ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• NASA's TESS discovers new worlds in a river of young stars
• Star-shaped brain cells may be linked to stuttering
• Scientists manipulate magnets at the atomic scale
• Diving into the mysteries of mate selection
• Study may lead to solutions for overeating
• Study contradicts belief that whales learn songs from one another
• Biodiversity protects bee communities from disease
• New insight into protein structures that could treat Huntington's disease
• Flowers of St. John's Wort serve as green catalyst
• Main genetic causes of autoimmune Addison's disease identified
• Study explores neurocognitive basis of bias against people who look different
• Increasing hurricane intensity around Bermuda linked to rising ocean temperatures
• How comparable different stress tests are
• Researchers have broken the code for cell communication
• T cells depressed
• Detecting single molecules and diagnosing diseases with a smartphone
• Changing the connection between the hemispheres affects speech perception
• New machine learning theory raises questions about nature of science
• Potential new treatment for fatal childhood brain cancer
• Green tea compound aids p53, 'guardian of the genome' and tumor suppressor
• Lemurs show there's no single formula for lasting love
• Applying quantum computing to a particle process
• Prediabetes may be linked to worse brain health
• Heart failure cases soar globally
• Facts on the ground: How microplastics in the soil contribute to environmental pollution
• Implant improves balance, movement and quality of life for people with inner ear disorder
• Tuning the circadian clock, boosting rhythms may be key to future treatments and medicines
• Portrait of young galaxy throws theory of galaxy formation on its head
• The politics of synonyms
• Hope for children with bow hunter syndrome
• New insights to past ecosystems are now available based on pollen and plant traits
• A plant's nutrient-sensing abilities can modulate its response to environmental stress
• Ebola is a master of disguise
• Once bitten, twice shy: the neurology of why one bad curry could put us off for life
• Biodiversity important at regional scales
• New prostate cancer test could avoid unnecessary biopsies
• Cybersecurity vulnerabilities of common seismological equipment
• Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening 10x for the underserved

NASA's TESS discovers new worlds in a river of young stars Posted: 12 Feb 2021 04:32 PM PST Astronomers have discovered a trio of hot worlds larger than Earth orbiting a much younger version of our Sun called TOI 451. The system resides in the recently discovered Pisces-Eridanus stream, a collection of stars less than 3% the age of our solar system that stretches across one-third of the sky.

Star-shaped brain cells may be linked to stuttering Posted: 12 Feb 2021 11:55 AM PST Astrocytes -- star-shaped cells in the brain that are actively involved in brain function -- may play an important role in stuttering, a study led by an expert on stuttering has found. The study also suggests that treatment with the medication risperidone leads to increased activity of the striatum in persons who stutter.

Scientists manipulate magnets at the atomic scale Posted: 12 Feb 2021 10:51 AM PST Fast and energy-efficient future data processing technologies are on the horizon after an international team of scientists successfully manipulated magnets at the atomic level.

Diving into the mysteries of mate selection Posted: 12 Feb 2021 10:51 AM PST In your quest for true love and that elusive happily ever after, are you waiting for the 'right' person to come along, or do you find yourself going for the cutest guy or girl in the room, hoping things will work out? Do you leave your options open, hoping to 'trade-up' at the next opportunity, or do you invest in your relationship with an eye on the cost-benefits analysis?

Study may lead to solutions for overeating Posted: 12 Feb 2021 09:35 AM PST The 10-member team made discoveries about a specific area of the brain tied to recollection and the desire to seek and consume food. It could lead to a way to inhibit the desire to overeat.

Study contradicts belief that whales learn songs from one another Posted: 12 Feb 2021 09:35 AM PST A new study is directly contradicting the widely accepted cultural transmission hypothesis suggesting that whales learn their songs from other whales. 'Our findings indicate that neither cultural transmission nor social learning contributes significantly to how humpback whales change their songs over time.', says one of the researchers.

Biodiversity protects bee communities from disease Posted: 12 Feb 2021 08:39 AM PST A new analysis of thousands of native and nonnative Michigan bees shows that the most diverse bee communities have the lowest levels of three common viral pathogens.

New insight into protein structures that could treat Huntington's disease Posted: 12 Feb 2021 08:39 AM PST In Huntington's disease, a faulty protein aggregates in brain cells and eventually kills them. Such protein aggregates could, in principle, be prevented with a heat shock protein. However, it is not well known how these proteins interact with the Huntington's disease protein. New research has partially resolved the structure of heat shock proteins that bind to such aggregating proteins.

