ScienceDaily: All - December 19, 2024
Today's top research news
Massive volcanic eruptions did not cause the extinction of dinosaurs
While volcanism caused a temporary cold period, the effects had already worn off thousands of years before the meteorite, the ultimate cause of the dinosaur extinction event, impacted.
Image: Natali Snailcat/Shutterstock.com
Human-like artificial intelligence may face greater blame for moral violations
In a new study, participants tended to assign greater blame to artificial intelligences (AIs) involved in real-world moral transgressions when they perceived the AIs as having more human-like minds.
Conserving high-elevation grasslands in Peru is key to protect Andean bears
Andean bears carefully select the best foraging locations and plants to maximize nutrition and avoid livestock, according to a new study.
After lockdown, immune system reacts more strongly to viruses and bacteria
New research shows that the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on people's immune response to microorganisms. During the lockdown, inflammation level in the body was low, but afterwards, the immune system reacted more intensely to viruses and bacteria.
New evidence on the relationship between moderate wine consumption and cardiovascular health
Light and moderate consumption of wine is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular complications, according to a multicenter study. The study is based on the analysis of a biomarker of wine intake -- specifically, tartaric acid, present in grapes. It was carried out in 1,232 participants in the PREDIMED project, a major scientific epidemiological study in nutrition on the effects of the Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular health.
Lost score revives sound of music and voices from centuries past
A fragment of 'lost' music found in the pages of Scotland's first full-length printed book is providing clues to what music sounded like five centuries ago. Scholars have been investigating the origins of the musical score -- which contains only 55 notes -- to cast new light on music from pre-Reformation Scotland in the early sixteenth-century. Researchers say the tantalizing discovery is a rare example of music from Scottish religious institutions 500 years ago, and is the only piece which survives from the northeast of Scotland from this period.
Carnivorous squirrels documented in California
California ground squirrels hunt, kill and eat voles, reveals a new study documenting evidence of widespread carnivorous behavior among squirrels.
Supermassive black holes halt rapid construction in an ancient celestial city
Galaxy clusters -- the big cities of the universe -- are home to many giant elliptical galaxies that have completed their growth and are not forming stars. However, it is still unclear what has shut down star formation. In a new study, researchers utilized the James Webb Space Telescope to observe an ancestor of galaxy clusters, revealing the role of supermassive black holes in slowing star formation and allowing them to evolve into giant elliptical galaxies.
Microplastics in the air may be leading to lung and colon cancers
Tires and degrading garbage shed tiny pieces of plastic into the air, creating a form of air pollution that researchers suspect may be causing respiratory and other illnesses.
Phytochromes: The 'eyes' that enable microalgae to find their way in the depths
The phytoplankton that populate oceans are known to play a key role in marine ecosystems and climate regulation. Like terrestrial plants, they store atmospheric CO2, and produce half of our planet's oxygen via photosynthesis. However, the mechanisms that control their distribution remain poorly understood.
Uncovering a 'centaur's' tracks: Scientists examine unique asteroid-comet hybrid
Scientists recently led a team that found, for the first time, that Chiron has surface chemistry unlike other centaurs. Its surface it has both carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide ice along with carbon dioxide and methane gases in its coma, the cloud-like envelope of dust and gas surrounding it.
Survey of 26,000 dead stars confirms key details of extreme stellar behavior
A study of more than 26,000 white dwarf stars has confirmed a long-predicted but elusive effect in these ultra-dense, dying stars: Hotter white dwarfs are slightly puffier than cooler ones, even when they have the same mass.
New recommendations to increase transparency and tackle potential bias in medical AI technologies
A new set of recommendations aims to help improve the way datasets are used to build Artificial intelligence (AI) health technologies and reduce the risk of potential AI bias.
Massive black hole in the early universe spotted taking a 'nap' after overeating
Scientists have spotted a massive black hole in the early universe that is 'napping' after stuffing itself with too much food. Like a bear gorging itself on salmon before hibernating for the winter, or a much-needed nap after Christmas dinner, this black hole has overeaten to the point that it is lying dormant in its host galaxy.
Swarms of 'ant-like' robots lift heavy objects and hurl themselves over obstacles
Scientists have developed swarms of tiny magnetic robots that work together like ants to achieve Herculean feats, including traversing and picking up objects many times their size. The findings suggest that these microrobot swarms -- operating under a rotating magnetic field -- could be used to take on difficult tasks in challenging environments that individual robots would struggle to handle, such as offering a minimally invasive treatment for clogged arteries and precisely guiding organisms.
Engineers grow 'high-rise' 3D chips
Researchers can now fabricate a 3D chip with alternating layers of semiconducting material grown directly on top of each other. The method eliminates thick silicon substrates between the layers, leading to better and faster computation, for applications like more efficient AI hardware.
