ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Gum disease-causing bacteria borrow growth molecules from neighbors to thrive
• Dungeness crab fishing industry response to climate shock
• Routine eye scans may give clues to cognitive decline in diabetes
• Identifying Canada's key conservation hot spots highlights problem
• Climate change caused mangrove collapse in Oman
• Advanced materials in a snap
• Remote sensing data sheds light on when and how asteroid Ryugu lost its water
• Leaf fossils show severe end-Cretaceous plant extinction in southern Argentina
• Repeated ketamine infusions reduce PTSD symptom severity
• Protecting the global food supply chain
• Self-controlled children tend to be healthier middle-aged adults
• Drought of the century in the Middle Ages -- with parallels to climate change today?
• Sweat, bleach and gym air quality: Chemical reactions make new airborne chemicals
• Bone fracture risk may increase when critical enzymatic processes decline
• New COVID-19 test gives positive result in just a few minutes
• On the road to invisible solar panels: How tomorrow's windows will generate electricity
• Machine learning improves particle accelerator diagnostics
• Danish and Chinese tongues taste broccoli and chocolate differently
• Breaking through the resolution barrier with quantum-limited precision
• Anticoagulants reduce the number of brain metastases in mice
• In-utero exposures associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer
• Bedside EEG test can aid prognosis in unresponsive brain injury patients
• Using solar energy and agriculture to limit climate change, assist rural communities
• Neither liquid nor solid
• Potential treatment for an aggressive form of lung cancer
• Rare footage captured of jaguar killing ocelot at waterhole
• New clues why gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder doesn't work for majority of patients
• Viewing upper gastrointestinal cancers in a new light
• Making therapeutic sense of antisense oligonucleotides
• Catalyst transforms plastic waste to valuable ingredients at low temperature
• Integrator: A guardian of the human transcriptome
• Deep neural network predicts transcription factors
• Dental experts discover biological imbalance is the link between gum and kidney disease
• New imaging method reveals if antibiotics reach bacteria hiding in tissues
• How plants adapt their root growth to changes of nutrients
• Uncovering how grasslands changed our climate
• Eurasian eagle owl diet reveals new records of threatened big-bellied glandular bush-crickets
• Increase in pleasurable effects of alcohol over time can predict alcohol use disorder
• 3D-printed smart gel changes shape when exposed to light
• Study resolves long-running controversy over critical step in gene silencing
• New study on circadian clock shows 'junk DNA' plays a key role in regulating rhythms
• New clues on why pregnancy may increase risk of organ transplant rejection
• A robotic revolution for urban nature
• Chemists succeed in synthesis of aminoalcohols by utilizing light
• Fires, flooding before settlement may have formed the Amazon's rare patches of fertility

Gum disease-causing bacteria borrow growth molecules from neighbors to thrive Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:08 PM PST The human body is filled with friendly bacteria. However, some of these microorganisms, such as Veillonella parvula, may be too nice. These peaceful bacteria engage in a one-sided relationship with pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, helping the germ multiply and cause gum disease, according to a new study.

Dungeness crab fishing industry response to climate shock Posted: 05 Jan 2021 01:08 PM PST Fishermen contend with regulations, natural disasters, and the ups and downs of the stocks they fish, along with many other changes. As a result, fishing communities are quite resilient. That is, they can withstand, recover from, and adapt to change.

Routine eye scans may give clues to cognitive decline in diabetes Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:57 AM PST As they age, people with diabetes are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive disorders than are people without diabetes. Scientists now have shown that routine eye imaging can identify changes in the retina that may be associated with cognitive disorders in older people with type 1 diabetes. These results may open up a relatively easy method for early detection of cognitive decline in this population.

Identifying Canada's key conservation hot spots highlights problem Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:57 AM PST To stop biodiversity loss, Canada recently committed to protecting 30% of its land and sea by 2030. But making conservation decisions about where to locate new protected areas is complicated. It depends on data both about biodiversity and about a range of benefits (e.g. freshwater, climate regulation, recreation) that people get from nature. Despite the size of the country, new mapping suggests that less than 1% of Canada's land is a hot spot, providing all these benefits in one place.

