Women's risk of infertility increases by 3% for every extra 1cm of waist measurement, though physical activity may be protective, finds US epidemiological study

An international team of scientists has found the first direct evidence linking seemingly random weather systems in the ocean with climate on a global scale. Led by Hussein Aluie, an associate professor in the University of Rochester’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and staff scientist at the University’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the team reported their findings in Science Advances. The ocean has weather patterns like what we experience on land, but on different time and length scales, says lead author Benjamin Storer, a research associate in Aluie’s Turbulence and Complex Flow Group. A weather pattern on land might last ...

In general, frogs’ teeth aren’t anything to write home about—they look like pointy little pinpricks lining the upper jaw. But one group of stream-dwelling frogs in Southeast Asia has a strange adaptation: two bony “fangs” jutting out of their lower jawbone. They use these fangs to battle with each other over territory and mates, and sometimes even to hunt tough-shelled prey like giant centipedes and crabs. In a new study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers have described a new species of fanged frog: the smallest one ever discovered. “This new species is tiny compared to other fanged frogs on the island where ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) patients lose body weight and muscle mass, despite being on a high-calorie diet while in the intensive care unit. Their muscle wasting is substantial and extends beyond what can explained by inactivity or denervation (loss of nerve supply) alone. Research led by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine published in the journal Science Translational Medicine sheds new light and decodes early muscle loss after SCI to provide an unprecedent first understanding that muscle wasting is: rapid ...

The world’s top fossil fuel firms subtly reset online conversations about climate change by ignoring discussions of extreme weather in favour of sharing praise for their own sustainability work, according to a new research paper in Nature’s npj | Climate Action series. Over half a million social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) were studied using artificial intelligence-assisted language/rhetoric analysis to reveal how fossil fuel companies, intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) interact online in conversations about climate change, including responses to climate change-related ...

Philadelphia, December 20, 2023 – India—with a dairy sector mainly composed of small dairy farms—is one of the largest milk producers in the world and home to more dairy cows than any other country. Its small farms feed millions and are critical sources of employment, income, and nutrition. As the dairy sector works toward reducing its emissions and contributing to global sustainability goals, a new study in the Journal of Dairy Science is illuminating the steps these valuable small dairy farms can take to lower their carbon footprints while providing enormous economic and nutritional benefits. The study’s lead investigator, Anjumoni Mech, PhD, of the Indian ...

December 20, 2023-- Several key public health occupations are lacking a Standard Occupational Classification code (SOC), including disease intervention specialist, public health nurse, policy analyst, and program manager, and without valid SOC matches and detailed data on local and state government health departments, the U.S. Department of Labor’s data cannot be used to count the number of public health workers serving as our nation’s frontline biodefense. Without that basic information, our nation will ...

The MIT Press is thrilled to announce a groundbreaking partnership with the European Sociological Association (ESA), marking a significant step forward in the world of academic open access publishing. We are proud to welcome European Societies and European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology to MIT Press as premier diamond open access publications, with new issues commencing in 2025.   Lígia Ferro, President of the European Sociological Association, notes that the decision to leave Taylor & Francis to publish open access with the ...

The number of people affected by tropical cyclones has nearly doubled from 2002 to 2019, reaching nearly 800 million people in 2019, according to a new study.   While more people are affected by tropical cyclones in Asia than any other region, every affected world region saw an increase in the number of people exposed to tropical cyclones, which are expected to become more intense and possibly more frequent as the climate warms.   “Although our study period is not sufficiently long to understand long-term trends, we observe a steady increase in both population and person-days exposure for ...

RICHLAND, Wash.—A common carbon compound is enabling remarkable performance enhancements when mixed in just the right proportion with copper to make electrical wires. It’s a phenomenon that defies conventional wisdom about how metals conduct electricity. The findings, reported December 2023 in the journal Materials & Design, could lead to more efficient electricity distribution to homes and businesses, as well as more efficient motors to power electric vehicles and industrial equipment. The team has applied for a patent for the work, which was supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Materials ...

As climate change drives more frequent and intense weather, finding new ways to adapt can be a matter of life or death. A new Stanford-led study reveals a steady increase in the number of people at risk from tropical cyclones and the number of days per year these potentially catastrophic storms threaten health and livelihoods. The findings could help relief agencies, development banks, and other organizations plan more effective strategies for mitigating extreme weather impacts. “Understanding the demographics of populations exposed to cyclones is crucial for understanding evolving risks,” said study lead author Renzhi Jing, a postdoctoral ...