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17-Nov-2021 2:00 PM EST
Kids, teens believe girls aren’t interested in computer science, study shows
University of Washington

Children as young as age 6 develop stereotypes that girls aren't interested in computer science and engineering, according to new research from the University of Washington and the University of Houston.

Newswise: 900-mile mantle pipeline connects Galápagos to Panama
Released: 22-Nov-2021 7:05 AM EST
900-mile mantle pipeline connects Galápagos to Panama
Cornell University

A Cornell University geochemist has helped discover solid evidence that connects the geochemical fingerprint of the Galápagos plume with mantle materials underneath Panama and Costa Rica – documenting the course of a mantle plume that flows sideways through upper portions of the Earth.

Newswise: “Mantle wind” blows through slab window beneath Panama
Released: 19-Nov-2021 5:00 PM EST
“Mantle wind” blows through slab window beneath Panama
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Volcanic gases are helping researchers track large-scale movements in Earth’s deep interior. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists, together with a group of international collaborators, have discovered anomalous geochemical compositions beneath Panama.

Released: 17-Nov-2021 10:10 AM EST
New group of antibacterial molecules identified
Karolinska Institute

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Umeå University, and the University of Bonn have identified a new group of molecules that have an antibacterial effect against many antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

12-Nov-2021 5:05 PM EST
Sanford Burnham Prebys unravels mysteries of the aging Down syndrome brain
Sanford Burnham Prebys

New research from Sanford Burnham Prebys has revealed features of the aging Down syndrome brain that could help explain why people with Down syndrome almost inevitably get Alzheimer's later in life.

11-Nov-2021 10:15 AM EST
Cannabis Use During Pregnancy Impacts the Placenta and May Affect Subsequent Child Development
Mount Sinai Health System

Women who use cannabis during pregnancy, potentially to relieve stress and anxiety, may inadvertently predispose their children to stress susceptibility and anxiety, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the City University of New York published Monday, November 15, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS).

Newswise: Combining pressure, electrochemistry to synthesize superhydrides
Released: 15-Nov-2021 11:00 AM EST
Combining pressure, electrochemistry to synthesize superhydrides
University of Illinois Chicago

A new study featured in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers a potential alternate approach that combines pressure and electrochemistry to stabilize superhydrides at moderate, perhaps even close to ordinary, pressures.

Released: 10-Nov-2021 12:40 PM EST
Viral true tweets spread just as far as viral untrue tweets
Cornell University

Viral, true tweets spread just as far, wide and deep as viral untrue tweets, according to new research from Cornell University that upends the prevailing assumption that untruths on Twitter move faster.

Released: 5-Nov-2021 4:25 PM EDT
New COVID vaccine design is easier to manufacture, doesn’t need cold storage
Boston Children's Hospital

Currently available COVID vaccines require cold storage and sophisticated manufacturing capacity, which makes it difficult to produce and distribute them widely, especially in less developed countries.

Released: 2-Nov-2021 5:35 PM EDT
Study casts doubt on theory that women aren't as competitive as men
University of Arizona

As researchers investigate reasons for America's persistent gender wage gap, one possible explanation that has emerged in roughly the last decade is that women may be less competitive than men, and are therefore passed over for higher-ranking roles with larger salaries.

Released: 2-Nov-2021 8:40 AM EDT
Antibiotic resistance outwitted by supercomputers
University of Portsmouth

Scientists may have made a giant leap in fighting the biggest threat to human health by using supercomputing to keep pace with the impressive ability of diseases to evolve. A new study by an international team, co-led by Dr Gerhard Koenig from the University of Portsmouth, tackled the problem of antibiotic resistance by redesigning existing antibiotics to overcome bacterial resistance mechanisms.

Newswise:Video Embedded sperm-switch-swimming-patterns-to-locate-egg
VIDEO
Released: 1-Nov-2021 1:05 PM EDT
Sperm switch swimming patterns to locate egg
Cornell University

A new study reveals how sperm change their swimming patterns to navigate to the egg, shifting from a symmetrical motion that moves the sperm in a straight path to an asymmetrical one that promotes more circular swimming.

Released: 25-Oct-2021 3:50 PM EDT
New gene could help improve tomato flavor and shelf life
Cornell University

A team of researchers have identified a gene that regulates tomato softening independent of ripening, a finding that could help tomato and other fruit breeders strike the right balance between good shelf life and high-quality flavor.

