ScienceDaily: All - February 01, 2024
Today's top research news
Trees struggle to 'breathe' as climate warms
Trees are struggling to sequester heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) in warmer, drier climates, meaning that they may no longer serve as a solution for offsetting humanity's carbon footprint as the planet continues to warm, according to a new study.
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Climate change threatens older elephants most, jeopardizing African elephants' future
A collaborative team of researchers has conducted first-of-its kind research into how global climate change affects African elephants. The work shows that older elephants will have markedly decreased chances of survival, which will not only drastically reduce the species' overall ability to weather the changing climate but will send ripple effects throughout the surrounding landscape. The team has also modeled possible mitigation scenarios.
Exposure to even moderate levels of radon linked to increased risk of stroke
Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer. Now a new study has found exposure to this invisible, odorless gas is also linked to an increased risk of stroke. The study, which examined exposures in middle age to older female participants, found an increased risk of stroke among those exposed to high and even moderate concentrations of the gas compared to those exposed to the lowest concentrations. The study does not prove that exposure to radon causes stroke; it only shows an association.
Diabetes medication class tied to lower risk of kidney stones
Type 2 diabetes is associated with increased risk of kidney stones, but some forms of treatment for this condition may also have the benefit of lowering risk of kidney stones. Researchers found that there was an association between the use of sodium-glucose contratransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and a lower risk of developing kidney stones.
Engineers develop hack to make automotive radar 'hallucinate'
Engineers have demonstrated a system they've dubbed 'MadRadar' for fooling automotive radar sensors into believing almost anything is possible. The technology can hide the approach of an existing car, create a phantom car where none exists or even trick the radar into thinking a real car has quickly deviated from its actual course. And it can achieve this feat in the blink of an eye without having any prior knowledge about the specific settings of the victim's radar, making it the most troublesome threat to radar security to date.
Did dementia exist in ancient Greek and Rome?
Did the ancient Greeks and Romans experience Alzheimer's? Medical texts from 2,500 years ago rarely mention severe memory loss, suggesting today's widespread dementia stems from modern environments and lifestyles, a new analysis shows.
Scientists make breakthrough in quantum materials research
Researchers describe the discovery of a new method that transforms everyday materials like glass into materials scientists can use to make quantum computers.
Researchers hack neurons' internal clocks to accelerate the study of neurological diseases
New research has uncovered a way to 'hack' neurons' internal clocks to speed up their development. The approach promises to accelerate research into neurological disease.
Bright galaxies put dark matter to the test
The earliest galaxies are thought to have formed as the gravitational pull of dark matter, which has been impossible to study directly, slowly drew in enough hydrogen and helium to ignite stars. But astrophysicists now show that after the Big Bang, hydrogen and helium gas bounced at supersonic speeds off dense, slowly moving clumps of cold dark matter. When the gas fell back in millennia later, stars formed all at once, creating small, exceptionally bright galaxies. If models of cold dark matter are correct, the James Webb Space Telescope should be able to find patches of bright galaxies in the early universe, potentially offering the first effective test for theories about dark matter. If it doesn't, scientists have to go back to the drawing board with dark matter.
Researchers find enzyme plays much larger role in preventing neurodegenerative diseases
Axon damage is an early sign of neurodegenerative diseases like, ALS, Alzheimer's, Huntington's and Parkinson's. Researchers found that nicotinamide nucleotide adenylyl transferase 2, or NMNAT2, can play an important role in keeping axons healthy and functional as people age.
Source rocks of the first real continents
Geoscientists have uncovered a missing link in the enigmatic story of how the continents developed- - a revised origin story that doesn't require the start of plate tectonics or any external factor to explain their formation. Instead, the findings rely solely on internal geological forces that occurred within oceanic plateaus that formed during the first few hundred million years of Earth's history.
'Tiny tornadoes' around leaves spread deadly plant pathogens
A new study has analyzed plant spore dispersion at its source, where rain droplets shake flexible leaves to initially disperse pathogens.
Brain protein's virus-like structure may help explain cancer-induced memory loss
In a rare but serious complication of cancer, the body's own immune system can start attacking the brain, causing rapid-onset memory loss and cognitive deficits. What triggers this sudden biological civil war was largely unknown. Now, researchers have found that some tumors can release a protein that looks like a virus, kickstarting an out-of-control immune reaction that may damage brain cells.
AI can predict brain cancer patients' survival
Artificial Intelligence (AI) can predict whether adult patients with brain cancer will survive more than eight months after receiving radiotherapy treatment.
