ScienceDaily: All - March 27, 2025
Today's top research news
Cuttlefish 'mesmerize' their prey with a moving skin pattern, study finds
While sneaking up on prey, cuttlefish employ a dynamic skin display to avoid detection in last moments of approach, researchers have found.
Earliest days of Earth's formation
New research sheds light on the earliest days of the earth's formation and potentially calls into question some earlier assumptions in planetary science about the early years of rocky planets. Establishing a direct link between the Earth's interior dynamics occurring within the first 100 million years of its history and its present-day structure, the work is one of the first in the field to combine fluid mechanics with chemistry to better understand the Earth's early evolution.
A cleaner future for tires: Scientists pioneer chemical process to repurpose rubber waste
Every year, millions of tires end up in landfills, creating an environmental crisis with far-reaching consequences. In the United States alone, over 274 million tires were scrapped in 2021, with nearly a fifth of them being discarded into landfills. A study has now pioneered a technique for breaking down this rubber waste and transforming it into valuable precursors for epoxy resins. This technique offers an innovative and sustainable alternative to traditional recycling methods while significantly reducing rubber waste in landfills.
Children of moms who smoked or were obese are more likely to become obese adults
A study finds that factors beyond a person's control, like socioeconomic status and whether their mom smoked or was obese, can influence whether they are overweight or obese as teenagers or adults.
Research finds potential 'molecular mimics' behind COVID-induced autoimmune disease
Scientists used advanced data analysis and machine learning to identify the viral proteins that may trigger autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
Proof-of-concept work uses unique, safe particles to remove microplastics in a single cycle.
A safe nuclear battery that could last a lifetime
Lithium-ion batteries, used in consumer devices and electric vehicles, typically last hours or days between charges. However, with repeated use, they degrade and need to be charged more frequently. Now, researchers are considering radiocarbon as a source for safe, small and affordable nuclear batteries that could last decades or longer without charging.
Five minutes a day eccentric exercise can improve your life
As little as five minutes a day of eccentric exercise could offer significant health benefits to those living a stagnant lifestyle.
Entangled in self-discovery: Quantum computers analyze their own entanglement
Quantum computers are able to solve complex calculations that would take traditional computers thousands of years in just a few minutes. What if that analytical power is turned inwards towards the computer itself?
How elephants plan their journeys: New study reveals energy-saving strategies
A new study has revealed that African Elephants have an extraordinary ability to meet their colossal food requirements as efficiently as possible. Data from over 150 elephants demonstrated that these giants plan their journeys based on energy costs and resource availability.
mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines train the 'long-term memory' of the immune system
Researchers have discovered that mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines have a persistent effect on the innate immune system. These mechanisms may help the human body to better protect itself against potential future infections.
Is your job making you happy? Insights from job satisfaction data
New research has found that employers and policymakers might want to start paying attention to how workers are feeling, because employee happiness contains critical economic information.
People with autism are typically diagnosed by clinical observation and assessment. To deconstruct the clinical decision process, which is often subjective and difficult to describe, researchers used a large language model (LLM) to synthesize the behaviors and observations that are most indicative of an autism diagnosis. Their results show that repetitive behaviors, special interests, and perception-based behaviors are most associated with an autism diagnosis. These findings have potential to improve diagnostic guidelines for autism by decreasing the focus on social factors -- which the established guidelines in the DSM-5 focus on but the model did not classify among the most relevant in diagnosing autism.
Scientists discover why obesity takes away the pleasure of eating
Many obese people report losing pleasure in eating rich foods -- something also seen in obese mice. Scientists have now discovered the reason. Long-term high-fat diets lower levels of neurotensin in the brain, disrupting the dopamine pleasure network and decreasing the desire to eat high-fat foods. Raising neurotensin levels in mice brings back the pleasure and aids weight loss. Bringing back the pleasure could help people break the habit of overeating.
A new method to recycle fluoride from long-lived PFAS chemicals
Researchers have developed a method to destroy fluorine-containing PFAS (sometimes labelled 'forever chemicals') while recovering their fluorine content for future use.
The devastating human impact on biodiversity
Humans are having a highly detrimental impact on biodiversity worldwide. Not only is the number of species declining, but the composition of species communities is also changing. This is one of the largest studies ever conducted on this topic.
Lasso-shaped antibiotic evades standard drug resistance
A small molecule shaped like a lasso may be a powerful tool in the fight against infectious diseases.
'Switch' allows intestinal cells to regenerate after injury
Researchers have solved a cellular mystery that may lead to better therapies for colorectal and other types of cancer. A professor of pediatrics-developmental biology and an assistant professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology have shown the importance of the H3K36 methylation process in regulating plasticity and regeneration in intestinal cells.
A multimodal light manipulator
Interferometers, devices that can modulate aspects of light, play the important role of modulating and switching light signals in fiber-optic communications networks and are frequently used for gas sensing and optical computing. Now, applied physicists have invented a new type of interferometer that allows precise control of light's frequency, intensity and mode in one compact package.