Flowers of St. John's Wort serve as green catalyst Posted: 12 Feb 2021 08:19 AM PST An interdisciplinary team of scientists has for the first time used dried flowers of St. John's Wort (genus Hypericum) as an active catalyst in various photochemical reactions.

Main genetic causes of autoimmune Addison's disease identified Posted: 12 Feb 2021 08:18 AM PST Scientists have discovered the genes involved in autoimmune Addison's disease.

Study explores neurocognitive basis of bias against people who look different Posted: 12 Feb 2021 08:18 AM PST A new brain-and-behavior study clarifies how the 'anomalous-is-bad' stereotype manifests, and implicates a brain region called the amygdala as one of the likely mediators of this stereotype.

Increasing hurricane intensity around Bermuda linked to rising ocean temperatures Posted: 12 Feb 2021 08:18 AM PST New research shows that hurricane maximum wind speeds in the subtropical Atlantic around Bermuda have more than doubled on average over the last 60 years due to rising ocean temperatures in the region.

How comparable different stress tests are Posted: 12 Feb 2021 07:18 AM PST Scientists use many different tests to investigate what happens in the brain in people experiencing stress. It is unclear to what extent the various methods with which subjects are placed under stress are comparable to each other. In a meta-analysis, researchers compared 31 previous studies that had investigated stress using functional magnetic resonance imaging. The team worked out which regions of the brain are activated as standard during stress and which stress tests trigger similar activation patterns.

Researchers have broken the code for cell communication Posted: 12 Feb 2021 07:18 AM PST Knowledge on how cells communicate is an important key to understanding many biological systems and diseases. A research team has now used a unique combination of methods to map the mechanism behind cellular communication. Their findings can potentially improve understanding of the underlying mechanism behind type 2 diabetes.

T cells depressed Posted: 12 Feb 2021 07:18 AM PST In chronic infections, the immune system can become exhausted. Researchers have looked into how this works.

Detecting single molecules and diagnosing diseases with a smartphone Posted: 12 Feb 2021 07:18 AM PST Researchers show that the light emitted by a single molecule can be detected with a low-cost optical setup. Their prototype could facilitate medical diagnostics.

Changing the connection between the hemispheres affects speech perception Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:41 AM PST When we listen to speech sounds, our brain needs to combine information from both hemispheres. How does the brain integrate acoustic information from remote areas? In a neuroimaging study, a team of researchers applied electrical stimulation to participants' brains during a listening task. The stimulation affected the connection between the two hemispheres, which in turn changed participants' listening behavior.

New machine learning theory raises questions about nature of science Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:41 AM PST A novel computer algorithm, or set of rules, that accurately predicts the orbits of planets in the solar system could be adapted to better predict and control the behavior of the plasma that fuels fusion facilities designed to harvest on Earth the fusion energy that powers the sun and stars.

Potential new treatment for fatal childhood brain cancer Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:41 AM PST A new research paper reveals a potential revolutionary drug combination that could become an effective treatment for the incurable brain cancer known as diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

Green tea compound aids p53, 'guardian of the genome' and tumor suppressor Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:41 AM PST An antioxidant found in green tea may increase levels of p53, a natural anti-cancer protein, known as the ''guardian of the genome'' for its ability to repair DNA damage or destroy cancerous cells.

Lemurs show there's no single formula for lasting love Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:41 AM PST Humans aren't the only mammals that form long-term bonds with a single, special mate -- some lemurs and other animals do, too. Researchers are mapping the hormone receptors that underlie these primates' ability to pair up for the long haul. Their findings suggest the brain circuitry that makes love last in some species may not be the same in others.

Applying quantum computing to a particle process Posted: 12 Feb 2021 06:41 AM PST Researchers used a quantum computer to successfully simulate an aspect of particle collisions that is typically neglected in high-energy physics experiments, such as those that occur at CERN's Large Hadron Collider.

Prediabetes may be linked to worse brain health Posted: 11 Feb 2021 04:53 PM PST Researchers analyzed data from the UK Biobank of 500,000 people aged 58 years on average, and found that people with higher than normal blood sugar levels were 42% more likely to experience cognitive decline over an average of four years, and were 54% more likely to develop vascular dementia over an average of eight years (although absolute rates of both cognitive decline and dementia were low).

