Science
press releases.

Science16 Oct 2024

Unlocking the future: Information processing at the speed of light

The integration of photonics into quantum computing has profound implications across various domains. As the demand for faster and more secure computational capabilities intensifies, photonic quantum computing emerges as a pivotal force, with the photonics market projected to reach USD 837.8 billion by 2025. Harnessing the unique properties of light, photonic quantum computing revolutionizes data processing by encoding information in photons, offering unprecedented speed and efficiency for solving complex problems that traditional methods struggle to address. Photonic quantum computers can ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Brazilian researchers work to transform agave into the ‘sugarcane of the sertão’

Climate change has caused an increase in the semi-arid climate region in Brazil. Data from the National Center for Monitoring and Warning of Natural Disasters (CEMADEN) and the National Institute of Space Research (INPE) in the South American country indicate an expansion of 7,500 square kilometers per year since 1990, which is equivalent to five times the area of the city of São Paulo. A similar phenomenon has been observed in some regions of Europe and North Africa. With this in mind, and with the desire to find solutions to mitigate climate change, a group ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Study busts myths about cause of gout

A major international study has found gout is a chronic illness where genetics is a major cause, rather than lifestyle choices of the sufferer. Led by University of Otago researchers, the genome-wide association study, published in Nature Genetics, analysed the genetic information of 2.6 million people. Researchers analysed amalgamated DNA data sets from around the world. About three quarters of the data was from customers of 23andMe, Inc, a direct-to-consumer genetics and preventative health company, who consented to participate in research. They found inherited genetics is an important part ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Florida Inventors Hall of Fame invites nominations for 2025 inductees

TAMPA, Fla. (Oct. 15, 2024) -- The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is inviting nominations for the 2025 class of inductees. This award recognizes distinguished inventors with a connection to Florida, whose achievements have advanced quality of life for the state and the nation. “Inductees to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame represent some of our nation’s greatest inventors from across academia, industry and government,” said Paul Sanberg, chair of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame Advisory Board and president of the National Academy of Inventors. “Their achievements underscore the critical role that innovation plays in driving ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Election officials can boost voter trust in delayed results with early communication

In recent U.S. elections, results often took days to finalize, fueling voter distrust in the electoral process and ballot outcomes. Now, research from the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego shows that a simple, proactive message from election officials – ahead of Election Night – can effectively reduce this distrust. The study, published in PNAS Nexus, reveals that when voters are informed in advance that counting ballots accurately takes time and there are security measures in place, their trust in the process remains steady, even when results are delayed. “Election officials ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Honey bees in demand: New contract strategies to support pollination services

URBANA, Ill. — As the world’s native bee populations are declining, crop production requiring pollinators increasingly relies on commercial pollination services. In the U.S., the beekeeping industry is in great demand, and truckloads of bee colonies travel the country to accommodate crop growers. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at pollination contracts between beekeepers and California almond growers, exploring clauses that could make the agreements more appealing for both parties. “There's about 1.3 million acres of almond trees ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

New app performs real-time, full-body motion capture with a smartphone

Northwestern University engineers have developed a new system for full-body motion capture — and it doesn’t require specialized rooms, expensive equipment, bulky cameras or an array of sensors. Instead, it requires a simple mobile device. Called MobilePoser, the new system leverages sensors already embedded within consumer mobile devices, including smartphones, smart watches and wireless earbuds. Using a combination of sensor data, machine learning and physics, MobilePoser accurately ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Male mice use female mice to distract aggressors and avoid conflict

A research group led by Joshua Neunuebel at the University of Delaware, USA, tracked the behavior of mice using machine learning to understand how they handle aggressive behavior from other mice. The researchers’ findings, published on October 15th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, show that male mice deescalate aggressive encounters by running over to a female mouse to distract the aggressive male mouse. The researchers recorded groups of two male and two female mice interacting over five hours. Like many other animals, mice have social hierarchies, and in almost each group recorded, one male was always significantly more aggressive towards the other. Social interactions ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

2 million voters with felony convictions have the right to vote – but might not know