A hit of dopamine tells baby birds when their song practice is paying off
By watching the ebb and flow of the brain's chemical signals, researchers are beginning to disentangle the molecular mechanisms underlying the intrinsic motivation to learn. In a new study of zebra finches, researchers show that a hit a dopamine tells baby birds when their song practice is paying off. The findings suggest that dopamine acts like an internal 'compass' to steer their learning when external incentives are absent.
Milk as Medicine: Breast Milk Transforms Challenges into Triumphs
In 2010, a researcher was pouring over research data when he discovered something he thought was odd: His data showed that at 6 months of age, formula-fed babies born of mothers who were categorized as medically obese weighed about 5% units less fat than breastfed babies in the same dataset. That discovery struck him as unusual and led him on a research journey to better understand breast milk. Now, he's studying the connections between maternal gestational diabetes, breastfeeding and infant health.
Engineering antibodies with a novel fusion protein
Even with significant expansion in the global market for antibodies used in clinical care and research, scientists recognize that there is still untapped potential for finding new antibodies. Many proteins group together in what are called protein complexes to carry out biological functions. The traditional method of generating antibodies by immunizing animals struggles to make antibodies related to these protein complexes. Scientists have now demonstrated that fusing protein complexes together adds stability during immunization and enables antibody generation.
Basketball analytics investment is key to NBA wins and other successes
A study finds NBA teams that hired more analytics staff, and invested more in data analysis, tended to win more games.
Researchers explored how the characteristics of communication networks in groups (i.e., density and centralization) affected the development of shared social identity and, as a result, group performance. The study's findings can help managers and other business leaders develop strategies to enhance the performance of their teams.
Antibiotic exposure in infancy may boost Type 1 diabetes risk
Exposure to antibiotics during a key developmental window in infancy can stunt growth of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas and may boost risk of diabetes later in life, new research in mice suggests. The study also pinpoints specific microorganisms that may help those critical cells proliferate.
Study documents impacts of large-scale entry of rooftop solar panels on competition
Fossil-fuel plants are increasingly being forced to stop and start production in response to changes in output from renewables. In a new study, researchers developed a dynamic competitive benchmark that accounts for start-up costs and other unit-level operating constraints. They apply their framework to Western Australia, a setting where rooftop solar capacity more than doubled between 2014 to 2018 to world-leading rooftop solar penetration rates. The study found that the large-scale expansion of rooftop solar capacity can lead to increases in the collective profitability of fossil fuel plants because competition softens at sunset--- plants displaced by solar during the day must incur start-up costs to compete in the evening.
BESSY II: Magnetic 'microflowers' enhance local magnetic fields
A flower-shaped structure only a few micrometres in size made of a nickel-iron alloy can concentrate and locally enhance magnetic fields. The size of the effect can be controlled by varying the geometry and number of 'petals'. This magnetic metamaterial developed by Dr Anna Palau's group at the Institut de Ciencia de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB) in collaboration with her partners of the CHIST-ERA MetaMagIC project, has now been studied at BESSY II in collaboration with Dr Sergio Valencia. Such a device can be used to increase the sensitivity of magnetic sensors, to reduce the energy required for creating local magnetic fields, but also, at the PEEM experimental station, to study samples under much higher magnetic fields than currently possible.
New software finds aging cells that contribute to disease and health risks
For human health, prematurely aging cells are a big problem. When a cell ages and stops growing, its function changes, which can cause or worsen cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease and other chronic diseases. But these cells are also like needles in a haystack, difficult to identify by traditional scientific measures.
Ocean eddies -- the food trucks of the sea
How is organic matter transported from productive coastal areas to the open ocean? Researchers have now shown that eddies play a crucial role in this process. The swirling currents contain large amounts of energy-rich and essential fat molecules (essential lipids), which play a key role in marine food webs and the carbon cycle.
How Zika virus knocks out our immune defenses
This research comes as many mosquito-borne viruses are spreading rapidly.
Could an arthritis drug unlock lasting relief from epilepsy and seizures? Promising results in mice
A drug typically prescribed for arthritis halts brain-damaging seizures in mice that have a condition like epilepsy, according to researchers. If the drug proves viable for human patients, it would be the first to provide lasting relief from seizures even after they stopped taking it.
Study unravels mystery of cancer-fueling enzyme--could lead to new therapies
New research offers unprecedented insight into how an enigmatic enzyme, known as CDK7, drives the cell cycle and cell proliferation.
Postpartum female preference for cooler temperatures linked to brain changes
Mothers experience major metabolic adaptations during pregnancy and lactation to support the development and growth of the new life. Although many metabolic changes have been studied, body temperature regulation and environmental temperature preference during and after pregnancy remain poorly understood. Researchers show that postpartum female mice develop new environmental temperature preferences and reveal brain changes mediating these changes.
Lupus-related antibody shows promise in enhancing cancer treatment efficacy
Scientists have discovered a promising way to trigger immune responses against certain tumors, using a lupus-related antibody that can slip, undetected, into 'cold' tumors and flip on an immune response that has been turned off by cancer. The research offers new findings that could help improve therapies for glioblastoma and other aggressive cancers that are difficult to treat.
Researchers presented advances shaping the world of forensics, from research that could improve how forensic scientists estimate a person's age at death, to technology demos of CSIxR -- a virtual reality (VR) application that simulates crime scenes scenarios to train crime scene investigators (CSIs).