Science
press releases.

Science5 Nov 2024

The first 3D view of the formation and evolution of globular clusters

A study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics marks a significant milestone in our understanding of the formation and dynamical evolution of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (spherical and very compact stellar agglomerates typically populated by 1–2 million stars). This pioneering study, conducted by a group of researchers from the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the University of Bologna, and Indiana University, is the first to perform a 3D kinematic analysis of multiple stellar populations for a representative sample of 16 globular clusters in our Galaxy. It provides ...

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Science5 Nov 2024

ERC Synergy Grants for 57 teams tackling major scientific challenges

Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “Innovation thrives on collaboration, especially when tackling the pressing scientific challenges of our time. The ERC Synergy Grants work with Horizon Europe funding to connect brilliant minds across borders and disciplines, enabling them to push the frontiers of knowledge together. I am particularly delighted to see researchers from countries with historically fewer ERC grants among the awardees, reflecting our mission to ...

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Science5 Nov 2024

The origin of writing in Mesopotamia is tied to designs engraved on ancient cylinder seals

The origins of writing in Mesopotamia lie in the images imprinted by ancient cylinder seals on clay tablets and other artifacts. A research group from the University of Bologna has identified a series of correlations between the designs engraved on these cylinders, dating back around six thousand years, and some of the signs in the proto-cuneiform script that emerged in the city of Uruk, located in what is now southern Iraq, around 3000 BCE. The study—published in Antiquity—opens new perspectives on ...

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Science5 Nov 2024

Explaining science through dance

Science can be difficult to explain to the public. In fact, any subfield of science can be difficult to explain to another scientist who studies in a different area. Explaining a theoretical science concept to high school students requires a new way of thinking altogether. This is precisely what researchers at the University of California San Diego did when they orchestrated a dance with high school students at Orange Glen High School in Escondido as a way to explain topological insulators. The experiment, led by former graduate student Matthew Du and UC San Diego Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Joel Yuen-Zhou, was published in Science Advances. “I ...

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Science5 Nov 2024

Gendered bilingualism in post-colonial Korea

In the 1960s, Japanese books became immensely popular in South Korea. Interestingly, Korean newspapers often wrote about this trend as if mainly women were interested in learning Japanese. Osaka Metropolitan University Associate Professor Jinsuk Yang examined South Korean newspaper articles and other historical documents from the 1960s and 1970s to understand why Japanese language learning was often described as something women did, even though men were also learning Japanese. Additionally, Professor Yang studied how women’s ability to speak Japanese affected ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

UVA co-leads $2.9 million NIH investigation into where systems may fail people with disabilities

A University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science researcher is partnering on a historic and foundational National Institutes of Health study to help the nation discuss, and better address, the concept of structural ableism and where it may result in healthcare disparities. Rupa Valdez, a professor of systems and information engineering who also holds an appointment as a professor of public health sciences in the UVA School of Medicine, is co-leading the five-year, $2.9 million investigation — the first of its kind. Currently, the field relies on non-standardized ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

New trigger proposed for record-smashing 2022 Tonga eruption

American Geophysical Union 4 November 2024 AGU Release No. 24-35 For Immediate Release This press release is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/new-trigger-tonga-eruption/ New trigger proposed for record-smashing 2022 Tonga eruption Previously unstudied data from a seismic wave, detected 750 kilometers from the seamount, may bolster tsunami early-warning systems. AGU press contact: Liza Lester, +1 (202) 777-7494, news@agu.org (UTC-5 hours) Contact information for the researchers: Mie Ichihara, University of Tokyo, ichihara@eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp, (UTC+9 hours) WASHINGTON — Fifteen minutes before the ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Lupus Research Alliance announces Lupus Research Highlights at ACR Convergence 2024

Lupus Research Alliance Announces Lupus Research Highlights at ACR Convergence 2024 Sixteen presentations of preclinical studies funded by the Lupus Research Alliance (LRA) to advance understanding of lupus and potential treatment pathways, including four oral presentations Two reports by Lupus Therapeutics, the clinical affiliate of the LRA, and the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) on promoting equity in lupus clinical trials, and identifying trial barriers and solutions Fifteen industry-sponsored clinical research studies supported by Lupus Therapeutics and LuCIN, including positive results from the late-breaking Phase 3 dapirolizumab pegol trial ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

