Newly discovered bone stem cell causes premature skull fusion

Craniosynostosis, the premature fusion of the top of the skull in infants, is caused by an abnormal excess of a previously unknown type of bone-forming stem cell, according to a preclinical study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. Craniosynostosis arises from one of several possible gene mutations, and occurs…

Archaeologists discover world’s oldest wooden structure

Half a million years ago, earlier than was previously thought possible, humans were building structures made of wood, according to new research by a team from the University of Liverpool and Aberystwyth University. The research, published in the journal Nature, reports on the excavation of well-preserved wood at the archaeological…

Genetically modifying individual cells in animals

Researchers at ETH Zurich have developed a method that lets them genetically modify each cell differently in animals. This allows them to study in a single experiment what used to require many animal experiments. Using the new method, the researchers have discovered genes that are relevant for a severe rare…

Strengthening artificial immune cells to fight cancer

Among available immunotherapies, the use of “CAR-T” cells is proving extremely effective against certain blood cancers, but only in half of patients. A main reason for this is the premature dysfunction of these immune cells, which have been artificially modified in vitro. A team from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE),…

New method makes microcombs ten times more efficient

Microcombs can help us discover planets outside our solar system and track new diseases in our bodies. But current microcombs are inefficient and unable to reach their full potential. Now, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have scored a world first with their solution to make microcombs ten…

Cognitive behavioral therapy eases how fibromyalgia pain is experienced by the brain

Patients living with fibromyalgia (FM) — a disease that predominantly affects women and is characterized by chronic pain, fatigue and brain fog — often find limited treatment options and a scarcity of explanations for their symptoms. Research led by Mass General Brigham investigators has found that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)…

Slow growth in crocodile ancestors pre-dated their semi-aquatic lifestyle

Today’s crocodilians (including crocodiles and alligators) all grow slowly, taking years to reach maximum size. In contrast, birds are crocodilian’s closest living relatives, and they can reach adult size in less than a year (~150 days for a chicken!). When, how, and why crocodilians evolved to grow so slowly has…

Artificial Intelligence tools shed light on millions of proteins

A research team at the University of Basel and the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics uncovered a treasure trove of uncharacterised proteins. Embracing the recent deep learning revolution, they discovered hundreds of new protein families and even a novel predicted protein fold. The study has now been published in Nature.…

Urban light pollution linked to smaller eyes in birds

The bright lights of big cities could be causing an evolutionary adaptation for smaller eyes in some birds, a new study indicates. Researchers found that two common songbirds, the Northern Cardinal and Carolina Wren, that live year-round in the urban core of San Antonio, Texas, had eyes about 5% smaller…

Chameleon-inspired coating could cool and warm buildings through the seasons

As summer turns to fall, many people will be turning off the air conditioning and firing up heaters instead. But traditional heating and cooling systems are energy intensive, and because they typically run on fossil fuels, they aren’t sustainable. Now, by mimicking a desert-dwelling chameleon, a team reporting in ACS’…

Most people rely on parents for material support into adulthood

A new study finds that only a third of adults in the United States did not rely on their parents for some form of material support between their late teens and early 40s. The study highlights the extent to which parents and adult children rely on each other for financial…

A newly identified virus emerges from the deep

The Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, plunges nearly 11,000 meters at its lowest point on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Life persists in the deep and cold darkness, and “wherever there’s life, you can bet there are regulators at work,” said marine virologist Min Wang, Ph.D, at…

Newfound brain circuit explains why infant cries prompt milk release

Hearing the sound of a newborn’s wail can trigger the release of oxytocin, a brain chemical that controls breast-milk release in mothers, a new study in rodents shows. Researchers found that once prompted, this flood of hormones continues for roughly five minutes before tapering off, enabling mothers to feed their…

Black holes eat faster than previously expected

A new Northwestern University-led study is changing the way astrophysicists understand the eating habits of supermassive black holes. While previous researchers have hypothesized that black holes eat slowly, new simulations indicate that black holes scarf food much faster than conventional understanding suggests. The study will be published on Wednesday (Sept.…

Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine

US military aid and training for Ukrainian forces could be disrupted in the event of a US government shutdown, a Pentagon spokesperson warned on Tuesday. The Pentagon would still be able to access equipment from its own stockpiles, which is where the majority of equipment sent to Ukraine comes from,…

Zelensky urges unity in dramatic UN address | CNN

CNN  —  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged a global front against Russian aggression in a dramatic speech delivered Tuesday during the UN General Assembly – his first in-person address to the global body since Russia’s 2022 invasion. “The goal of the present war against Ukraine is to turn our lands,…

Combustion powers bug-sized robots to leap, lift and race

Cornell researchers combined soft microactuators with high-energy-density chemical fuel to create an insect-scale quadrupedal robot that is powered by combustion and can outrace, outlift, outflex and outleap its electric-driven competitors. The group’s paper, “Powerful, Soft Combustion Actuators for Insect-Scale Robots,” was published Sept. 14 in Science. The lead author is…

Glacier Loss Day indi­cates record break­ing glacier melt

In the summer of 2022, one of Tyrol’s largest glaciers experienced its most significant loss of mass on record. Last year, the Hintereisferner in Tyrol, Austria, reached its Glacier Loss Day (GLD) earlier than ever before. The GLD serves as an indicator of a glacier’s health throughout the year, similar…

New insight into crosstalk between cancer cells and their environment

Most solid tumors become stiff as the cancer progresses. Although researchers recognize that the environment around the cancer cells influences their behavior, it is unclear how it does so. In a new paper, published in Scientific Data, researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have collected gene expression data in…