Physicists magnetize a material with light
Physicists have created a new and long-lasting magnetic state in a material, using only light. The results provide a new way to control and switch antiferromagnetic materials, which are of interest for their potential to advance information processing and memory chip technology.
Building a backbone: Scientists recreate the body's 'GPS system' in the lab
Scientists have generated human stem cell models which contain notochord -- a tissue in the developing embryo that acts like a navigation system, directing cells where to build the spine and nervous system (the trunk).
Syphilis had its roots in the Americas
A research team has taken a crucial step towards resolving a long-standing controversy -- was syphilis introduced to Europe from the Americas at the end of the 15th century, or had it been there all along? Ancient pathogen genomes from skeletons that pre-date 1492 confirm its introduction from the Americas, but its world-wide spread remains a grim legacy of the colonial period.
Overactive cells linked to type 2 diabetes
Researchers studied oxygen treatment as a potential therapy to target specific cells linked to the development of cardiovascular and metabolic disorders like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes and found no significant improvement in function in patients with type 2 diabetes.
A 'remelting' of lunar surface adds a wrinkle to mystery of Moon's true age
Scientists propose a 'remelting' of the Moon's surface 4.35 billion years ago due to the tidal pull of Earth causing widespread geological upheaval and intense heating.
App helps alleviate mental health symptoms in bereaved parents
A new study shows that an app can help parents who are mourning the loss of a child. Parents who used the app for three months reported reduced symptoms of prolonged grief and post-traumatic stress, and also had fewer negative thoughts. Some parents thought the app should be offered early in the mourning process.
Thorium film could replace crystals in atomic clocks of the near future
Atomic clocks that excite the nucleus of thorium-229 embedded in a transparent crystal when hit by a laser beam could yield the most accurate measurements ever of time and gravity, and even rewrite some of the fundamental laws of physics. Thorium-229-doped crystals are both scarce and radioactive. A thin film using a dry precursor of thorium-229 shows the same nuclear excitation as the crystal, but its low cost and radioactivity, and smaller size mean its production could be more easily scaled up to make smaller, less expensive, more portable atomic clocks.
Developing artificial intelligence tools for health care
Reinforcement Learning, an artificial intelligence approach, has the potential to guide physicians in designing sequential treatment strategies for better patient outcomes but requires significant improvements before it can be applied in clinical settings, finds a new study.
Paranoia may be, in part, a visual problem
Could complex beliefs like paranoia have roots in something as basic as vision? A new study finds evidence that they might. When completing a visual perception task, in which participants had to identify whether one moving dot was chasing another moving dot, those with greater tendencies toward paranoid thinking (believing others intend them harm) and teleological thinking (ascribing excessive meaning and purpose to events) performed worse than their counterparts, the study found. Those individuals more often -- and confidently -- claimed one dot was chasing the other when it wasn't. The findings suggest that, in the future, testing for illnesses like schizophrenia could be done with a simple eye test.
How loss of urban trees affects educational outcomes
Economists looked at test scores and school attendance for Chicago-area kids before and after a bug infestation wiped out the city's ash trees. Education outcomes for low-income students went down, highlighting how the impacts of ecosystem degradation are disproportionately felt by disadvantaged communities.
A new study offers hope for people who are blind or have low vision (pBLV) through an innovative navigation system that was tested using virtual reality. The system, which combines vibrational and sound feedback, aims to help users navigate complex real-world environments more safely and effectively.
Biologists used drone imagery to understand how nursing humpback whale mothers and their calves fare as they cross the Pacific Ocean. Recent declines in North Pacific humpback whale reproduction and survival of calves highlight the need to understand how mother-calf pairs expend energy across their migratory cycle.
'Bad' bacteria can trigger painful gut contractions; new research shows how
A new study shows how one kind of bacteria, Vibrio cholerae, triggers painful intestinal contractions by activating the immune system. The research also finds a more general explanation for how the gut rids itself of unwanted intruders, which could also help scientists better understand chronic conditions like inflammatory bowel disease.
Wildfire surges in East, Southeast US fueled by new trees and shrubs
The eastern U.S. has more trees and shrubs than three decades ago. This growth, driven by processes such as tree and understory infilling in unmanaged forests, is helping fuel wildfires, contributing to changing fire regimes in the eastern half of the country, according to a new study.
Nano drug delivery system heralds safer era for drug development
A team of researchers has created an innovative drug delivery system with outstanding potential to improve drug development.
How to print a car: High-performance multi-material 3D printing techniques
A future where lightweight car parts can be made with a 3D printer is here, thanks to multi-material additive manufacturing research.
Research shows solitude is better for your health when it's not too intense
Hiking by yourself deep in a forest and similar episodes of intense solitude are not as likely to restore energy and enhance social connectedness as less complete forms of solitude, such as reading in a cafe or listening to Spotify while commuting.