Climate change caused mangrove collapse in Oman Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST Most of the mangrove forests on the coasts of Oman disappeared about 6,000 years ago. Until now, the reason for this was not entirely clear. A current study now sheds light on this: It indicates that the collapse of coastal ecosystems was caused by climatic changes.

Advanced materials in a snap Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST A research team has successfully used machine learning -- computer algorithms that improve themselves by learning patterns in data -- to complete cumbersome materials science calculations more than 40,000 times faster than normal.

Remote sensing data sheds light on when and how asteroid Ryugu lost its water Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST Rocks on Ryugu, a 'rubble pile' near-Earth asteroid recently visited by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft, appear to have lost much of their water before they came together to form the asteroid, new research suggests.

Leaf fossils show severe end-Cretaceous plant extinction in southern Argentina Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST The asteroid impact 66 million years ago that ushered in a mass extinction and ended the dinosaurs also killed off many of the plants that they relied on for food. Fossil leaf assemblages from Patagonia, Argentina, suggest that vegetation in South America suffered great losses but rebounded quickly, according to an international team of researchers.

Repeated ketamine infusions reduce PTSD symptom severity Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST Repeated intravenous (IV) ketamine infusions significantly reduce symptom severity in individuals with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the improvement is rapid and maintained for several weeks afterwards, according to a new study.

Protecting the global food supply chain Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST New research examined how to protect food chains from environmental shocks -- everything from floods, droughts, and extreme heat to other phenomena like natural hazards, pests, disease, algal blooms, and coral bleaching.

Self-controlled children tend to be healthier middle-aged adults Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST Self-control of one's thoughts, feelings and behaviors is one of the personality traits that makes a child ready for school. And, it turns out, ready for life as well. A large study tracking 1,000 people from birth through age 45 has determined that people who had higher levels of self-control as children were aging more slowly than their peers at age 45. Their bodies and brains were healthier and biologically younger.

Drought of the century in the Middle Ages -- with parallels to climate change today? Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age was apparently accompanied by severe droughts between 1302 and 1307 in Europe. Researchers write that the 1302-07 weather patterns display similarities to the 2018 weather anomaly, in which continental Europe experienced exceptional heat and drought.

Sweat, bleach and gym air quality: Chemical reactions make new airborne chemicals Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST One sweaty, huffing, exercising person emits as many chemicals from their body as up to five sedentary people, according to a new study. And notably, those human emissions, including amino acids from sweat or acetone from breath, chemically combine with bleach cleaners to form new airborne chemicals with unknown impacts to indoor air quality.

Bone fracture risk may increase when critical enzymatic processes decline Posted: 05 Jan 2021 10:01 AM PST A loss of enzymatic processes within the body can increase a person's risk of bone fracture.

New COVID-19 test gives positive result in just a few minutes Posted: 05 Jan 2021 09:02 AM PST Researchers report the development of a new COVID-19 test that reduces testing time from 30 minutes to less than five and delivers accurate results.

On the road to invisible solar panels: How tomorrow's windows will generate electricity Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Researchers demonstrate the first transparent solar cell. Their innovative technique rests on a specific part of the solar cell: the heterojunction, made up of thin films of materials responsible for absorbing light. By combining the unique properties of titanium dioxide and nickel oxide semiconductors, the researchers were able to generate an efficient, transparent solar cell.

Machine learning improves particle accelerator diagnostics Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Operators of Jefferson Lab's primary particle accelerator are getting a new tool to help them quickly address issues that can prevent it from running smoothly. The machine learning system has passed its first two-week test, correctly identifying glitchy accelerator components and the type of glitches they're experiencing in near-real-time. An analysis of the results of the first field test of the custom-built machine learning system was recently published.

Danish and Chinese tongues taste broccoli and chocolate differently Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Two studies show that Danes aren't quite as good as Chinese at discerning bitter tastes. The research suggests that this is related to anatomical differences upon the tongues of Danish and Chinese people.