The hottest catalog of the year: Comprehensive list of slow-building solar flares
Although solar flares have been classified based on the amount of energy they emit at their peak, there has not been significant study into differentiating flares since slow-building flares were first discovered in the 1980s. Scientists have now shown that there is a significant amount of slower-type flares worthy of further investigation.
Researchers uncover potential non-opioid treatment for chronic pain
A new approach to treating neuropathic pain is making a key step forward. Neuropathic pain is among the most difficult types of pain to alleviate and current treatments are often ineffective. Researchers have identified a potential non-opioid treatment.
Paper calls for patient-first regulation of AI in healthcare
A new paper describes how, despite widespread enthusiasm about artificial intelligence's potential to revolutionize healthcare and the use of AI-powered tools on millions of patients already, no federal regulations require that AI-powered tools be evaluated for potential harm or benefit to patients.
Angioedema is a rare but potentially life-threatening adverse reaction to ACE inhibitors. Researchers have now conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with more than 1,000 affected individuals. They identified a total of three risk loci in the genome. These included a new locus that had not previously been associated with the risk of ACE inhibitor-induced angioedema.
Bringing together real-world sensors and VR to improve building maintenance
A new system that brings together real-world sensing and virtual reality would make it easier for building maintenance personnel to identify and fix issues in commercial buildings that are in operation.
Discovery of a third RNA virus linage in extreme environments Jan 17, 2024
A research group has discovered a novel RNA viral genome from microbes inhabiting a high-temperature acidic hot spring. Their study shows that RNA viruses can live in high-temperature environments (70-80 degrees Celsius), where no RNA viruses have been observed before. In addition to the two known RNA virus kingdoms, a third kingdom may exist.
Floating algae a raft for juvenile pelagic fish
Floating macroalgal acts as a raft that provides habitat for a diverse array of juvenile oceanic fish a new study has found. The study conducted in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area, Western Australia, revealed that fish were more abundant around macroalgal rafts than in open water, with eleven species of juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum rafts, and one species of both juveniles and adults.
Researchers have successfully developed a new time-resolved atomic force microscopy (AFM) technique, integrating AFM with a unique laser technology. This method enables the measurement of ultrafast photoexcitation phenomena in both conductors and insulators, observed through changes in the forces between the sample and the AFM probe tip after an extremely short time irradiation of laser light. This advancement promises substantial contributions to the creation of new scientific and technological principles and fields.
Will electric fields lead the way to developing semiconductors with high power efficiency?
A joint research team has successfully induced polarization and polarity in metallic substances.
Death toll shows extreme air pollution events a growing urban threat
New research has estimated that 1454 avoidable deaths (one person every five days) occurred in Australian capital cities in the past 20 years because of fine particle air pollution from extreme events such as bushfires and dust storms, wood-heater smoke or industrial accidents.
Machine learning guides carbon nanotechnology
Carbon nanostructures could become easier to design and synthesize thanks to a machine learning method that predicts how they grow on metal surfaces. The new approach will make it easier to exploit the unique chemical versatility of carbon nanotechnology.
Unprecedented ocean heating shows risks of a world 3°C warmer
New research examines the causes of the record-breaking ocean temperatures witnessed in 2023.
Greenland is a methane sink rather than a source
Researchers have concluded that the methane uptake in dry landscapes exceeds methane emissions from wet areas across the ice-free part of Greenland. The results of the new study contribute with important knowledge for climate models. The researchers are now investigating whether the same finding applies to other polar regions.
Tracking unconventional superconductivity
At low enough temperatures, certain metals lose their electrical resistance and they conduct electricity without loss. This effect of superconductivity is known for more than hundred years and is well understood for so-called conventional superconductors. More recent, however, are unconventional superconductors, for which it is unclear yet how they work.
Potential link between high maternal cortisol, unpredicted birth complications
A snippet of hair can reveal a pregnant person's stress level and may one day help warn of unexpected birth problems, a study indicates. Researchers measured the stress hormone cortisol in hair samples of 53 women in their third trimester. Of that group, 13 women who had elevated cortisol levels later experienced unpredicted birth complications, such as an early birth or hemorrhaging. While more research is needed with larger groups, this preliminary finding could eventually lead to a non-invasive way to identify those at risk for such complications.
Firing nerve fibers in the brain are supplied with energy on demand
To rapidly transmit electrical signals in the brain, the long nerve fibers are insulated by specialized cells called oligodendrocytes. These cells also respond to the electrical signals of active nerve fibers and provide them with energy on demand, as researchers have discovered. If this process, regulated by potassium, is disabled in mice, the nerve fibers are severely damaged as the animals age -- resembling the defects of neurodegenerative diseases.
