Orangutan finding highlights need to protect habitat

Iconic great apes in Borneo lost muscle during fruit shortages

2021-05-13

(Press-News.org) Wild orangutans are known for their ability to survive food shortages, but scientists have made a surprising finding that highlights the need to protect the habitat of these critically endangered primates, which face rapid habitat destruction and threats linked to climate change.

Scientists found that the muscle mass of orangutans on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia was significantly lower when less fruit was available. That's remarkable because orangutans are thought to be especially good at storing and using fat for energy, according a Rutgers-led study in the journal Scientific Reports.

The findings highlight that any further disruption of their fruit supply could have dire consequences for their health and survival.

"Conservation plans must consider the availability of fruit in forest patches or corridors that orangutans may need to occupy as deforestation continues across their range," said lead author END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Life may have become cellular by using unusual molecules

2021-05-13

All modern life is composed of cells, from single-celled bacteria to more complex organisms such as humans, which may contain billions or even trillions of cells, but how life came to be cellular remains uncertain. New research led by specially appointed assistant professor Tony Z. Jia at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, along with colleagues from around the world (Japan, Malaysia, France, Czech Republic, India and the USA), shows that simple chemical compounds known as hydroxy acids, which were likely common on primitive Earth, spontaneously link together ...

Scientists find molecular patterns that may help identify extraterrestrial life

2021-05-13

Scientists have begun the search for extraterrestrial life in the Solar System in earnest, but such life may be subtly or profoundly different from Earth-life, and methods based on detecting particular molecules as biosignatures may not apply to life with a different evolutionary history. A new study by a joint Japan/US-based team, led by researchers at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, has developed a machine learning technique which assesses complex organic mixtures using mass spectrometry to reliably classify them as biological or abiological. In season 1, episode 29 ("Operation: Annihilate!") of Star Trek, which aired in 1966, the human-Vulcan hybrid character ...

Congestion pricing could shrink car size

2021-05-13

PULLMAN, Wash. - Rush hour will likely return when pandemic lockdowns lift, but a new study suggests that congestion pricing--policies that charge tolls for driving during peak hours--could not only cure traffic jams but also convince motorists it is safe to buy smaller, more efficient cars. Researchers from Washington State University and the Brookings Institution studied a sample of nearly 300 households in the Seattle area over a six-year period, finding that the more congested their commutes, the more likely they would buy bigger cars which they perceive as safer and more ...

Study finds that obesity drug semaglutide supresses appetite, food cravings and energy intake

2021-05-13

New research presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) shows that the obesity drug semaglutide reduces appetite, food cravings and energy intake in people given a meal where they could eat as much as they liked. The study is by Dr Dorthe Skovgaard, Novo Nordisk A/S (the manufacturer of the drug), Søborg, Denmark, and colleagues. Semaglutide, in the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogue drug class, is currently available at the dose of 1.0 mg injected once weekly for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and is under development for chronic weight management at the dose ...

New experimental drug cagrilintide (AM833), when combined with emaglutide, shows potential for treatment of obesity (The Lancet)

2021-05-13

An early study of a new experimental drug to treat obesity known as cagrilintide shows that, when combined with semaglutide 2.4 mg, the combination leads to more weight loss than semaglutide 2.4 mg alone and is well tolerated. This phase 1 study, which was recently published in The Lancet will be presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (held online, 10-13 May) by Dr Lone Enebo, Novo Nordisk A/S, Denmark, on behalf of her colleagues. Novo Nordisk A/S is the manufacturer of both drugs in this study. Combining medications with different modes of action may provide more effective treatment options for people with obesity. Weekly injections of cagrilintide, ...

Two-thirds of California prison residents offered COVID vaccine accepted at least one dose

2021-05-13

Two-thirds of California prisoners who were offered a COVID-19 vaccine accepted at least one dose, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. "We found that many incarcerated people in California prisons were willing to be vaccinated for COVID-19," said Elizabeth Chin, the lead author of the study and a PhD candidate in biomedical data science. "This is an encouraging sign for other states at an early stage of rolling out vaccination programs in their prisons and jails." The researchers also found that nearly half of those who initially turned down a COVID-19 vaccine accepted it when it was offered to them again. The finding is an important indication that vaccine hesitancy is not necessarily fixed. Two-thirds ...

Previously unknown letter reveals Einstein's thinking on bees, birds and physics

2021-05-13

The 1949 letter by the physicist and Nobel laureate discusses bees, birds and whether new physics principles could come from studying animal senses. It's a position still being realised within physics to this day, with a growing body of research and understanding of how animals such as birds and bees find their way around. Now a study led by RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, discusses how recent discoveries in migratory birds back up Einstein's thinking 72 years ago. The previously unpublished letter was shared with researchers by Judith Davys - Einstein had addressed ...

COVID-19 is not influenza, but it offers lessons on beating it, say Concordia researchers

2021-05-12

If you did not catch the flu this year -- and there is an overwhelming chance that you did not -- you have COVID-19 to thank. It's a small consolation, given the enormously disruptive scope of the pandemic. But it's the focus of a new paper published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health by two Concordia researchers and their colleagues that studies the 2020 influenza figures from Canada, the United States, Australia and Brazil. The authors show there is a clear relationship between the implementation of COVID-mitigation measures such as hand-washing, masking and social distancing and the spread of the annual flu. They write that these preventive measures all but eliminated ...

Breakthrough could lead to early detection of pregnancy complications

2021-05-12

The quest to create safer, more successful pregnancies is one of the top goals of modern science. While pregnancy is better understood today than ever before, with improvements in technology helping to lower the risk of negative outcomes, there is much researchers still don't know about a vital part of the pregnancy process: uterine fluid. Secreted by glands in the uterus during pregnancy, uterine fluid is believed to play an important role in supporting a developing embryo by sending information from the uterus to the embryo, along with a host ...

Backyard chickens, rabbits, soybeans can meet household protein demand

2021-05-12

In 2020, stores sold out of garden seed, coops and rabbit cages. Now, we have an idea how much protein people can grow in their backyards. The 2020 meat shortages led many to wonder what to eat for protein when supply chains are disrupted. Some people turned to gathering eggs, raising animals and growing their own food. A team from Michigan Technological University and the University of Alaska Fairbanks found that the work is well worth it. In a new study published in Sustainability, the researchers looked at how a typical household with a typical backyard can raise chickens, rabbits or soybeans to meet its protein needs. People eat a lot of protein in the U.S. and the average person needs 51 grams of ...

Novel radiation therapy QA method: Monte Carlo simulation meets deep learning for fast, accurate epid transmission dose generation

A 100-fold leap into the unknown: a new search for muonium conversion into antimuonium

A new approach to chiral α-amino acid synthesis - photo-driven nitrogen heterocyclic carbene catalyzed highly enantioselective radical α-amino esterification

Physics-defying discovery sheds new light on how cells move

Institute for Data Science in Oncology announces new focus-area lead for advancing data science to reduce public cancer burden

Korea University College of Medicine successfully concludes the 2025 Lee Jong-Wook Fellowship on Infectious Disease Specialists Program

[Press-News.org] Orangutan finding highlights need to protect habitat
Iconic great apes in Borneo lost muscle during fruit shortages

Orangutan finding highlights need to protect habitat

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: