ScienceDaily: All - September 17, 2024
Today's top research news
Lower neighborhood opportunity may increase risk for preterm birth
A new study has found that more than half of Black and Hispanic infants were born into very low-opportunity neighborhoods, and that babies born into these neighborhoods had a 16-percent greater risk of being born preterm. The study sheds new light on the health consequences of structural racism and historically discriminatory practices -- such as redlining and disproportionate exposures to pollutants -- that continue to shape modern-day neighborhood conditions and circumstances.
Hardship early in life can affect health and longevity -- even for marmots
The cumulative adversity index for people quantifies numerous measures of hardship, such as poverty and stress to understand health and longevity over the individual's lifespan. A similar tool could help scientists who study and want to conserve animal populations by identifying the most influential stressors to mitigate. Biologists have created the first cumulative adversity index for yellow-bellied marmots. They found that as in humans, adversity early on had lifelong consequences and reduced their life expectancy.
Tougher concrete, inspired by bone
Researchers used robotics and additive manufacturing to toughen cement-based material with precisely placed hollow tubes. The result is more than 5 times tougher than counterparts.
Technology could boost renewable energy storage
Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are critical to sustaining our planet, but they come with a big challenge: they don't always generate power when it's needed. To make the most of them, we need efficient and affordable ways to store the energy they produce, so we have power even when the wind isn't blowing or the sun isn't shining.
Researchers test ChatGPT, other AI models against real-world students
An experiment tested six generative large language models against students in an online introductory biomedical and health informatics course. The models scored higher than as many as three quarters of the real-world students in the class.
Image: elenabsl/Shutterstock.com
Scientists mix sky's splendid hues to reset circadian clocks
Those mesmerizing blue and orange hues in the sky at the start and end of a sunny day might have an essential role in setting humans' internal clocks. A novel LED light that emits alternating wavelengths of orange and blue outpaced two other light devices in advancing melatonin levels in a small group of study participants. The finding appears to establish a new benchmark in humans' ability to influence their circadian rhythms, and reflects an effective new approach to counteract seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
New study reveals changes in the brain throughout pregnancy
Researchers follow the dramatic changes that occur in the brain throughout the course of pregnancy.
Contrary to common perceptions and years of research that autistic people can't describe their emotions or often have muted emotional responses, a new study concludes that many autistic adults are in fact acutely aware of their feelings and can label them in vivid, often colorful detail.
Genomics reveals sled dogs' Siberian lineage
New research examines thousands of years of Arctic sled dog ancestry and reveals when and how Siberian and Alaskan sled dogs' DNA mixed.
Contrail avoidance is less likely to damage climate by mistake than previously thought, study finds
A new study allays fears that rerouting flights to avoid forming climate-warming contrails could result in inadvertently making climate warming worse.
Physics team electrifies the quantum world
Researchers have developed a method to model a central theory of quantum gravity in the laboratory. Their goal: to decipher previously unexplained phenomena in the quantum world.
Vital language sites in brain act like connectors in a social network
When surgeons perform brain surgery on people with brain tumors or epilepsy, they need to remove the tumor or abnormal tissue while preserving parts of the brain that control language and movement. A new study may better inform doctors' decisions about which brain areas to preserve, thereby improving patients' language function after brain surgery. The study expands the understanding of how language is encoded in the brain and identifies key features of critical sites in the cerebral cortex that work together to produce language.
Astronomers detect black hole 'starving' its host galaxy to death
Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope to confirm that supermassive black holes can starve their host galaxies of the fuel they need to form new stars.
CREME is a virtual laboratory that allows scientists to simulate specific decreases in gene activity. It offers a powerful new tool for identifying and understanding important parts of the genome. And it could one day give scientists who don't have access to real laboratories the power to make breakthrough discoveries.
New insights into DNA organization during embryonic development
Researchers have gained new insights into the mechanism behind the spatial organization of DNA within the cells of early embryos. When an embryo is first formed after fertilization, each cell has the potential to become any cell type of the body. The researchers have studied the spatial organization of DNA that is so particular to these early developmental stages.