New and highly infectious E. coli strain resistant to powerful antibiotics
A new type of E. coli that is both highly infectious and resistant to some antibiotics has been discovered. The newly identified mutation of antibiotic-resistant E. coli is described in a new article. The team suggests that some existing antibiotics called carbapenems will be ineffective against the bacteria.
Fungal-rich soil may improve green roofs
Green roofs have become increasingly popular thanks to their benefits related to climate adaptation, mitigation, and urban biodiversity management. But, in the U.S., green roofs are typically planted with non-native plants in sterile soils, and their effectiveness declines over time. A new study finds that managing green roof soil microbes boosts healthy urban soil development, which is a methodology that could be applied to support climate resilience in cities.
Brain changes behind pain sensitivity may affect older women more
A new study has found that the brain system enabling us to inhibit our own pain changes with age, and that gender-based differences in those changes may lead females to be more sensitive to moderate pain than males as older adults.
Engineers unveil new patch that can help people control robotic exoskeletons
A new patch uses tiny needles to measure electrical signals in the human body with incredible accuracy, even when these devices are stretched or twisted.
How seahorse-like toxins kill insects
Insect-killing bacteria typically release toxins to slay their hosts. The bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens, for example, pumps insect larvae full of the lethal 'Makes caterpillars floppy 1' (Mcf1) toxin, leading them to first become droopy and then dead. However, it has so far been a mystery how Mcf1 unfolds its devastating effect. Researchers successfully used cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and biochemical assays to characterize the first-ever Mcf1 structure, allowing them to propose a molecular mechanism of the toxin's action. Understanding how bacterial toxins perform their deadly task in such detail is very useful for engineering novel biopesticides, thereby reducing the use of barely specific chemical agents with harmful side effects for the ecosystem.
Engineering viruses to kill deadly pathogens
Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent and growing global crisis. Researchers are exploring phages, viruses that infect bacteria, as a possible solution. In the new study, researchers successfully modified DNA from four types of phages to kill a deadly pathogen. The process can also be used to produce more phage variants for further exploration.
Healthy diet early in life seems to protect against inflammatory bowel disease
Having a high dietary intake of fish and vegetables at 1 year of age, and a low intake of sugar beverages, seems to protect against inflammatory bowel disease. These are the findings of a study with more than 80,000 children.
As sea otters recolonize California estuary, they restore its degraded geology
As sea otters recolonize a California estuary, they are restoring its degraded geology by keeping populations of overgrazing marsh crabs in check, a new study shows. The crabs' appetite for plant roots, and their tunneling behavior had caused many of the estuary's marshes and creekbanks to erode and collapse in the otters' absence. Today, erosion has slowed by up to 90% in areas with large otter populations and marshes and streambeds are restabilizing.
Neanderthals and humans lived side by side in Northern Europe 45,000 years ago
Archaeologists have debated whether Neanderthals or modern humans made stone tools that are found at sites across northern Europe and date from about 40,000 years ago. A new excavation at one site in Germany turned up 45,000-year-old bone fragments that, when analyzed for mitochondrial DNA, proved to be from Homo sapiens. This is the earliest evidence that modern humans overlapped with Neanderthals in northwest Europe, thousands of years before Neanderthals went extinct.
Precursor of cholesterol protects cells from ferroptosis
A precursor of cholesterol, previously categorized as harmful, can protect cancer cells from cell death.
Molecule can quickly, and briefly, boost white blood cell counts
Treatment with a molecule known as A485 can quickly and temporarily increase levels of white blood cells, a critical part of the body's immune system, an effect that is difficult to deliver with currently available pharmaceuticals, a new Yale study finds. In an experiment, the researchers found that exposure to the molecule in mice caused white blood cells to mobilize from the bone marrow, a response that could inform future treatment for patients who need a boost in immune activity, the researchers say. The findings were reported Jan. 31 in the journal Immunity.
When and how immune cells decide to form pathogen memories
During infection, reversible switch permits flexible formation of memory T cells, long-lived blood cells that can remember pathogen encounters and respond upon reinfection.
When comparing the national burden of pedestrian injuries from motor vehicles to that of pedestrian falls occurring on streets and sidewalks researchers found that the probability of a pedestrian suffering a severe injury is higher for motor vehicle collisions as compared to falls. Yet, the public health burden of the number of pedestrians injured from a fall -- severe or otherwise -- is significantly higher compared to the number of pedestrians injured by a motor vehicle collision. This is particularly true for individuals 50 years of age or older.