The secrets of baseball's magic mud

EMBARGOED UNTIL MONDAY NOVEMBER 4 AT 3:00 P.M. ET The unique properties of baseball’s famed “magic” mud have never been scientifically quantified — until now. In a new paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering and Applied Science (Penn Engineering) and School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) reveal what makes the magic mud so special. “It spreads like a skin cream and grips like sandpaper,” says Shravan Pradeep, the paper’s first author and a postdoctoral researcher in the labs of Douglas J. ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Toddlers understand concept of possibility

Children too young to know words like “impossible” and “improbable” nonetheless understand how possibility works, finds new work with two- and three-year-olds. The findings, the first to demonstrate that young children distinguish between improbable and impossible events, and learn significantly better after impossible occurrences, is newly published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. “Even young toddlers already think about the world in terms of possibilities,” said co-author Lisa Feigenson, co-director of the Johns Hopkins University Laboratory for Child Development. “Adults do this all the time and here we wanted ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Jill Tarter to receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the search for life beyond earth

Jill Tarter to Receive Inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth November 4, 2024, Mountain View, CA – Renowned astronomer, Dr. Jill Tarter, SETI Institute co-founder and pioneering SETI researcher, will be honored with the inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth at the SETI Institute’s 40th Anniversary celebration on November 20, 2024, in Menlo Park, CA. This new award recognizes individuals whose projects or ideas significantly advance humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence. The Tarter Award honors contributions ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Translational science reviews—a new JAMA review

About The Article: To help clinicians keep up with ongoing basic and translational science discoveries that affect the diagnosis and treatment of human disease, JAMA has launched a new series, “Translational Science Reviews.” These new article types are succinct and informative summaries of important basic science advances that are transforming diagnosis and treatment of human disease. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Mary M. McDermott, MD, email mdm608@northwestern.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.21146) Editor’s Note: Please ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Steven N. Austad, PhD, to receive inaugural George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award

New York, NY­–The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) is pleased to announce the recipient of the inaugural George M. Martin Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award: Steven N. Austad, PhD, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research and a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The Award is named in honor of George M. Martin, MD (1927-2022), a pioneer in the field of aging research and AFAR’s Scientific Director for more than a decade. A Professor of Pathology at the University of Washington, Dr. Martin devoted his long, distinguished career to growing the field of aging ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Combining two simple tools could combat election misinformation

ITHACA, N.Y. – A popular new strategy for combatting misinformation doesn’t by itself help people distinguish truth from falsehood but improves when paired with reminders to focus on accuracy, finds new Cornell University-led research supported by Google. Psychological inoculation, a form of “prebunking” intended to help people identify and refute false or misleading information, uses short videos in place of ads to highlight manipulative techniques common to misinformation, such as emotional language, false dichotomies and scapegoating. The strategy has already been deployed ...

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Science4 Nov 2024

Adolescent exam anxiety can be intensified by pressure to achieve, says academic

Former teacher Professor of Education David Putwain says ‘heavy-handed’ messages around test results can fuel extreme worry among some 16 to 18-year-olds, even when others respond well to such messages. Putwain identifies several risk factors, for example students with certain personality traits, including those who are highly self-critical, can underachieve because of severe anxiety in exams. Certain demographics also report higher exam anxiety, including female persons and those from economically deprived backgrounds. ‘Temperature checks’ to identify at-risk ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

More resources needed to protect birds in Germany

Member states of the European Union are obliged to designate Special Protection Areas (SPAs) as part of the Natura 2000 network. These areas are designed to guarantee the preservation and restoration of bird populations. However, due to the paucity of data about rare species, it was not known how well these areas worked. Researchers at the University of Göttingen and Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA) developed citizen science platforms as a new data source to evaluate the effectiveness of the 742 protected areas for birds ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

nTIDE November 2024 Jobs Report: Disability employment remains near historic highs over past 18 months

East Hanover, NJ – November 1, 2024 – Following significant gains since the post-pandemic lockdown, employment rates for people with disabilities may have plateaued, remaining near historic high levels over the past 18 months despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to slow the economy, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – semi-monthly update (nTIDE) issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability Year-to-Year nTIDE Numbers (comparing October 2023 to October 2024) The employment-to-population ratio for people with disabilities (ages 16-64) ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

