Science
press releases.

Science6 Dec 2024

High heat is preferentially killing the young, not the old, new research finds

Many recent studies assume that elderly people are at particular risk of dying from extreme heat as the planet warms. A new study of mortality in Mexico turns this assumption on its head: it shows that 75% of heat-related deaths are occurring among people under 35―a large percentage of them ages 18 to 35, or the very group that one might expect to be most resistant to heat. “It’s a surprise. These are physiologically the most robust people in the population,” said study coauthor Jeffrey Shrader of the Center for Environmental Economics and Policy, an affiliate of Columbia University’s Climate School. “I would love to know ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Suicide rate is low during the holidays, but the holiday-suicide myth persists

As in most years that we’ve followed news reporting about the myth that suicides peak during the end-of-year holidays, an analysis of the past year showed again that more newspaper accounts supported the false idea that the suicide rate increases during the holiday season than debunked it. Over the past 25 years that we have been studying this phenomenon, in just over a third (nine years or 36%) have we found more debunking of the myth than support for it. Despite years of debunking by mental health researchers, journalists, and others, ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Love thy neighbor

Helping out your neighbor or minding your own business? A challenging choice with different benefits for each decision. Game theory provides guidance in making such choices—from a theoretical perspective. Novel findings by Jakub Svoboda and Krishnendu Chatterjee at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) reveal new network structures that enhance cooperation throughout a system. These insights have potential applications also in biology. The question of cooperation has puzzled scientists for a long time. Whether it is in the fields of biology, sociology, ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose levels across birth cohorts in the US

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study of 52,000 participants representing 264 million U.S. adults, population-level improvements in total cholesterol and triglyceride levels decelerated and adverse trends in glucose levels accelerated in more recent birth cohorts, which was partially mediated by concurrent increases in body mass index. Public health initiatives that target antecedent health behaviors are needed to improve cardiometabolic health across generations. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Xiaoning Huang, PhD, email jack.huang@northwestern.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Rapid ascend: COMMTR's three-year journey to SCIE and SSCI inclusion

We are thrilled to announce that our esteemed academic journal, Communications in Transportation Research (COMMTR), has been officially included in both the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) by Web of Science, a leading global provider of scientific and scholarly research information. In the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) released in June 2024, COMMTR received its first Impact Factor of 12.5, ranking it 1st among 58 journals in the TRANSPORTATION category and 3rd among 72 journals in the TRANSPORTATION SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY category. The dual inclusion in SCIE and SSCI signifies that the journal has ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

3D scans of giant hailstones reveal surprising discoveries that could help predict future storms

Hailstones are formed during thunderstorms, when raindrops are propelled into very cold parts of a cloud, where they freeze. Once the particles are heavy enough, gravity pulls them back towards Earth. As the plummet, they grow into hailstones, which can cause injury to people and significant damage to homes and cars. Scientists have been studying how hailstones grow since the 1960s but doing so meant breaking them in the process. To better understand the anatomy and growth of hailstones, researchers in Catalonia have used computed tomography (CT) scans to examine the giant hailstones that hit the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula during an exceptionally strong thunderstorm ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Entrepreneurs who take funding from close family and friends are more likely to pursue lower-risk growth options

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Entrepreneurs often lack resources and funding needed to launch a venture and reach out to family and friends for initial support. But is it always good for a startup when individuals close to the founder are asked if they want to “be on the ground floor of something good?” New research from three Indiana University Kelley School of Business professors finds that such close ties to investors can lead founders to make more conservative venture growth decisions and make them more hesitant to take risks. “In this study we were seeking to understand how accepting funds from these individuals influences an entrepreneur’s risk-taking preferences,” ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Genetic study of native hazelnut challenges misconceptions about how ancient Indigenous peoples used the land

By decoding the DNA of the beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta), a native plant that thrives in British Columbia, a team of multidisciplinary scientists is providing new insight into how ancestral Indigenous peoples stewarded plants across the province. Led by Chelsey Geralda Armstrong, an assistant professor in Simon Fraser University’s (SFU) Department of Indigenous Studies, the innovative study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS), a major scientific journal. “The misconception that Indigenous ...

