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• Reliable COVID-19 short-term forecasting
• The light-bending dance of binary black holes
• How the humble woodchip is cleaning up water worldwide
• From smoky skies to a green horizon: Scientists convert fire-risk wood waste into biofuel
• AI pinpoints local pollution hotspots using satellite images
• Modelling ancient Antarctic ice sheets helps us see future of global warming
• Scientists generate human-monkey chimeric embryos
• How many T. rexes were there? Billions
• Bearded dragon embryos become females either through sex chromosomes or hot temperatures
• Those who had COVID-19 may only need one vaccine dose, study suggests
• A neuromagnetic view through the skull
• Forest elephants are now critically endangered -- here's how to count them
• Baked meteorites yield clues to planetary atmospheres
• The architect of genome folding
• One year of SARS-CoV-2 evolution
• Good dental health may help prevent heart infection from mouth bacteria
• Efforts to stop spread of COVID-19 should focus on preventing airborne transmission, experts say
• Self-assembling nanofibers prevent damage from inflammation
• Stretching the boundaries of medical tech with wearable antennae
• Picosecond electron transfer in peptides can help energy technologies
• Satellite map of human pressure on land provides insight on sustainable development
• Lipid research may help solve COVID-19 vaccine challenges
• RNA holds the reins in bacteria: Researchers observe RNA controlling protein synthesis
• Reliably measuring oxygen deficiency in rivers or lakes
• In pig brain development, nature beats nurture
• How we can reduce food waste and promote healthy eating
• Mystery canine illness identified: Animal coronavirus
• Dueling evolutionary forces drive rapid evolution of salamander coloration
• There is no 'one size fits all' approach to treat severe asthma

Reliable COVID-19 short-term forecasting Posted: 15 Apr 2021 02:07 PM PDT Researchers have developed a new model for making short-term projections of daily COVID-19 cases that is accurate, reliable and easily used by public health officials and other organizations.

The light-bending dance of binary black holes Posted: 15 Apr 2021 02:07 PM PDT A pair of orbiting black holes millions of times the Sun's mass perform a hypnotic pas de deux in a new NASA visualization. The movie traces how the black holes distort and redirect light emanating from the maelstrom of hot gas - called an accretion disk - that surrounds each one.

How the humble woodchip is cleaning up water worldwide Posted: 15 Apr 2021 02:07 PM PDT Australian pineapple, Danish trout, and Midwestern U.S. corn farmers are not often lumped together under the same agricultural umbrella. But they and many others who raise crops and animals face a common problem: excess nitrogen in drainage water. Whether it flows out to the Great Barrier Reef or the Gulf of Mexico, the nutrient contributes to harmful algal blooms that starve fish and other organisms of oxygen.

From smoky skies to a green horizon: Scientists convert fire-risk wood waste into biofuel Posted: 15 Apr 2021 02:07 PM PDT Reliance on petroleum fuels and raging wildfires: Two separate, large-scale challenges that could be addressed by one scientific breakthrough. Researchers have developed a streamlined and efficient process for converting woody plant matter like forest overgrowth and agricultural waste - material that is currently burned either intentionally or unintentionally - into liquid biofuel.

AI pinpoints local pollution hotspots using satellite images Posted: 15 Apr 2021 02:07 PM PDT Researchers have developed a method that uses machine learning, satellite imagery and weather data to autonomously find hotspots of heavy air pollution, city block by city block. The technique could be a boon for finding and mitigating sources of hazardous aerosols, studying the effects of air pollution on human health, and making better informed, socially just public policy decisions.

Modelling ancient Antarctic ice sheets helps us see future of global warming Posted: 15 Apr 2021 02:05 PM PDT In order to get a sense of what our future may hold, scientists have been looking to the deep past. Now, new research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which combines climate, ice sheet and vegetation model simulations with a suite of different climatic and geologic scenarios, opens the clearest window yet into the deep history of the Antarctic ice sheet and what our planetary future might hold.