Released: 18-Oct-2021 5:20 PM EDT
Lavish wealth tolerated more for individuals than groups
Cornell University

If you consider “the superwealthy,” “the 1%” or “the economic elite,” rather than individuals, you’re more likely to attribute vast wealth to systemic advantages that have contributed to decades of widening income inequality in the United States, and to feel more troubled by it.

Released: 14-Oct-2021 12:50 PM EDT
Supercomputers reveal how X chromosomes fold, deactivate
Los Alamos National Laboratory

Using supercomputer-driven dynamic modeling based on experimental data, researchers can now probe the process that turns off one X chromosome in female mammal embryos.

Released: 12-Oct-2021 12:55 PM EDT
Researcher discovers key gene responsible for cancer drug resistance
University of Missouri, Columbia

A researcher at the University of Missouri School of Medicine has discovered an enzyme that plays a key role in the ability of cancer cells to resist drug treatment.

Released: 12-Oct-2021 8:40 AM EDT
Antiviral compound blocks SARS-CoV-2 from entering cells
Washington University in St. Louis

Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a chemical compound that interferes with a key feature of many viruses that allows the viruses to invade human cells. The compound, called MM3122, was studied in cells and mice and holds promise as a new way to prevent infection or reduce the severity of COVID-19 if given early in the course of an infection, according to the researchers.

11-Oct-2021 8:30 AM EDT
The new-new kids on the block: hybrid lizards
Washington University in St. Louis

New research from Washington University in St. Louis begins to unravel one of the major mysteries of invasion biology: why animals that tend not to hybridize in their native range abandon their inhibitions when they spread into a new land.

Released: 6-Oct-2021 11:45 AM EDT
MD Anderson Research Highlights for October 6, 2021
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights provides a glimpse into recently published studies in basic, translational and clinical cancer research from MD Anderson experts. Current advances include promising clinical results for therapies targeting HER2, FGFR and TGF- β, discovering new drivers of lung cancer development, novel approaches to predict immune responses and overcome immunotherapy resistance, and a novel combination therapy for prostate cancer.

Released: 5-Oct-2021 8:40 AM EDT
Study Finds Growing Potential for Toxic Algal Blooms in the Alaskan Arctic
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Changes in the northern Alaskan Arctic ocean environment have reached a point at which a previously rare phenomenon—widespread blooms of toxic algae—could become more commonplace, potentially threatening a wide range of marine wildlife and the people who rely on local marine resources for food. That is the conclusion of a new study about harmful algal blooms (HABs) of the toxic algae Alexandrium catenella being published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

Released: 5-Oct-2021 8:35 AM EDT
Chemists Develop New Technology that Detects Algae Crop Health
University of California San Diego

UC San Diego chemists have developed a technology for monitoring the health of algae crops, one of world’s most promising sources for sustainable products being developed to counter global issues stemming from fossil fuel pollutants and product waste.

Released: 5-Oct-2021 7:00 AM EDT
Scientists Identify Role of Protein Behind Rare Norrie Disease; and Find Clues For Treating Hearing Loss
Massachusetts Eye and Ear

Researchers have identified the mechanism that can lead to deafness in the rare syndrome, Norrie disease, which may lead to promising treatment targets for the incurable disease and other forms of profound hearing loss.

1-Oct-2021 4:20 PM EDT
Hidden Mangrove Forest in the Yucatan Peninsula Reveals Ancient Sea Levels
University of California San Diego

In a new study, researchers across the University of California system in the United States and researchers in Mexico examine a red mangrove forest that is thriving in fresh water in the Yucatan Peninsula—more than 124 miles from the nearest ocean.

Released: 4-Oct-2021 12:30 PM EDT
Revealing the logic of the body’s ‘second brain’
Michigan State University

Researchers are discovering new science in the gut and, potentially, new leads on how to treat irritable bowel syndrome and other disorders.

Released: 4-Oct-2021 8:35 AM EDT
Electricity consumption reveals proactive community response to COVID-19 progression
National University of Singapore (NUS)

An NUS study revealed strong positive correlation between domestic electricity use and newly reported cases in Singapore at the height of the pandemic in 2020. This can be useful for policymakers to assess people’s willingness in embracing risk-reduction behaviours.

   
Released: 29-Sep-2021 12:40 PM EDT
Early Pacific Islanders May Have Been the First Conservationists
University of Oregon

Sustainability is a 21st century buzzword, but a new interdisciplinary study shows that some communities have been conducting sustainable practices for at least a thousand years. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and coauthored by University of Oregon archaeologist Scott Fitzpatrick, the study integrates data from archaeology, history and paleoecology to gain new insight into human-environmental interactions in the deep past. Focused on tropical island archipelagoes including Palau in Micronesia, the interdisciplinary data suggest that human-driven environmental change created feedback loops that prompted new approaches to resource management. The data from Palau point to human impacts on marine ecology beginning about 3,000 years ago, impacts that affected fish populations and therefore one of ancient Palau’s most important food sources.

