Month: May 2024

A study by Rutgers Health experts of more than 31 million hospital records shows that infertility treatment patients were twice as likely as those who conceived naturally to be hospitalized with heart disease in the year after delivery. Patients who underwent infertility were particularly likely — 2.16 times as likely as those who conceived naturally…

‘Dust clouds’ at the bottom of the deep sea, that will be created by deep-sea mining activities, descend at a short distance for the biggest part. That is shown by PhD research of NIOZ marine geologist Sabine Haalboom, on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Yet, a small portion of the stirred-up bottom material remains…

The latest edition of Florida Atlantic University’s “Florida Climate Resilience Survey,” found that 90% of Floridians believe that climate change is happening. In comparison, a recent Yale University survey showed 72% of all Americans believe climate change is happening. The FAU survey includes questions on beliefs about climate change, experience with extreme weather events and…

Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual reality. This was the result of a recent study conducted by computer scientists at the University of Helsinki. The results were published in May at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing…

Rice University’s Peter Wolynes and his research team have unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, evolve. Their paper was published May 13 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Led by Wolynes, the D.R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science, professor of chemistry, biosciences and physics and astronomy…

Sometimes it seems like an AI is helping, but the benefit is actually a placebo effect — people performing better simply because they expect to be doing so — according to new research from Aalto University in Finland. The study also shows how difficult it is to shake people’s trust in the capabilities of AI…

Common conditions such as indigestion and heartburn as well as peptic ulcers, autoimmune gastritis and stomach and esophageal cancers have one thing in common – they involve disruptions of the normal activity of parietal cells (PCs) in the stomach, the only cells in the body that produce acid. Despite their medical importance, little is known…

Bob Wilbur thought he’d found a retirement home that would be a place of peace. Nestled against Admiralty Bay on the western edge of Whidbey Island, the three-story house is surrounded by trees and shoreline. It offers the kind of quiet that only an island can provide. Except when the Growlers fly. As often as…

A breakthrough study, published in Science Translational Medicine, features a biomedical engineering innovation with the potential to transform trauma care and surgical practices. Chapman University’s Fowler School of Engineering Founding Dean and Professor, Andrew Lyon, is a member of this multidisciplinary, multi-university scientific research team developing platelet-like particles that integrate into the body’s clotting pathways…

New research into molten rock 20km below the Earth’s surface could help save lives by improving the prediction of volcanic activity. Volcanic eruptions pose significant hazards, with devastating impacts on both people living nearby and the environment. They are currently predicted based on activity of the volcano itself and the upper few kilometres of crust…

Although you may not appreciate them, or have even heard of them, throughout your body, countless microscopic machines called spliceosomes are hard at work. As you sit and read, they are faithfully and rapidly putting back together the broken information in your genes by removing sequences called “introns” so that your messenger RNAs can make…

Melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer that accounts for 75% of all skin-cancer-related deaths, is often detected later in people with darker skin complexions — and the consequences can be devastating, a Mayo Clinic study reveals. While melanoma may be found less frequently in people with darker complexions than fair ones, this potentially serious…

A research team from NIMS and Nagoya University has demonstrated that an iron-based amorphous alloy, widely used as a soft magnetic material in transformers and motors, can be transformed into a “transverse” thermoelectric conversion material that converts electric and thermal currents in orthogonal directions, with just a short period of heat treatment. This is the…

An international collaboration that includes two Oregon State University scientists says the world’s largest marine protected areas aren’t collectively delivering the biodiversity benefits they could be because of slow implementation of management strategies and a failure to restrict the most impactful human activities. Their analysis of the 100 biggest marine protected areas or MPAs, which…

Boronic acid has been used in organic chemistry for decades, even though it is not present in any organism. ‘It gives rise to different chemical reactions than those we find in nature,’ explains Gerard Roelfes, Professor of Biomolecular Chemistry & Catalysis at the University of Groningen. His group created an enzyme with boronic acid at…

Neuropathy, the nerve damage that causes pain and numbness in the feet and hands and can eventually lead to falls, infection and even amputation, is very common and underdiagnosed, according to a study published in the May 8, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “More than one-third…