ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Varying immune cell levels in canine brain tumors could provide therapeutic targets
• Researchers uncover the biology and treatment behind a rare autoinflammatory disease
• Scientists develop 'greener' way to make fertilizer
• Polymer scientist helps develop new technique for large-scale energy storage
• Faster and cheaper ethanol-to-jet-fuel on the horizon
• Study supports widespread use of better masks to curb COVID-19 indoors
• Researchers refine estimate of amount of carbon in Earth’s outer core
• Researchers discover hidden SARS-CoV-2 'gate' that opens to allow COVID infection
• Understanding enzyme evolution paves the way for 'green' chemistry
• Antibodies block specific viruses that cause arthritis, brain infections
• Researchers develop steerable catheter for brain surgery
• Blood-pressure drugs could improve colorectal cancer survival, study suggests
• New study boosts hopes for a broad vaccine to combat COVID-19 variants and future coronavirus outbreaks
• Rattlesnake rattles trick human ears
• Key mental abilities can actually improve during aging
• Landslide disaster risk in the Kivu Rift is linked to deforestation and population growth
• Home-grown semiconductors for faster, smaller electronics
• Teens who use cannabis frequently more likely to have premature baby
• Increased snowfall will offset sea level rise from melting Antarctic ice sheet
• Flawed quality control in the brain
• Tracking water storage shows options for improving water management during floods and droughts
• Half of pediatric opioid prescriptions are 'high risk'
• Common solar tech can power smart devices indoors
• Study of tyrannosaur braincases shows more variation than previously thought
• Measuring electric current in soil could provide answers on soil health
• Too much time on a computer, watching TV or other sedentary activities raises stroke risk
• Experts urge caution, increased education about opioid use for people with heart disease
• Attractiveness pays off at work — but there’s a trick to level the playing field
• Humans managed shellfish and their predators for millennia
• Immigrants to Canada may have lower rate of stroke than long-term residents
• No significant benefit of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 outpatients with early symptoms, study shows
• Developing enhanced fish vaccines with nanocellulose
• Scientists growing more complex and mature heart tissue in the lab
• Researchers bioprint an entire active glioblastoma tumor using a 3D printer
• How fructose in the diet contributes to obesity
• Heat-controllable CAR T cells destroy tumors and prevent relapse in new study
• Wind turbine night noise

Varying immune cell levels in canine brain tumors could provide therapeutic targets Posted: 19 Aug 2021 09:52 AM PDT A new study reveals that high-grade gliomas, or brain tumors, in dogs contained more immune cells associated with suppressing immune response than low-grade gliomas.

Researchers uncover the biology and treatment behind a rare autoinflammatory disease Posted: 19 Aug 2021 09:52 AM PDT The absence of a protein that activates the body's antiviral defenses can cause a rare rheumatoid-like autoinflammatory condition that is treatable with an FDA-approved class of drugs known as TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitors, researchers have found.

Scientists develop 'greener' way to make fertilizer Posted: 19 Aug 2021 09:52 AM PDT Researchers have devised a new 'greener' method to make a key compound in fertilizer, and that may pave the way to a more sustainable agricultural practice as global food demand rises.

Polymer scientist helps develop new technique for large-scale energy storage Posted: 19 Aug 2021 09:52 AM PDT Electric vehicles require power to be available anywhere and anytime without delay to recharge, but solar and wind are intermittent energy sources that are not available on demand. And the electricity they do generate needs to be stored for later use and not go to waste. New research reveals a more stable way to store this important energy.

Faster and cheaper ethanol-to-jet-fuel on the horizon Posted: 19 Aug 2021 09:52 AM PDT A patented process for converting alcohol sourced from renewable or industrial waste gasses into jet or diesel fuel is being scaled up.

Study supports widespread use of better masks to curb COVID-19 indoors Posted: 19 Aug 2021 09:45 AM PDT A new study is highlighting a need for widespread use of better face masks and the importance of good ventilation to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 indoors.

Researchers refine estimate of amount of carbon in Earth’s outer core Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT New research is providing a better estimate of the amount of carbon in the Earth's outer core, and the work suggests the core could be the planet's largest reservoir of that element.

Researchers discover hidden SARS-CoV-2 'gate' that opens to allow COVID infection Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT Unprecedented visualizations of SARS-CoV-2 have allowed researchers to discover how the virus enters and infects healthy human cells. Supercomputing movies have revealed how glycans -- molecules that make up a sugary residue around the edges of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein -- act as infection 'gates' that open to allow access to our cell's receptors.

Understanding enzyme evolution paves the way for 'green' chemistry Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT Researchers have shown how laboratory evolution can give rise to highly efficient enzymes for new-to-nature reactions, opening the door for novel and more environmentally friendly ways to make drugs and other chemicals.