Breaking through the resolution barrier with quantum-limited precision Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Researchers have developed a new method of distance measurement for systems such as GPS, which achieves more precise results than ever before. Using quantum physics, the team has successfully overcome the so-called resolution limit.

Anticoagulants reduce the number of brain metastases in mice Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Brain metastases can only develop if cancer cells exit the capillaries and enter into the brain tissue. To facilitate this step, cancer cells influence blood clotting, as scientists have now been able to show in mice. The cancer cells actively promote the formation of clots, which helps them to arrest in the brain capillaries and then penetrate through the vessel wall. Drugs that inhibit thrombin were able to reduce the number of brain metastases.

In-utero exposures associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Maternal health, in-utero, and perinatal exposures and risk of thyroid cancer in offspring.

Bedside EEG test can aid prognosis in unresponsive brain injury patients Posted: 05 Jan 2021 07:48 AM PST Assessing the ability of unresponsive patients with severe brain injury to understand what is being said to them could yield important insights into how they might recover, according to new research.

Using solar energy and agriculture to limit climate change, assist rural communities Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Co-developing land for both solar photovoltaic power and agriculture could provide 20% of total electricity generation in the United States with an investment of less than 1% of the annual US budget, new researchers found.

Neither liquid nor solid Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Discovery of liquid glass sheds light on the old scientific problem of the glass transition: An interdisciplinary team of researchers has uncovered a new state of matter, liquid glass, with previously unknown structural elements - new insights into the nature of glass and its transitions.

Potential treatment for an aggressive form of lung cancer Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Researchers have discovered a new metabolic vulnerability in a highly aggressive form of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These findings could pave the way for new treatments for patients with mutations in two key genes - KRAS and LKB1. Patients whose tumors contain both of these mutations, known as KL tumors, have poor outcomes and usually do not respond to immunotherapy.

Rare footage captured of jaguar killing ocelot at waterhole Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST In what may be a sign of climate-change-induced conflict, researchers have captured rare photographic evidence of a jaguar killing another predatory wild cat at an isolated waterhole in Guatemala.

New clues why gold standard treatment for bipolar disorder doesn't work for majority of patients Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Lithium is considered the gold standard for treating bipolar disorder (BD), but nearly 70 percent of people with BD don't respond to it. This leaves them at risk for debilitating, potentially life-threatening mood swings. Researchers have found that the culprit may lie in gene activity -- or lack of it.

Viewing upper gastrointestinal cancers in a new light Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Researchers report the use of Linked Color Imaging, an innovative modality that specifically combines selected wavelengths of light for illumination in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. This method, by enhancing the subtle variations in red and white hues that indicate mucosal transformation, greatly improves the early detection of upper gastrointestinal tract neoplasms as compared with conventional white light illumination.

Making therapeutic sense of antisense oligonucleotides Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Researchers have devised a molecular structural modification that boosts the efficacy of antisense oligonucleotide-based drugs by replacing the RNA strand of a heteroduplex oligonucleotide with DNA. This advance expands the scope and clinical applicability of nucleic-acid therapeutics across an ever-widening swathe of intractable diseases including neurological disorders.

Catalyst transforms plastic waste to valuable ingredients at low temperature Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Researchers have used a novel catalyst process to recycle a type of plastic found in everything from grocery bags and food packaging to toys and electronics into liquid fuels and wax.

Integrator: A guardian of the human transcriptome Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Researchers have characterized a cellular activity that protects our cells from potentially toxic by-products of gene expression. This activity is central for the ability of multicellular organisms to uphold a robust evolutionary 'reservoir' of gene products.

Deep neural network predicts transcription factors Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST A joint research team has developed a deep neural network named DeepTFactor that predicts transcription factors from protein sequences. DeepTFactor will serve as a useful tool for understanding the regulatory systems of organisms, accelerating the use of deep learning for solving biological problems.

