Science
press releases.

Science21 Aug 2024

How does organic farming benefit honeybees?

Organic farming and flower strips promote the health of honey bees. In their vicinity, colonies grow stronger and are generally healthier. This is most likely because the insects have a diverse and continuous food supply there and are less exposed to pesticides. These are the findings of a new study by Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the University of Göttingen, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The team analysed data from 32 bee colonies at 16 locations in Germany with different proportions of organic fields, flower strips and semi-natural habitats. According ...

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Science21 Aug 2024

Molecular wires with a twist

Osaka, Japan – From the high-voltage wires that carry electricity over long distances, to the tungsten filaments in our incandescent lights, we may have become accustomed to thinking that electrical conductors are always made of metal. But for decades, scientists have been working on advanced materials based on carbon-based oligomer chains that can also conduct electricity. These include the organic light-emitting devices found in some modern smartphones and computers. In quantum mechanics, electrons are not just point particles with definite ...

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Science21 Aug 2024

The power of play: Strengthening senior wellbeing through generational bonds

Watching your children frolic through a playground is one of the many joys of being a parent or grandparent, but new research has found that engaging in play with kids could help improve mental health. Researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) and the University of Canberra (UC) have explored the benefits of intergenerational play through specially designed playgrounds for kids and adults. Intergenerational play brings young children and older people together to engage in enjoyable and creative activities such as storytelling, using playground equipment, and games. The world is facing an ...

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Science21 Aug 2024

The underrated impact of humidity

Governments, medical institutions and other bodies require accurate models on health-related matters in order to better organize their activities. Climate change has measurable impacts on society, including on human mortality. However, current models to assess the health impacts of climate change do not account for every environmental parameter, especially humidity, which could influence heat stress perceived by the human body, leaving room for improvement. For the first time, researchers, including those from the University of Tokyo, successfully incorporated humidity data from hundreds of cities into so-called heat stress indicators ...

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Science21 Aug 2024

Sharing risk to avoid power outages in an era of extreme weather

In brief Extreme weather is leading to more frequent power grid strain and electricity outages. There are a range of regional cooperation agreements among utilities to share electricity. Expanding cooperation areas in the West could cut outage risks by as much as 40%. Expanding cooperation among electricity providers could also help ensure public opinion and policy remain favorable for renewable energy growth. This summer’s Western heat waves raise the specter of recent years’ rotating power outages and record-breaking electricity demand in the region. ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

UTA federal research expenditures doubled in 2023

In 2023, federally sponsored research at The University of Texas at Arlington accounted for $77 million in expenditures, with about $40.7 million spent on research-related goods and services in Texas. That more than doubles the total for 2022, when federally sponsored research at UTA contributed $38 million to the economy. The $77 million is a portion of UTA’s $122 million in total research expenditures from all sources last year. This number includes federally sponsored research awards as well as those from local and state governments, private institutions, and other sources. Overall, UT Arlington and its 270,000 alumni contribute $29 billion ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Study: Temporarily removing firearms from people at risk of harm saves lives

DURHAM, N.C. – An estimated one life was saved for every 17 times an extreme risk protection order removed guns from people who presented a risk of harming themselves or others, according to a Duke Health-led analysis of the laws in four states. Extreme risk protection orders -- known as ERPOs or “red flag laws" -- are civil court orders that temporarily prevent people from accessing firearms after a judge determines that they pose an imminent risk of harming themselves or others. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia have enacted ERPO laws, mostly in ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Nadia Drake joins SETI Institute Board of Directors as observer

August 20, 2024, Mountain View, CA –The SETI Institute announced that Dr. Nadia Drake is joining the SETI Institute's Board of Directors as an observer. The SETI Institute's board guides its strategic direction, finances, and various committees. As a journalist, Drake will be an active, non-voting member, bringing her broad expertise to the team. "I am thrilled by this appointment to the SETI Institute's board, which comes at an exciting time for the SETI Institute and for the search for life beyond Earth," said Drake. "For most of my career as a science journalist, I've covered astrobiology ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Organized youth sports are increasingly for the privileged

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A sweeping study of U.S. youth sports participation over the past 60 years found that there has been a significant increase over time in kids playing organized sports – but particularly among more privileged, educated families. A national survey found that about 70% of Americans born in the ’90s and reaching age 18 by 2015-16 said they took part in organized sports through recreational, school, or club teams. This finding showed a rather steady increase in organized sports participation across generations. Slightly more than half of those ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

