ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Colorado mountains bouncing back from 'acid rain' impacts
• How the brain remembers right place, right time
• Breakthrough material makes pathway to hydrogen use for fuel cells under hot, dry conditions
• Stretchable micro-supercapacitors to self-power wearable devices
• Algorithms and automation: Making new technology faster and cheaper
• Understanding COVID-19 infection and possible mutations
• Breakthrough optical sensor mimics human eye, a key step toward better AI
• Vitamin boosts essential synthetic chemistry
• Environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as observed from space
• Defect-resistant superalloy can be 3D-printed
• Wildfire risk rising as scientists determine which conditions beget blazes
• New approach for more accurate epidemic modeling
• Damage to brain cells reverberates to 'bystander' cells
• More support for induction at 41 weeks' pregnancy, especially for first time mothers
• Why do elephants and tigers still roam in India? Study offers clues
• Smartphone data shows real-time impact of neighborhood on health
• Potential antibiotic for drug-resistant pathogen
• More years of obesity means higher risk of disease, study finds
• Lab-grown human brain organoids mimic an autism spectrum disorder, help test treatments
• Disrupting the cellular process that promotes pancreatic cancer's deadly growth
• Infant health inequality has increased since 2010, study finds
• Coral recovery during a prolonged heatwave offers new hope
• Elevated biomarker for blood vessel damage found in all children with SARS-CoV-2
• Studying trust in autonomous products
• Racial microaggressions contribute to disparities in STEM education
• Climate change exacerbates biodiversity loss
• Predicting epilepsy from neural network models
• COVID-19: persistent symptoms in one third of cases
• New method to label and track nano-particles could improve our understanding of plastic pollution
• New theoretical approach to manipulate light
• Research reveals how COVID-19 affects the eyes
• Improving quadrotor drone performance
• Pollution from cooking remains in atmosphere for longer
• Research team invents novel light-controlled contamination-free fluidic processor for advanced medical and industrial applications
• New method for evaluating vaccine safety
• Scientists shed new light on how lung bacteria defend against pneumonia
• Batteries mimic mammal bones for stability
• Face shields no match for sneeze vortex rings
• Tension between awareness and fatigue shapes COVID-19 spread
• Satellite tracking finds turtle foraging areas in Australia's north-west
• The world's smallest high-performance magnetic tunnel junction
• New study allows regional prediction of uranium in groundwater
• How poor oral hygiene may result in metabolic syndrome
• First instance of COVID-19 triggering recurrent Guillain-Barré Syndrome
• SMART researchers design portable device for fast detection of plant stress
• Visual short-term memory is more complex than previously assumed
• New findings shed light on the repair of UV-induced DNA damage
• Smellicopter: An obstacle-avoiding drone that uses a live moth antenna to seek out smells
• 'SCOUT' helps researchers find, quantify significant differences among organoids
• Risk of serious complications during knee replacement 73% higher when a tourniquet is used
• Magnetic bacteria as micropumps
• Beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change
• Eyebuy: Sweeping glances can 'cost you money'
• Dark coating can reduce satellite reflectivity
• Hard and fast emission cuts slow warming in the next 20 years
• Current treatment period may be too short to remove competitive advantage of transgender athletes
• Teen dislike of physical appearance strong predictor of depression in early adulthood

Colorado mountains bouncing back from 'acid rain' impacts Posted: 08 Dec 2020 04:33 PM PST Niwot Ridge in the Rocky Mountains is slowly recovering from increased acidity caused by vehicle emissions in Colorado's Front Range, suggesting that alpine regions across the Mountain West may be recovering. This is good news for the wildlife and wildflowers of Rocky Mountain National Park and for water sources that supply the Front Range and the Mountain West.

How the brain remembers right place, right time Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST Two new studies shed new light on how the brain encodes time and place into memories. The findings not only add to the body of fundamental research on memory, but could eventually provide the basis for new treatments to combat memory loss from conditions such as traumatic brain injury or Alzheimer's disease.

Breakthrough material makes pathway to hydrogen use for fuel cells under hot, dry conditions Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST A collaborative research team has developed a proton conductor for fuel cells based on polystyrene phosphonic acids that maintain high protonic conductivity up to 200 C without water.

Stretchable micro-supercapacitors to self-power wearable devices Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST A stretchable system that can harvest energy from human breathing and motion for use in wearable health-monitoring devices may be possible, according to an international team of researchers.

Algorithms and automation: Making new technology faster and cheaper Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST Additive manufacturing (AM) machinery has advanced over time, however, the necessary software for new machines often lags behind. To help mitigate this issue, researchers designed an automated process planning software to save money, time and design resources.

