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• Machine learning guarantees robots' performance in unknown territory
• AI tool may predict movies' future ratings
• Algorithm-driven digital program helped lower patients' cholesterol, blood pressure
• Retinas: New potential clues in diagnosing, treating Alzheimer's
• Sensor experts invent supercool mini thermometer
• COVID-19 highlights risks of wildlife trade
• Driver behavior influences traffic patterns as much as roadway design
• More than half of in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 among Black, Hispanic patients, study finds
• Study of non-COVID-19 deaths shows 2020 increase in several demographics
• Learning a new language changes the brain's division of labor
• Holes in Greenland ice sheet are larger than previously thought
• NASA model reveals how much COVID-related pollution levels deviated from the norm
• Metal-organic frameworks become flexible
• Researcher examines benefits of supportive communities for older adults
• Carbyne: An unusual form of carbon
• Microbial remedies target chemical threats in the environment
• In a pandemic, migration away from dense cities more effective than closing borders
• Extremely rare parasitic crustacean discovered in museum shark collection
• Ancient zircon minerals from Mars reveal the elusive internal structure of the red planet
• The long road to dementia
• Abundance of prey species is key to bird diversity in cities
• Study highlights sex-specific variability in mouse features
• In retrospect, the burning of wood in district heating plants has resulted in climate saving
• Researchers improve neuronal reprogramming by manipulating mitochondria
• Some sport fish are caught repeatedly, which may throw off population count
• Records from six growth studies analyzed to provide milestone data
• Pesticides commonly used as flea treatments for pets are contaminating English rivers
• Mobility behavior may be the key to predicting, promoting individual well-being
• Tropical peatland conservation could protect humans from new diseases
• New study could help predict which individuals are more susceptible to cancer-causing agent
• Existing antidepressant helps to inhibit growth of cancer cells in lab animals
• Reducing aerosol pollution without cutting carbon dioxide could make the planet hotter
• Sharp rise in sedentary time among newly retired women evident 2 plus years later
• Masks don't impair lung function during physical activity, study finds
• Teeth grinding and facial pain increase due to coronavirus stress and anxiety
• Show rates for asthma visits during COVID-19 increased thanks to telemedicine
• Implementing carbon pricing during the pandemic could help countries recover greener, smarter
• Health care workers most at risk for COVID-19

Machine learning guarantees robots' performance in unknown territory Posted: 17 Nov 2020 11:45 AM PST As engineers increasingly turn to machine learning methods to develop adaptable robots, new work makes progress on safety and performance guarantees for robots operating in novel environments with diverse types of obstacles and constraints.

AI tool may predict movies' future ratings Posted: 17 Nov 2020 11:45 AM PST Researchers, armed with artificial intelligence tools, can rate a movie's content in a matter of seconds, based on the movie script and before a single scene is shot.

Algorithm-driven digital program helped lower patients' cholesterol, blood pressure Posted: 17 Nov 2020 11:45 AM PST Researchers enrolled 5,000 patients in a remote, cholesterol and blood pressure management program utilizing care navigators and pharmacists, supported by specialists and using specialist-designed algorithms to initiate and adjust medications. Participants who completed the cholesterol program achieved a 52 mg/dl (42%) reduction in LDL cholesterol levels. Participants who completed the blood pressure program saw an average systolic and diastolic blood pressure reduction compared to baseline of 14mmHg and 6mmHg, respectively.

Retinas: New potential clues in diagnosing, treating Alzheimer's Posted: 17 Nov 2020 11:45 AM PST A study has identified certain regions in the retina - the lining found in the back of the eye - that are more affected by Alzheimer's disease than other areas. The findings may help physicians predict changes in the brain as well as cognitive deterioration, even for patients experiencing the earliest signs of mild impairment.

Sensor experts invent supercool mini thermometer Posted: 17 Nov 2020 10:39 AM PST Researchers have invented a miniature thermometer with big potential applications such as monitoring the temperature of processor chips in superconductor-based quantum computers, which must stay cold to work properly.

COVID-19 highlights risks of wildlife trade Posted: 17 Nov 2020 10:39 AM PST Researchers say that more epidemics resulting from animal hosts are inevitable unless urgent action is taken. To protect against future pandemics, they call for governments to establish effective legislation addressing wildlife trade, protection of habitats and reduction of interaction between people, wildlife and livestock.