Released: 28-Sep-2021 8:05 AM EDT
UCI, NASA JPL scientists uncover additional threat to Antarctica’s floating ice shelves
University of California, Irvine

Glaciologists at the University of California, Irvine and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have examined the dynamics underlying the calving of the Delaware-sized iceberg A68 from Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf in July 2017, finding the likely cause to be a thinning of ice melange, a slushy concoction of windblown snow, iceberg debris and frozen seawater that normally works to heal rifts.

24-Sep-2021 8:40 AM EDT
Future prosperity in China is unlikely to be hindered by population aging
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

New research on China suggests that declining birth rates and an aging population might not hinder future prosperity when associated with better education of the young.

Newswise: Watching SARS-CoV-2 in real time
Released: 27-Sep-2021 11:25 AM EDT
Watching SARS-CoV-2 in real time
Texas Biomedical Research Institute

A version of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease, has been successfully modified to glow brightly in cells and animal tissues, providing a real-time way to track the spread and intensity of viral infection as it happens in animal models.

Newswise: Researchers Find Human Learning Can be Duplicated in Solid Matter
Released: 22-Sep-2021 12:05 PM EDT
Researchers Find Human Learning Can be Duplicated in Solid Matter
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Rutgers researchers and their collaborators have found that learning -- a universal feature of intelligence in living beings -- can be mimicked in synthetic matter, a discovery that in turn could inspire new algorithms for artificial intelligence (AI).

16-Sep-2021 2:05 PM EDT
For the First Time, Stroke Study Reveals Optimal Timing and Intensity for Arm and Hand Rehabilitation
Georgetown University Medical Center

A phase II, randomized clinical trial found that the optimal period for intensive rehabilitation of arm and hand use after a stroke should begin 60 to 90 days after the event. The study, conducted by Georgetown University and MedStar National Rehabilitation Network (NRH) researchers, published September 20, 2021, in PNAS.

17-Sep-2021 11:40 AM EDT
Mars habitability limited by its small size, isotope study suggests
Washington University in St. Louis

Researchers measured the potassium isotope compositions of Martian meteorites in order to estimate the presence, distribution and abundance of volatile elements and compounds, including water, on Mars, finding that Mars has lost more potassium than Earth but retained more potassium than the Moon or the asteroid 4-Vesta; the results suggest that rocky planets with larger mass retain more volatile elements during planetary formation and that Mars and Mars-sized exoplanets fall below a size threshold necessary to retain enough water to enable habitability and plate tectonics.

Released: 20-Sep-2021 8:05 AM EDT
Gene For Sex Hormone Synthesis Could Play Key Role in Eczema
UT Southwestern Medical Center

A study led by UT Southwestern dermatologists suggests that a common inflammatory skin condition may stem from poorly regulated sex hormones. The finding, published this week in PNAS, could offer an unexpected new target to fight this condition.

Released: 15-Sep-2021 4:35 PM EDT
Finding a metal-oxide needle in a periodic table haystack
California Institute of Technology

I went to Caltech, and all I got was this T-shirt ... and a new way to discover complex and interesting materials.

9-Sep-2021 5:00 PM EDT
Bluefin Tuna Reveal Global Ocean Patterns of Mercury Pollution
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Bluefin tuna, a long-lived migratory species that accumulates mercury as it ages, can be used as a global barometer of the heavy metal and the risk posed to ocean life and human health, according to a study by Rutgers and other institutions.

Released: 13-Sep-2021 1:25 PM EDT
Researchers Shed New Light on Molecular Mechanisms in Brain Diseases
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Rutgers researchers have discovered some of the first molecular insights into how toxic proteins are regulated in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Released: 8-Sep-2021 5:40 AM EDT
Efficiency Leap in Separating Para-xylene Using New Carbon Membranes
Georgia Institute of Technology

.Researchers at Georgia Tech have uncovered new insights into the fabrication of carbon membranes that have the potential to drive significant cost savings once the solution for xylene isolation separation is scaled for industrial use.