Understanding COVID-19 infection and possible mutations Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST The binding of a SARS-CoV-2 virus surface protein spike -- a projection from the spherical virus particle -- to the human cell surface protein ACE2 is the first step to infection that may lead to COVID-19 disease. Researchers computationally assessed how changes to the virus spike makeup can affect binding with ACE2 and compared results to those of the original SARS-CoV virus (SARS).

Breakthrough optical sensor mimics human eye, a key step toward better AI Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST Researchers are making key advances with a new type of optical sensor that more closely mimics the human eye's ability to perceive changes in its visual field.

Vitamin boosts essential synthetic chemistry Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:30 PM PST Inspired by light-sensing bacteria that thrive near hot oceanic vents, synthetic chemists use vitamin B12 to catalyze valuable hydrocarbons known as olefins, or alkenes. The mild process eliminates harsh chemicals typically needed to make precursor molecules for the manufacture of drugs and agrochemicals.

Environmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, as observed from space Posted: 08 Dec 2020 01:29 PM PST COVID-19 has changed the way we live and work, as various health and safety restrictions keep more of us at home more often. The resulting changes to our behavior are already impacting the environment around us in myriad ways, according to comparisons of remote sensing data before and during the pandemic collected by NASA, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and ESA (European Space Agency) Earth-observing satellites and others.

Defect-resistant superalloy can be 3D-printed Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST In recent years, it has become possible to use laser beams and electron beams to 'print' engineering objects with complex shapes that could not be achieved by conventional manufacturing. The additive manufacturing (AM) process, or 3D printing, for metallic materials involves melting and fusing fine-scale powder particles -- each about 10 times finer than a grain of beach sand -- in sub-millimeter-scale 'pools' created by focusing a laser or electron beam on the material.

Wildfire risk rising as scientists determine which conditions beget blazes Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST As wildfires burn more often across the Western U.S., researchers are working to understand how extensively blazes burn. Their investigation, aided by machine learning techniques that sort fires by the conditions that precede them, not only reveals that the risk of wildfire is rising, but also spells out the role moisture plays in estimating fire risk.

New approach for more accurate epidemic modeling Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST Researchers demonstrate that they can make more accurate predictions about the spread of infectious diseases by using fractional exponents for infected sub-groups, particularly in the early stages of a pandemic.

Damage to brain cells reverberates to 'bystander' cells Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST Injury or disease that afflicts a relatively small number of brain cells causes a chain reaction that stops activity across a vast network of neural circuits, according to new research. The study may help to explain why people can suffer from temporary but severe loss of cognitive function in cases of traumatic brain injury or disease.

More support for induction at 41 weeks' pregnancy, especially for first time mothers Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST There is growing evidence that pregnant women who go beyond term, especially first time mothers and their infants, will benefit from induction of labor at 41 weeks, instead of expectant management with subsequent induction of labor at 42 weeks if labor will not start spontaneously. This is clearer now that researchers have appraised results from three previous investigations.

Why do elephants and tigers still roam in India? Study offers clues Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST A study documenting four extinctions of large mammals on the Indian Subcontinent sheds light on why elephants, tigers, and rhinos still roam there.

Smartphone data shows real-time impact of neighborhood on health Posted: 08 Dec 2020 12:37 PM PST Researchers at Cornell University are using smartphones to capture location and real-time survey data to examine how social environments encountered in everyday life may affect health.

Potential antibiotic for drug-resistant pathogen Posted: 08 Dec 2020 11:26 AM PST Scientists have developed a possible new antibiotic for a pathogen that is notoriously resistant to medications and frequently lethal for people with cystic fibrosis and other lung ailments.

More years of obesity means higher risk of disease, study finds Posted: 08 Dec 2020 11:26 AM PST A greater obesity duration is associated with worse values for all cardiometabolic disease factors, according to a new study.

Lab-grown human brain organoids mimic an autism spectrum disorder, help test treatments Posted: 08 Dec 2020 10:08 AM PST Researchers used brain organoids to identify two drug candidates that counteract the genetic deficiencies that cause Rett syndrome, a rare form of autism spectrum disorder.

Disrupting the cellular process that promotes pancreatic cancer's deadly growth Posted: 08 Dec 2020 10:08 AM PST Researchers say they've identified a way to disrupt a process that promotes the growth of pancreatic cancers -- one of the most difficult and deadly cancers to treat.

Infant health inequality has increased since 2010, study finds Posted: 08 Dec 2020 09:10 AM PST After decades of narrowing gaps in health between infants born to the most and least advantaged American mothers, infant health inequality is increasing, portending a rise in health and social inequity that could last for decades.

Coral recovery during a prolonged heatwave offers new hope Posted: 08 Dec 2020 09:10 AM PST Biologists have discovered how some corals managed to survive a globally unprecedented heatwave, in a first-ever study that provides new hope for the long-term survival of coral reefs in the face of climate change.

