ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Bird communities threatened by urbanization
• Research shows scale models effective for predicting storm damage to wood-frame buildings
• Quantum computing: Exotic particle had an 'out-of-body experience'
• Like venom coursing through the body: Researchers identify mechanism driving COVID-19 mortality
• Early-warning system for sepsis shown to improve survival rates and cut hospital stays
• Healthy sugar origin in stingless bee honey revealed
• A novel gene involved in male infertility: ZFP541
• Record-breaking lithium-metal cell
• Measuring how the Arctic responds to climate change
• Green hydrogen: Focus on the catalyst surface
• There’s a bright side to being a ‘Debbie Downer’
• These robots can move your couch
• Lupin and Arsenic: Research on soil decontamination by an exceptional plant
• Physicists find room-temperature, 2D-to-1D topological transition
• Climate change threatens seal hunting by Indigenous Alaskans
• Stressed teens benefit from coping online, but a little goes a long way
• Studying mosquito immune cells could improve understanding of disease transmission
• Farmed carnivores may become 'disease reservoirs' posing human health risk
• Weight gain isn’t inevitable when you start college
• Geneticists map the rhinoceros family tree
• Cosmic rays may be key to understanding galactic dynamics
• How do wind turbines respond to winds, ground motion during earthquakes?
• Turning hazelnut shells into potential renewable energy source
• Breast milk of mothers who received COVID-19 vaccine contains antibodies that fight illness
• Human, swine waste pose dual threats to water quality after flooding
• Age-related decline in two sirtuin enzymes alters mitochondrial dynamics, weakens cardiac contractions
• Food claiming to have 'wild mushrooms' rarely does, study finds
• Viruses leave traces long after infection, research finds
• Drinking sufficient water could prevent heart failure
• Report shows adult brain tumor incidence rates are decreasing but 5-year survival rates remain low
• How adolescents used drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Stress from rising population numbers may cause a decline in human fertility
• High cholesterol fuels cancer by fostering resistance to a form of cell death
• Hospital-acquired COVID-19 tends to be picked up from other patients, not from healthcare workers
• Tyrannosaurus rex’s jaw had sensors to make it an even more fearsome predator
• Researchers developing new cancer treatments with high-intensity focused ultrasound
• It’s never too late to get active
• Mathematicians build an algorithm to ‘do the twist’
• Reversal of lung fibrosis in mouse model suggests a novel therapeutic target for pulmonary fibrosis
• Would we still have severe thunderstorms over North America if the Gulf of Mexico were filled in with land?
• On the 'Island of the Blue Dolphins,' a glimmer of hope for a rare fox species
• Tree rings from old growth Douglas-firs on the Oregon Coast show evidence of 1700 tsunami
• Statistics say large pandemics are more likely than we thought
• The science of ants' underground cities
• Lagging chromosomes among causes of infertility
• Layered graphene with a twist displays unique quantum confinement in 2-D
• Compact system designed for high-precision, robot-based surface measurements

Bird communities threatened by urbanization Posted: 24 Aug 2021 02:44 PM PDT Urbanization is one of the most drastic forms of land-use change. Its negative consequences on biodiversity have been studied extensively in countries like Germany. However, there has been less research in tropical regions from the Global South. Researchers investigated the effects on farmland bird communities in Bangalore and found that urbanization filters out species with certain traits, such as insect-eating birds, which are important for pest control.

Research shows scale models effective for predicting storm damage to wood-frame buildings Posted: 24 Aug 2021 02:44 PM PDT A pair of scale model structures subjected to simulated storm conditions in an lab responded like real wood-frame homes during recent hurricanes, suggesting model buildings can yield important design information for low-lying areas vulnerable to storm surges and big waves.

Quantum computing: Exotic particle had an 'out-of-body experience' Posted: 24 Aug 2021 02:44 PM PDT Scientists have taken a clear picture of electronic particles that make up a mysterious magnetic state called quantum spin liquid (QSL). The achievement could facilitate the development of superfast quantum computers and energy-efficient superconductors. The scientists are the first to capture an image of how electrons in a QSL decompose into spin-like particles called spinons and charge-like particles called chargons.

Like venom coursing through the body: Researchers identify mechanism driving COVID-19 mortality Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Researchers have identified what may be the key molecular mechanism responsible for COVID-19 mortality -- an enzyme related to neurotoxins found in rattlesnake venom.

