Science
press releases.

Science21 Nov 2024

Fewer than 7% of global hotspots for whale-ship collisions have protection measures in place

Link to Google Drive folder containing images (caption and credit information below): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r5eJr78OdIYV0la1pBvRx-ksu9hsNqcw?usp=sharing Post-embargo link to release: https://www.washington.edu/news/2024/11/21/whale-ship-collisions/ FROM: James Urton University of Washington 206-543-2580 jurton@uw.edu (Note: researcher contact information at the end) Embargoed by Science For public release at 2 p.m. U.S. Eastern Standard Time (11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time) ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Oldies but goodies: Study shows why elderly animals offer crucial scientific insights

A new study on ageing in the animal kingdom has highlighted how urgently Earth’s oldest and wises creatures must be protected, with knowledge and environmental stability lost due to human intervention. The new study, led by Charles Darwin University’s (CDU) Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods (RIEL), explores the consequences of the loss of old, often large and wise animals in the wild and the value these individuals have to scientific knowledge, biodiversity and more. Humans are responsible ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Researchers identify previously unknown compound in drinking water

A team of researchers from the United States and Switzerland have reported the discovery of a previously unknown compound in chloraminated drinking water. Inorganic chloramines are commonly used to disinfect drinking water to safeguard public health from diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. It’s estimated that more than 113 million people in the United States alone drink chloraminated water. The researchers have now identified chloronitramide anion, chemically expressed as Cl–N–NO2−, as an end product of inorganic chloramine decomposition. While its toxicity is not presently known, its prevalence and similarity to other ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Chloronitramide anion – a newly characterized contaminant prevalent in chloramine treated tap water

Many public water systems in the United States use inorganic chloramines to disinfect drinking water, but their decomposition products have long been a mystery. In a new study, researchers report the discovery of chloronitramide anion – a compound whose existence, though not identity, has been known for 30 years. Detected in the tap water of millions of Americans, this compound’s toxicity remains untested, prompting calls for immediate toxicological evaluation and raising questions about the safety of chloramine in public water supplies. For over a century, chemical disinfection of public water ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Direct hearing tests show that minke whales can hear high-frequency sounds

For the first time, scientists have directly measured the hearing range of minke whales, discovering that the species can detect high-frequency sounds as high as 90 kilohertz (kHz), according to a new study, demonstrating hearing sensitivity far greater than previously believed. The findings suggest that baleen whales – the planet’s largest mammals – may be even more impacted by anthropogenic ocean noise than currently recognized but have been excluded from regulatory consideration due to underestimated hearing ranges. ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Chemists create world’s thinnest spaghetti

The world’s thinnest spaghetti, about 200 times thinner than a human hair, has been created by a UCL-led research team. The spaghetti is not intended to be a new food but was created because of the wide-ranging uses that extremely thin strands of material, called nanofibers, have in medicine and industry. Nanofibers made of starch – produced by most green plants to store excess glucose – are especially promising and could be used in bandages to aid wound healing (as the nanofiber mats are highly porous, allowing water and moisture in but keeping ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Innovating archaeology: HKU scholars utilize immersive 3D tech to document and study the human past

Archaeologists from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) are revolutionising the excavation and documentation of ancient sites with cutting-edge 3D immersive technologies. Archaeology studies the human past through the excavation of things people made and used thousands of years ago – from architecture to objects like pottery bowls and animal bones from meals. Although many excavation projects create digital 3D models of what they uncover, archaeologists need new ways to meaningfully use those data. Some projects share 3D models with the public as tourism and teaching tools – ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

What's the story, morning glory?