Driver behavior influences traffic patterns as much as roadway design Posted: 17 Nov 2020 10:39 AM PST Urban planners may soon have a new way to measure traffic congestion. By capturing the different routes by which vehicles can travel between locations, researchers have developed a new computer algorithm that helps quantify regions of congestion in urban areas and suggests ways around them.

More than half of in-hospital deaths from COVID-19 among Black, Hispanic patients, study finds Posted: 17 Nov 2020 10:39 AM PST Researchers found that Black and Hispanic people made up 58 percent of all patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and 53 percent of those who died from the disease.

Study of non-COVID-19 deaths shows 2020 increase in several demographics Posted: 17 Nov 2020 10:39 AM PST March through May saw a significant increase in deaths over previous years -- and not just from COVID-19, says a new study. When deaths attributed to COVID-19 were removed from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention totals, the death rate in several demographics outpaced the same period in 2019, the study found.

Learning a new language changes the brain's division of labor Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:28 AM PST Learning a language later in life changes how the two halves of the brain contribute. As skills improve, language comprehension changes hemisphere specialization, but production does not, according to new research.

Holes in Greenland ice sheet are larger than previously thought Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:28 AM PST An expedition finds that holes in the Greenland ice sheet, called moulins, are much larger than previously thought.

NASA model reveals how much COVID-related pollution levels deviated from the norm Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:28 AM PST Using computer models to generate a COVID-free 2020 for comparison, NASA researchers found that since February, pandemic restrictions have reduced global nitrogen dioxide concentrations by nearly 20 percent.

Metal-organic frameworks become flexible Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:07 AM PST Materials consisting of inorganic and organic components can combine the best of two worlds: under certain circumstances, the so-called MOFs - short for metal-organic frameworks - are structured in the same order as crystals and are at the same time porous and deformable. This opens up the prospect of intelligent materials for energy-saving technical applications. However, so far only a few flexible MOFs have been identified.

Researcher examines benefits of supportive communities for older adults Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:07 AM PST To find out just how well the aging-in-community strategy is working, a University of Central Florida health management and informatics researcher examined three aging-in-community programs in Florida. Her study is among the first to examine some key variables for these programs.

Carbyne: An unusual form of carbon Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:07 AM PST Which photophysical properties does carbyne have? New research has led to a greater understanding of the properties of this unusual form of carbon.

Microbial remedies target chemical threats in the environment Posted: 17 Nov 2020 09:07 AM PST Researchers explore new ways to rid the environment of co-occurring toxic chemicals, TCE and perchlorate. To accomplish this, Fe0 in combination with microbial cultures containing an unusual microbe known as Dehalococcoides mccartyi were added to soil and groundwater samples from a contaminated Superfund site in Goodyear, Arizona. The contaminated site had formerly been involved in defense and aerospace manufacturing.

In a pandemic, migration away from dense cities more effective than closing borders Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:31 AM PST During the COVID-19 pandemic, closing national borders and borders between states and regions has been prevalent. But does it help? In a new paper, researchers decided to put this hypothesis to the test and discover if confinement and travels bans are really effective ways to limit the spread of a pandemic disease. Specifically, they focused on the movement of people from larger cities to smaller ones and tested the results of this one-way migration.

Extremely rare parasitic crustacean discovered in museum shark collection Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST Scientists have discovered an extremely rare species of cymothoid from the mouth of a museum specimen of a deep-sea shark caught from the East China Sea, suggesting its wide distribution around the globe.

Ancient zircon minerals from Mars reveal the elusive internal structure of the red planet Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST Analysis of an ancient meteorite from Mars suggests that the mineral zircon may be abundant on the surface of the red planet. By determining the age and hafnium isotope composition of these zircons, researchers have shown that a population of these crystals were sourced from the deep interior of Mars. If the researchers are correct, it means that the young zircons contain information about the deep, inaccessible interior of Mars, which provides insights into the internal structure of the planet.

The long road to dementia Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST Alzheimer's disease develops over decades. It begins with a fatal chain reaction in which masses of misfolded beta-amyloid proteins are produced that in the end literally flood the brain. Researchers now show that this chain reaction starts much earlier in mice than commonly assumed.

Abundance of prey species is key to bird diversity in cities Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST A team of scientists collaborated to analyze breeding bird data gathered by citizen scientists. They found that the abundance of invertebrates such as insects or spiders as prey is a key factor affecting bird diversity in the city. The more prey is available, the more diverse the urban bird communities are.

Study highlights sex-specific variability in mouse features Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST Scientists have shown that sex-specific differences in variability depend on individual physical and physiological features in mice, debunking competing theories that either males or females are more variable.