AI-powered app can detect poison ivy
To find poison ivy before it finds you, scientists have published a new study in which they show how they used artificial intelligence to confirm that an app can identify poison ivy. The app is not yet commercially available, nor is there a timetable for it to be available.
Black summer bushfires in Australia wiped $2.8 billion from tourism supply chain
First input-output economic analysis of the 2019-20 Australian fires also found 7300 jobs were lost. The study highlights economic vulnerabilities to extremes of climate change.
New research demonstrates a new class of hydrogels that can form not just outside cells, but also inside of them. These hydrogels exhibited similar mechanical properties both inside and outside of cells, providing researchers with a new tool to group proteins together inside of cells.
Researchers craft new way to make high-temperature superconductors -- with a twist
An international team has developed a new method to make and manipulate a widely studied class of high-temperature superconductors. This technique should pave the way for the creation of unusual forms of superconductivity in previously unattainable materials.
Study suggests secret for getting teens to listen to unsolicited advice
A new study may hold a secret for getting your teenager to listen to appreciate your unsolicited advice. The study, which included 'emerging adults' -- those in their late teens and early 20s -- found teens will appreciate parents' unsolicited advice, but only if the parent is supportive of their teens' autonomy.
Machine learning informs a new tool to guide treatment for acute decompensated heart failure
A recent study utilized a machine learning-based approach to identify, understand, and predict diuretic responsiveness in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).
Scientists pinpoint growth of brain's cerebellum as key to evolution of bird flight
Evolutionary biologists report they have combined PET scans of modern pigeons along with studies of dinosaur fossils to help answer an enduring question in biology: How did the brains of birds evolve to enable them to fly?
A green alternative for treating Streptococcus iniae bacteria in hybrid striped bass
Scientists have developed a green antibiotic alternative to treat the deadly pathogen Streptococcus iniae in hybrid striped bass, the fourth most farmed finfish in the United States, according to a recent study.
As cities grow, how will city trash, wastewater, and emissions rise?
A team of researchers, in an analysis of waste products -- municipal solid waste, wastewater, and greenhouse gas emissions -- from more than 1,000 cities around the world has concluded that cities with a higher per-capita GDP generate more waste, which underscores the strong bond between waste generation and economic growth.
A tie between the most common obesity surgeries
The two most common obesity surgeries -- gastric bypass and gastric sleeve -- have few short-term complications and are equivalent in that sense.
Maternal pulse recording during childbirth prevents encephalopathy in newborn babies
External heart rate monitoring, the most common method of monitoring the fetus, may leave signs of fetal hypoxia undetected if the maternal pulse rate is not simultaneously monitored. The risk is that the fetal heart rate is masked by the maternal pulse, with fetal distress going unnoticed.
Superfluids could share characteristic with common fluids
Every fluid -- from Earth's atmosphere to blood pumping through the human body -- has viscosity, a quantifiable characteristic describing how the fluid will deform when it encounters some other matter. If the viscosity is higher, the fluid flows calmly, a state known as laminar. If the viscosity decreases, the fluid undergoes the transition from laminar to turbulent flow. The degree of laminar or turbulent flow is referred to as the Reynolds number, which is inversely proportional to the viscosity. However, this Reynolds similitude does not apply to quantum superfluids. A researcher has theorized a way to examine the Reynolds similitude in superfluids, which could demonstrate the existence of quantum viscosity in superfluids.
Geoengineering may slow Greenland ice sheet loss
Modeling shows that stratospheric aerosol injection has the potential to reduce ice sheet loss due to climate change.
How fasting may protect against inflammation
Scientists may have discovered a new way in which fasting helps reduce inflammation -- a potentially damaging side-effect of the body's immune system that underlies a number of chronic diseases.
Artificial muscles -- lighter, safer, more robust
Researchers have developed artificial muscles that are lighter, safer and more robust than their predecessors. The newly developed actuators have a novel type of shell structure and use a high-permittivity ferroelectric material that can store relatively large amounts of electrical energy. They therefore work with relatively low electrical voltage, are waterproof, more robust and safer to touch.
Sweat-resistant wearable robot sensor
A joint research team has developed a stretchable and adhesive microneedle sensor that can be attached to the skin and stably measure high-quality electrophysiological signals for a long period of time.
Body positive images on social media improve how men view their bodies
Exposure to body positive imagery on social media increase body satisfaction and reduces weight concerns in both men and women, a new study reports.