Photos Morning glory plants that can resist the effects of glyphosate also resist damage from herbivorous insects, according to a University of Michigan study. The U-M researchers also found the reverse: plants treated with and susceptible to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide RoundUp, are also susceptible to damage from insects. This suggests that glyphosate, a herbicide humans have introduced into the environment, can disrupt the co-evolution of plants and their insect herbivores. ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

These wild chimpanzees play as adults to better cooperate as a group

Compared to children, adults don’t play as much, but social play into adulthood is considered a universal human trait. Play has a role in building tolerance, cohesion, bonding, and cooperation. By comparison, play in adults of other species has been considered rare, and yet a new study reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on November 21 shows that some chimpanzees, like people, continue to play often throughout their entire lives and especially before engaging in acts that require collective cooperation. “We show that adult social play in chimpanzees can foster a range of cooperative behaviors, from dyadic interactions to complex, risky ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

​​​​​​​Urgent need to enable more farmers and contractors to revive England’s network of hedgerows

A new comprehensive survey has highlighted an urgent need to enable more farmers and contractors to revive England’s hedgerows to meet national restoration targets. While agri-environment schemes (AES) have improved the condition of these iconic landscape features, the overall length of hedgerows remains unchanged. Hedgerows act as field boundaries, protect livestock, support biodiversity and help mitigate climate change. However, around half of these important habitats were lost in the post-war years due to agricultural intensification. In the 2007 Countryside Survey, fewer than 50% of remaining ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

ASH inclusion program retained and engaged hematologists underrepresented in field, 20-year analysis shows

(WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2024) — Participants of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Minority Recruitment Initiative had lower attrition rates in graduate and medical programs, were more likely to pursue a career in hematology, and had high levels of engagement at ASH beyond their participation in the program, according to a study published today in Blood Advances. The ASH Minority Recruitment Initiative was established in 2003 following a report from the Institute of Medicine that called for greater workforce diversity. The program aimed to recruit physicians and physician/scientists from communities ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

APSS accepting sleep and circadian research abstracts and session proposals for SLEEP 2025 in Seattle

DARIEN, IL – The Associated Professional Sleep Societies is accepting research abstracts and session proposal submissions for SLEEP 2025, the 39th annual meeting of the APSS, which will be held June 8 to 11 at the Seattle Convention Center. Research abstracts will be accepted for oral and poster presentations. Hot topics for 2025 include machine learning and artificial intelligence, metabolomics and genomics, sleep and the glymphatic system, orexin pharmacology, and obesity management. Accepted abstracts ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Here’s something Americans agree on: Sports build character

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In a polarized nation, there is one thing that nearly all Americans agree on, according to a recent study: Sports are good for us. Researchers from The Ohio State University and Ithaca College found that more than 9 out of 10 Americans agreed that sports build character and improved one’s health, while 84% agreed playing sports makes one popular in school and 85% said it makes one more well-known in the community. According to 67% of those surveyed, playing sports even leads to better grades in school. While these beliefs may seem harmless, ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Females sleep less, awaken more frequently than males

Females sleep less, wake up more often and get less restorative sleep than males, according to a new animal study by CU Boulder researchers. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, shed new light on what may underlie sleep differences in men and women and could have broad implications for biomedical research, which for decades has focused primarily on males. “In humans, men and women exhibit distinct sleep patterns, often attributed to lifestyle factors and caregiving roles,” said senior author Rachel Rowe, assistant professor of integrative physiology. “Our results suggest that biological ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Single gene causes embryo notochord deformity in zebrafish

Can a single protein-encoding gene determine whether a vertebrate embryo develops normally? Yes, according to Osaka Metropolitan University researchers, who found that suppression of Pcdh8 is essential for the notochord to elongate properly in zebrafish. Graduate School of Medicine Dr. Masatake Kai and Professor Makoto Kondo focused on this paraxial protocadherin (PAPC), which is excluded when dividing cells migrate and form the notochord in the embryo. In the experiments with zebrafish embryo, when this PAPC is not ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Signals of inflammation during pregnancy linked to aging and memory changes 50 years later

Findings from a Mass General Brigham-led study that has followed participants since before birth may offer clues about the origins of Alzheimer’s disease. KEY TAKEAWAYS Stress-related immune activity during the late second to early third trimester of pregnancy can have long-term sex-dependent effects on offspring memory circuitry, function, and decline that potentially increase vulnerability for memory disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, after menopause. Sex differences in immune function begin in fetal development ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

Two million ex-smokers currently vape in England

About one in five people who have stopped smoking for more than a year in England currently vape, equivalent to 2.2 million people, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that this increased prevalence was largely driven by greater use of e-cigarettes in attempts to quit smoking. However, the researchers also found a rise in vaping uptake among people who had already stopped smoking, with an estimated one in 10 ex-smokers who vape having quit smoking prior to 2011, when e-cigarettes ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

History of endometriosis and fibroids linked to heightened risk of early death

Women with a history of endometriosis and uterine fibroids might have an increased long term risk of premature death, finds a large study from the United States published by The BMJ today. Endometriosis and uterine fibroids are common disorders among women of reproductive age. Endometriosis occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes, while uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths within or around the womb. Growing evidence shows that both conditions are associated with a greater ...