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Science6 Dec 2024

Pacific curators restore Indigenous voices to colonial-era collections

Fault Lines: Imagining Indigenous futures for colonial collections, at the University of Cambridge’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA) from 6th December 2024 to 21st December 2025, examines interactions between Indigenous communities and colonial institutions in this vast and culturally diverse region. From the 18th century, Indigenous peoples across the Pacific have navigated a changing roster of imperial powers including Great Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The exhibition combines historic artefacts with newly commissioned artistic responses to examine the enduring legacies of cultural extraction and destruction during ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Scientists discover new receptor for nerve growth factor—a promising target for treating pain

Researchers at the NYU Pain Research Center have found a new receptor for nerve growth factor that plays an important role in pain signaling, even though it does not signal on its own, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The findings hold promise for finding new treatments for arthritis and other forms of inflammatory and cancer pain, without the side effects that led recent therapies to fail in clinical trials. “Nerve growth factor is unusual because it’s one of the few patient-validated targets for pain,” said Nigel Bunnett, professor and chair of the Department of Molecular Pathobiology ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

IGB researchers leverage team science to develop InSTAnT Toolkit

In a new study published in Nature Communications, a team of researchers at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology report a new, robust computational toolset to extract biological relationships from large transcriptomics datasets. These efforts will help scientists better investigate cellular processes. Living organisms are governed by their genome—an instruction manual written in the language of DNA that dictates how an organism grows, survives, and reproduces. By regulating the abundance of different RNA transcripts, cells control their protein expression level, thereby shaping their functions ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

AADOCR elects new Vice-president, Treasurer, and Representative to the IADR/AADOCR Publications Committee

Alexandria, VA – Members of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) have elected Margherita R. Fontana, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, as Vice-president, Julie Frantsve-Hawley, Temple University Kornberg School of Dentistry, Philadelphia, PA, as Treasurer, and Ariadne Letra, University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine, PA, as Representative to the IADR/AADOCR Publications Committee. Their terms will commence at the conclusion of the 54th Annual Meeting ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

IADR elects Raul Garcia as Vice-president

Alexandria, VA, USA – Members of the International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) have elected Raul I. Garcia, Boston University, USA, to serve as Vice-president. His term will commence at the conclusion of the 103rd General Session of the IADR, which will be held in conjunction with the 2025 IADR Pan European Regional Congress from June 25-28, 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. Garcia is Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Health Services Research at the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine at Boston University. He received his DMD and MMedSc from the Harvard ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Seven researchers named to Battelle Distinguished Inventor cadre

Seven scientists affiliated with the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been named Battelle Distinguished Inventors in recognition of being granted 14 or more United States patents. Since Battelle began managing ORNL in 2000, 104 ORNL researchers have reached this milestone. “These innovators have not only developed cutting-edge technologies, but they have also prioritized taking the steps to move them out into the marketplace, which is critical for adoption and broad impact,” said Susan Hubbard, ORNL deputy for science and technology. “The innovators are working on a range of strategies important for our ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

From one gene switch, many possible outcomes

Within all complex, multicellular living systems such as plants and humans, there exists a set of genetic elements that can be likened to the blueprints, tools, and specialized personnel at a construction site for an expanding development. Plant biologists like Aman Husbands at the University of Pennsylvania study a family of skilled subcontractors, known as the HD-ZIPIII transcription factors (TFs). These subcontractors are tasked with deciding which blueprints, or genes, to follow as they guide the ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Single mutation in bovine H5N1 switches viral binding specificity to human receptors

A single mutation in bovine influenza H5N1 – a clade of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that has been increasingly detected among North American livestock herds – can cause the virus to switch affinity from animal-type receptors to human-type receptors, according to a new study. The findings highlight the crucial need for continuous surveillance of emerging H5N1 mutations, as even subtle genetic changes could increase the virus's capacity for human adaptation and transmission, potentially triggering a future influenza pandemic. In 2021, the highly pathogenic influenza H5N1 clade ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Researchers crack the code of how fish pick their own birthday