Elevated biomarker for blood vessel damage found in all children with SARS-CoV-2 Posted: 08 Dec 2020 09:10 AM PST Researchers have found elevated levels of a biomarker related to blood vessel damage in children with SARS-CoV-2 infection, even if the children had minimal or no symptoms of COVID-19. They also found that a high proportion of children with SARS-CoV-2 infection met clinical and diagnostic criteria for thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA).

Studying trust in autonomous products Posted: 08 Dec 2020 09:10 AM PST Engineers investigated how people's moods might affect their trust of autonomous products, such as smart speakers. They uncovered a complicated relationship.

Racial microaggressions contribute to disparities in STEM education Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:16 AM PST Careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are one of the fastest-growing areas of work in the United States, yet racial and gender disparities remain in STEM occupations. A recent study examining reasons for such disparities shows the overall racial climate on a college campus -- informed by experiences of racial microaggressions -- is a contributing factor in the lack of representation of students of color in STEM education programs.

Climate change exacerbates biodiversity loss Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:16 AM PST A considerable number of existing and proposed post-2020 biodiversity targets are at risk of being severely compromised due to climate change, even if other barriers such as habitat exploitation are removed argue researchers. According to their analysis, global warming accelerates the loss of biodiversity. Vice versa, measures to protect biodiversity may also mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Predicting epilepsy from neural network models Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST A new study shows how 'tipping points' in the brain, responsible for diseases including epilepsy, can be better predicted by accounting for branches in networks of neurons.

COVID-19: persistent symptoms in one third of cases Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST Physicians in Geneva have shown that some of the troublesome symptoms of COVID-19 could last more than 6 weeks, even in patients without underlying risk factors.

New method to label and track nano-particles could improve our understanding of plastic pollution Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST A ground-breaking method to label and track manufactured nano-plastics could signal a paradigm shift in how we understand and care for environments, finds a new study.

New theoretical approach to manipulate light Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST The quest to discover pioneering new ways in which to manipulate how light travels through electromagnetic materials has taken a new, unusual twist.

Research reveals how COVID-19 affects the eyes Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST Sore eyes are the most significant vision-based indicator of COVID-19, according to new research.

Improving quadrotor drone performance Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST When an aircraft veers upwards too much, the decrease in lift and increase in drag may cause the vehicle to suddenly plummet. Known as a stall, this phenomenon has prompted many drone manufacturers to err on the side of extreme caution when they plan their vehicles' autonomous flight movements.

Pollution from cooking remains in atmosphere for longer Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:15 AM PST Particulate emissions from cooking stay in the atmosphere for longer than previously thought, making a prolonged contribution to poor air quality and human health, according to a new study.

Research team invents novel light-controlled contamination-free fluidic processor for advanced medical and industrial applications Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST A mechanical engineering research team has invented a novel light-controlled, contamination-free fluidic processor, which can serve as a useful tool to greatly reduce the risk of infection of front-line medical workers in testing virus or bacteria in big pandemics like the current COVID-19 pandemic, and to minimize the risk of contamination during the process.

New method for evaluating vaccine safety Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST A research group has led the development of a new method to evaluate vaccine safety. The new method may significantly reduce the use of animal testing in the vaccine industry.

Scientists shed new light on how lung bacteria defend against pneumonia Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST New insight on how bacteria in the lungs protect against invading pathogens has been published.

Batteries mimic mammal bones for stability Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Sodium-ion batteries offer several advantages over lithium-ion batteries; however, it is difficult to develop sodium cathodes, materials through which electrons can enter a battery. Many candidate materials are unstable or cannot withstand high voltages. To find a solution, researchers turned to nature. They created a porous system of NVP structures, surrounded by a dense shell of reduced graphene oxide.

Face shields no match for sneeze vortex rings Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Do face shields provide enough protection to the wearers against COVID-19 if they don't also wear a mask? No. But researchers in Japan are working to create face shields safe enough to be worn alone. In a new article, the researchers describe their work to gain a better understanding of what happens to the airflow around a face shield when someone nearby sneezes.

Tension between awareness and fatigue shapes COVID-19 spread Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, two human factors are battling it out: awareness of the virus's severe consequences and fatigue from nine months of pandemic precautions. The results of that battle can be seen in the oddly shaped case, hospitalization, and fatality-count graphs, a new study suggests.

Satellite tracking finds turtle foraging areas in Australia's north-west Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Marine scientists have mapped previously unknown foraging grounds and migratory routes of Western Australia's green turtles to support conservation of the iconic threatened species.

