PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New poison dart frog discovered in the Amazon's Juruá River basin is blue with copper-colored legs, and represents one of just two novel Ranitomeya species in a decade

2025-05-14
(Press-News.org) New poison dart frog discovered in the Amazon's Juruá River basin is blue with copper-colored legs, and represents one of just two novel Ranitomeya species in a decade

Article URL: https://plos.io/44cYeU2

Article title: A remarkable new blue Ranitomeya species (Anura: Dendrobatidae) with copper metallic legs from open forests of Juruá River Basin, Amazonia

Author countries: Brazil, Czech Republic

Funding: This study was funded by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Amazonas (FAPEAM Grant process n° 01.02.016301.03252/2021-67 from 007/2021 BIODIVERSA to A.P. Lima). ATM received a post-doctorate fellowship from CNPq (process n◦ 174978/2023-5) and EDK received a PhD fellowship from FAPEAM. The work of JM was financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (DKRVO 2024–2028/6.I.b, National Museum of the Czech Republic, 00023272). JSD received a fellowship AT/III from FAPEAM (process No. 01.02.016301.03252/2021-67 from 007/2021 BIODIVERSA). APLima received a (Productivity Fellowship from 013/2022 CT&I) from FAPEAM. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Shifting pollution abroad is a major reason why democratic countries are rated more environmentally friendly compared to non-democratic states

2025-05-14
Democratic countries tend to be rated “greener”, or more environmentally friendly, compared to other countries—but this may be because they more often outsource the environmental impacts of their consumption to other nations, according to a study published May 14, 2025, in the open-access journal PLOS Climate by Thomas Bernauer and Ella Henninger from ETH Zurich, Switzerland and Tobias Böhmelt from the University of Essex. Prior studies suggest that democracies have a better environmental protection record compared to more authoritarian nations. Here, the authors investigated the link between democracy and environmental ...

Groups of AI agents spontaneously form their own social norms without human help, suggests study

2025-05-14
A new study suggests that populations of artificial intelligence (AI) agents, similar to ChatGPT, can spontaneously develop shared social conventions through interaction alone.  The research from City St George’s, University of London and the IT University of Copenhagen suggests that when these large language model (LLM) artificial intelligence (AI) agents communicate in groups, they do not just follow scripts or repeat patterns, but self-organise, reaching consensus on linguistic norms much like human communities. The study has been published today in the journal, Science Advances. LLMs are powerful deep learning algorithms that can understand ...

Different ways of ‘getting a grip’

2025-05-14
To the point Different hand use: Two ancient human relatives, Australopithecus sediba and Homo naledi, had different finger bone morphologies that indicate they used different types of hand grips, both when using tools and when climbing Internal structure of the finger bones: A. sediba had a mix of ape-like and human-like features, while H. naledi had a unique pattern of bone thickness, suggesting different loading patterns and possible grip types. Human Evolution: Ancient human relatives adapted to their environments in diverse ways, balancing tool use, ...

Handy octopus robot can adapt to its surroundings

2025-05-14
Scientists inspired by the octopus’s nervous system have developed a robot that can decide how to move or grip objects by sensing its environment. The team from the University of Bristol’s Faculty of Science and Engineering designed a simple yet smart robot which uses fluid flows of air or water to coordinate suction and movement as octopuses do with hundreds of suckers and multiple arms. The study, published today in the journal Science Robotics, shows how a soft robot can use suction flow not just to stick to things, but also to sense ...

The ripple effect of small earthquakes near major faults

2025-05-14
When we think of earthquakes, we imagine sudden, violent shaking. But deep beneath the Earth’s surface, some faults move in near silence. These slow, shuffling slips and their accompanying hum—called tremors—don’t shake buildings or make headlines. But scientists believe they can serve as useful analogs of how major earthquakes begin and behave. A new study by geophysicists at UC Santa Cruz explains how some of these tremor events can yield insights into how stress builds up on the dangerous faults above where major earthquakes ...

Mass General Brigham researchers pinpoint ‘sweet spot’ for focused ultrasound to provide essential tremor relief

2025-05-14
  KEY TAKEAWAYS Three decades ago, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital pioneered MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) thalamotomy, a technique that offers lifechanging results for patients. In a new study, researchers looked at results from more than 350 patients treated with MRgFUS for essential tremor to assess clinical improvements and side effects. Their research creates a model of an optimal location for ablation, which will help make the procedure safer and more effective for patients at Mass General Brigham and around the world. For millions of people around the world with essential tremor, everyday activities ...