Jennifer Bickel, M.D., named MD Anderson Vice President and Chief Wellness Officer

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center today announced the selection of Jennifer Bickel, M.D., as the institution’s inaugural vice president and chief wellness officer (CWO). She will begin on January 6, 2025. Working closely with the senior vice president of people, culture and infrastructure, as well as the chief academic officer, she will spearhead initiatives that prioritize employee well-being, professional fulfillment and community resilience. In her new role, Bickel will implement a three-component model focusing on a culture of wellness, efficiency ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

Evolutionary paths vastly differ for birds, bats

ITHACA, N.Y. – New Cornell University research has found that, unlike birds, the evolution of bats’ wings and legs is tightly coupled, which may have prevented them from filling as many ecological niches as birds. “We initially expected to confirm that bat evolution is similar to that of birds, and that their wings and legs evolve independently of one another. The fact we found the opposite was greatly surprising,” said Andrew Orkney, postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Brandon Hedrick, assistant professor biomedical sciences. Both researchers ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

Investment in pediatric emergency care could save more than 2,100 young lives annually

In emergencies, children have distinct needs because of their unique physiological, emotional and developmental characteristics. But 83% of emergency departments nationwide are not fully prepared to meet those needs — which can be life-threatening for a child in cases of severe illness or injury. A new Oregon Health & Science University-led study, published today in JAMA Network Open, found that bridging that gap, known as becoming “pediatric ready,” could prevent the deaths of more than 2,100 children each year with modest financial investment. ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

Cannabis use during early pregnancy following recreational cannabis legalization

About The Study: In this time-series study, recreational cannabis legalization implementation in California was associated with an increase in rates of cannabis use during early pregnancy, defined by both self-report and toxicology testing, driven by individuals living in jurisdictions that allowed adult-use retailers. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Kelly C. Young-Wolff, PhD, MPH, email kelly.c.young-wolff@kp.org. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2024.3656) Editor’s Note: Please see the article ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

Revealing causal links in complex systems

Getting to the heart of causality is central to understanding the world around us. What causes one variable — be it a biological species, a voting region, a company stock, or a local climate — to shift from one state to another can inform how we might shape that variable in the future. But tracing an effect to its root cause can quickly become intractable in real-world systems, where many variables can converge, confound, and cloud over any causal links. Now, a team of MIT engineers hopes to provide some clarity in the pursuit of causality. They developed ...

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Science1 Nov 2024

Press registration now open for the EULAR 2025 Congress in Barcelona

The EULAR 2025 Congress will gather the world's foremost rheumatology experts, fostering a unique environment to explore pioneering research, clinical advancements, and patient-centred innovations in rheumatology. This annual flagship event offers unparalleled access to transformative discussions and showcases the latest strides in patient care for rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs). This year's Congress programme promises an impressive line-up, featuring must-see scientific sessions, EULAR Recommendations, and insightful abstract presentations. Esteemed speakers from across Europe and beyond ...

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Science31 Oct 2024

Remote control eddies: Upwelled nutrients boost productivity around Hawaiian Islands

Beyond colorful coral reefs and diverse nearshore ecosystems, Pacific Ocean waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands have comparatively little marine life and low biological productivity. New research published by University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa oceanographers showed that eddies on the leeward side of the Hawaiian Islands can supply nutrients, not only locally, but also to the opposite side of the island chain and stimulate blooms of phytoplankton, microscopic plant life that lives in the surface ocean. The study, published in JGR Oceans, was selected by the American Geophysical Union’s editorial board as a featured article. “While ...

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Science31 Oct 2024

First blueprint of the human spliceosome revealed

Researchers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona have created the first blueprint of the human spliceosome, the most complex and intricate molecular machine inside every cell. The scientific feat, which took more than a decade to complete, is published today in the journal Science. The spliceosome edits genetic messages transcribed from DNA, allowing cells to create different versions of a protein from a single gene. The vast majority of human genes – more than nine in ten – are edited by the spliceosome. Errors in the process are linked to a wide spectrum of diseases including most types of cancer, neurodegenerative conditions and genetic ...

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