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Proteins have been quietly taking over our lives since the COVID-19 pandemic began. We've been living at the whim of the virus's so-called 'spike' protein, which has mutated dozens of times to create increasingly deadly variants. But the truth is, we have always been ruled by proteins. At the cellular level, they're responsible for pretty much everything.

Researchers have long documented a link between threat sensitivity and social conservatism. However, a new UCLA study found Republicans' and independents' inclinations to embrace protective behaviors (mask-wearing, physical distancing, sanitizing) in response to the COVID-19 threat in proportion to their degree of conservatism were overruled by distrust in science and liberal-moderate info sources, as well as a focus on negative economic impacts of lockdowns and perceived infringement upon personal liberties.

Researchers from Baidu Research and the University of Maryland have developed a robotic excavator system that integrates perception, planning, and control capabilities to enable material loading over a long duration with no human intervention.

Behavioral study on common marmosets provides new insights into the evolution of language.

Cambridge scientists have identified 200 approved drugs predicted to work against COVID-19 - of which only 40 are currently being tested in COVID-19 clinical trials.

A study published in Science Advances reports on the unexpected observation of thermal waves in germanium, a semiconductor material, for the first time. This phenomenon may allow a significant improvement in the performance of our electronic devices in a near future. The study is led by researchers from the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona (ICMAB, CSIC) in collaboration with researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and the University of Cagliari.

Research at Baylor College of Medicine, the Texas Heart Institute and collaborating institutions is moving a novel promising gene therapy to treat heart failure closer to the clinic.

Grieving friends and relatives from ethnic minority backgrounds are suffering from a lack of appropriate help to cope with the loss of a loved one, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers say people representing those communities need to be involved when services are developed and delivered to ensure that groups get the support they need.

A new study published in PLOS ONE reports genetic and oxygen and strontium isotopic data for individuals buried at Alalakh, finding little evidence for the foreigners mentioned in texts.

A new study based on computational analyses of how SARS-CoV-2 interacts with host cell proteins has identified 200 previously approved drugs that could be repurposed to treat COVID-19, 40 of which have already entered clinical trials.

A Rutgers-led team of researchers has developed a microchip that can measure stress hormones in real time from a drop of blood.

Engineers have developed a sweat-proof "electronic skin" -- a conformable, sensor-embedded sticky patch that reliably monitors a person's health, even when a wearer is perspiring. The patch contains artificial sweat ducts through the material's ultrathin layers.

When we look at a visual stimulus, it drives a cascade of neural activity from low-level to higher level visual brain areas. The higher areas also provide feedback to the lower areas, where figures elicit more activity than the background. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience (NIN) now showed that feedback causes the extra neuronal activity in low-level areas and that the extra activity is essential for figure-ground perception.

Researchers have developed and successfully demonstrated a novel method for studying how cells repair damaged DNA in space. Sarah Stahl-Rommel of Genes in Space and colleagues present the new technique in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on June 30, 2021.

In the German population, a surprisingly high 6% of under-18s are at risk of cognitive decline, falls and more from the cumulative effect of anticholinergic medications such as antihistamines and antidepressants.

The deep sea Pacific Salas y Gómez and Nazca ridges are highly biodiverse and host unique fish and invertebrate taxa, according to video surveys.

A city's street names can provide a glimpse into its cultural value system and a way to quantify cultural indicators, according to a study published June 30, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Melanie Bancilhon from Washington University in Saint Louis, US, and colleagues.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is widely used in medicine to detect, diagnose and treat diseases such as cancer, while relying on experts' interpretation of images. Quantitative MRI, which obtains numerical measurements during the scans, can now potentially offer greater accuracy, repeatability and speed -- but rigorous quality control is needed for it to reach its full potential, according to a new study.

New research from the University of Georgia shows that there may be more antimicrobial-resistant salmonella in our food animals than scientists previously thought.

Cancer cells can put the body's immune cells into sleep mode. Immunotherapy can reverse this, but it doesn't work for all patients and all cancer types. Researchers at TU/e have developed machine learning models that can predict if someone is likely to respond positively to immunotherapy. In clinical settings, this could pave the way for personalized immunotherapy approaches for patients, as well as guidance on how to best combine immunotherapy with other treatments.