Matter comprises of 31% of the total amount of matter and energy in the universe

One of the most interesting and important questions in cosmology is, “How much matter exists in the universe?” An international team, including scientists at Chiba University, has now succeeded in measuring the total amount of matter for the second time. Reporting in The Astrophysical Journal, the team determined that matter…

Ohio’s droughts are worse than often recognized, study finds

A new type of analysis suggests that droughts in Ohio were more severe from 2000 to 2019 than standard measurements have suggested. Researchers at The Ohio State University developed impacts-based thresholds for drought in Ohio, looking specifically at how corn yield and streamflow were affected by various drought indicators, such…

More Texas owls are testing positive for rat poisons

New research suggests that owls in Texas have high rates of anticoagulant rodenticides (AR) — blood thinning rat poisons — in their systems. Jennifer Smith, a professor of integrative biology in the UTSA College of Sciences, co-authored a research article published recently in PLOS ONE, the world’s first multidisciplinary open…

100-year floods could occur yearly by end of 21st century

Most coastal communities will encounter 100-year floods annually by the end of the century, even under a moderate scenario where carbon dioxide emissions peak by 2040, a new study finds. And as early as 2050, regions worldwide could experience 100-year floods every nine to fifteen years on average. A 100-year…

How education, work and motherhood shape women’s life ‘pathways’

A new study from North Carolina State University and Duke University offers insights into the ways that education, work and motherhood shape the lives of women in the United States. In a longitudinal study of more than 8,100 women, the researchers found seven “pathways” that illustrate the way major life…

New research reveals why and when the Sahara Desert was green

A pioneering study has shed new light on North African humid periods that have occurred over the past 800,000 years and explains why the Sahara Desert was periodically green. The research, published in Nature Communications, showed periodic wet phases in the Sahara were driven by changes in Earth’s orbit around…

Roadside hedges can reduce harmful ultrafine particle pollution around schools

A new study led by Cambridge University confirms that planting hedges between roadsides and school playgrounds can dramatically reduce children’s exposure to traffic-related particle pollution. The research, a collaboration with Lancaster University, found that hedges can act as protective barriers against air pollution from major city roads by soaking up…

New method offers hope of fewer fractures

Thousands of people could be spared from a hip fracture each year if a new method to identify the risk of osteoporotic fractures were to be introduced in healthcare. This is the view of the researchers at Lund University in Sweden who are behind a new 3D-simulation method. The results…

Majority rule in complex mixtures

The very first life on earth is thought to have developed from “protocells” — liquid mixtures of many different types of molecules. Researchers from the University of Göttingen have now shown that in such mixtures, small imbalances in the number of molecules of different types can have an unexpected effect.…

‘Dormant’ HIV produces RNA and proteins during anti-retroviral therapy

HIV anti-retroviral therapy is considered a treatment and not a cure because patients usually carry a reservoir of HIV-infected cells that can re-emerge if treatment stops. These reservoirs have long been thought to be dormant, but two independent groups of researchers report in the journal Cell Host & Microbe on…

Pixel-by-pixel analysis yields insights into lithium-ion batteries

By mining data from X-ray images, researchers at MIT, Stanford University, SLAC National Accelerator, and the Toyota Research Institute have made significant new discoveries about the reactivity of lithium iron phosphate, a material used in batteries for electric cars and in other rechargeable batteries. The new technique has revealed several…

Ukrainian missiles strike Russian warships in Crimean naval base | CNN

CNN  —  Two Russian warships were damaged after Ukraine launched an extensive assault on a Russian ship repair base in Crimea early Wednesday morning, officials said, in what appears to be Kyiv’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukrainian armed forces attacked…

Freshwater connectivity can transport environmental DNA through the landscape

A new paper published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B used environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to analyze fish and zooplankton communities. The study found that the movement of water between freshwater bodies, or freshwater connectivity, can transport eDNA. This highlights the potential of eDNA to provide a…

Discovery of two potential Polar Ring galaxies suggests these stunning rare clusters might be more common than previously believed

A group of international astronomers, including researchers from Queen’s University, has identified two potential polar ring galaxies, according to results published today in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Queen’s researchers Nathan Deg and Kristine Spekkens (Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy) led the analysis of data obtained using…

Breast cancer recurrence may be triggered by chemotherapy injury to non-cancer cells

A standard chemotherapy drug injures surrounding non-cancer cells, which can then awakens dormant cancer cells and promotes cancer growth, according to a new study publishing September 12 in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Ramya Ganesan of Emory University, US, and colleagues. The finding is important for understanding cancer…

Older adults with digestive diseases experience higher rates of loneliness, depression

While life expectancy rates for older Americans are rising, nearly 40% of adults report living with a digestive disease of some kind. “Many people don’t realize that these conditions are very common in ambulatory care,” said Michigan Medicine gastroenterologist Shirley Ann Cohen-Mekelburg, M.D., who specializes in conditions like inflammatory bowel…

Charging ahead: New electrolyte goes extra mile for faster EV charging

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “Charging ahead: New electrolyte goes extra mile for faster EV charging.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 September 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230912165717.htm>. DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (2023, September 12). Charging ahead: New electrolyte goes extra mile for faster EV charging. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 12, 2023 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230912165717.htm DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory.…