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• Ancient crocodiles' family tree reveals unexpected twists and turns
• Policy, not tech, spurred Danish dominance in wind energy
• Final dance of unequal black hole partners
• Down Syndrome-associated gene suppresses age-related corneal clouding
• Sugar-coated viral proteins hijack and hitch a ride out of cells
• Scientists design magnets with outstanding properties
• Higher-resolution imaging of living, moving cells using plasmonic metasurfaces
• Photopharmacology: Light-gated control of the cytoskeleton
• Germanium telluride's hidden properties at the nanoscale revealed
• Swirl power: How gentle body movement will charge your mobile phone
• Has the hidden matter of the universe been discovered?
• phyloFlash: New software for fast and easy analysis of environmental microbes
• A new candidate material for quantum spin liquids
• Investigating optical activity under an external magnetic field
• Patients reported international hydroxychloroquine shortages due to COVID-19
• COVID-19 infection rates low in people with rheumatic diseases, most report mild illness
• Pre-existing coronavirus antibodies could help protect children against new pandemic strain
• Hydroxychloroquine not linked to longer heart rhythm intervals in rheumatoid arthritis or lupus patients
• Ecologically friendly agriculture doesn't compromise crop yields
• A brief pilot intervention enhances preschoolers' self-regulation and food liking
• Game 'pre-bunks' political misinformation by letting players undermine democracy
• Climate change and food demand could shrink species' habitats by almost a quarter by 2100
• Green prescriptions could undermine the benefits of spending time in nature
• Blueprints for a cheaper single-molecule microscope
• Anti-depressant repurposed to treat childhood cancer
• Plastics and rising CO2 levels could pose combined threat to marine environment
• Seeing dark matter in a new light
• Vaccine shows promise against herpes virus
• Astronomers discover clues that unveil the mystery of fast radio bursts
• About half of Sun-like stars could host rocky, potentially habitable planets
• COVID-19 linked to worse stroke outcomes
• Pay people to get COVID-19 jab to ensure widespread coverage, says leading ethicist
• Poor nutrition in school years may have created 20 cm height gap across nations

Ancient crocodiles' family tree reveals unexpected twists and turns Posted: 06 Nov 2020 10:43 AM PST Despite 300 years of research, and a recent renaissance in the study of their biological make-up, the mysterious, marauding teleosauroids have remained enduringly elusive. Scientific understanding of this distant cousin of present day long snouted gharials has been hampered by a poor grasp of their evolutionary journey - until now.

Policy, not tech, spurred Danish dominance in wind energy Posted: 06 Nov 2020 10:43 AM PST In a new study focused on Denmark, a global leader in wind energy - a relatively mature and low-cost renewable technology - researchers found that government policies have been the primary driver of that industry's growth and development.

Final dance of unequal black hole partners Posted: 06 Nov 2020 09:33 AM PST Researchers used the Frontera supercomputer to model for the first time a black hole merger of two black holes with very different sizes (128:1). The research required seven months of constant computation. The results predict the gravitational waves such a merger would produce, as well as characteristics of the resulting merged black hole.

Down Syndrome-associated gene suppresses age-related corneal clouding Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST Down syndrome and hypercholesterolemia mouse models suggest that the DSCR-1 gene protects against abnormal cornea vascularization and associated blindness by suppressing oxidized LDL cholesterol production and downstream angiogenic signaling during chronic high cholesterol. While the neurological pathology of Down syndrome patients worsens with age, they are less susceptible to age-related vascular diseases. The responsible genes and mechanisms are not yet clear, but DSCR-1 is a strong candidate for a wide range of vascular diseases.

Sugar-coated viral proteins hijack and hitch a ride out of cells Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST Many viruses - including coronaviruses -- have protective outer layer made of proteins, fats and sugars. New research shows targeting sugar production has potential for broad-spectrum antiviral drugs.

Scientists design magnets with outstanding properties Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST An international team has discovered a novel way to design magnets with outstanding physical properties, which could make them complementary to, or even competitive with traditional inorganic magnets, which are widely used in everyday appliances.

Higher-resolution imaging of living, moving cells using plasmonic metasurfaces Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST Researchers have demonstrated that placing cells on a plasmonic metasurface of self-assembled gold nanoparticle can improve the resolution of images of living cells taken in real-time under a widefield fluorescence microscope. The metasurface effectively confines light emission from parts of the cell near the metasurface to a nano-thickness plane, providing a simple method to improving both axial and lateral resolution.

Photopharmacology: Light-gated control of the cytoskeleton Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST Researchers have developed photoresponsive derivatives of the anticancer drug Taxol®, which allow light-based control of cytoskeleton dynamics in neurons. The agents can optically pattern cell division and may elucidate how Taxol acts.

Germanium telluride's hidden properties at the nanoscale revealed Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST Germanium Telluride is an interesting candidate material for spintronic devices. In a comprehensive study at BESSY II, a research group has now revealed how the spin texture switches by ferroelectric polarization within individual nanodomains.

Swirl power: How gentle body movement will charge your mobile phone Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:39 AM PST Scientists have discovered a way to generate electricity from nylon - the stretchy fabric used widely in sportswear and other shape-hugging apparel - raising hopes that the clothes on our backs will become an important source of energy.

Has the hidden matter of the universe been discovered? Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:38 AM PST Astrophysicists consider that around 40% of the ordinary matter that makes up stars, planets and galaxies remains undetected, concealed in the form of a hot gas in the complexe cosmic web. Today, scientists may have detected, for the first time, this hidden matter through an innovative statistical analysis of 20-year-old data.

phyloFlash: New software for fast and easy analysis of environmental microbes Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:38 AM PST Researchers are developing a user-friendly method to reconstruct and analyze SSU rRNA from raw metagenome data.