MRI scans could help detect life-threatening heart disease

2025-05-14
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the heart could help to detect a life-threatening heart disease and enable clinicians to better predict which patients are most at risk, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. Lamin heart disease is a genetic condition that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood and can cause life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms. It is caused by a mutation in the LMNA gene, which is responsible for producing proteins used in heart cells. It often affects people in their 30s and 40s. Lamin disease is rare but also often undiagnosed. About one in 5,000 people in the general population carry a potentially ...

NASA’s Magellan mission reveals possible tectonic activity on Venus

2025-05-14
Vast, quasi-circular features on Venus’ surface may reveal that the planet has ongoing tectonics, according to new research based on data gathered more than 30 years ago by NASA’s Magellan mission. On Earth, the planet’s surface is continually renewed by the constant shifting and recycling of massive sections of crust, called tectonic plates, that float atop a viscous interior. Venus doesn’t have tectonic plates, but its surface is still being deformed by molten material from below. Seeking to better understand the underlying processes driving these deformations, the researchers studied a type of feature called a corona. ...

A step forward in treating serious genetic disorders prenatally

2025-05-14
Injecting medicine into the amniotic fluid staves off progression of spinal muscular atrophy in utero.  Evidence is mounting that clinicians can treat serious genetic disorders prenatally by injecting medicine into the amniotic fluid, thus preventing damage that begins in utero.   A UC San Francisco-led study found that delivering medicine for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) via the amniotic fluid was safe, and it helped prevent damage to nerve cells in the spinal cord, a part of the central nervous system that is responsible for movement. One experiment was done in mice with SMA — a neurodegenerative disease that causes muscular weakness, atrophy, ...

New study shows AI can predict child malnutrition, support prevention efforts

2025-05-14
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the USC School of Advanced Computing and the Keck School of Medicine, working alongside experts from the Microsoft AI for Good Lab, Amref Health Africa, and Kenya’s Ministry of Health, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that can predict acute child malnutrition in Kenya up to six months in advance. The tool offers governments and humanitarian organizations critical lead time to deliver life-saving food, health care, and supplies to at-risk areas.The machine learning model outperforms traditional approaches by integrating clinical data from more than 17,000 Kenyan health facilities with satellite data on crop ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Sleeping in on weekends may help boost teens’ mental health

Study: Teens use cellphones for an hour a day at school

After more than two years of war, Palestinian children are hungry, denied education and “like the living dead”

The untold story of life with Prader-Willi syndrome - according to the siblings who live it

How the parasite that ‘gave up sex’ found more hosts – and why its victory won’t last

When is it time to jump? The boiling frog problem of AI use in physics education

Twitter data reveals partisan divide in understanding why pollen season's getting worse

AI is quick but risky for updating old software

Revolutionizing biosecurity: new multi-omics framework to transform invasive species management

From ancient herb to modern medicine: new review unveils the multi-targeted healing potential of Borago officinalis

Building a global scientific community: Biological Diversity Journal announces dual recruitment of Editorial Board and Youth Editorial Board members

Microbes that break down antibiotics help protect ecosystems under drug pollution

Smart biochar that remembers pollutants offers a new way to clean water and recycle biomass

Rice genes matter more than domestication in shaping plant microbiomes

Ticking time bomb: Some farmers report as many as 70 tick encounters over a 6-month period

Turning garden and crop waste into plastics

Scientists discover ‘platypus galaxies’ in the early universe

Seeing thyroid cancer in a new light: when AI meets label-free imaging in the operating room

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio may aid risk stratification in depressive disorder

2026 Seismological Society of America Annual Meeting

AI-powered ECG analysis offers promising path for early detection of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, says Mount Sinai researchers

GIMM uncovers flaws in lab-grown heart cells and paves the way for improved treatments

Cracking the evolutionary code of sleep

Medications could help the aging brain cope with surgery, memory impairment

Back pain linked to worse sleep years later in men over 65, according to study

CDC urges ‘shared decision-making’ on some childhood vaccines; many unclear about what that means

New research finds that an ‘equal treatment’ approach to economic opportunity advertising can backfire

Researchers create shape-shifting, self-navigating microparticles

Science army mobilizes to map US soil microbiome

Researchers develop new tools to turn grain crops into biosensors

[Press-News.org] New poison dart frog discovered in the Amazon's Juruá River basin is blue with copper-colored legs, and represents one of just two novel Ranitomeya species in a decade