Since the pioneering description made in 1758 by Swedish naturalist and father of taxonomy Carl Nilsson Linnaeus (1707-1778), there was officially one single silky anteater species. This short-snouted, pigmy-sized anteater would then be known for its scientific name, Cyclopes didactyla, after its inclusion on the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, Linnaeus' magnum opus responsible for describing more than 4,2 animal species. It is found in tropical forests in South and Central America, as well as in the few remaining fragments of Atlantic rainforest in Northeast Brazil.
Space weather emitted by Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our sun, may make that system rather inhospitable to life after all.
Using data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), a team of astronomers discovered that a powerful stellar flare erupted from Proxima Centauri last March. This finding, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, raises questions about the habitability of our solar system's nearest exoplanetary neighbor, Proxima b, which orbits Proxima Centauri.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A new study links doing one's homework, being interested and behaving responsibly in high school to better academic and career success as many as 50 years later. This effect, reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, holds true even after accounting for parental income, IQ and other factors known to influence achievement, researchers report.
Spinraza, the gene therapy medication, also provides significant improvements in cases with the next most severe form of neuromuscular disease, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), which afflicts children from 6 to 18 months of age. That is shown by a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
"The effects are convincing, and this reinforces results from the earlier study," says Mar Tulinius, professor of pediatrics at Sahlgrenska Academy and chief medical officer at the Queen Silvia Children's Hospital.
OAK BROOK, Ill. - The Olympic Games give elite athletes a chance at athletic triumph, but also carry a risk of injury. When injuries occur, it is critical that they be evaluated quickly. Onsite imaging services play an important role in the management of Olympic athletes with sports-related injuries and disorders, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
What is inside an atom, between the nucleus and the electron? Usually there is nothing, but why could there not be other particles too? If the electron orbits the nucleus at a great distance, there is plenty of space in between for other atoms. A "giant atom" can be created, filled with ordinary atoms. All these atoms form a weak bond, creating a new, exotic state of matter at cold temperatures, referred to as "Rydberg polarons".
AUGUSTA, Ga. (Feb. 26, 2018) - Two distinctive handfuls of short molecules that regulate gene expression have been found in the eye fluid of patients with two distinct types of vision degenerating glaucoma.
These differentially expressed microRNAs point the way toward finding more genes associated with glaucoma, more clues about how these glaucoma types each go about damaging our optic nerve and potential new points of intervention, the scientists say.
A research team has published a new study lead by Pat Roche, professor of astrophysics at The University of Oxford, and Chris Packham, associate professor of physics and astronomy at The University of Texas at San Antonio. It reveals a new high resolution map of the magnetic field lines in gas and dust swirling around the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. The team created the map, which is the first of its kind, using the CanariCam infrared camera attached to the Gran Telescopio Canarias on the island of La Palma.
PULLMAN, Wash. Soil pathogen testing - critical to farming, but painstakingly slow and expensive - will soon be done accurately, quickly, inexpensively and onsite, thanks to research that Washington State University scientists plant pathologists are sharing.
As the name implies, these tests detect disease-causing pathogens in the soil that can severely devastate crops.
Until now, the tests have required large, expensive equipment or lab tests that take weeks.
Lizards have special superpowers. While birds can regrow feathers and mammals can regrow skin, lizards can regenerate entire structures such as their tails. Despite these differences, all have evolved from the same ancestor as lizards.
Spreading through the Americas, one lizard group, the anoles, evolved like Darwin's finches, adapting to different islands and different habitats on the mainland. Today there are more than 400 species.