New research has revealed that fish embryos actively control their hatching timing through a neurohormone, Thyrotropin-Releasing Hormone (TRH), which triggers the release of enzymes that dissolve the egg wall. This groundbreaking discovery uncovers a previously unknown neural mechanism that governs a critical life-stage transition, showing that embryos are not passive but instead actively make life-or-death decisions. The finding has significant evolutionary implications, offering new insights into neurobiology, survival strategies, and environmental adaptation in vertebrates. Dr. ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Buffalo besties: Feral female buffalo build friendships based on similar personality traits

HONG KONG (29 November 2024)—Similar social personalities strongly influence friendships in humans, yet we know relatively little about how animals choose their friends. But a new study by researchers at City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) investigating a unique free-ranging feral population of water buffalo on Lantau Island in Hong Kong has discovered that close spatial proximity serves as an indicator of friendship based on the predictive patterns of certain personality traits. “Our research provides evidence that friendships among water buffalo can form among individuals with similar behaviours. These findings ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Researchers develop new coronary risk score for women

OAK BROOK, Ill. – A new risk score accurately predicts and categorizes the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, in women. The findings were published today in Radiology: Cardiothoracic Imaging, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is the leading cause of death in U.S. women. The same can be said for women in Latin America, Europe, Asia and Pacific countries. However, since men are more likely to suffer from ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Unveiling unknown chemicals in human serum samples

From the 1960s to the 1980s, the use of lead in fuel, paints, and pipes caused widespread contamination. It is estimated that 170 million Americans alive today were exposed to high lead levels as children, which caused significant harm, including a measurable drop in IQ scores. While we now understand the dangers of these chemicals, large sections of the population are still exposed to them. UNICEF reports that about 800 million children globally, nearly half of whom live in South Asia, are still exposed to unsafe levels of lead resulting from the hazardous ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Advanced hybrid controller could boost efficiency in biosynthetic production

Control systems are ubiquitous in modern day technology. In industrial contexts, these systems ensure that relevant variables remain within a desirable range to keep processes running safely and efficiently. A vast array of control strategies exists, and it is not uncommon to combine different types of controllers to improve performance. For instance, high-level controllers based on mathematical modeling of a given process are routinely combined with low-level controllers, such as the widely used ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Food allergy anxiety at 30,000 feet

Patients and families affected by food allergy worry when they fly and often make travel decisions with food allergy management top-of-mind Airlines don’t always honor buffer zones, allergen-free food or cabin announcements that were promised to travelers during the booking process Simple steps to help ensure the safety of travelers with food allergy can go a long way CHICAGO ---The skies aren’t always so friendly for patients and families affected by food allergies, who may often experience worry and anxiety regarding airline travel, according to a new study from the Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research at Northwestern University ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

Potential epigenetic biomarker found for preeclampsia in pregnancy

PULLMAN, Wash. – Analysis of cheek swabs taken from pregnant women revealed a potential epigenetic biomarker for preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition that often leads to preterm births. While a clinical trial is needed to confirm the results, a study published in the journal Environmental Epigenetics offers hope that a simple test can be developed to identify preeclampsia earlier in pregnancy. Currently preeclampsia is usually identified by symptoms, such as abnormally high blood pressure, which only appear in the second trimester of pregnancy. Sometimes the condition can go undetected ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

A film capacitor that can take the heat

— By Michael Matz The Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and several collaborating institutions have successfully demonstrated a machine-learning technique to accelerate discovery of materials for film capacitors — crucial components in electrification and renewable energy technologies. The technique was used to screen a library of nearly 50,000 chemical structures to identify a compound with record-breaking performance. The other collaborators from University of Wisconsin–Madison, Scripps Research Institute, University of California, ...

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Science5 Dec 2024

New pathways to long-term memory formation

Researchers from Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience have discovered a new pathway to forming long-term memories in the brain. Their work suggests that long-term memory can form independently of short-term memory, a finding that opens exciting possibilities for understanding memory-related conditions. A New Perspective on Memory Formation Our brain works diligently to record our experiences into memories, creating representations of our daily events that stay with us for short time periods. Current scientific theories of memory formation suggest that short-term memories are stored in what we can imagine as a temporary art exhibition in our ...

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