Released: 7-Sep-2021 12:05 PM EDT
Researchers identify a mechanism that can help guide the development of new STING-activating drugs using imaging
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

A new study from scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that emerging drugs that activate the protein STING, a well-established regulator of immune cell activation, substantially alter the activity of metabolic pathways responsible for generating the nucleotide building blocks for DNA.

Newswise: New Filtering Method Promises Safer Drinking Water, Improved Industrial Production
2-Sep-2021 10:05 AM EDT
New Filtering Method Promises Safer Drinking Water, Improved Industrial Production
Tufts University

Researchers create thin film polymer membranes capable of separating fluoride from chloride and other ions. Targeted ion selectivity by the filtering membranes could have important implications for water purification, environmental remediation and industrial production.

Released: 31-Aug-2021 5:35 PM EDT
A new approach creates an exceptional single-atom catalyst for water splitting
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Anchoring individual iridium atoms on the surface of a catalyst made them a lot better at splitting water – a reaction that’s been a bottleneck in making sustainable energy production more competitive.

Released: 30-Aug-2021 1:20 PM EDT
Few US workers aware of COVID sick leave protections
Cornell University

Even with federal provisions aimed at protecting workers, instances of sick people being unable to take time off tripled during the pandemic and fewer than half of workers were aware that emergency COVID-19 sick leave was available, new research from Cornell University professor Nicholas Ziebarth has found.

Released: 30-Aug-2021 1:00 PM EDT
Study Shows How a Racing Heart May Alter Decision-Making Brain Circuits
Mount Sinai Health System

In an effort to understand how these states influence the brain’s decision-making processes, scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai analyzed the data from a previous pre-clinical study. They found that two of the brain’s decision-making centers contain neurons that may exclusively monitor the body’s internal dynamics. Furthermore, a heightened state of arousal appeared to rewire one of the centers by turning some decision-making neurons into internal state monitors.

Released: 26-Aug-2021 4:40 PM EDT
A new model for group decision-making shows how 'followers' can influence the outcome
Santa Fe Institute

From small committees to national elections, group decision-making can be complicated — and it may not always settle on the best choice.

   
20-Aug-2021 8:30 AM EDT
Bringing Order to Chaotic Bubbles Can Make Mining More Sustainable
Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science

A new way to control the motion of bubbles from researchers at Columbia Engineering might one day help separate useful metals from useless dirt using much less energy and water than is currently needed.

Released: 19-Aug-2021 3:20 PM EDT
Existing drugs kill SARS-CoV2 in cells
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

A groundbreaking study from U-M reveals several drug contenders already in use for other purposes—including one dietary supplement—that have been shown to block or reduce SARS-CoV2 infection in cells.

Released: 16-Aug-2021 2:05 PM EDT
Blind People Can’t See Color but Understand It the Same Way as Sighted People
 Johns Hopkins University

People born blind have never seen that bananas are yellow but Johns Hopkins University researchers find that like any sighted person, they understand two bananas are likely to be the same color and why. Questioning the belief that dates back to philosopher John Locke that people born blind could never truly understand color, the team of cognitive neuroscientists demonstrated that congenitally blind and sighted individuals actually understand it quite similarly.

Released: 11-Aug-2021 8:05 AM EDT
A COVID-19 vaccine strategy to give the body ‘border protection’
Ohio State University

A simple addition to injected COVID-19 vaccines could enhance their effectiveness and provide “border protection” immunity in areas like the nose and mouth to supplement antibodies in the bloodstream, new research suggests.

Released: 6-Aug-2021 11:05 AM EDT
New Technology Will Allow Important Metals to Be Made More Efficiently
University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering

University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have invented a cheaper, safer, and simpler technology that will allow a “stubborn” group of metals, such as the Pt-group elements, to be transformed into thin films for various practical applications. The technology has been patented and is receiving interest from industry.

Released: 30-Jul-2021 4:20 PM EDT
Solar-Powered Microbes to Feed the World?
University of Göttingen

Microbes have played a key role in our food and drinks – from cheese to beer – for millennia but their impact on our nutrition may soon become even more important.

Released: 30-Jul-2021 11:55 AM EDT
When Stubborn Bugs Refuse to Make Drugs
Washington University in St. Louis

An untapped trove of desirable drug-like molecules is hidden in the genomes of Streptomyces bacteria — the same bacteria responsible for the first bacterial antibiotics to treat tuberculosis back in the 1940s. Isolating them, however, has proved challenging. Now, biologists at Washington University in St. Louis are using comparative metabologenomics to try to uncover what may be “silencing” Streptomyces and preventing it from producing desirable compounds encoded by its genes.



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