New evidence regarding emerald production in Roman Egypt coming from Wadi Sikait

In 2018, when Professor Laurie Santos introduced her course "Psychology and the Good Life," a class on the science of happiness, it became the most popular in the history of Yale, attracting more than 1,200 undergraduate enrollees that first semester. An online course based on those teachings became a global phenomenon. By latest count, 3.38 million people have enrolled to take the free Coursera.org course, called "The Science of Well Being." But the popularity of the course posed an interesting question. Does taking the course and participating in homework assignments -- which include nurturing social connections, compiling a gratitude list, and meditation -- really help improve a sense of well-being? The answer is yes, according to two new studies that measured the psychological impact ...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 14, 2021--New research shows how to measure the super-short bursts of high-frequency light emitted from free electron lasers (FELs). By using the light-induced ionization itself to create a femtosecond optical shutter, the technique encodes the electric field of the FEL pulse in a visible light pulse so that it can be measured with a standard, slow, visible-light camera. "This work has the potential to lead to a new online diagnostic for FELs, where the exact pulse shape of each light pulse can be determined. That information can help both the end-user and the accelerator scientists," said Pamela Bowlan, Los Alamos National Laboratory's lead researcher on the project. The paper was published April 12, ...

New research has found that the most reliable indicators of willingness to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are rejection of conspiracy suspicions about COVID-19 and a positive attitude towards vaccines in general. The study by King's College London and the University of Bristol is published in the leading peer-reviewed journal Psychological Medicine. The researchers' analysis was based on a large representative sample survey carried out in November-December 2020. They looked at a range of factors that previous ...

Mathematicians and engineers at the University of Utah have teamed up to show how ultrasound waves can organize carbon particles in water into a sort of pattern that never repeats. The results, they say, could result in materials called "quasicrystals" with custom magnetic or electrical properties. The research is published in Physical Review Letters. "Quasicrystals are interesting to study because they have properties that crystals do not have," says Fernando Guevara Vasquez, associate professor of mathematics. "They have been shown to be stiffer than similar periodic or disordered materials. They can also conduct electricity, ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Eating red meat may have a bad reputation for being bad for the heart, but new research found that lean beef may have a place in healthy diets, after all. In a randomized controlled study, researchers found that a Mediterranean diet combined with small portions of lean beef helped lower risk factors for developing heart disease, such as LDL cholesterol. Jennifer Fleming, assistant teaching professor of nutrition at Penn State, said the study suggests that healthy diets can include a wide variety of foods, such as red meat, and still be heart friendly. "When you create a healthy diet built on fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods, it leaves room for moderate amounts of other foods like lean beef," Fleming said. "There are still ...

Irvine, CA - April 14, 2021 - A new study, led by the University of California, Irvine (UCI), reveals how chronic inflammation promotes muscle fibrosis, which could inform the development of new therapies for patients suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a fatal muscle disease. Titled, "A Stromal Progenitor and ILC2 Niche Promotes Muscle Eosinophilia and Fibrosis-Associated Gene Expression," the study was published today in Cell Reports. Chronic inflammation is a major pathological process contributing to the progression and severity of several degenerative disorders, including Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Studies directed at establishing a causal link between muscular ...

What are scientists passionate about? What do they actually do, and why does it matter? Answering questions like these is often part of public outreach efforts that, through demystifying the world of science for non-scientists, can increase appreciation for science and boost support for important research initiatives. Outreach can also make the sciences attractive and accessible to a broader diversity of people, who, in turn, can bring new ideas and perspectives. "Science is having challenges in terms of getting the general public to support it and ...

BOSTON - The anti-diabetic drug phenformin may prompt stronger cancer-fighting activities than its sister compound metformin, a finding that could have major implications for current and future clinical trials investigating both agents for their anti-cancer potential, according to researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). In a review article in Trends in Cancer, the team presented evidence that immunotherapies such as immune checkpoint inhibitors (which enable T cells to attack and kill cancer cells) in combination with phenformin may also be a promising way to repurpose this diabetic drug as an anti-cancer ...

One consequence of the coronavirus pandemic has been global restrictions on mobility. This, in turn, has had an effect on pollution levels in the atmosphere. Researchers from across the world are using this unique opportunity to take measurements, collect data, and publish studies. An international team led by Forschungszentrum Jülich's Institute of Climate and Energy Research - Troposphere has now published a comprehensive review providing an overview of results up to September 2020. The study also has its own dedicated website, where additional measurement data can be added to supplement and refine existing research results. At the same time, this collection of data allows scientifically substantiated predictions to be made about the ...

By combining the 'chassis' of an oil-producing microalgae with genes from a Cuphea plant, scientists from the Single-Cell Center, Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), can turn the algae into a microbial cell factory that can produce various oils with different properties. The study was published in Metabolic Engineering on April 3. Oils are composed of fatty acids, and fatty acids are composed in part of chains of carbon atoms. The length of these carbon chains can impact the physical properties of the fatty acid and thus the ...