Antibodies block specific viruses that cause arthritis, brain infections Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT Researchers have found antibodies that protect against specific mosquito-borne viruses that cause arthritis and brain infections. The findings could lead to a universal therapy or vaccine for the viruses.

Researchers develop steerable catheter for brain surgery Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT A team of engineers and physicians has developed a steerable catheter that will give neurosurgeons the ability to steer the device in any direction they want while navigating the brain's arteries and blood vessels. The device was inspired by nature, specifically insect legs and flagella -- tail-like structures that allow microscopic organisms such as bacteria to swim.

Blood-pressure drugs could improve colorectal cancer survival, study suggests Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers and thiazide diuretics were all associated with decreased mortality in patients with colorectal cancer.

New study boosts hopes for a broad vaccine to combat COVID-19 variants and future coronavirus outbreaks Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT New research suggests the feasibility of a 'dream' vaccine that not only protects against SARS-CoV-2 and its known variants of concern, but also future VOCs and other animal coronaviruses with known potential to cause severe disease in humans.

Rattlesnake rattles trick human ears Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT Rattlesnakes increase their rattling rate as potential threats approach, and this abrupt switch to a high-frequency mode makes listeners, including humans, think they're closer than they actually are, researchers report.

Key mental abilities can actually improve during aging Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT It's long been believed that advancing age leads to broad declines in our mental abilities. Now new research offers surprisingly good news by countering this view.

Landslide disaster risk in the Kivu Rift is linked to deforestation and population growth Posted: 19 Aug 2021 08:30 AM PDT New research shows how deforestation and population growth have greatly impacted landslide risk in the Kivu Rift. This is what researchers established from an analysis of six decades of forest cover and population trends in the region.

Home-grown semiconductors for faster, smaller electronics Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT 'Growing' electronic components directly onto a semiconductor block avoids messy, noisy oxidation scattering that slows and impedes electronic operation. A new study shows that the resulting high-mobility components are ideal candidates for high-frequency, ultra-small electronic devices, quantum dots, and for qubit applications in quantum computing.

Teens who use cannabis frequently more likely to have premature baby Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT Teenagers who use cannabis frequently may be more likely to have children born preterm, when they become parents up to twenty years later, finds a new study. The research repeatedly assessed 665 participants in a general population cohort on their tobacco and cannabis use between ages 14 to 29 years, before pregnancy.

Increased snowfall will offset sea level rise from melting Antarctic ice sheet Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT A new study predicts that any sea level rise in the world's most southern continent will be countered by an increase in snowfall, associated with a warmer Polar atmosphere. Using modern methods to calculate projected changes to sea levels, researchers discovered that the two ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica respond differently, reflecting their very distinct local climates.

Flawed quality control in the brain Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT Proteins are the 'tools' of our cells – they are essential to all vital tasks. However, they are only able to do their jobs if they fold correctly and adopt their respective, very specific 3D structure. To ensure that nothing goes wrong with the folding process, it is strictly monitored in the cell. The consequences of a flawed quality control can be seen, for example, in the deposition of misfolded proteins in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. Researchers have now developed a mouse line that makes the state of protein balance visible in the mammalian brain for the first time. In this way, the processes of protein quality control can now be studied in healthy and diseased neurons in more detail.

Tracking water storage shows options for improving water management during floods and droughts Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT Researchers have created a balance sheet for water across the United States -- tracking total water storage in 14 of the country's major aquifers over 15 years.

Half of pediatric opioid prescriptions are 'high risk' Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT A new study suggests that children and young adults are frequently exposed to unsafe opioid prescriptions.

Common solar tech can power smart devices indoors Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:27 AM PDT Any time you turn on a light at home or in the office, you are expending electrical energy. But what if flipping the light switch meant providing other useful energy too? We usually think of solar, or photovoltaic (PV), cells fixed to roofs, converting sunlight into electricity, but bringing that technology indoors could further boost the energy efficiency of buildings and energize swaths of wireless smart technologies such as smoke alarms, cameras and temperature sensors, also called Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Now, a new study suggests that a straightforward approach for capturing light indoors may be within reach.

Study of tyrannosaur braincases shows more variation than previously thought Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:26 AM PDT Scientists have used CT scans to digitally reconstruct the brain, inner ear, and surrounding bones (known as the braincase) of two well-preserved Daspletosaurus specimens. This massive tyrannosaur lived in the coastal forest of what is now Alberta around 75 million years ago -- preceding the more famous T. rex by about 10 million years. Their results suggest that dinosaur brains, and the bones enclosing and protecting, them vary more than previously thought within species, or among closely related species.