Heart failure cases soar globally Posted: 11 Feb 2021 04:53 PM PST The number of patients with heart failure worldwide nearly doubled from 33.5 million in 1990 to 64.3 million in 2017.

Facts on the ground: How microplastics in the soil contribute to environmental pollution Posted: 11 Feb 2021 02:11 PM PST Plastic is a major threat to the environment. Of particular ecological risk is its manifestation as microplastics (<5 mm in size) in the agricultural environment. Scientists addressed this issue in a recent study, looking into the levels, shapes, and sizes of microplastics in Korean agricultural soils. They reported new insights on the agricultural sources of microplastics, contributing to a better understanding on their role in environmental pollution.

Implant improves balance, movement and quality of life for people with inner ear disorder Posted: 11 Feb 2021 02:11 PM PST Researchers have shown that they can facilitate walking, relieve dizziness and improve quality of life in patients with BVH by surgically implanting a stimulator that electrically bypasses malfunctioning areas of the inner ear and partially restores the sensation of balance.

Tuning the circadian clock, boosting rhythms may be key to future treatments and medicines Posted: 11 Feb 2021 02:10 PM PST Subconsciously, our bodies keep time for us through an ancient means - the circadian clock. A new article reviews how the clock controls various aspects of homeostasis, and how organs coordinate their function over the course of a day.

Portrait of young galaxy throws theory of galaxy formation on its head Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:44 AM PST Scientists have challenged our current understanding of how galaxies form by unveiling pictures of a young galaxy in the early life of the Universe which appears surprisingly mature.

The politics of synonyms Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:43 AM PST Researchers found people are more successful at identifying language associated with Republican speech than Democratic speech patterns.

Hope for children with bow hunter syndrome Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:43 AM PST Fusing the neck's top two vertebrae can prevent repeat strokes in children with bow hunter syndrome, a rare condition that affects a handful of U.S. pediatric patients each year, researchers suggest in a recent study. The finding offers a new way to treat these children and protect them from potentially lifelong neurological consequences.

New insights to past ecosystems are now available based on pollen and plant traits Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:42 AM PST Researchers have mined and combined information from two databases to link pollen and key plant traits to generate confidence in the ability to reconstruct past ecosystem services. The approach can help understand how plants performed different benefits useful for humans over the past 21,000 years, and how these services responded to human and climate disturbances.

A plant's nutrient-sensing abilities can modulate its response to environmental stress Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:42 AM PST Understanding how plants respond to stressful environmental conditions is crucial to developing effective strategies for protecting important agricultural crops from a changing climate. New research reveals an important process by which plants switch between amplified and dampened stress responses.

Ebola is a master of disguise Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:42 AM PST Ebola is so pernicious because it pulls a fast one on the body, disguising itself as a dying cell. A study identifies a pathway that all filoviruses use to gain entry into our cells -- and shows how they can be stopped in their tracks by at least one FDA-approved drug.

Once bitten, twice shy: the neurology of why one bad curry could put us off for life Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:42 AM PST A negative experience with food usually leaves us unable to stomach the thought of eating that particular dish again. Using sugar-loving snails as models, researchers believe these bad experiences could be causing a switch in our brains, which impacts our future eating habits.

Biodiversity important at regional scales Posted: 11 Feb 2021 11:42 AM PST New research shows that biodiversity is important not just at the traditional scale of short-term plot experiments -- in which ecologists monitor the health of a single meadow, forest grove, or pond after manipulating its species counts -- but when measured over decades and across regional landscapes as well. The findings can help guide conservation planning and enhance efforts to make human communities more sustainable.

New prostate cancer test could avoid unnecessary biopsies Posted: 11 Feb 2021 08:40 AM PST A urine test could have avoided one third of unnecessary prostate cancer biopsies while failing to detect only a small number of cancers, according to a validation study that included more than 1,500 patients.

Cybersecurity vulnerabilities of common seismological equipment Posted: 11 Feb 2021 08:40 AM PST Seismic monitoring devices linked to the internet are vulnerable to cyberattacks that could disrupt data collection and processing, say researchers who have probed the devices for weak points.

Take-at-home tests boost colorectal cancer screening 10x for the underserved Posted: 11 Feb 2021 08:39 AM PST By making it the default to send colorectal cancer screening tests to patients' homes unless they opted out via text message, screening rates increased by more than 1,000 percent.

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