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A multi-national effort involving scientists from Denmark, Canada, Germany and Japan reports the first-ever direct measurements of mercury deposition in the deepest trenches of the Pacific Ocean, 8 to 10 kilometers under the sea, revealing unprecedented amounts of highly toxic mercury. The high mercury levels may be representative of the collective increase in anthropogenic emissions of mercury into our oceans. On the other hand, ocean trenches may act as a permanent dump.

Kobe University researchers have successfully detected the environmental DNA of the invasive Argentine ant in surface soil samples, and have demonstrated that eDNA can provide a more accurate understanding of habitat distribution. It is hoped that combining this with pest control plans will contribute towards the successful elimination of destructive, invasive ant species. 

Current vaccination programmes alone will have a limited effect in stopping the second wave of COVID infections in the US, according to a study conducted by scientists from Reykjavik University, University of Lyon, University of Southern Denmark and University of Naples Federico II, and published in the Nature Group journal Scientific Reports today. The findings suggest that strict social distancing and other non-pharmaceutical methods are still necessary to end the ongoing second wave in the US and prevent a new one from rising.

The pandemic has increased older adults' willingness to receive the flu shot, new research shows.

Even among a large group of cancer survivors who were mostly insured, college educated and had annual incomes above the national average, up to 10% delayed care in the previous 12 months because they simply could not afford out of pocket expenses like copays and deductibles, investigators report.

These Oncotarget data reveal a new class of mibefradil-based DNA repair inhibitors which can be further advanced into pre-clinical testing and eventually clinical trials, as potential GBM radiosensitizers.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), which causes tingling and numbness in the hand, more commonly affects women than men and tends to peak around the age of menopause. A new study suggests the risk of severe CTS increases in women who underwent bilateral oophorectomy before menopause, and estrogen therapy didn't provide a protective effect. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

An intimate CuPd(100) interface was designed to lower the energy barriers of intermediate reaction (CO2* hydrogenation and C-C coupling) and improve the efficiency of C2 products. The optimal CuPd(100) interface catalyst exhibited a C2 Faradaic efficiency of 50.3%, which was 2.1 times higher than that of Cu catalyst (23.6%) at -1.4 VRHE in 0.1 M KHCO3

Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) located at Sichuan, China, detected dozen Ultra-high Energy gamma-ray sources, opening a new window into the γ-ray sky.

Researchers hope industry and governments worldwide will use the SSSAFE model to help early warning systems mitigate landslide risks

MIT researchers developed a "Digger Finger" robot that digs through granular material, like sand and gravel, and senses the shapes of buried objects. The technology could aid in disarming buried bombs or inspecting underground cables.

Genetic diversity, which reflects the variation in DNA within species and populations and is the key to their capacity to adapt in times of change, is being lost at an alarming rate. According to an article by 28 authors representing 16 countries, the loss of genetic diversity can affect resiliency in the face of environmental change and result in the loss of important services provided to society.

A new study by Cardiff University in collaboration with the University of Hertfordshire has revealed the huge "secondary burden" placed on those closest to people living with Long Covid.

First-born children have a lower risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes than brothers and sisters born later, but people who are part of a large family with many siblings have an increased risk of these events, suggests the results of a large population study in Sweden, published in the online journal BMJ Open.

Up to a third of patients taking methotrexate - a common treatment for immune mediated inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis/psoriatic arthritis - failed to achieve an adequate immune response to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines in a small study accepted for publication in the journal Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Clots in the arteries (arterial thrombosis) are the most common cause of stroke (ischaemic stroke) and have been reported in detail for the first time in young adults who received the Oxford-AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine in a letter from UK stroke specialists published online in Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Advanced microscope technology and cutting-edge geological science are giving new perspectives to an old medical mystery: How do kidney stones form, why are some people more susceptible to them and can they be prevented?

Researchers led by Harvard University and The Rockefeller University combine phylogenetic reconstructions and computational behavioral analysis to show that army ant mass raiding evolved from group raiding through the scaling effects of increasing colony size. The transition evolved tens of millions of years ago and is perfectly correlated with a massive increase in colony size.

While some studies suggest female patients treated by female physicians have better outcomes, there does not appear to be a relationship between operator and patient gender and outcome in patients undergoing coronary angioplasty or stenting.

How does the switch to a high-deductible health plan affect children with asthma? A new study suggests that enrollment in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) may not be associated with changes in asthma medication use or asthma exacerbations when medications are exempt from the deductible.