ScienceDaily: All - July 04, 2024
Today's top research news
Researchers capture never-before-seen view of gene transcription
New tech reveals findings that address long-standing theories about how bacteria begin the process of making RNA from DNA.
Poor health, stress in 20s takes toll in 40s with lower cognition
Young adults who have higher levels of inflammation, which is associated with obesity, physical inactivity, chronic illness, stress and smoking, may experience reduced cognitive function in midlife, a new study has found.
Image: Diana Grytsku/Shutterstock.com
Moon 'swirls' could be magnetized by unseen magmas
Mysterious, light-colored swirls on Moon's surface could be rocks magnetized by magma activity underground, laboratory experiments confirm.
Scientists discover way to 'grow' sub-nanometer sized transistors
A research team has implemented a novel method to achieve epitaxial growth of 1D metallic materials with a width of less than 1 nm. The group applied this process to develop a new structure for 2D semiconductor logic circuits. Notably, they used the 1D metals as a gate electrode of the ultra-miniaturized transistor.
A breakthrough in inexpensive, clean, fast-charging batteries
Scientists have created an anode-free sodium solid-state battery. This brings the reality of inexpensive, fast-charging, high-capacity batteries for electric vehicles and grid storage closer than ever.
It's no secret that kids aren't crazy about having too many seeds, pulp or chunks in their food. But six-year-olds in particular definitely can't stand lumps, according to a new study. The research sheds new light on children's food preferences across age groups and can serve parents, the health care sector and the food industry.
Chemists synthesize an improved building block for medicines
Research could help drug developers improve the safety profiles of medications and reduce side effects.
Machine learning could aid efforts to answer long-standing astrophysical questions
Physicists have developed a computer program incorporating machine learning that could help identify blobs of plasma in outer space known as plasmoids. In a novel twist, the program has been trained using simulated data.
Pasteurization inactivates highly infectious avian flu in milk, study suggests
Researchers found no infectious virus in the sampled pasteurized milk products tested for H5N1.
Mechanism of bio-inspired control of liquid flow
The more we discover about the natural world, the more we find that nature is the greatest engineer. Past research implied that liquids can only be transported in fixed direction on species with specific liquid communication properties and cannot switch the transport direction. Recently, researchers have shown that an African plant controls water movement in a previously unknown way -- and this could inspire breakthroughs in a range of technologies in fluid dynamics and nature-inspired materials, including applications that require multistep and repeated reactions, such as microassays, medical diagnosis and solar desalination etc.
Early-onset El Niño means warmer winters in East Asia, and vice versa
Researchers have found that the early onset of El Nino around June leads to warm winter climates in Japan, while the late onset of El Nino is associated with colder winters. By analyzing 100-ensemble member climate simulations over the past 61 years, the team found that the warming of the tropical Indian Ocean was a player in warmer Japanese winters.
A large international and interdisciplinary research team has developed software to measure the objective kinematic features of movements that express emotions.
Blue and great tits deploy surprisingly powerful memories to find food
Blue and great tits recall what they have eaten in the past, where they found the food and when they found it, a new study shows. In the first experiment of its kind to involve wild animals, blue and great tits demonstrated 'episodic-like' memory to cope with changes in food availability when foraging. The same study may suggest that humans leaving out seeds and nuts for garden birds could be contributing to the evolution of these memory traits.
Giant salamander-like creature was a top predator in the ice age before the dinosaurs
Meet Gaiasia jennyae, the swamp creature with a toilet seat-shaped head. It lived 40 million years before the first dinosaurs, and it was the top predator in its ecosystem.
Experimental drug supercharges medicine that reverses opioid overdose
Researchers have identified a compound that, in mice, makes naloxone much more effective at counteracting a drug overdose.
Mapping the surfaces of MXenes, atom by atom, reveals new potential for the 2D materials
In the decade since their discovery, the family of two-dimensional materials called MXenes has shown a great deal of promise for applications ranging from water desalination and energy storage to electromagnetic shielding and telecommunications, among others. While researchers have long speculated about the genesis of their versatility, a recent study has provided the first clear look at the surface chemical structure foundational to MXenes' capabilities.
Mobile phone data helps track pathogen spread and evolution of superbugs
Combining genomic data and human travel patterns over a 14-year period in South Africa reveals key insights into the spread, evolution and resistance patterns of a major bacterium behind pneumonia and meningitis globally.
Extinct humans survived on the Tibetan plateau for 160,000 years
Bone remains found in a Tibetan cave 3,280 m above sea level indicate an ancient group of humans survived here for many millennia.
Mighty floods of the Nile River during warmer and wetter climates
Global warming as well as recent droughts and floods threaten large populations along the Nile Valley. Sediment cores off the Nile mouth reveal insights into the effects and causes of heavy rainfall episodes about 9,000 years ago. That will help to prepare for weather extremes in a changing climate.
Clever clothes! Seams in clothing capture body movement
Everyday clothing may soon be able to capture and record body movements according to new research.
High ceilings linked to poorer exam results for university students
Ever wondered why you performed worse than expected in that final university exam that you sat in a cavernous gymnasium or massive hall, despite countless hours, days and weeks of study? Now you have a genuine reason -- high ceilings.
Low-dose aspirin could help prevent pregnancy complications caused by flu infections
A world-first study has found low-dose aspirin may treat flu-induced blood vessel inflammation, creating better blood flow to the placenta during pregnancy.
Drugs that kill 'zombie' cells may benefit some older women, but not all
Drugs that selectively kill senescent cells may benefit otherwise healthy older women but are not a 'one-size-fits-all' remedy, Mayo Clinic researchers have found. Specifically, these drugs may only benefit people with a high number of senescent cells, according to findings publishing July 2 in Nature Medicine.
Using visible light to make pharmaceutical building blocks
Chemists have discovered a way to use visible light to synthesize a class of compounds particularly well suited for use in pharmaceuticals. The class of compounds, called azetidines, had been previously identified as a good candidate to build therapeutic drugs, but the compounds are difficult to produce in chemical reactions. Now, a team has developed a method to produce a specific class of azetidines called monocyclic azetidines using visible light and a photocatalyst.
UV radiation damage leads to ribosome roadblocks, causing early skin cell death
In a recent study, researchers suggest the cell's messenger RNA (mRNA) -- the major translator and regulator of genetic material -- along with a critical protein called ZAK, spur the cell's initial response to UV radiation damage and play a critical role in whether the cell lives or dies.
Precise and less expensive 3D printing of complex, high-resolution structures
Researchers have developed a new two-photon polymerization technique that uses two lasers to 3D print complex high-resolution structures. The advance could make this 3D printing process less expensive, helping it find wider use in a variety of applications, from consumer electronics to the biomedical field.
Giant clams may hold the answers to making solar energy more efficient
Solar panel and biorefinery designers could learn a thing or two from iridescent giant clams living near tropical coral reefs, according to a new study. This is because giant clams have precise geometries -- dynamic, vertical columns of photosynthetic receptors covered by a thin, light-scattering layer -- that may just make them the most efficient solar energy systems on Earth.