Key takeaways Voting eligibility for people with felony convictions has expanded since 1997, with more than two million individuals now able to vote. Several factors, like misinformation, distrust of government or lack of clarity around procedures, impede many from exercising their right to vote. Direct outreach, including through trusted, on-the-ground community organizations, as well as informational text messaging, can help eligible voters navigate the process and make sure their voices are included in elections. As get-out-the-vote efforts hit high gear nationwide, a team of sociologists, political scientists ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Arthropods dominate plant litter decomposition in drylands

Researchers have shown that larger insects such as woodlice and beetles play as much of a crucial role in leaf litter decomposition across different habitats and seasons as microbes and smaller invertebrates. The research, published today as a final Version of Record after previously appearing as a Reviewed Preprint in eLife, was described by editors as a fundamental study that substantially advances our understanding of the role of different-sized soil invertebrates in shaping the rates of leaf litter decomposition. The authors provide compelling evidence that the summed effects of all decomposers on decomposition rates, with large-sized invertebrates being ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

World-renowned organic chemists attend inaugural science symposium hosted by Rice’s Global Paris Center

The inaugural Art and Science of Total Synthesis of Natural and Designed Molecules for Biology and Medicine (ASTS-NDM 2024) symposium brought together some of the world’s most renowned organic chemists Oct. 2-4 at the historic Club de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris. Hosted by Rice University’s Global Paris Center , the event explored the evolving role of synthetic organic chemistry and total synthesis of natural and designed molecules in fields such as medicine, materials science and chemical biology. The three-day symposium attracted leading figures in synthetic organic chemistry, featuring 18 speakers who presented ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

The trees of Miami’s future

In Miami—a place known for one of the most diverse tree canopies in the world—nearly half of the native trees may struggle to survive in the coming decades, a new University of Miami study indicates. Due to global warming, temperatures may simply become too hot for some of the types of trees that dominate the city’s current landscape, like live oaks, slash pines, and cabbage palms. But the research also found that strategically planting more tropical trees may help the local canopy stay resilient in the face of climate change. Through an extensive data analysis project, a team of ecologists in the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences discovered ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Bonobos may be more vulnerable than previously thought, suggests genetics study

Bonobos, endangered great apes that are among our closest relatives, might be more vulnerable than previously understood, finds a genetics study led by a UCL researcher that reveals three distinct populations. The three groups of bonobos have been living separately in different regions in Central Africa for tens of thousands of years, according to the study published in Current Biology by an international research team co-led by UCL, University of Vienna, and Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Researchers awarded $1.3M to help military Veterans battling Acute Myeloid Leukemia

CLEVELAND—With a new four-year, $1.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, researchers at Case Western Reserve University are investigating a new approach to treat Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in military Veterans. AML is the most common form of blood cancer in adults, and many patients suffer relapses—especially Veterans, due to exposure to harmful chemicals and radiation during active duty, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. There is no effective treatment for AML and, according to the National Institutes of Health, half of treated patients suffer a relapse after therapy—mainly ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

APS and SPR honor Dr. Cynthia F. Bearer with the 2025 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award

October 15, 2024 – The American Pediatric Society (APS) and the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR) are pleased to announce Cynthia F. Bearer, MD, PhD, as the 2025 Mary Ellen Avery Neonatal Research Award recipient. This award honors a pediatric investigator who has made important contributions to neonatal health through basic or translational research. Dr. Bearer is the William & Lois Briggs Chair of Neonatology and Chief, Division of Neonatology, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics & Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University. ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Election delays and voter trust

A pre-registered survey of nearly 10,000 Americans shows that delays in declaring the winners of elections cause distrust in the electoral process, but that reassuring voters before polls close that delays are normal can prevent this distrust from taking root. National elections in the United States were not definitively settled for days after election day in 2020 and 2022. There are legitimate reasons for such delays, including state rules about when counting can commence and laws about whether mailed ballots postmarked on election day must be counted. However, delayed results ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Continuous monitoring of fatigue in factory workers

A system of wearable sensors and machine learning can continuously monitor factory workers for signs of physical fatigue. Factory work can be physically strenuous, and a safe and ethical workplace must ensure that workers do not become overly fatigued, which can increase the risk of injury and accident, cause chronic health problems, and also impair performance. A system designed by Ping Guo, Qi Zhu, and colleagues measures heart rate, heart rate variability, skin temperature, and locomotor patterns ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

How ‘vaccinating’ plants could reduce pesticide use and secure global food supplies