Early-warning system for sepsis shown to improve survival rates and cut hospital stays Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Emergency room patients who were flagged by an artificial-intelligence algorithm for possibly having sepsis received antibiotics sooner and had better outcomes, according to a study conducted by physician-researchers.

Healthy sugar origin in stingless bee honey revealed Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Stingless bees are found throughout tropical and subtropical parts of the world and produce significantly less honey than their European honey bee counterparts (Apis mellifera) which are the world's major honey production species. However, stingless bee honey is highly prized as a specialty food, noted in Indigenous cultures for its medicinal properties, and attracts a high price. Now new research has identified that the Tetragonula carbonaria stingless bee, which is native to Australia, is a powerhouse at converting regular table sugar into the rare low GI sugar trehalulose, found only in stingless bee honey and not as a major component in any other food.

A novel gene involved in male infertility: ZFP541 Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT A new gene that controls the completion of meiosis in spermatogenesis has been discovered. Until now, details of the mechanism that inactivates the expression of genes involved in the meiotic program during spermatogenesis had not been clarified. The researchers believe that this may lead to an advancement in reproductive medicine, like identifying causes for infertility from azoospermia or spermatogenic defects.

Record-breaking lithium-metal cell Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT A new type of lithium-metal battery reaches an extremely high energy density of 560 watt-hours per kilogram -- based on the total weight of the active materials -- with a remarkable stability. Researchers used a promising combination of cathode and electrolyte: The nickel-rich cathode enables storage of high energy per mass, the ionic liquid electrolyte ensures largely stable capacity over many cycles.

Measuring how the Arctic responds to climate change Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT The Arctic has been warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Meanwhile CO2 measurements show substantial increases in the amount of carbon absorbed into and emitted by Arctic plants and soil. Scientists assumed this was playing a large role in changes to the Arctic carbon cycle. But they were not able to measure carbon uptake and release independently. This study provides insights into this important process based on the modelling of atmospheric measurements of carbonyl sulfide.

Green hydrogen: Focus on the catalyst surface Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources with the help of electric power is deemed a key to the energy transition: It can be used to chemically store wind and solar energy in a CO2-neutral way. Researchers have studied water electrolysis processes on the surface of an iridium oxide catalyst.

There’s a bright side to being a ‘Debbie Downer’ Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT New research shows that keeping busy with a variety of activities can elicit both positive and negative emotions, and some of the relationship could depend on your age. A new study finds that engaging in diverse daily activities is associated with a diverse set of emotions.

These robots can move your couch Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Engineers have developed robots that can work independently and cooperatively to move unwieldy objects like a couch. In simulations, the robots were successful even when tasked to move an object in new, unfamiliar scenarios.

Lupin and Arsenic: Research on soil decontamination by an exceptional plant Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Researchers have discovered a new chemical mechanism used by roots of white lupin to clean up arsenic-contaminated soils, such as those from mining operations.

Physicists find room-temperature, 2D-to-1D topological transition Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Physicists have discovered a room-temperature transition between 1D and 2D electrical conduction states in the topological insulator bismuth iodide.

Climate change threatens seal hunting by Indigenous Alaskans Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT Climate change has severely reduced the length of the seal hunting season in a rural Alaska village, potentially threatening a key feature of the community's Indigenous way of life. The study led by Indigenous hunters, the Native Village of Kotzebue and scientists shows that over the past 17 years, the seal hunting season shrank about one day per year. Sea ice decline is a major cause of the shrinking season.

Stressed teens benefit from coping online, but a little goes a long way Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:53 AM PDT An adolescent's day can be filled with a dizzying array of digital technologies. For many teenagers, being online is a way to pass the time and communicate with friends. Cell phones and social media can also help teens cope with stressful events -- as long as they strike the right balance between spending time online and pursuing other coping activities.

Studying mosquito immune cells could improve understanding of disease transmission Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT A recent study led by an entomologist explores the different kinds of cells that make up mosquito immune systems. The research could shed light on how mosquitoes transmit malaria.

Farmed carnivores may become 'disease reservoirs' posing human health risk Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT Carnivorous animals lack key genes needed to detect and respond to infection by pathogens, a study has found. Farming large numbers of carnivores, like mink, could allow the formation of undetected 'disease reservoirs', in which a pathogen could spread to many animals and mutate to become a risk to human health.

Weight gain isn’t inevitable when you start college Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT Researchers found that first-year college students do pack on pounds, but implementing healthy patterns early can help stave off that weight gain.

