ScienceDaily: All - November 07, 2024
Today's top research news
Five minutes of extra exercise a day could lower blood pressure
New research suggests that adding a small amount of physical activity -- such as uphill walking or stair-climbing -- into your day may help to lower blood pressure.
Image: Luis Molinero/Shutterstock.com
Climate change parching the American West even without rainfall deficits
Higher temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change turned an ordinary drought into an exceptional one that parched the American West from 2020--22. A study has found that evaporation accounted for 61% of the drought's severity, while reduced precipitation accounted for 39%. The research found that since 2000, evaporative demand has played a bigger role than reduced precipitation in droughts, which may become more severe as the climate warms.
Research finds coyotes thriving despite human and predator pressures
Research sheds light on how coyotes, North America's most successful predators, are responding to various environmental pressures, including human development, hunting and competition with larger carnivores. Surprisingly, the study's findings suggest that human hunting practices may actually contribute to increasing the number of coyotes.
How gophers brought Mount St. Helens back to life in one day
When Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, lava incinerated anything living for miles around. As an experiment, scientists dropped gophers onto parts of the scorched mountain for only 24 hours. The benefits from that single day were undeniable and still visible 40 years later.
Sleepiness during the day may be tied to pre-dementia syndrome
Older people who are sleepy during the day or lack enthusiasm for activities due to sleep issues may be more likely to develop a syndrome that can lead to dementia, according to a new study.
Scientists calculate predictions for meson measurements
Calculations of charge distribution in mesons provide benchmark for experimental measurements and validate widely used 'factorization' method for imaging the building blocks of matter.
Using a fan and wetting the skin reduces risk of deadly cardiac strain in hot and humid weather
New collaborative research has shown that using a fan in hot and humid weather reduces cardiac strain in older people, contradicting recommendations from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in the US. The study looked at the efficacy of different low-cost cooling strategies -- such as electric fans with and without spraying water on the skin -- for older adults, who are known to be at a heightened health risk during hot summer weather.
How hypoxia helps cancer spread
Scientists have identified 16 genes that breast cancer cells use to survive in the bloodstream after they've escaped the low-oxygen regions of a tumor. Each is a potential therapeutic target to stop cancer recurrence, and one -- MUC1 -- is already in clinical trials.
Sewage surveillance proves powerful in combating antimicrobial resistance
Sewage surveillance is emerging as a powerful tool in the fight against antimicrobial resistance with the potential to protect vulnerable communities more effectively.
How plants evolved multiple ways to override genetic instructions
Biologists have investigated the inner workings of DNA methylation in plants. Their findings could help engineer crops that are more resilient to environmental changes, like heat or drought stress.
New PFAS testing method created
Researchers have discovered a new way to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. This marks an important step forward in creating testing devices that are simpler, more cost-effective, faster and generally more accessible than existing methods.
A smart 'insect screen' for sun protection and cool comfort
A research team unveils a next-generation transparent cooling film using the principles of radiative cooling.
Use of 'genetic scissors' carries risks
The CRISPR tool is capable of repairing the genetic defect responsible for the immune disease chronic granulomatous disease. However, researchers have now shown that there is a risk of inadvertently introducing other defects.
Probability training: Preventing errors of reasoning in medicine and law
A new study shows how students can better understand and interpret conditional probabilities.
Interstellar methane as progenitor of amino acids?
Gamma radiation can convert methane into a wide variety of products at room temperature, including hydrocarbons, oxygen-containing molecules, and amino acids, reports a research team. This type of reaction probably plays an important role in the formation of complex organic molecules in the universe -- and possibly in the origin of life. They also open up new strategies for the industrial conversion of methane into high value-added products under mild conditions.
Detecting evidence of lung cancer in exhaled breath
Exhaled breath contains chemical clues to what's going on inside the body, including diseases like lung cancer. And devising ways to sense these compounds could help doctors provide early diagnoses -- and improve patients' prospects. Researchers report developing ultrasensitive, nanoscale sensors that in small-scale tests distinguished a key change in the chemistry of the breath of people with lung cancer.
The cost of childbirth and postpartum health care results in significant, ongoing financial hardship, particularly for lower-income families with commercial insurance. About half of people who give birth in the United States are covered by commercial health insurance, which typically requires cost-sharing in the form of deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance.
Bioengineers shed light on dosing challenges for cancer immunotherapy
A team of bioengineers has developed a mathematical model that clarifies why interleukin-12 (IL-12) -- a potent immune-boosting protein that holds promise for cancer treatment -- loses effectiveness over time when used as an immunotherapeutic. The research challenges long-held assumptions about IL-12 s behavior in the body and offers a path toward safer and more effective dosing regimens.
