Feed aggregator

Female elephant seal weigh on average 350 kg, and dive continuously to the ocean's mesopelagic zone to consume their only prey: small fish that weigh less than 10 grams. How do seals maintain their large size on such small prey? An international team of researchers found that, on average, a single seal dove 80 to 100% of the day to eat anywhere from 1,000 to 2,000 fish and gain more calories than they burned.

Across the world, type 2 diabetes is on the rise. A research group has discovered a new gene that may hold the key to preventing and treating lifestyle related diseases such as type 2 diabetes.

South Korean team to develop nanofilm-based "cell cage" technology

A novel, two-step cryptography technique is the first to combine genetic technology with mathematical techniques to generate a complex cryptographic environment with high security and flexibility. In experiments, the proposed algorithm outperformed existing algorithms based on a variety of parameters.

Recently, a collaboration of researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS), Universities of Oldenburg (Germany) and Oxford (UK) have been gathering evidence suggesting that a specific light-sensitive protein in the eye named cryptochrome 4 is sensitive to magnetic fields and plays essential roles in magnetic sensing in migratory birds such as European robins. The results have been published in Nature on June 23 and selected as the cover paper.

Using only a pen and paper, Kavli IPMU PI Hitoshi Murayama has found theoretical proof of a decades-old claim that Quantum Chromo Dynamics leads to light-weight pions.

Researchers at UCSF have found that extreme caloric restriction diets alter the microbiome in ways that could help with weight loss but might also result in an increased population of Clostridiodes difficile, a pathogenic bacterium that can lead to severe diarrhea and colitis.

Researchers at Harvard University and the Broad Institute have created a first detailed atlas of a critical region of the developing mouse brain, applying multiple advanced genomic technologies to the part of the cerebral cortex that is responsible for processing sensation. By measuring how gene activity and regulation change over time, researchers have a better understanding of how the cortex is built and a new tool to explore how it is affected in neurodevelopmental disease.

Wastewater treatment facilities clean the water that goes down our sinks and flushes our toilets, but they do not remove everything. A recent study by Portland State researchers detected low levels of pharmaceuticals and personal care product chemicals in oysters the team deployed at various distances from wastewater effluent pipes along the Oregon and Washington coast.

Garvan researchers launch new tool to inform targeted cancer treatment options.

New research led by investigators at Harvard School of Dental Medicine suggests that machine learning tools can help identify those at greatest risk for tooth loss and refer them for further dental assessment in an effort to ensure early interventions to avert or delay the condition.

Early in the pandemic, it was expected that satellite imagery around the world would show cleaner air as a result of COVID-19 lockdowns. But not all pollutants were taken out of circulation. For tiny airborne-particle pollution, known as PM 2.5, researchers using NASA data found that variability from meteorology obscured the lockdown signals when observed from space.

Researchers are calling for changes to working culture and conditions for UK junior doctors after their new research has highlighted a lack of access to clinical and emotional support.

A new study to be presented at this year's European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) (9-12 July) and published this week in The Lancet Infectious Diseases shows that, for residents of long-term care homes for adults aged 65 years and over, a single dose of either the Pfizer or Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine offers around 60% protection against infection from SARS-CoV-2.

Irish doctors highlight potential complications following buttock augmentation that can result in hospitalisation in a case report being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year (9-12 July). Dr Siobhan Quirke and colleagues from the St James Hospital in Dublin detail the case of a 29-year-old woman who was admitted to hospital with sepsis 14 months after a dermal filler injection.*

New research being presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) held online this year (9-12 July), suggests that one in 10 veterinary workers in the Netherlands carries strains of extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria compared to around one in 20 of the general Dutch population.

A new study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University finds that piles of sand grains, even when undisturbed, are in constant motion. These experimental results challenge existing theories in both geology and physics about how soils and other types of disordered materials behave.

Columbia Engineering and Northwestern researchers report that they have demonstrated the use of DC electric fields to drive back-and-forth rotation of micro-particles in electric boundary layers. These particle oscillators could be useful as clocks that coordinate the organization of active matter and even, perhaps, orchestrate the functions of micron-scale robots.

Microscopy is an essential tool in many fields of science and medicine, but many have limited access to this technology due to cost and fragility. Researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and Münster managed to builld a high-resolution microscope using nothing more than LEGO® and affordable parts from a mobile phone. Then they showed that children significantly increased their understanding of microscopy by making it and working with it. Their results were published in The Biophysicist.

Monell researchers have shown that the presence of certain food proteins, such as those in egg yolk, suppresses extra virgin olive oil's purported less desirable sensory qualities, such as bitterness and pungency.