Feed aggregator
Early lung cancer coopts immune cell into helping tumors invade the lungs
Immune cells that normally repair tissues in the body can be fooled by tumors when cancer starts forming in the lungs and instead help the tumor become invasive, according to a surprising discovery reported by Mount Sinai scientists in Nature in June.
Categories: Content
New material could remove respiratory droplets from air
While air-borne droplets bounce off commonly used plexiglass dividers, they stick to surfaces coated with the new material, then get absorbed and dry up.
Categories: Content
The vision: Tailored optical stimulation for the blind
European scientists propose a personalized protocol for optimizing stimulation of optic nerve fibers, for the blind, which takes into account feedback from the viewer's brain. The protocol has been tested on artificial neural networks known to simulate the physiology of the entire visual system, from the eye to the visual cortex. The stimulation protocol will be tested in clinical trials with partners in Rome.
Categories: Content
Ten years of ancient genome analysis has taught scientists 'what it means to be human'
A ball of 4,000-year-old hair frozen in time tangled around a whalebone comb led to the first ever reconstruction of an ancient human genome a decade ago. The hair, which was preserved in arctic permafrost in Greenland, was collected in the 1980s. It wasn't until 2010 that evolutionary biologist Professor Eske Willerslev was able to use pioneering shotgun DNA sequencing to reconstruct the genetic history of the hair. It sparked a 'decade of discovery.'
Categories: Content
Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Health Care Workers After 1st Dose of Moderna Vaccine
What The Study Did:Â This study demonstrated an association between receiving the mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccine and a reduction in SARS-CoV-2 infection in health care workers beginning eight days after the first dose.
Categories: Content
Survival among adults with early-onset colorectal cancer
Survival among people with early-onset (diagnosed before age 50) colorectal cancer compared with later-onset colorectal cancer (diagnosed at ages 51 through 55) was compared using data from the National Cancer Database.
Categories: Content
Association of cannabis use during adolescence with neurodevelopment
Researchers examined to what extent cannabis use is associated with thickness in brain areas measured by magnetic resonance imaging in a study of adolescents.
Categories: Content
Most rivers run dry -- now and then
A new study led by researchers from McGill University and INRAE found that between 51-60% of the 64 million kilometres of rivers and streams on Earth that they investigated stop flowing periodically, or run dry for part of the year. It is the first-ever empirically grounded effort to quantify the global distribution of non-perennial rivers and streams. The research, which was published today in Nature, calls for a paradigm shift in river science and management.
Categories: Content
Mystery of Betelgeuse's dip in brightness solved
When Betelgeuse, a bright orange star in the constellation of Orion, became visibly darker in late 2019 and early 2020, the astronomy community was puzzled. A team of astronomers have now published new images of the star's surface, taken using the European Southern Observatory's VLT, that clearly show how its brightness changed. The new research reveals that the star was partially concealed by a cloud of dust, a discovery that solves the mystery of the "Great Dimming" of Betelgeuse.
Categories: Content
Researchers translate a bird's brain activity into song
It is possible to re-create a bird's song by reading only its brain activity, shows a first proof-of-concept study from the University of California San Diego. The researchers were able to reproduce the songbird's complex vocalizations down to the pitch, volume and timbre of the original. The study is a first step towards developing vocal prostheses for humans who have lost the ability to speak.
Categories: Content
Correlated errors in quantum computers emphasize need for design changes
Quantum computers could outperform classical computers at many tasks, but only if the errors that are an inevitable part of computational tasks are isolated rather than widespread events. Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have found evidence that errors are correlated across an entire superconducting quantum computing chip -- highlighting a problem that must be acknowledged and addressed in the quest for fault-tolerant quantum computers.
Categories: Content
Mystery solved: Dust cloud led to Betelgeuse's 'Great Dimming'
When Betelgeuse, a bright orange star in the constellation of Orion, lost more than two-thirds of its brightness in late 2019 and early 2020, astronomers were puzzled.
Categories: Content
Researchers find human infant brains, bodies are active during new sleep stage
A University of Iowa team has found that babies twitch during a sleep stage called quiet sleep, not just during REM sleep. The results may show there's more communication between snoozing infants' brains and motor systems than previously known. Results appear in the journal Current Biology.
Categories: Content
When testing Einstein's theory of general relativity, small modeling errors add up fast
Small modeling errors may accumulate faster than previously expected when physicists combine multiple gravitational wave events (such as colliding black holes) to test Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity, suggest researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom. The findings appear June 16 in the journal iScience.
Categories: Content
Sticky transparent wall coating can capture aerosols and droplets from the air
By repurposing common ingredients in hair conditioner, scientists have designed an inexpensive, transparent coating that can turn surfaces like windows and ceilings into glue pads to trap airborne aerosol droplets. This new strategy is described June 16 in the journal Chem.
Categories: Content
Developing countries pay steep economic & health costs because of high car air pollution
Some of the world's most vulnerable cities suffer disproportionate economic losses because of the health consequences of in-car air pollution, finds a new study.
Categories: Content
Convergent mechanism of aging discovered
Fundamental signaling pathway is crucial for longevity.
Categories: Content
Idea of COVID-19 'immunity passports' decreases people's compliance with restrictions
Researchers from the University of Kent's School of Psychology have found that when people are presented with the idea of a COVID-19 'immunity passport,' they show less willingness to follow social distancing and face covering guidelines.
Categories: Content
New research finds ways to improve accuracy of Lateral Flow Tests
Research published in the journal ACS Materials and Interfaces has provided new understanding of how false-negative results in Lateral Flow Tests occur and provides opportunity for simple improvements to be made.
Categories: Content
How should governments offer subsidies for clean-energy heating?
Many countries are already looking to adopt clean heating solutions more widely, with the International Energy Agency projecting that by 2045 nearly half of global heating will be done with heat pumps. A new study from Aalto University assesses the impact of heat pumps on energy consumption as well as how they should be subsidized.
Categories: Content