Earth

Researchers from the Skoltech Center for Energy Science and Technology (CEST) visualized the formation of a solid electrolyte interphase on battery-grade carbonaceous electrode materials using in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM). This will help researchers design and build batteries with higher performance and durability.

Every year there are ten million new cases of cancer in the world and the World Health Organisation estimates that number of annual deaths associated with this disease will reach 13 million by the year 2030. There are various treatments for cancer but in many cases they cause toxicity in some patients or lead to the development of resistance in others.

Research from Karolinska Institutet published today in Nature shows that an RNA molecule involved in preventing tumour formation can change its structure and thereby control protein production in the cell. The finding can have important clinical implications as it opens for new strategies to treat different types of cancer.

A study performed by researchers at the Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC) from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) pioneers the use of whole living cells (human lung adenocarcinoma) in dynamic combinatorial chemistry systems. This research, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, proposes a new methodology to discover new bioactive molecules in a realistic biological medium.

The vertebrate ear is a remarkable structure. Tightly encapsulated within the densest bone of the skeleton, it comprises the smallest elements of the vertebrate skeleton (auditory ossicles) and gives rise to several different senses: balance, posture control, gaze stabilization, and hearing. Nowhere else in the vertebrate skeleton are different functional units packed so close together and jointly embedded in its skeletal environment, which also hampers the independent evolution of the ear components.

Yale researchers have found a neural home of the feeling of stress people experience, an insight that may help people deal with the debilitating sense of fear and anxiety that stress can evoke, Yale researchers report May 27 in the journal Nature Communications.

Brain scans of people exposed to highly stressful and troubling images -- such as a snarling dog, mutilated faces or filthy toilets -- reveal a network of neural connections emanating throughout the brain from the hippocampus, an area of the brain that helps regulate motivation, emotion and memory.

Empowering people to intervene when they witness unacceptable behaviour can help to prevent domestic violence and abuse, a new study has found.

Specific training for bystanders makes them "significantly" more confident to take action when they see or hear wrongdoing related to domestic abuse in their community, according to the research.

A total of 81 per cent of participants reported being more likely to intervene when they saw wrongdoing after the training, this increased to 89 per cent four months later.

People who believe more strongly that depression is biologically caused also tend to think it is more severe and long lasting, compared to those who see less of a role for biological causes, a new Rutgers study finds.

At the same time, people who believe that biological factors cause depression also tend to be more optimistic that treatment will have a positive effect, said Sarah Mann, a former doctoral student at Rutgers University-New Brunswick who led the study.

A Canadian case series of all patients with COVID-19 admitted to six intensive care units (ICUs) in Metro Vancouver found patient outcomes were substantially better than reported in other jurisdictions. The paper is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - New findings reveal the importance of the Na/K-ATPase protein in stem cell differentiation and organogenesis, in a study led by scientists at Marshall University that involves the scaffolding function of the Na/K-ATPase.

The research, published today in Science Advances, indicates that a sequence in the Na/K-ATPase, also known as the sodium pump, that is not involved in the ion pumping function of this protein is critical to stem cell differentiation and organogenesis across the animal kingdom.

Researchers at the University of Queensland may have found a way to improve treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

The team found that triple-negative breast tumours with the highest energy usage respond best to chemotherapy because the 'recycling stations' that deal with metabolic by-products, called proteasomes, also make cancer more 'visible' to the immune system.

Lead researcher Dr Jodi Saunus said the discovery could improve a patient's response to treatment of the aggressive cancer.

When it comes to the great civilizations of human history, the pen really might have been mightier than the sword.

That's according to a new paper in Nature Communications that shows the ability to store and process information was as critical to the growth of early human societies as it is today.

DALLAS – May 25, 2020 – Scientists have known for a decade that cells that fuse with others to perform their essential functions – such as muscle cells that join together to make fibers – form long projections that invade the territory of their fusion partners. But how the thin and floppy polymers involved in this process propel mechanically stiff protrusions has been unknown.

Spring is in full swing. Trees are leafing out, flowers are blooming, bees are buzzing, and birds are singing. But a recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that those birds in your backyard may be changing right along with the climate.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive form of cancer in the brain that is typically fatal. But new findings by VCU Massey Cancer Center and VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM) researchers could help increase the effectiveness of the most common current treatments with the addition of lumefantrine, an FDA-approved drug used to treat malaria.