UCF researcher develops lotus-inspired tech to convert CO2 to fuels, chemicals

Video available here. In an effort to reduce the environmental impact of carbon dioxide emissions, a University of Central Florida researcher has developed a new technology that captures carbon dioxide and outputs useful fuels and chemicals. Yang Yang, an associate professor in UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center, created an innovative device that captures carbon dioxide with a microsurface comprised of a tin oxide film and fluorine layer. The device then extracts gaseous carbon dioxide via a bubbling electrode and selectively converts ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Be in the know! Press conference schedule for ESC Congress 2024 released!

Sophia Antipolis, 20 August 2024: It’s not long before the global cardiology community converges in London for the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)’s annual gathering, unveiling the latest practice-changing science. The ESC Press Conference Schedule is now available, detailing the nine press conferences that will take place from Thursday 29 August to Sunday 1 September, and can be accessed in person or online. Accredited journalists will also be able to access embargoed press materials in the digital press area from Thursday 22 August. Join triallists and ESC spokespersons for eight press conferences on the Hot ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

UC Irvine-led team finds that compound in rosemary extract can reduce cocaine sensitivity

Irvine, Calif., Aug. 20, 2024 — A team of researchers led by the University of California, Irvine has discovered that an antioxidant found in rosemary extract can reduce volitional intakes of cocaine by moderating the brain’s reward response, offering a new therapeutic target for treating addiction. The study, recently published online in the journal Neuron, describes team members’ focus on a region of the brain called the globus pallidus externus, which acts as a gatekeeper that regulates how we react to cocaine. ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Modic changes linked to microbial differences in lumbar spine

August 20, 2024 — Among patients undergoing lumbar spinal fusion, the presence of Modic changes is associated with differences in microbial diversity and metabolites in the lumbar cartilaginous endplates (LCEPs), reports a study in The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "These findings suggest that changes in the microbiota may disrupt unsaturated fatty acid metabolism within the LCEP microenvironment, potentially influencing the onset and progression of Modic changes [MCs]," according to the new research ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Atul Malhotra, M.D., receives prestigious lifetime achievement award

Atul Malhotra, MD, Peter C. Farrell Presidential Endowed Chair in Pulmonary Medicine at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and pulmonologist at UC San Diego Health, has been named recipient of the 2024 Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology Lifetime Achievement Award by the American Thoracic Society. The award is given annually to honor the career of an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of sleep or respiratory neurobiology in terms of both scientific and scholarly advances, as well as in mentoring, teaching and advocacy to advance public health. Recipients are recognized for achievement in scholarship over the course of an entire ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

UofL researchers gain $3.6 million to study and prevent effects of arsenic exposure

University of Louisville researchers have received $3.6 million in new grant funding to study the role of arsenic exposure in causing cancer and other major health concerns. And, they think there’s a simple, off-the-shelf solution — zinc — that could help prevent some of its worst effects. Arsenic is highly poisonous and occurs naturally in some rocks and soil. As a result, the most common source of exposure is drinking contaminated water, particularly ground water from private wells. More than 43 million people in the U.S. alone get their water from private wells, including many in areas of Kentucky that may be contaminated ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

History professor examines Nelson Rockefeller’s career as a lens for Republican Party’s rightward shift

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Politician and businessman Nelson Rockefeller was seen as a moderate or liberal Republican even as he embraced conservative policies as the Republican Party shifted to the right in the 1960s and ‘70s. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign history professor Marsha Barrett uses the political career of Rockefeller — the four-time New York governor and vice president to Gerald Ford — as a lens to explore the evolution of the Republican party and the ascendancy of conservatism in her new book, “Nelson Rockefeller’s Dilemma: The Fight to Save Moderate Republicanism.” ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

USPSTF statement on screening and supplementation for iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy

Bottom Line: The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) concludes that the current evidence is insufficient to assess the balance of benefits and harms of screening and routine supplementation for iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in pregnant persons to prevent adverse maternal and infant health outcomes. Iron deficiency is the leading cause of anemia during pregnancy. According to survey data from 1999 to 2006, overall estimated prevalence of iron deficiency during pregnancy is near 18% and increases across the three trimesters of pregnancy. An estimated 5% of pregnant ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Analyzing ‘Finnegans Wake’ for novel spacing between punctuation marks