In retrospect, the burning of wood in district heating plants has resulted in climate saving Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST A new report shows that the burning of wood is significantly more climate friendly than coal and slightly more climate friendly than natural gas over the long run. For the first time, researchers quantified what the conversion of 10 Danish cogeneration plants from coal or natural gas to biomass has meant for their greenhouse gas emissions.

Researchers improve neuronal reprogramming by manipulating mitochondria Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST Researchers have identified a hurdle towards an efficient conversion: the cell metabolism. By expressing neuron-enriched mitochondrial proteins at an early stage of the direct reprogramming process, the researchers achieved a four times higher conversion rate and simultaneously increased the speed of reprogramming.

Some sport fish are caught repeatedly, which may throw off population count Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST A new study reports that, for several species of oceanic sport fish, individual fish that are caught, released and recaught are more likely to be caught again than scientists anticipated. The findings raise some interesting questions for policy makers tasked with preserving sustainable fisheries.

Records from six growth studies analyzed to provide milestone data Posted: 17 Nov 2020 08:30 AM PST For the first time ever, craniofacial growth in children can be studied comprehensively using data from six historic adolescent growth studies. Researchers analyzed more than 15,000 cranial radiographs from nearly 2,000 participants to create the Craniofacial Growth Consortium Study (CGCS).

Pesticides commonly used as flea treatments for pets are contaminating English rivers Posted: 17 Nov 2020 05:59 AM PST Researchers have found widespread contamination of English rivers with two neurotoxic pesticides commonly used in veterinary flea products: fipronil and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid.

Mobility behavior may be the key to predicting, promoting individual well-being Posted: 17 Nov 2020 05:59 AM PST A researcher uses smartphone sensor data to study human behavior.

Tropical peatland conservation could protect humans from new diseases Posted: 17 Nov 2020 05:59 AM PST Conservation of tropical peatlands could reduce the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the likelihood of new diseases jumping from animals to humans, researchers say.

New study could help predict which individuals are more susceptible to cancer-causing agent Posted: 17 Nov 2020 05:59 AM PST New insights into the mechanisms behind how cancer-causing agents in the environment activate genetic recombination in DNA could help to explain some of the effects of exposure as well as predicting which individuals may be more susceptible to developing the disease, a new study has suggested.

Existing antidepressant helps to inhibit growth of cancer cells in lab animals Posted: 17 Nov 2020 05:59 AM PST New research has shown that the antidepressant sertraline helps to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. The substance acts on a metabolic addiction that allows different types of cancer to grow. This is shown by a study on cell cultures and lab animals.

Reducing aerosol pollution without cutting carbon dioxide could make the planet hotter Posted: 17 Nov 2020 05:59 AM PST Humans must reduce carbon dioxide and aerosol pollution simultaneously to avoid weakening the ocean's ability to keep the planet cool, new research shows.

Sharp rise in sedentary time among newly retired women evident 2 plus years later Posted: 16 Nov 2020 03:44 PM PST The sharp rise of more than 20 minutes a day in average sedentary time among newly retired women seems to be maintained 2 or more years later, reveals new research.

Masks don't impair lung function during physical activity, study finds Posted: 16 Nov 2020 03:44 PM PST While they might feel uncomfortable, facemasks do not significantly change the actual work of breathing or the flow of oxygen and carbon dioxide when worn while exercising, researchers report.

Teeth grinding and facial pain increase due to coronavirus stress and anxiety Posted: 16 Nov 2020 03:44 PM PST The stress and anxiety experienced by the general population during Israel's first lockdown brought about a significant rise in orofacial and jaw pain, as well as jaw-clenching in the daytime and teeth-grinding at night, according to a new study.

Show rates for asthma visits during COVID-19 increased thanks to telemedicine Posted: 16 Nov 2020 09:56 AM PST A new study reveals that 'show rates' for children with asthma -- how often parents brought their kids to an appointment rather than being a 'no show' -- increased with the use of telemedicine during four months of the pandemic.

Implementing carbon pricing during the pandemic could help countries recover greener, smarter Posted: 16 Nov 2020 09:56 AM PST As economies 'build back better,' it may be an opportune time to introduce carbon pricing to tackle climate change, according to new research.

Health care workers most at risk for COVID-19 Posted: 16 Nov 2020 09:56 AM PST Health care workers -- particularly nurses -- have a higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection than non-health care workers, according to a new study.

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