Read the release

Science21 Nov 2024

New research sets out how to make free internet access a human right

A new book has outlined why public institutions should recognise a new human right to free internet access and what such a right could look like. Free Internet Access as a Human Right is a culmination of research from Dr Merten Reglitz, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Birmingham and has been published today (21st Nov) by Cambridge University Press. The research argues that the new human right to free internet access should include protection from government censorship, surveillance and misuse, and private companies harvesting data. Dr Reglitz explained: “For most of us a world without internet access ...

Read the release

Science20 Nov 2024

MD Anderson receives nearly $8 million in CPRIT funding for screening and early detection programs, faculty recruitment

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today was awarded nearly $8 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) in support of faculty recruitment as well as lung and colorectal cancer screening and early detection programs to address cancer incidence rates across Texas. “CPRIT’s continued support is essential for progress in our mission to end cancer, and we appreciate this important funding,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. “Our unique research ecosystem enables breakthroughs across all disciplines, ...

Read the release

Science20 Nov 2024

Who is most vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation?

Educational achievement, mental health diagnoses, childhood abuse, number of arrests and number of children all play a complex role in shaping a person’s vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation, how long they are exploited for and how difficult it is to get out. That is one conclusion of a new study published November 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Courtney Furlong and Ben Hinnant of Auburn University, U.S. Commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) occurs when anything of value is given in exchange for a sex act. When CSE involves force, fraud, or coercion, it is termed ...

Read the release

Science20 Nov 2024

Florida manatees flourish and flounder alongside human neighbors

Florida manatees are threatened by human activity, but they’re also doing better than ever, according to a study examining manatee populations since 12,000 BC, published November 20, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Thomas J. Pluckhahn of the University of South Florida and David K. Thulman of George Washington University, Washington DC, U.S. Florida manatees are an iconic species and also a conservation concern, threatened by environmental change and watercraft collisions. Historical manatee populations are poorly understood, and therefore little is known about the state of manatees before modern human influence, making it difficult for conservationists ...

Read the release

Science20 Nov 2024

Manatees might be relatively recent arrivals to Florida, USF study finds

TAMPA, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2024) – New research suggests that while manatees are an indelible part of Florida’s seascape, they might also be relatively new residents in the Sunshine State. The findings are detailed in a study co-authored by University of South Florida anthropologist Thomas Pluckhahn and David Thulman, an archaeology professor at George Washington University, and scheduled to publish in PLOS ONE on Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. The embargo will lift at that time. The paper, “Historical ...

Read the release

Science20 Nov 2024

Megapixel fluorescence microscopy through scattering layers made simple

A team from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has introduced a new method for megapixel-scale fluorescence microscopy through complex scattering media. This approach resolves high-resolution images from several tens of widefield fluorescence-microscope frames without requiring specialized equipment such as spatial-light modulators or intensive computational processing. By efficiently correcting distortions caused by light scattering, the technique allows for clear imaging of dense and challenging targets. Its compatibility with conventional microscopy setups, coupled with the use of established matrix-based techniques, makes it practical for widespread use. A recent ...

Read the release

Science20 Nov 2024

Increasing complexity challenges strategic management

The changes in society and the phenomena surrounding us are becoming more unexpected and interconnected than ever before. This increasing complexity challenges strategic management, making it harder to predict trends and developments. According to a new study from the University of Vaasa, Finland, increased complexity demands new approaches to strategic management. – In strategic management, it is essential to acknowledge the growth of complexity and understand how to influence complexity ...

Read the release