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Science

For better loan terms, find a partner

Shoppers browsing through blouses and blenders at Target know they can also quaff a cappuccino at one of more than 1,700 Starbucks cafeshoused within Targets. The strategic alliance benefits both corporations by helping them reach new markets, boost their brands, and add incremental sales. Collaborative partnerships such as this have grown at a pace of 3,600 per year, according to the SDC Platinum database. That’s partly because companies in alliances can gain access to new technologies and customers while keeping their autonomy. New research from Texas McCombs highlights ...

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Science

How uncertainty builds anxiety

Alfred Hitchcock observed that “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” A common way to build suspense in a movie scene is for the audience to know something bad is going to happen, but not when it is going to happen. But how does uncertainty work to ratchet up our anxiety? In a recent paper in the journal Computational Psychiatry, researchers at the University of California, Davis, Department of Psychology take a deeper look into what builds fear. Not knowing when something will happen can cause anxiety, but until ...

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Science

Adolescents today are more satisfied with being single

Young people aged 14 to 20 years are nowadays more satisfied with being single than their counterparts ten years ago. This is the conclusion of a study undertaken by the Institute of Psychology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU). "It seems that today's adolescents are less inclined to pursue a romantic relationship. This could well be the reason for the increased singlehood satisfaction," said psychologist Dr. Tita Gonzalez Avilés, lead author of the recent study. Growing numbers of people are living as ...

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nTIDE June 2024 Deeper Dive: Employment trends for people with disabilities highlight continued gains for those with vision impairments
Science

nTIDE June 2024 Deeper Dive: Employment trends for people with disabilities highlight continued gains for those with vision impairments

East Hanover, NJ – June 25, 2024 – The employment-to-population ratio for individuals with vision impairments continues to show marked improvement, according to data shared during the according to last Friday’s National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) Deeper Dive Lunch & Learn Webinar. nTIDE is a joint effort by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). Director of Research Arielle Silverman, PhD, and Research Specialist Sarahelizabeth Baghun, PhD, from the ...

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Science

UC San Diego receives $5 million to support geriatrics workforce enhancement program

The University of California San Diego has been selected for the third time to participate in the Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP). This highly selective program comes with a $5 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). These funds will be used over the next five years to support the San Diego Imperial Geriatric Education Center (SDIGEC), which provides geriatric educational programming to health workers and other care providers across both San Diego and ...

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Science

Got prunes? Prunes may preserve bone density and strength in older women

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Dairy isn’t the only food that’s good for bone health. Prunes may also protect bone structure and strength in postmenopausal women, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. The findings, published in Osteoporosis International, suggest that daily prune consumption slows the progression of age-related bone loss and reduces the risk of fracture. “This is the first randomized controlled trial to look at three-dimensional bone outcomes with respect to bone structure, geometry and estimated strength,” said Mary Jane ...

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Science

Uncovering the drivers of a million-year-old glacial transition

The climate modeling community has been particularly vexed by the glacial/interglacial cycles of the past three million years, when the Northern Hemisphere oscillated between times with and without large ice sheets. From about 1.25 million to 750,000 years ago—in the Pleistocene epoch—a change in glacial cycles called the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT) occurred. During this time, glacial/interglacial cycles shifted from occurring every 41,000 years to every 100,000 years, with an increase in the amplitude and asymmetry of the cycles. Scientists are working to understand why these changes happened, considering that insolation forcing—variation ...

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Science

Analysis suggests 2021 Texas abortion ban resulted in increase in infant deaths in state in year after law went into effect

A study led by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers estimates that infant deaths in Texas increased more than expected in the year following the state’s 2021 ban on abortion in early pregnancy, especially among infants with congenital anomalies. The Texas law prohibiting abortions after a fetal heartbeat could be detected—as early as five or six weeks—went into effect September 1, 2021. At the time, the law—Senate Bill 8, or S.B. 8—was the most stringent state abortion law in the country. It did not allow exemptions for congenital ...