Dental experts discover biological imbalance is the link between gum and kidney disease Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST An imbalance of the body's oxygen producing free radicals and its antioxidant cells could be the reason why gum disease and chronic kidney disease affect each other, a new study has found.

New imaging method reveals if antibiotics reach bacteria hiding in tissues Posted: 05 Jan 2021 06:56 AM PST Researchers have developed a new imaging method to see where antibiotics have reached bacteria within tissues. The method could be used to help develop more effective antibiotic treatments, reducing the risk of antibiotic resistance.

How plants adapt their root growth to changes of nutrients Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:46 AM PST Nitrogen is one the most essential nutrients for plants. Its availability in the soil plays a major role in plant growth and development, thereby affecting agricultural productivity. Scientists were now able to show, how plants adjust their root growth to varying sources of nitrogen. They give insights in the molecular pathways of roots adaptation.

Uncovering how grasslands changed our climate Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:46 AM PST Grasslands are managed worldwide to support livestock production, while remaining natural or semi-natural ones provide critical services that contribute to the wellbeing of both people and the planet. Human activities are however causing grasslands to become a source of greenhouse gas emissions rather than a carbon sink. A new study uncovered how grasslands used by humans have changed our climate over the last centuries.

Eurasian eagle owl diet reveals new records of threatened big-bellied glandular bush-crickets Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:46 AM PST Bird diets provide a real treasure for research into the distribution and conservation of their prey, conclude scientists after studying the Eurasian Eagle Owl in southeastern Bulgaria.

Increase in pleasurable effects of alcohol over time can predict alcohol use disorder Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:46 AM PST A new study following young adult drinkers for 10 years has found that individuals who reported the highest sensitivity to alcohol's pleasurable and rewarding effects at the start of the trial were more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder (AUD) over the course of the study.

3D-printed smart gel changes shape when exposed to light Posted: 05 Jan 2021 05:46 AM PST Inspired by the color-changing skin of cuttlefish, octopuses and squids, engineers have created a 3D-printed smart gel that changes shape when exposed to light, becomes 'artificial muscle' and may lead to new military camouflage, soft robotics and flexible displays. The engineers also developed a 3D-printed stretchy material that can reveal colors when light changes.

Study resolves long-running controversy over critical step in gene silencing Posted: 04 Jan 2021 02:01 PM PST Researchers have identified a molecular 'address' that explains how the cancer-related protein PRC2 binds to RNA to silence genes. The study resolves a longstanding debate about the contradictory behavior between PRC2 and RNA. The findings could have important implications for development of drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.

New study on circadian clock shows 'junk DNA' plays a key role in regulating rhythms Posted: 04 Jan 2021 11:59 AM PST Researchers have been trying to figure out what regulates molecular circadian clocks, in search of new insights into diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes. Until now, that research has focused on what is known as clock genes. But new research reveals the discovery of a new cog in the circadian clock - a genome-wide regulatory layer made up of small chains of non-coding nucleotides known as micro RNAS (miRNAs).

New clues on why pregnancy may increase risk of organ transplant rejection Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:19 AM PST A research study has found that in pregnancy, while the T cell response to a fetus becomes tolerant to allow for successful pregnancy, the part of the immune system that produces antibodies (known as the humoral response) becomes sensitized, creating memory B cells that can later contribute to the rejection of a transplanted organ.

A robotic revolution for urban nature Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:19 AM PST Drones, robots and autonomous systems can transform the natural world in and around cities for people and wildlife.

Chemists succeed in synthesis of aminoalcohols by utilizing light Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:19 AM PST So-called vicinal aminoalcohols are high-quality organic compounds that are found in many everyday products. However, their production is difficult. In their recent study, scientists have found a solution for the production of a special variant of aminoalcohols.

Fires, flooding before settlement may have formed the Amazon's rare patches of fertility Posted: 04 Jan 2021 10:19 AM PST Phosphorous, calcium and charcoal in spotty patches of fertile soil in the Amazon rainforest suggest that natural processes such as fires and river flooding, not the ingenuity of indigenous populations, created rare sites suitable for agriculture, according to new research.

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