The world's smallest high-performance magnetic tunnel junction Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST A research group has developed the world's smallest (2.3 nm) high-performance magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs). This work is expected to accelerate the advancement of ultrahigh-density, low-power, high-performance non-volatile memory for a variety of applications, such as IoT, AI, and automobiles.

New study allows regional prediction of uranium in groundwater Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Researchers can predict where and when uranium is released into aquifers and suggest an easy fix to keep this naturally occurring toxin from contaminating water sources.

How poor oral hygiene may result in metabolic syndrome Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Researchers have identified a novel mechanism by which periodontal disease may cause metabolic syndrome. By studying patients with metabolic syndrome, the researchers demonstrated high antibody titers against Porphyromonas gingivalis, the bacterium causing periodontal disease. In a mouse model, the researchers then showed that infection with this bacterium causes systemic insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction in skeletal muscle by altering the gut microbiome. This study shows the effect periodontal disease can have on the entire body.

First instance of COVID-19 triggering recurrent Guillain-Barré Syndrome Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Researchers have reported the first instance of COVID-19 triggering a recurrence of Guillain-Barré Syndrome -- a rare disorder where the body's immune system attacks nerves and can lead to respiratory failure and death.

SMART researchers design portable device for fast detection of plant stress Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Researchers have designed a portable optical sensor that allows rapid monitoring of plant stress - a new tool to help farmers and plant scientists with early diagnosis and real-time plant health monitoring in field conditions. SMART's discovery is a useful tool in precision agriculture to improve crop yield through sustainable farming.

Visual short-term memory is more complex than previously assumed Posted: 08 Dec 2020 08:14 AM PST Contrary to previous assumptions, visual short-term memory is not merely based on one kind of information about an object, such as only its colour or only its name. Rather, several types of information can be retained simultaneously in short-term memory. Using complex EEG analyses and deep neural networks, researchers have discovered that short-term memory is more complex than previously assumed.

New findings shed light on the repair of UV-induced DNA damage Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST A repair system in our cells fixes DNA damage caused by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun, however the detailed process behind this is not fully understood. An international research team has clarified the regulatory mechanism of the ubiquitin-proteasome system in recognizing and repairing UV-damaged DNA. This new discovery will contribute towards illuminating the onset mechanisms of diseases such as skin cancer.

Smellicopter: An obstacle-avoiding drone that uses a live moth antenna to seek out smells Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST A team has developed Smellicopter: an autonomous drone that uses a live antenna from a moth to navigate toward smells. Smellicopter can also sense and avoid obstacles as it travels through the air.

'SCOUT' helps researchers find, quantify significant differences among organoids Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST Unbiased, high-throughput 'pipeline' system clears, labels, images and analyzes organoids to improve their utility for understanding development and diseases such as Zika infection.

Risk of serious complications during knee replacement 73% higher when a tourniquet is used Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST The risk of developing serious complications following a knee replacement could be up to 73% higher when a tourniquet is used, compared to surgery without a tourniquet. Serious complications during knee replacement surgery are rare. However, researchers found that 5.9% of patients whose operations involved a tourniquet had serious complications needing additional health care, compared to 2.9% in those operated on without a tourniquet.

Magnetic bacteria as micropumps Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST Scientists use magnetic bacteria to control liquids at the micro level. They are already thinking about using them in the human bloodstream for precision delivery of cancer drugs to a tumor.

Beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST A study of pond sites in the Cascades found greater amphibian diversity in sites with beaver damns. Red-legged frogs and northwestern salamanders, which develop more slowly, were detected almost exclusively in dammed sites.

Eyebuy: Sweeping glances can 'cost you money' Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST When Christmas shopping, customers should keep their eyes under control. As a study shows, visual attention can be strongly influenced during shopping with very simple interventions. The researchers report that unplanned purchases can even double as a result.

Dark coating can reduce satellite reflectivity Posted: 08 Dec 2020 06:00 AM PST Observations confirmed that dark coating can reduce satellite reflectivity by half. There are concerns that numerous artificial satellites in orbit could impair astronomical observations, but these findings may help alleviate such conditions.

Hard and fast emission cuts slow warming in the next 20 years Posted: 07 Dec 2020 04:51 PM PST A new study shows that strong and rapid action to cut emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will help to slow down the rate of global warming over the next twenty years.

Current treatment period may be too short to remove competitive advantage of transgender athletes Posted: 07 Dec 2020 04:51 PM PST Transgender women elite athletes may need more than the recommended year of feminising hormone therapy to remove the competitive advantage conferred by testosterone, suggests new research.

Teen dislike of physical appearance strong predictor of depression in early adulthood Posted: 07 Dec 2020 04:51 PM PST Teens who are unhappy with their physical appearance are at significantly heightened risk of depression by the time they reach early adulthood.

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