In a growing and changing world, we need to find ways of putting food on everyone’s table. Pesticides have enabled mass cultivation on an incredible scale, but they can have harmful secondary effects on humans and wildlife, and pests are rapidly evolving to overcome them. To overcome this challenge and develop the sustainable and resilient agriculture of the future, scientists writing in Frontiers in Science explore the potential of induced resistance. Like a vaccination for plants, it deliberately triggers a plant’s immune system, so that when the plant encounters a similar ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

New temperatures in two thirds of key tropical forest

Two thirds of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in tropical forests are experiencing new temperature conditions as our climate changes, research shows. KBAs identify the most important places on Earth for species and their habitats. The new study – by Exeter, Manchester Metropolitan and Cambridge universities – assessed 30 years of temperature conditions below the forest canopy in KBAs in tropical forests worldwide. It found that 66% of KBAs in tropical forests have recently transitioned to new “temperature regimes” (more than 40% of temperature measurements being outside the range previously recorded ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Rangers lead ground-breaking effort to monitor Uganda's lion population in critical stronghold

In a new study published in Nature Communications Biology, wildlife rangers from the Uganda Wildlife Authority have demonstrated their ability to generate precise and reliable data on lion populations in Uganda’s Nile Delta, a critical stronghold for African lions. The study reveals that wildlife rangers, a critical component of global conservation efforts but often underutilised in scientific research, can play a pivotal role in the conservation science surrounding the world’s most beloved big cat. Rangers are effective at monitoring lions and are an underutilised resource The study showed rangers ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Modern mass extinction in an Ecuadorean cloud forest found to be a mirage

One of the most notorious mass extinction events in modern times occurred on a hilltop in coastal Ecuador in the 1980s. Ninety species of plants known from nowhere else on Earth—many of them new to science and not yet given a name—went extinct when the last cloud forests of the Centinela range were cleared for agriculture. The cautionary tale of Centinela has long been a driving force in the fight to save the world’s rainforests. But did it really happen? In a new study published in Nature Plants, an international team of botanists reveals that, indeed, it did not happen. The researchers – who spent years of scouring natural history museums, biodiversity databases, ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

HLA-DRB1*01:03 and severe ulcerative colitis

About The Study: Among individuals with ulcerative colitis, the allele HLA-DRB1*01:03 was associated with severe ulcerative colitis requiring major operation, hospitalization, and systemic corticosteroid use compared with less severe disease. HLA-DRB1*01:03 has previously been linked to ulcerative colitis incidence. This study supports earlier, targeted genetic studies comparing patients with healthy controls reporting an association with total disease and severe disease requiring colectomy. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Marie Vibeke Vestergaard, MSc, email marievv@dcm.aau.dk. To access the embargoed study: Visit our ...

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Science15 Oct 2024

Need for streamlined miscarriage care in Canada

Miscarriage, or early pregnancy loss, can have devastating emotional effects, but it is poorly managed in Canada. A review published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.231489 provides guidance to physicians on how to diagnose and manage this condition and calls for referral to outpatient early pregnancy assessment clinics (EPACs) as well as a compassionate approach. October 15 is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Data suggest that 15%–20% of all confirmed pregnancies result in miscarriage, with ...

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Science14 Oct 2024

Countries that choose to do so can reduce premature death by half, researchers say

DURHAM, N.C. -- Since 1970, 37 countries have cut the probability of their citizens dying before they reach age 70 in half, a milestone that signals the remarkable progress many countries have made in preventing and treating disease. But a new report argues that this goal isn’t out of reach for any country that chooses to cut its premature mortality, even those afflicted by war or poverty. The report, published Oct. 14 by The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health, lays out a roadmap for every nation that chooses to do so to cut ...

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Science14 Oct 2024

50 by 50—How can we reduce the probability of dying before age 70 by 50% globally by 2050?

A team of 50 leading international experts, the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health (CIH), explored this question, resulting in clear, actionable, and achievable measures for achieving this ambitious goal worldwide. Six of the 50 commission members are affiliated with the Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting in Health (BCEPS), a Norwegian Centre of Excellence based at the University of Bergen, Norway, including BCEPS Director and Professor Ole Frithjof Norheim, BCEPS PhD Research Fellow Sarah Bolongaita, and BCEPS-affiliated researchers Angela Chang (University ...

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