Earth
A key issue for scientists seeking to bring the fusion that powers the sun and stars to Earth is forecasting the performance of the volatile plasma that fuels fusion reactions. Making such predictions calls for considerable costly time on the world's fastest supercomputers. Now researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have borrowed a technique from applied mathematics to accelerate the process.
Last year was one of the worst years on record for the Greenland ice sheet, which shrunk by hundreds of billions of tons. According to a study published today in The Cryosphere, that mind-boggling ice loss wasn't caused by warm temperatures alone; the new study identifies exceptional atmospheric circulation patterns that contributed in a major way to the ice sheet's rapid loss of mass.
Researchers have discovered a technique for directly reprogramming skin cells into light-sensing rod photoreceptors used for vision. The lab-made rods enabled blind mice to detect light after the cells were transplanted into the animals' eyes. The work, funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), published April 15 in Nature. The NEI is part of the National Institutes of Health.
In the article "Multispecific drugs herald a new era of biopharmaceutical innovation" published today in Nature, Raymond Deshaies, Ph.D., senior vice president of Global Research at Amgen, discusses how the advent of multispecific drugs is leading the next revolution of drug discovery and development. In the review, Deshaies describes the major classes of multispecific drugs and how they work, provides a perspective on what the future holds, and discusses challenges that must be overcome to make the coming wave of transformative innovation a reality.
The use of extreme ultraviolet light sources in making advanced integrated chips has been considered, but their development has been hindered owing to a paucity of efficient laser targets. Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) recently developed an extremely low-density tin "bubble," which makes the generation of extreme ultraviolet reliable and low cost. This novel technology paves the way for various applications in electronics and shows potential in biotechnology and cancer therapy.
Skoltech scientists modeled the behavior of nanobubbles appearing in van der Waals heterostructures and the behavior of substances trapped inside the bubbles. In the future, the new model will help obtain equations of state for substances in nano-volumes, opening up new opportunities for the extraction of hydrocarbons from rock with large amounts of micro- and nanopores.
Upwelling is a process in which deep, cold water rises toward the surface. Typically, water that rises to the surface as a result of upwelling is colder and rich in nutrients. This is the reason why coastal upwelling ecosystems are some of the most productive ecosystems in the world and support many of the world's most important fisheries.
A Finnish study coordinated by the Research Centre of Applied and Preventive Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Turku, Finland, shows that exposure to parental smoking in childhood and adolescence is associated with poorer learning ability and memory in midlife.
Researchers at School of Biological Sciences and Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong have developed a new method for determining what corals eat, and demonstrated that reliance on certain nutritional sources underpins their bleaching susceptibility in warming oceans.
Intestinal stem cell metabolism is facilitated by mitochondria - the in-cell power plants. Chronic inflammation processes inhibit the cells' metabolism and lead to functional loss of these stem cells.
In collaboration with the Helmholz Zentrum München and the Université de Paris, a TUM research team has discovered this connection by analyzing intestinal epithelial cells of Crohn's disease patients and comparing them to mouse model findings.
The interrelated role of stem cells and Paneth cells
The latest tropical cyclone to develop in the Southern Indian Ocean is no threat to land areas. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with a visible image of Tropical Storm Jeruto on April 15, 2020.
Millions of people have been tested for the novel coronavirus, most using a kit that relies on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This sensitive method amplifies SARS-CoV-2 RNA from patient swabs so that tiny amounts of the virus can be detected. However, as the pandemic surges, this laboratory workhorse is showing signs of strain. Now, researchers reporting a proof-of-concept study in ACS Nano have developed a potentially more accurate diagnostic based on plasmonic photothermal sensing.
FINDINGS
A study by researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has identified a possible new drug that could help prevent cognitive decline in people who undergo radiation therapy for brain tumors. The researchers found when the drug was given to mice 24 hours after the animals were exposed to a dose of radiation, it completely prevented cognitive decline from occurring, and that it did not reduce the efficacy of the radiation treatment.
New data throws more support behind the theory that neutrinos are the reason the universe is dominated by matter.
The current laws of physics do not explain why matter persists over antimatter - why the universe is made of 'stuff'. Scientists believe equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created at the beginning of the universe, but this would mean they should have wiped each other out, annihilating the universe as it began.
Two internationally renowned stem cell experts have found an abundance of abnormal stem cells in the lungs of patients who suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a leading cause of death worldwide. Frank McKeon, professor of biology and biochemistry and director of the Stem Cell Center, and Wa Xian, research associate professor at the center, used single cell cloning of lung stem cells to make their discovery. Now they are targeting the cells for new therapeutics.