Month: October 2024

A new study has found that after watching a docudrama about the efforts to free a wrongly convicted prisoner on death row, people were more empathetic toward formerly incarcerated people and supportive of criminal justice reform. The research, led by a team of Stanford psychologists, published Oct. 21 in Proceedings of the National Academy of…

Eight cities in the United States have implemented taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, which contribute to health issues including obesity and Type 2 diabetes. New research from the University of Washington investigated responses to sweetened beverage taxes using the purchasing behavior of approximately 400 households in Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland and Philadelphia — all of which…

A new University of Maryland-led discovery could spur the development of new and improved treatments for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), a rare genetic disorder with no known cure that causes accelerated aging in children. Published in the journal Aging Cell on October 18, 2024, in collaboration with researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)…

McMaster University researchers have discovered a previously unknown cell-protecting function of a protein, which could open new avenues for treating age-related diseases and lead to healthier aging overall. The team has found that a class of protective proteins known as MANF plays a role in the process that keep cells efficient and working well. The…

Research led by the University of Oxford has found that oceanographic connectivity (the movement and exchange of water between different parts of the ocean) is a key influence for fish abundance across the Western Indian Ocean (WIO). The findings have been published today in the ICES Journal of Marine Sciences. Connectivity particularly impacted herbivorous reef…

Mississippi State University is part of a European-American collaboration studying how human activities, like fertilizer use and polluting, are impacting nitrogen-fixing plants which are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems by adding nitrogen to the soil. MSU Assistant Professor Ryan A. Folk of the Department of Biological Sciences co-authored a study published today [Oct. 18] in…

University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science professor Nikolaos Sidiropoulos has introduced a breakthrough in graph mining with the development of a new computational algorithm. Graph mining, a method of analyzing networks like social media connections or biological systems, helps researchers discover meaningful patterns in how different elements interact. The new algorithm addresses…

Trees are the most abundant natural resource living on Earth’s land masses, and North Carolina State University scientists and engineers are making headway in finding ways to use them as sustainable, environmentally benign alternatives to producing industrial chemicals from petroleum. Lignin, a polymer that makes trees rigid and resistant to degradation, has proven problematic. Now…

If you’ve ever struggled to reduce your carb intake, ancient DNA might be to blame. It has long been known that humans carry multiple copies of a gene that allows us to begin breaking down complex carbohydrate starch in the mouth, providing the first step in metabolizing starchy foods like bread and pasta. However, it…

Increased risk for autism appears to be linked to the Y chromosome, a Geisinger study found, offering a new explanation for the greater prevalence of autism in males. The results were published today in Nature Communications. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and restricted and repetitive…

How do we distinguish threat from safety? It’s a question important not just in our daily lives, but for human disorders linked with fear of others, such as social anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A microscope image, from the laboratory of Steven A. Siegelbaum, PhD, at Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute, displays a powerful technique scientists…

A new technique allows astronomers to home in on planets beyond our solar system that are in line with each other and with Earth to search for radio signals similar, for example, to ones used to communicate with the rovers on Mars. Penn State astronomers and scientists at the SETI Institute spent 28 hours scanning…

Two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are experiencing new temperature conditions as our climate changes, research shows. KBAs identify the most important places on Earth for species and their habitats. The new study — by Exeter, Manchester Metropolitan and Cambridge universities — assessed 30 years of temperature conditions below the forest…

An international team of researchers have discovered seven new species of tree frogs that make otherworldly calls in the rainforests of Madagascar. Their strange, high-pitched whistling calls sound more like sound effects from the sci-fi series Star Trek. As a result, the researchers have named the new species after seven of the series’ most iconic…

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder — also known as ADHD — is typically thought of as a childhood condition. But more adults are realizing that their struggles with attention, focus and restlessness could in fact be undiagnosed ADHD, thanks in large part to trending social media videos racking up millions of views. A new national survey of…

NASA’s Europa Clipper has embarked on its long voyage to Jupiter, where it will investigate Europa, a moon with an enormous subsurface ocean that may have conditions to support life. The spacecraft launched at 12:06 p.m. EDT Monday aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida….

Researchers at the University of Dundee have revealed in the greatest detail yet the workings of molecules called ‘protein degraders’ which can be deployed to combat what have previously been regarded as ‘undruggable’ diseases, including cancers and neurodegenerative diseases. Protein degrader molecules are heralding a revolution in drug discovery, with more than 50 drugs of…

When something draws us in like a magnet, we take a closer look. When magnets draw in physicists, they take a quantum look. Scientists from Osaka Metropolitan University and the University of Tokyo have successfully used light to visualize tiny magnetic regions, known as magnetic domains, in a specialized quantum material. Moreover, they successfully manipulated…