functions. Dermatology experts call for a reference guide to single-cell composition of normal human skin, which is still lacking. A grassroots movement to establish a Human Skin Cell Atlas is taking shape, as reported in…

New research has improved the accuracy of the parameters governing the expansion of the Universe. More accurate parameters will help astronomers determine how the Universe grew to its current state, and how it will evolve in the future. It is well established that the Universe is expanding. But with no…

Zinc-air batteries have emerged as a better alternative to lithium in a recent Edith Cowan University (ECU) study into the advancement of sustainable battery systems. ECU’s Dr Muhammad Rizwan Azhar led the project which discovered lithium-ion batteries, although a popular choice for electric vehicles around the world, face limitations related…

In many cases, cells are very active in their movement and serve as power generators. The ability of cells to produce physical forces is one of the basic functions of the body. When running, for example, the forces generated in the cells cause the muscles to contract and the breath…

Genetic remnants of viruses that are naturally present in the human genome could affect the development of neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers at DZNE come to this conclusion on the basis of studies on cell cultures. They report on this in the journal Nature Communications. In their view, such “endogenous retroviruses” could…

In 2006, the Tripod Complex Fire burned more than 175,000 acres in north-central Washington. The fire, which was within the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, was more than three times the size of Seattle. Yet while considered severe at the time, even larger wildfires in 2014, 2015 and 2021 have since dwarfed…

A Ukrainian drone crashed into the roof of a railway station in the western Russian city of Kursk early Sunday morning, injuring five people and causing damage to the building, according to the regional governor. Russia’s Kursk region borders Ukraine and has seen previous apparent Ukrainian attacks. One of the station’s platforms…

CNN  —  Over 12,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Tenerife after wildfires tore through the Spanish Canary Island. Police data showed the the number of evacuations surged from the 4,500 reported on Friday. Some 11 towns have been affected by the fires but tourist areas have…

CNN  —  The Netherlands and Denmark will provide Ukraine with much sought-after F-16 aircraft in an agreement hailed by President Volodymyr Zelensky as “historic.” Kyiv has urgently been calling on its Western allies to provide F-16 jets, as its slow-moving counteroffensive is hampered by Russian air superiority. Speaking at a…

CNN  —  Once upon a time, Russian President Vladimir Putin was the man to see: In the weeks preceding Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, world leaders took turns shuttling to Moscow to urge the Kremlin leader to step back from the brink and call off any plans for an attack.…

CNN  —  A Ukrainian drone crashed into the roof of a railway station in the western Russian city of Kursk early Sunday morning, injuring five people and causing damage to the building, according to the regional governor. Russia’s Kursk region borders Ukraine and has seen previous apparent Ukrainian attacks. One…

Paris CNN  —  The French army general appointed to oversee the reconstruction of Paris’s Notre Dame cathedral has died during a mountain walk. “The nation has lost one of its great soldiers,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday. He described General Jean-Louis Georgelin, 74,…

CNN  —  At least seven people died including a six-year-old girl and 90 others were injured after a Russian missile strike hit a central square in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, Ukrainian officials said. Saturday’s strike – in a city close to the Russian border and far from the…

Ukraine has ramped up missile strikes on Russian-occupied Crimea in recent weeks in an effort to disrupt Russian logistics and resupply efforts as fighting rages in southern Ukraine – but it’s a strategy that some US officials in Washington are viewing with skepticism. For some military and Biden administration officials, Ukrainian attacks…

Dnipro, Ukraine CNN  —  The depth and frequency of craters across the frontline city of Orikhiv are a blunt example of why Ukraine needs F-16 fighter jets urgently. Ukrainian troops amassed around the city have the unenviable task of pushing through minefields towards an enemy that has long anticipated their…

CNN  —  Russia has barred 54 more British citizens from entering the country, in response to the UK’s sanctions against its citizens and enterprises, according to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Russia accused the individuals and entities of involvement in “propaganda support of the activities of the [Ukrainian] Zelensky…

A paper recently published in Nature Energy based on pioneering research done at Illinois Institute of Technology reveals a promising breakthrough in green energy: an electrolyzer device capable of converting carbon dioxide into propane in a manner that is both scalable and economically viable. As the United States races toward…

A team led by researchers from Mass Eye and Ear, a member of Mass General Brigham, reports the results of a phase I trial of a revolutionary stem cell treatment called cultivated autologous limbal epithelial cell transplantation (CALEC), which was found to be safe and well-tolerated over the short term…

Chiral molecules are those that have two versions that are mirror images, like our right and left hands. These molecules have the same structure but different properties when they interact with other molecules, including those inside our bodies. This is important for example in drug molecules, where only the right-…

An estimated 1 in 4 older Americans with dementia or mild cognitive impairment lives alone and is at risk of practices like unsafe driving, wandering outside the home, mixing up medications and failing to attend medical appointments. In a study publishing in JAMA Network Open on Aug. 18, 2023, researchers…

In a recent Science paper, researchers led by JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye, along with collaborators JILA and NIST Fellow David Nesbitt, scientists from the University of Nevada, Reno, and Harvard University, observed novel ergodicity-breaking in C60, a highly symmetric molecule composed of 60 carbon atoms arranged on the…