Scientists generate human-monkey chimeric embryos Posted: 15 Apr 2021 11:29 AM PDT Investigators have injected human stem cells into primate embryos and were able to grow chimeric embryos for a significant period of time -- up to 20 days. The research, despite its ethical concerns, has the potential to provide new insights into developmental biology and evolution. It also has implications for developing new models of human biology and disease.

How many T. rexes were there? Billions Posted: 15 Apr 2021 11:26 AM PDT With fossils few and far between, paleontologists have shied away from estimating the size of extinct populations. But UC Berkeley scientists decided to try, focusing on the North American predator T. rex. Using data from the latest fossil analyses, they concluded that some 20,000 adults likely roamed the continent at any one time, from Mexico to Canada. The species survived for perhaps 2.5 million years, which means that about 2.5 billion lived and died overall.

Bearded dragon embryos become females either through sex chromosomes or hot temperatures Posted: 15 Apr 2021 11:18 AM PDT Bearded dragon embryos can use two different sets of genes to become a female lizard -- one activated by the sex chromosomes and the other activated by high temperatures during development, researchers report.

Those who had COVID-19 may only need one vaccine dose, study suggests Posted: 15 Apr 2021 11:18 AM PDT Those recovered from COVID-19 had a robust antibody response after the first mRNA vaccine dose, but little immune benefit after the second dose, according to new research. The findings suggest only a single vaccine dose may be needed to produce a sufficient antibody response. Those who did not have COVID-19 did not have a full immune response until after receiving their second vaccine, reinforcing the importance of the two recommended doses.

A neuromagnetic view through the skull Posted: 15 Apr 2021 10:31 AM PDT The brain processes information using both slow and fast currents. Until now, researchers had to use electrodes placed inside the brain in order to measure the latter. Researchers have now successfully visualized these fast brain signals from the outside -- and found a surprising degree of variability.

Forest elephants are now critically endangered -- here's how to count them Posted: 15 Apr 2021 10:31 AM PDT Scientists compared methodologies to count African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis), which were recently acknowledged by IUCN as a separate, Critically Endangered species from African savannah elephants.

Baked meteorites yield clues to planetary atmospheres Posted: 15 Apr 2021 08:41 AM PDT In a novel laboratory investigation of the initial atmospheres of Earth-like rocky planets, researchers heated pristine meteorite samples in a high-temperature furnace and analyzed the gases released. Their results suggest that the initial atmospheres of terrestrial planets may differ significantly from many of the common assumptions used in theoretical models of planetary atmospheres.

The architect of genome folding Posted: 15 Apr 2021 08:41 AM PDT The DNA molecule is not naked in the nucleus. Instead, it is folded in a very organized way by the help of different proteins to establish a unique spatial organization of the genetic information. This 3D spatial genome organization is fundamental for the regulation of our genes and has to be established de novo by each individual during early embryogenesis. Researchers now reveal a yet unknown and critical role of the protein HP1a in the 3D genome re-organization after fertilization. The study identifies HP1a as an epigenetic regulator that is involved in establishing the global structure of the genome in the early Drosophila embryo.

One year of SARS-CoV-2 evolution Posted: 15 Apr 2021 08:40 AM PDT Researchers have published an in-depth look at the SARS-CoV-2 mutations that have taken place during the past year. The review discusses the findings of over 180 research articles and follows the changes that have taken place in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, and the variants that have occurred as a result.

Good dental health may help prevent heart infection from mouth bacteria Posted: 15 Apr 2021 06:07 AM PDT Good oral hygiene and regular dental care are the most important ways to reduce risk of a heart infection called infective endocarditis caused by bacteria in the mouth. There are four categories of heart patients considered to be at highest risk for adverse outcomes from infective endocarditis, and only these patients are recommended to receive preventive antibiotic treatment prior to invasive dental procedures.

Efforts to stop spread of COVID-19 should focus on preventing airborne transmission, experts say Posted: 14 Apr 2021 05:24 PM PDT Any future attempts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 should be focused on tackling close airborne transmission of the virus which is considered to be the primary route for its circulation, say experts in a new editorial.