Geneticists map the rhinoceros family tree Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT There's been an age-old question going back to Darwin's time about the relationships among the world's five living rhinoceros species. One reason answers have been hard to come by is that most rhinos went extinct before the Pleistocene. Now, researchers have helped to fill the gaps in the rhino evolutionary family tree by analyzing genomes of all five living species together with the genomes of three ancient and extinct species.

Cosmic rays may be key to understanding galactic dynamics Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT While moving around within the gas in the interstellar medium, cosmic rays kickstart the background protons, which causes a collective plasma wave movement akin to ripples on a lake. The big question is how cosmic rays deposit their momentum into the background plasma. Plasma astrophysicists review recent developments within the field of studying the streaming instability triggered by cosmic rays, which likely have more impacts on galactic dynamics and the star formation cycle than previously known.

How do wind turbines respond to winds, ground motion during earthquakes? Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT Wind power has experienced fast growth within China during the past decade, but many wind farms are being built within regions of high seismic activity. Researchers are now exploring the dynamic behaviors of wind turbines subjected to combined wind-earthquake loading. The group discovered that changes in the wind increase and decrease the response amplitude of the wind turbine under weak and strong earthquakes, respectively.

Turning hazelnut shells into potential renewable energy source Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:10 AM PDT Researchers work on physicochemical properties and antioxidant activity of wood vinegar and tar fraction in bio-oil produced from hazelnut shells pyrolysis at 400 degrees Celsius to 1,000 C. The researchers found the wood vinegar and tar left over after burning the shells contained the most phenolic substances, which laid a foundation for the subsequent research on antioxidant properties.

Breast milk of mothers who received COVID-19 vaccine contains antibodies that fight illness Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT The breast milk of lactating mothers vaccinated against COVID-19 contains a significant supply of antibodies that may help protect nursing infants from the illness, according to new research.

Human, swine waste pose dual threats to water quality after flooding Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT A study that monitored surface waters in the wake of 2018's Hurricane Florence finds that waters contaminated by fecal bacteria were affected by both human and swine waste.

Age-related decline in two sirtuin enzymes alters mitochondrial dynamics, weakens cardiac contractions Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT The potential protective effect of sirtuin enzymes in age-related diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, remains an area of intense investigation. Now, researchers has determined that sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) and sirtuin 3 (SIRT3) levels decline in aging hearts, disrupting the ability of cardiac muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) to contract in response to ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Food claiming to have 'wild mushrooms' rarely does, study finds Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT Harvesting wild mushrooms requires an expert eye to distinguish between the delicious and the poisonous, which makes products with truly wild mushrooms expensive. However, due to minimal regulations around the harvest and sale of wild fungi, it's nearly impossible to know what mushroom species are included in the product. A new study used DNA barcoding to show that 16 food products labeled with wild mushrooms mostly contained cultivated fungi and a few poisonous mushrooms.

Viruses leave traces long after infection, research finds Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT Viruses do not always kill the cells they infect. Researchers have discovered in experiments with mice that cells have the power to self-heal and eliminate viruses. However, these cells undergo long-term changes. The findings may provide a hint as to why cured hepatitis C patients are more susceptible to liver cancer for years after.

Drinking sufficient water could prevent heart failure Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT Staying well-hydrated throughout life could reduce the risk of developing heart failure, according to new research.

Report shows adult brain tumor incidence rates are decreasing but 5-year survival rates remain low Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT A new study found that incidence rates for malignant brain and other central nervous system (CNS) tumors declined by 0.8% annually during 2008 through 2017 in the United States for all ages combined.

How adolescents used drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT Among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the U.S, the overall rate of drug use remained relatively stable in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one change was a decreased use of alcohol, but an increased use of nicotine and misuse of prescription drugs.

Stress from rising population numbers may cause a decline in human fertility Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT A predicted population drop at the end of the century could be explained by stress from meaningless social interactions.

High cholesterol fuels cancer by fostering resistance to a form of cell death Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:35 AM PDT A research team has identified how breast cancer cells use cholesterol to develop tolerance to stress, making them impervious to death as they migrate from the original tumor site.

Hospital-acquired COVID-19 tends to be picked up from other patients, not from healthcare workers Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:35 AM PDT The majority of patients who contracted COVID-19 while in hospital did so from other patients rather than from healthcare workers, concludes a new study.