A new candidate material for quantum spin liquids Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:38 AM PST Using a unique material, scientists have been able to design and study an unusual state of matter, the Quantum Spin Liquid. The work has significant implications for future technologies, from quantum computing to superconductivity and spintronics.

Investigating optical activity under an external magnetic field Posted: 06 Nov 2020 08:38 AM PST A new study aims to derive an analytical model of optical activity in black phosphorous under an external magnetic field.

Patients reported international hydroxychloroquine shortages due to COVID-19 Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:31 AM PST A new study shows that patients with rheumatic diseases across Africa, Southeast Asia, the Americas and Europe had trouble filling their prescriptions of antimalarial drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, during the 2020 global coronavirus pandemic, when antimalarials were touted as a possible COVID-19 treatment. Patients who could not access their antimalarial drugs faced worse physical and mental health outcomes as a result.

COVID-19 infection rates low in people with rheumatic diseases, most report mild illness Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:31 AM PST A new study shows that the COVID-19 infection incidence has been low in people with rheumatic diseases, and most of those infected experience a mild course of illness. Additionally, fatalities have been low among rheumatic disease patients infected with COVID-19.

Pre-existing coronavirus antibodies could help protect children against new pandemic strain Posted: 06 Nov 2020 07:30 AM PST Researchers have found that some antibodies, created by the immune system during infection with common cold coronaviruses, can also target SARS-CoV-2 and may confer a degree of protection against the new viral strain.

Hydroxychloroquine not linked to longer heart rhythm intervals in rheumatoid arthritis or lupus patients Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:56 AM PST New research shows that use of hydroxychloroquine, a generic drug, does not cause any significant differences in QTc length or prolonged QTc, key measures of heart rate, in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus.

Ecologically friendly agriculture doesn't compromise crop yields Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST Research -- based on an analysis of 5,188 studies comparing diversified and simplified agricultural practices --indicates crop yield was maintained or even increased under diversified practices.

A brief pilot intervention enhances preschoolers' self-regulation and food liking Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST Mindfulness training and engaging in classroom-based games can influence self-regulation and food liking when introduced during the preschool years according to a new study.

Game 'pre-bunks' political misinformation by letting players undermine democracy Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST An online game helps 'inoculate' players against fake news by showing them how political misinformation is created and circulated. Launched today, Harmony Square has been created by psychologists with support from US Department of Homeland Security. Accompanying study shows that a single play reduces the perceived reliability of misinformation in users.

Climate change and food demand could shrink species' habitats by almost a quarter by 2100 Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST Mammals, birds and amphibians worldwide have lost on average 18% of their natural habitat range as a result of changes in land use and climate change, a new study has found. In a worst-case scenario this loss could increase to 23% over the next 80 years.

Green prescriptions could undermine the benefits of spending time in nature Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST Spending time in nature is believed to benefit people's mental health. However, new research suggests that giving people with existing mental health conditions formal 'green prescriptions', may undermine some of the benefits.

Blueprints for a cheaper single-molecule microscope Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST A team of scientists and students has designed and built a specialist microscope, and shared the build instructions to help make this equipment available to many labs across the world.

Anti-depressant repurposed to treat childhood cancer Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST A new study has found that a commonly prescribed anti-depressant may halt growth of a type of cancer known as childhood sarcoma, at least in mice and laboratory cell experiments. The findings ignite hope of novel treatment strategies against this disease.

Plastics and rising CO2 levels could pose combined threat to marine environment Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST Scientists found that after three weeks of being submerged in the ocean, the bacterial diversity on plastic bottles was twice as great as on samples collected from the surrounding seawater.

Seeing dark matter in a new light Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST A small team of astronomers have found a new way to 'see' the elusive dark matter haloes that surround galaxies, with a new technique 10 times more precise than the previous-best method.

Vaccine shows promise against herpes virus Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST A genetically edited form of a herpes simplex virus has outperformed a leading vaccine candidate in a new study. When challenged with a virulent strain of the sexually transmitted HSV-2, vaccinated guinea pigs displayed fewer genital lesions, less viral replication and less of the viral shedding that most readily spreads infection.

Astronomers discover clues that unveil the mystery of fast radio bursts Posted: 06 Nov 2020 06:29 AM PST Astrophysicists recently observed fast radio bursts, powerful radio waves coming from deep space that have been among the most mysterious astronomical phenomena ever observed.

About half of Sun-like stars could host rocky, potentially habitable planets Posted: 06 Nov 2020 05:27 AM PST According to new research using data from NASA's retired planet-hunting mission, the Kepler space telescope, about half the stars similar in temperature to our Sun could have a rocky planet capable of supporting liquid water on its surface.

COVID-19 linked to worse stroke outcomes Posted: 05 Nov 2020 03:38 PM PST People who experience strokes while infected with COVID-19 appear to be left with greater disability after the stroke, according a new study.

Pay people to get COVID-19 jab to ensure widespread coverage, says leading ethicist Posted: 05 Nov 2020 03:38 PM PST Governments should consider incentivising people to get a COVID-19 jab, when the vaccine becomes available, to achieve the required level of herd immunity -- which could be up to 80%+ of the population -- and stamp out the infection, argues a leading ethicist.

Poor nutrition in school years may have created 20 cm height gap across nations Posted: 05 Nov 2020 03:38 PM PST A new global analysis has assessed the height and weight of school-aged children and adolescents across the world.

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