Self-assembling nanofibers prevent damage from inflammation Posted: 14 Apr 2021 05:24 PM PDT Biomedical engineers have developed a self-assembling nanomaterial that can help limit damage caused by inflammatory diseases by activating key cells in the immune system. In mouse models of psoriasis, the team showed that their nanofiber-based drug could effectively mitigate damaging inflammation as effectively as a gold-standard therapy.

Stretching the boundaries of medical tech with wearable antennae Posted: 14 Apr 2021 05:24 PM PDT Current research on flexible electronics is paving the way for wireless sensors that can be worn on the body and collect a variety of medical data. But where do the data go? Without a similar flexible transmitting device, these sensors would require wired connections to transmit health data.

Picosecond electron transfer in peptides can help energy technologies Posted: 14 Apr 2021 05:24 PM PDT An international team of researchers has observed picosecond charge transfer mediated by hydrogen bonds in peptides. A picosecond is one trillionth of a second. As short-chain analogs of proteins, crucially important building blocks of living organisms, peptides are chains of chemically linked amino acids. The discovery shows the role of hydrogen bonds in electron transfer.

Satellite map of human pressure on land provides insight on sustainable development Posted: 14 Apr 2021 05:24 PM PDT The map shows a near-present snapshot of effects from deforestation, mining, expanding road networks, urbanization and increasing agriculture.

Lipid research may help solve COVID-19 vaccine challenges Posted: 14 Apr 2021 05:24 PM PDT New research could help solve a major challenge in the deployment of certain COVID-19 vaccines worldwide -- the need for the vaccines to be kept at below-freezing temperatures during transport and storage. Researchers demonstrate a new, inexpensive technique that generates crystalline exoskeletons around delicate liposomes and other lipid nanoparticles and stabilizes them at room temperature.

RNA holds the reins in bacteria: Researchers observe RNA controlling protein synthesis Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:50 PM PDT To better understand how RNA in bacteria gives rise to protein -- and potentially target these processes in the design of new antibiotics -- researchers are turning their attention to the unique way this process happens in bacteria. Researchers have directly observed previously hidden RNA regulatory mechanisms within bacteria.

Reliably measuring oxygen deficiency in rivers or lakes Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT Wastewater carries large quantities of organic substances into the rivers and lakes, leading to heavy growth of bacteria and oxygen deficiency. Measurement methods have so far been incapable of measuring this organic pollution precisely. A new method should provide a clear image of the water conditions in the future.

In pig brain development, nature beats nurture Posted: 14 Apr 2021 10:19 AM PDT Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they've done for biomedical research, rodents aren't always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain development and nutrition. That's where pigs can play an important role.

How we can reduce food waste and promote healthy eating Posted: 14 Apr 2021 10:19 AM PDT Food waste and obesity are major problems in developed countries. They are both caused by an overabundance of food, but strategies to reduce one can inadvertently increase the other. A broader perspective can help identify ways to limit food waste while also promoting healthy nutrition, researchers suggest.

Mystery canine illness identified: Animal coronavirus Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT An outbreak of vomiting among dogs has been traced back to a type of animal coronavirus by researchers. Vets across the country began reporting cases of acute onset prolific vomiting in 2019/20.

Dueling evolutionary forces drive rapid evolution of salamander coloration Posted: 13 Apr 2021 04:40 PM PDT Two opposing evolutionary forces explain the presence of the two different colors of spotted salamander egg masses at ponds in Pennsylvania, according to a new study. Understanding the processes that maintain biological diversity in wild populations may allow researchers to predict how species will respond to global change.

There is no 'one size fits all' approach to treat severe asthma Posted: 13 Apr 2021 02:07 PM PDT Despite a similar clinical presentation, people with severe asthma have strikingly distinct immune profiles, research shows. These findings can be used to develop new therapeutics and enhance precision medicine approaches to treating these patients.

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