New guidelines urge regular screenings to prevent peripheral arterial disease complications
An international group of cardiologists, angiologists and vascular surgeons is urging regular screening to help prevent complications in people with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD).
How gaps in the canopy of a floodplain influence microclimate and soil biological activity
Canopy gaps in a mixed floodplain forest have a direct effect on forest soil temperature and moisture, but only have a minor impact on soil biological activity.
Monoclonal antibodies offer hope for tackling antimicrobial resistance
Monoclonal antibodies -- treatments developed by cloning a cell that makes an antibody -- could help provide an answer to the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance, say scientists.
Brown fat: How cells generate heat by burning calories
Special fat cells known as brown adipocytes help maintaining body temperature by converting calory-rich nutrients into heat. This protects from gaining excess weight and metabolic disorders. An international team of researchers has deciphered a new mechanism that increases respiration and metabolic activity of brown fat cells. The researchers hope that this discovery will lead to novel approaches utilizing brown fat against metabolic diseases.
EarthCARE's lidar shows particles in the atmosphere in detail
The atmospheric lidar ATLID, the last of four instruments on board the EarthCARE satellite launched in May, has now been successfully put into operation. The mission is designed to measure clouds, aerosols and radiation more accurately than ever before.
Beyond displays: Liquid crystals in motion mimic biological systems
Under the right conditions, liquid crystals condense into astonishing structures, spontaneously generating filaments and flattened discs that can transport material from one place to another, much like complex biological systems. The insight may lead to self-assembling materials, new ways to model cellular activity and more.
Arsenic exposure linked to faster onset of diabetes in south Texas population
Multiyear study finds that high levels of toxic metals in urine are linked to high blood sugar.
New research solves Crystal Palace mystery
New research has solved the mystery of how the Crystal Palace in London, which at the time was the world's largest building, was constructed in only 190 days and completed just in time for the start of the Great Exhibition of 1851. The study has discovered that the Crystal Palace was the first building known to have made use of a standard screw thread -- something that's now taken for granted in modern construction and engineering. Before this, no two nuts and bolts were the same.
Shedding light on superconducting disorder
The importance of disorder in physics is only matched by the difficulty to study it. For example, the remarkable properties of high-temperature superconductors are greatly affected by variations in the chemical composition of the solid. Techniques that enable measurements of such disorder and its impact on the electronic properties, such as scanning tunnelling microscopy, work only at very low temperatures, and are blind to these physics near the transition temperature. Now, a team of researchers has demonstrated a new way to study disorder in superconductors using terahertz pulses of light.
Energy-saving computing with magnetic whirls
Researchers have managed to enhance the framework of Brownian reservoir computing by recording and transferring hand gestures to the system which then used skyrmions to detect these individual gestures.
Immunotherapy shows promise for men with specific types of prostate cancer
New research has shown that immunotherapy can be effective in treating prostate cancer in men who are selected based on the genetic characteristics of their tumors. In a recent study, it was found that for some men with a particular genetic type of prostate cancer, the progression of the disease was slowed down by 33 months.
Backward hopping may be better indication of recovery from ACL reconstruction
People may not hop backward often, but a new study shows that having people hop backward on one leg can be a better way of measuring strength and recovery in the knee, as well as other joints and muscles in the leg following ACL reconstruction surgery. Plus, the measure is easier to take and requires less specialized equipment for practitioners such as physical therapists.
West African genetic ancestry was associated with increased prostate cancer among men living in disadvantaged neighborhoods but not among men living in more affluent neighborhoods, according to a new study. The findings suggest that neighborhood environment may play a role in determining how genetic ancestry influences prostate cancer risk.
Early dark energy could resolve cosmology's two biggest puzzles
Physicists propose that a mysterious force known as early dark energy could solve two of the biggest puzzles in cosmology and fill in some major gaps in our understanding of how the early universe evolved.