Earth
Research by anthropologists at the University of Kent has identified hand use behaviour in fossil human relatives that is consistent with modern humans.
The human lineage can be defined by a transition in hand use. Early human ancestors used their hands to move around in the trees, like living primates do today, whereas modern human hands have evolved to primarily perform precision grips.
A dominant body posture may help children to feel more confident in school. These are the findings of a new study by psychologists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Otto Friedrich University of Bamberg. The study was recently published in the journal "School Psychology International" and provides initial evidence that simple poses can help students feel better at school.
Roughly 3 to 5% of children with an aunt or uncle with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can also be expected to have ASD, compared to about 1.5% of children in the general population, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers also found that a child whose mother has a sibling with ASD is not significantly more likely to be affected by ASD, compared to a child whose father has a sibling with ASD.
China's implementation of a national carbon trading market to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions requires reliable and timely information on GHG sources and impacts. Recent GHG monitoring and modeling studies provide new GHG emission estimates to help policymakers guide progress toward emission reductions.
Co-authors Daria Hanolainen and Elena Semenova created and tested an experimental method of graphical vignettes - a set of incomplete comic strips which kids are asked to complete using their own creative vision. The paper discusses possible applications for the method.
To assess potential bullying episodes, the researchers tried to represent the most widespread types of bullying in graphical form.
13 girls and 6 boys aged 15 - 16 were asked to pass the comic strip test; thus, bullying could be studied as a group phenomenon.
In order to mitigate climate change impacts and achieve a more sustainable society, it is necessary to transform the current energy system based on fossil fuels into a model based on renewable energies, and to change society's lifestyles, accepting less mobility, low-carbon diets and smaller-sized dwellings. These are the main conclusions reached by the more than 400 scientists who met virtually last week at the International Conference on Low-Carbon Lifestyles, organized by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB).
Algorithms and deep learning has enabled Flinders University sleep researchers to dive deep into one of the mysteries of sleep health.
They have used machine learning and artificial intelligence to develop a free online tool being used by sleep experts and researchers around the world to work out the role of the so-called K-complex, a prominent, brief up-down-up pattern of brain electro-encephalogram (EEG) electrical activity lasting around half a second during sleep.
Fibroblasts present in different pancreatic diseases are genetically distinct and their functions are 'programmed' by the unique environment of each disease, according to new research from the University of Liverpool (UK).
As well as different genetic profiles, the team found to their surprise, that disease-specific fibroblasts retain their unique gene expression following isolation and culture. As fibroblasts are a key drug development target for these diseases, the findings have important implications for how research is conducted.
Urban insect populations would need to increase by a factor of at least 2.5 for urban great tits to have same breeding success as those living in forests according to research published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology.
Researchers at the University of Pannonia, Hungary and the University of Sheffield, UK found that providing high quality supplementary food to urban great tits, in the form of nutritionally enriched mealworms, can dramatically boost their breeding success.
(Millbrook, NY) In the Grand Canyon reach of the Colorado River, two species play an outsized role in the fate of mercury in the aquatic ecosystem, and their numbers are altered by flood events. So reports new research, published in Science Advances, that is among the first to meld ecotoxicology and ecosystem ecology to trace how mercury flows through aquatic food webs and then spreads to land.
With several high-quality serological assays for SARS-CoV-2 now available, the key challenge in using them to help people return to "normal life," write Florian Krammer and Viviana Simon in this Perspective, will be to apply them in a strategic manner - one that considers their unique sensitivity and specificity levels, acknowledges the questions they don't yet answer, and more. Serological assays - which detect SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies in recovered peoples' blood - will be important to informing questions around prevalence of the virus in certain populations and of immunity to it.
Grasslands across the globe, which support the majority of the world's grazing animals, have been transitioning to shrublands in a process that scientists call "woody plant encroachment."
Managed grazing of drylands is the most extensive form of land use on the planet, which has led to widespread efforts to reverse this trend and restore grass cover due to the belief that it results in less water entering streams and groundwater aquifers.
Mojito, appletini or a simple glass of fizz - they may take the edge off a busy day, but if you find yourself bingeing on more than a few, you could be putting your physical and mental health at risk according new research at the University of South Australia.
Tiny sea skaters, as insect ocean pioneers, may hold the secret to developing improved water repellant materials. A KAUST study also provides insights into the insect's physical features, including the hairs and waxy coating that cover its body, and its movement to evade the sea's dangers.