ScienceDaily: All - November 11, 2023
Today's top research news
Do pets make you happier? Study shows they didn't during the pandemic
There is a general understanding that pets have a positive impact on one's well-being. A new study found that although pet owners reported pets improving their lives, there was not a reliable association between pet ownership and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Designing cities for 21st-century weather
Researchers have investigated how changes in urban land and population will affect future populations' exposures to weather extremes under climate conditions at the end of the 21st century. They used a data-driven model to predict how urban areas across the country will grow by 2100, and found that how a city is laid out or organized spatially has the potential to reduce population exposures to future weather extremes.
Yucatán's underwater caves host diverse microbial communities
With help from an experienced underwater cave-diving team, researchers have constructed the most complete map to date of the microbial communities living in the submerged labyrinths beneath Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Researchers found the cave system's microbiome is distinct from the nearby sea, and microbial communities vary between cave systems forming distinct 'neighborhoods.'
Low-intensity fires reduce wildfire risk by 60%
High-intensity, often catastrophic, wildfires have become increasingly frequent across the Western U.S. Researchers quantified the value of managed low-intensity burning to dramatically reduce the risk of such fires for years at a time.
Scientists found hundreds of toxic chemicals in recycled plastics
When scientists examined pellets from recycled plastic collected in 13 countries they found hundreds of toxic chemicals, including pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Because of this, the scientists judge recycled plastics unfit for most purposes and a hinder in the attempts to create a circular economy.
Physical fitness since childhood predicts cerebellar volume in adolescence
Physical fitness since childhood is associated with cerebellar grey matter volume in adolescents. Those who were stronger, faster and more agile, in other words, had better neuromuscular fitness since childhood, had larger Crus I grey matter volume in adolescence.
A revolution in crystal structure prediction of pharmaceutical drugs
Scientists have redefined the state-of-the-art in modeling and predicting the free energy of crystals. Their work shows that crystal form stability under real-world temperature and humidity conditions can be reliably and affordably predicted through computer simulation.
The mystery of phosphite -- a scientific detective story
Biologists have discovered a phosphorus-based bacterial metabolism that is both new and ancient. In a special role: a calculation from the 1980s, a sewage plant, a new bacterial organism, and a remnant from around 2.5 billion years ago.
How mega-floods can be predicted
Extreme flood events are extraordinary outliers that were not considered possible on the basis of local data. However, if one considers the entire European continent, these local surprises are no longer surprising at all. If data from other regions with similar hydrological conditions is taken into account, the extent of these 'mega-floods' suddenly becomes predictable.
Yeast cells can produce drugs for treatment of psychotic disorders
An international team of researchers has demonstrated that genetically engineered yeast cells can produce the natural plant product alstonine, which has shown positive effects in treating schizophrenia.
Hummingbirds' unique sideways flutter gets them through small apertures
Hummingbirds are highly maneuverable fliers, flitting forward and backward as they home in on flowers. But in the dense foliage many inhabit, they often encounter gaps that are too narrow for their wingspan. Since they can't bend their wings in flight, how do they get through? Researchers used high-speed cameras to capture their movements, discovering two unique strategies: they sidle through while fluttering, or fold their wings in a tuck and glide.