Measuring electric current in soil could provide answers on soil health Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:26 AM PDT Researchers have developed a way to assess soil health by measuring the electric current produced by its tiniest microbes. They used a probe originally developed to measure the electrochemical signal of microbes in aquatic environments, and tested it on healthy and unhealthy soil samples to measure microbial metabolism and other indicators of soil health. This proof-of-concept research could someday lead to a simple, real-time test for farmers to determine whether soil is productive.

Too much time on a computer, watching TV or other sedentary activities raises stroke risk Posted: 19 Aug 2021 05:15 AM PDT Adults younger than age 60 who spent eight or more hours a day during their free time using a computer, watching TV or reading and participated in little physical activity had an increased risk of stroke. Boosting physical activity may reduce or eliminate the increased stroke risk from prolonged sedentary time. Public health efforts to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary time in adults younger than age 60 could help to lower their long-term stroke risk.

Experts urge caution, increased education about opioid use for people with heart disease Posted: 19 Aug 2021 05:14 AM PDT Opioid overdose is a leading cause of injury-related death for adults ages 25 to 54 in the U.S. Recent data suggest that commonly used opioids for pain management may interfere with medications used to manage and treat cardiovascular disease and stroke.

Attractiveness pays off at work — but there’s a trick to level the playing field Posted: 18 Aug 2021 05:02 PM PDT A new study found that while a 'beauty premium' exists across professions, it's partially because attractive people develop distinct traits as a result of how the world responds to their attractiveness. They build a greater sense of power and have more opportunities to improve nonverbal communication skills throughout their lives.

Humans managed shellfish and their predators for millennia Posted: 18 Aug 2021 05:02 PM PDT A new study confirms that for millennia, Indigenous people managed their relationship with shellfish and sea otters to safeguard their access to shellfish which remain important for food, social, and ceremonial uses today.

Immigrants to Canada may have lower rate of stroke than long-term residents Posted: 18 Aug 2021 05:02 PM PDT Immigrants to Canada have a 33% lower rate of stroke than long-term residents, according to a new study.

No significant benefit of convalescent plasma for COVID-19 outpatients with early symptoms, study shows Posted: 18 Aug 2021 05:02 PM PDT The final results of the Clinical Trial of COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma in Outpatients (C3PO) demonstrate that COVID-19 convalescent plasma did not prevent disease progression in a high-risk group of outpatients with COVID-19, when administered within the first week of their symptoms. The trial was stopped in February 2021 due to lack of efficacy based on a planned interim analysis.

Developing enhanced fish vaccines with nanocellulose Posted: 18 Aug 2021 12:37 PM PDT Scientists are developing new fish vaccines using nanocellulose produced from Maine's wood pulp industry. Nanocellulose poses no known harmful effects to fish tissue and is unlikely to cause cellular damage. Fish vaccines made with nanocellulose may also be more effective and less expensive to produce than current vaccines made with adjuvants that are water and oil based, according to researchers.

Scientists growing more complex and mature heart tissue in the lab Posted: 18 Aug 2021 12:37 PM PDT A team led by researchers has generated premature cells that support early heart development but vanish soon after birth.

Researchers bioprint an entire active glioblastoma tumor using a 3D printer Posted: 18 Aug 2021 12:36 PM PDT The 3D print of glioblastoma -- the deadliest type of brain cancer -- is printed from human glioblastoma tissues containing all components of the malignant tumor. Researchers say the breakthrough will enable much faster prediction of best treatments for patients, accelerate the development of new drugs and discovery of new druggable targets.

How fructose in the diet contributes to obesity Posted: 18 Aug 2021 10:52 AM PDT Eating fructose appears to alter cells in the digestive tract in a way that enables it to take in more nutrients, according to a preclinical study. These changes could help to explain the well-known link between rising fructose consumption around the world and increased rates of obesity and certain cancers.

Heat-controllable CAR T cells destroy tumors and prevent relapse in new study Posted: 18 Aug 2021 10:05 AM PDT New research builds on a body of work exploring remotely controlled cell therapies, in which the researchers can precisely target tumors, wherever they are in the body, with a local deposition of heat. The latest study shows the system cured cancer in mice, and the team's approach not only shrunk tumors but prevented relapse -- critical for long-term survival. Further studies will delve into additional tailoring of T-cells, as well as how heat will be deposited at the tumor site.

Wind turbine night noise Posted: 18 Aug 2021 10:05 AM PDT With wind generation one of the fastest-growing renewable energy sectors in the world, experts are using machine learning and other signal processing techniques to characterize annoying noise features from wind farms. Two new publications from the ongoing Wind Farm Noise Study take another step towards improving wind turbine noise assessment methods, guidelines and wind turbine design to make wind energy more acceptable to surrounding communities.

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