WASHINGTON, Aug. 20, 2024 – Statistical analysis of classic literature has shown that the way punctuation breaks up text obeys certain universal mathematical relationships. James Joyce’s tome “Finnegans Wake,” however, famously breaks the rules of normal prose through its unusual, dreamlike stream of consciousness. New work in chaos theory, published in the journal Chaos, from AIP Publishing, takes a closer look at how Joyce’s challenging novel stands out, mathematically. Researchers have compared the distribution of punctuation marks in various experimental novels to determine the underlying order of “Finnegans Wake.” ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

The emergence of moral foundations in children’s speech

A study of children’s conversations with their caretakers sheds light on the timeline of the emergence of moral foundation words in the first six years of life in English-speaking children. Moral Foundations theory posits that morality is largely intuitive and underlaid by modular foundations. The original set of five foundations proposed by researchers includes Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Authority/Subversion, Loyalty/Betrayal, and Purity/Degradation. Aida Ramezani and colleagues systematically ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Correcting misperceptions of opposing party won’t reduce polarization

Political animus between Republicans and Democrats in the United States is alarmingly high, raising fears of undemocratic or even violent actions. An often-touted intervention to prevent political polarization is to identify and correct misperceptions about people’s partisan opponents. Sean Westwood and colleagues sought to empirically test the effectiveness of this strategy. The authors surveyed 9,810 American partisans online from fall 2022 to fall 2023, finding that their opinions of whether ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Scientists discover new code governing gene activity

A newly discovered code within DNA – coined “spatial grammar” – holds a key to understanding how gene activity is encoded in the human genome. This breakthrough finding, identified by researchers at Washington State University and the University of California, San Diego and published in Nature, revealed a long-postulated hidden spatial grammar embedded in DNA. The research could reshape scientists’ understanding of gene regulation and how genetic variations may influence gene expression in development or disease. Transcription factors, the proteins that control which genes in one’s genome are turned on or off, ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

The invasion of Ukraine and European attitudes

An ongoing survey captures how the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected attitudes in European countries not directly involved in the conflict. Margaryta Klymak and Tim Vlandas examine how the Russian invasion of Ukraine affected economic and political attitudes in eight European countries. The authors took advantage of the timing of the European Social Survey (ESS), which happened to be administered both just before and just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 in eight countries: Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal. Overall, the invasion increased support ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

A new reaction to enhance aromatic ketone use in chemical synthesis

Aromatic ketones have long been valuable intermediates in chemical synthesis, particularly in cross-coupling reactions where different chemical entities are combined to form new compounds. For instance, a process called deacylative cross-coupling removes the acyl group from the aromatic ketone, allowing it to bond with other chemicals and produce a wide variety of useful compounds. These reactions are crucial for producing a wide array of aromatic compounds used in various industries like agrochemicals. However, the utility of aromatic ketones has been limited due to the difficulty in breaking their strong carbon-carbon bonds. These robust bonds are challenging to cleave, ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Extraterrestrial chemistry with earthbound possibilities

DENVER, Aug. 20, 2024 — Who are we? Why are we here? As the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song suggests, we are stardust, the result of chemistry occurring throughout vast clouds of interstellar gas and dust. To better understand how that chemistry could create prebiotic molecules — the seeds of life on Earth and possibly elsewhere — researchers investigated the role of low-energy electrons created as cosmic radiation traverses through ice particles. Their findings may also inform medical and environmental applications on our home planet. Undergraduate student Kennedy Barnes will present the team’s results at the fall meeting of the American ...

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Science20 Aug 2024

Novel ratchet with geometrically symmetric gear driven by asymmetric surface wettability

The ratchet mechanism is a fascinating energy-conversion system that converts disorderly or random motion into orderly, directed movement through a process known as spontaneous rectification. It is a critical component of mechanical systems, typically consisting of a gear and a pawl, which restricts the movement of the gear in one direction. In biological systems, the concept of a Brownian ratchet has been proposed to help understand the mechanism of molecular motors, where chemical reactions rectify the random thermal motion of molecules. According to the second law of thermodynamics, uniform thermal ...

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