Newly discovered neurons change our understanding of how the brain handles hunger
A new cell type provides a missing piece of the neural network regulating appetite.
What happens in your brain while you watch a movie
By scanning the brains of people while they watched movie clips, neuroscientists have created the most detailed functional map of the brain to date. The fMRI analysis shows how different brain networks light up when participants viewed short clips from a range of independent and Hollywood films including Inception, The Social Network, and Home Alone. The team identified different brain networks involved in processing scenes with people, inanimate objects, action, and dialogue. They also revealed how different executive networks are prioritized during easy- versus hard-to-follow scenes.
Cracking the code of DNA circles in cancer: Potential therapy
Tiny circles called ecDNA are critical in cancer development and drug resistance. An international team publishes landmark studies detailing new findings and potential therapies.
A new study changes the way we understand memory. Until now, memories have been explained by the activity of brain cells called neurons that respond to learning events and control memory recall. Neurologists have now expanded this theory by showing that non-neuronal cell types in the brain called astrocytes -- star-shaped cells -- also store memories and work in concert with groups of neurons called engrams to regulate storage and retrieval of memories.
Imaging nuclear shapes by smashing them to smithereens
Scientists have demonstrated a new way to use high-energy particle smashups at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) to reveal subtle details about the shapes of atomic nuclei. The method is complementary to lower energy techniques for determining nuclear structure. It will add depth to scientists' understanding of the nuclei that make up the bulk of visible matter.
AI-driven mobile robots team up to tackle chemical synthesis
Researchers have developed AI-driven mobile robots that can carry out chemical synthesis research with extraordinary efficiency. Researchers show how mobile robots that use AI logic to make decisions were able to perform exploratory chemistry research tasks to the same level as humans, but much faster.
New haptic patch transmits complexity of touch to the skin
Thin, flexible device could help people with visual impairments 'feel' surroundings. Device comprises a hexagonal array of 19 actuators encapsulated in soft silicone. Device only uses energy when actuators change position, operating for longer periods of time on a single battery charge.
Researchers have uncovered the mechanism in the brain that constantly refreshes memory
Researchers have discovered a neural mechanism for memory integration that stretches across both time and personal experience.
Breakthrough in energy-efficient avalanche-based amorphization could revolutionize data storage
Researchers have developed a new method for disrupting the crystal structure of a semiconductor that requires as little as one billion times less power density. This advancement could unlock wider applications for phase-change memory (PCM) -- a promising memory technology that could transform data storage in devices from cell phones to computers.
Brain acts like music box playing different behaviors
Neuroscientists have discovered brain cells that form multiple coordinate systems to tell us 'where we are' in a sequence of behaviors. These cells can play out different sequences of actions, just like a music box can be configured to play different sequences of tones. The findings help us understand the algorithms used by the brain to flexibly generate complex behaviors, such as planning and reasoning, and might be useful in understanding how such processes go wrong in psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia.
How cancer immunotherapy may cause heart inflammation in some patients
Some patients being treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy, develop a dangerous form of heart inflammation called myocarditis. Researchers have now uncovered the immune basis of this inflammation. The team identified changes in specific types of immune and stromal cells in the heart that underlie myocarditis and pinpointed factors in the blood that may indicate whether a patient's myocarditis is likely to lead to death.
Asteroid grains shed light on the outer solar system's origins
Tiny grains from asteroid Ryugu are revealing clues to the magnetic forces that shaped the far reaches of the solar system over 4.6 billion years ago. The findings suggest the distal solar system harbored a weak magnetic field, which could have played a role in forming the giant planets and other objects.
Mighty radio bursts linked to massive galaxies
Researchers have uncovered where FRBs are more likely to occur in the universe -- massive star-forming galaxies rather than low - mass ones.
The egg or the chicken? An ancient unicellular says egg
Chromosphaera perkinsii is a single-celled species discovered in 2017 in marine sediments around Hawaii. The first signs of its presence on Earth have been dated at over a billion years, well before the appearance of the first animals. A team has observed that this species forms multicellular structures that bear striking similarities to animal embryos. These observations suggest that the genetic programs responsible for embryonic development were already present before the emergence of animal life, or that C. perkinsii evolved independently to develop similar processes. Nature would therefore have possessed the genetic tools to 'create eggs' long before it 'invented chickens'.