Tyrannosaurus rex’s jaw had sensors to make it an even more fearsome predator Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:34 AM PDT Tyrannosaurus rex was not just a huge beast with a big bite, it had nerve sensors in the very tips of its jaw enabling it to better detect -- and eat -- its prey, a new study finds.

Researchers developing new cancer treatments with high-intensity focused ultrasound Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:34 AM PDT While doctors have used low-intensity ultrasound as a medical imaging tool since the 1950s, experts are now using and extending models that help capture how high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) can work on a cellular level.

It’s never too late to get active Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:32 AM PDT A study in more than 30,000 heart patients shows that becoming active later in life can be nearly as beneficial to survival as continued activity.

Mathematicians build an algorithm to ‘do the twist’ Posted: 23 Aug 2021 02:01 PM PDT Mathematicians have developed an algorithm to decipher the rotational dynamics of twisting particles in large complex systems from the X-ray scattering patterns observed in X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy experiments.

Reversal of lung fibrosis in mouse model suggests a novel therapeutic target for pulmonary fibrosis Posted: 23 Aug 2021 02:01 PM PDT Researchers have reversed lung fibrosis in a mouse model of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Mice were given bleomycin for 12 days to establish lung fibrosis, and then treated daily until 21 days with ABT-199, whose medical form is known as Venetoclax, a medication approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in several forms of leukemia. Control bleomycin mice had lung fibrosis with widespread collagen deposition. The bleomycin mice that received ABT-199 had normal lung architecture at 21 days and no collagen deposition. These results suggest a novel therapeutic target to reverse fibrotic remodeling in the lungs.

Would we still have severe thunderstorms over North America if the Gulf of Mexico were filled in with land? Posted: 23 Aug 2021 02:01 PM PDT The eastern half of the U.S is one of the principal hot spots for severe thunderstorm activity, especially tornadoes, globally. The standard explanation for this outcome is the combination high terrain to the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A new study largely overturns one half of this longstanding hypothesis.

On the 'Island of the Blue Dolphins,' a glimmer of hope for a rare fox species Posted: 23 Aug 2021 02:01 PM PDT The San Nicolas Island fox, a subspecies of the Channel Island Fox only found on the most remote of California's eight Channel Islands, is at a low risk of extinction, new research shows.

Tree rings from old growth Douglas-firs on the Oregon Coast show evidence of 1700 tsunami Posted: 23 Aug 2021 02:01 PM PDT Core samples taken from a stand of old growth Douglas-fir trees in the South Beach area just south of Newport showed reduced growth following the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the Pacific Northwest in 1700.

Statistics say large pandemics are more likely than we thought Posted: 23 Aug 2021 12:10 PM PDT The COVID-19 pandemic may be the deadliest viral outbreak the world has seen in more than a century. But statistically, such extreme events aren't as rare as we may think, asserts a new analysis of novel disease outbreaks over the past 400 years. A newly assembled record of past outbreaks was used to estimate the probability of a pandemic with similar impact to COVID-19 is about 2 percent in any year. And that probability is growing.

The science of ants' underground cities Posted: 23 Aug 2021 12:10 PM PDT Scientists look at how ants dig tunnels, and come up with some surprising results. Slip beneath the surface and the above-ground simplicity of an ant hill gives way to subterranean complexity. Tunnels dive downward, branching and leading to specialized chambers that serve as home for the colony's queen, as nurseries for its young, as farms for fungus cultivated for food, and as dumps for its trash. These are not just burrows. They are underground cities, some of them home to millions of individuals, reaching as far as 25 feet underground, often lasting for decades.

Lagging chromosomes among causes of infertility Posted: 23 Aug 2021 11:36 AM PDT Why do women over 35 have more difficulty getting pregnant? After discovering one of the causes of age-related female infertility, researchers suggest that it will be possible in the future to improve the quality of the eggs of older patients by intervening on the cell cycle level.

Layered graphene with a twist displays unique quantum confinement in 2-D Posted: 23 Aug 2021 11:36 AM PDT Bilayer graphene with one of the two layers twisted displayed unique resonant electronic behavior. Understanding how electrons move in such 2-D materials could shed light on how to manipulate them for quantum computing and communication.

Compact system designed for high-precision, robot-based surface measurements Posted: 23 Aug 2021 11:36 AM PDT Researchers have developed a lightweight optical system for 3D inspection of surfaces with micron-scale precision. The new system is designed to be mounted on tracking platform placed on a robotic arm for contactless 3D measurements of arbitrary shapes and surfaces.

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