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Farmland weeds help to combat pests
Science

Farmland weeds help to combat pests

Leaving some weeds between crops can help to combat pests on agricultural land, according to a new study carried out by the University of Bonn. This step has particularly positive effects in combination with other measures: the cultivation of different types of crops and planting strips of wildflowers. The results have now been published in the Journal of Pest Science. Intercropping, i.e. planting different types of crops on the same field has a number of benefits: The crops have different requirements and the crops face less competition than when grown in monocultures. This means that they make better use of the water and nutrients ...

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The American Ornithological Society (AOS) announces its 2024 award winners for achievements in ornithological research by early-career professionals
Science

The American Ornithological Society (AOS) announces its 2024 award winners for achievements in ornithological research by early-career professionals

CHICAGO — June 25, 2024 — The American Ornithological Society (AOS) annually bestows research awards honoring early-career researchers for their ornithological research. This year’s early-career research awardees represent outstanding contributions to the scientific study and conservation of birds. The 2024 recipients will accept their awards at the 2024 AOS annual meeting (AOS 2024) this October in Estes Park, Colorado. The AOS’s James G. Cooper Early Professional Award and the Ned K. Johnson Early Investigator Award are presented annually to recognize outstanding and promising ...

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Science

From sunspots to traffic jams: Explaining real-world patterns scoops major maths prize for Surrey professor

A Surrey mathematician is the first ever UK-based winner of a prestigious international prize for his work to better understand patterns which contribute to a diverse range of phenomena, including stop-and-go traffic jams, weather fronts, sunspots and crime hotspots. The T Brooke Benjamin Prize is awarded every two years by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) – the world's largest applied mathematics society – for outstanding ...

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Orchid awakening: Unveiling the hormonal choreography behind flower development
Science

Orchid awakening: Unveiling the hormonal choreography behind flower development

A cutting-edge study has uncovered the complex hormonal and genetic interactions that dictate the seasonal flowering cycle of Cymbidium sinense, the Chinese orchid. This research sheds light on the enigmatic mechanisms of floral bud dormancy and its subsequent activation, offering new perspectives on the control of flowering times in plants. Flower development in plants is a complex process influenced by various intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Hormones like gibberellin (GA) and abscisic acid (ABA) play pivotal roles in regulating this process. In many orchids, including the Chinese Cymbidium, flower bud dormancy ...

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Science

EMBO Gold Medal awarded to Elvan Böke

EMBO awards the EMBO Gold Medal 2024 to Elvan Böke, group leader at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Spain. The award recognizes researchers under the age of 40 for outstanding contributions to the life sciences in Europe. The awardee receives a gold medal and a bursary of 10,000 euros. Early-stage oocytes are exposed to biological and environmental factors for decades, which can make them susceptible to cumulative damage. At the same time, the growth phases associated with oocyte maturation ...

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Battling anthracnose: Unearthing the plant's arsenal against pathogenic fungi
Science

Battling anthracnose: Unearthing the plant's arsenal against pathogenic fungi

A pivotal study has shed light on the intricate mechanisms of nonhost resistance (NHR) in plants, a critical defense against a broad spectrum of pathogens. By identifying and characterizing four novel core effectors from the pathogen Colletotrichum fructicola, researchers have unveiled key players in the plant Nicotiana benthamiana's immune response. This discovery is set to transform approaches to plant disease management, offering a pathway to bolster crops against devastating fungal infections. Plant diseases caused by pathogens like Colletotrichum ...

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The evolution of firefly lights
Science

The evolution of firefly lights

The leading hypothesis for the origin of firefly lights has been overturned by a genomic analysis. It had been posited that the bright lights emitted by many species in the Lampyridae family of beetles—better known as fireflies—first evolved as a warning signal to predators, advertising the toxicity of fireflies, and were then repurposed as a mating signal. This explanation would account for why eggs, larvae, and pupae also glow. Ying Zhen and colleagues put the conventional wisdom to the test by compiling a family tree of fireflies and tracing the evolution of the chemical compounds ...

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Moving objects precisely with sound
Science

Moving objects precisely with sound

In 2018, Arthur Ashkin won the Nobel Prize in Physics for inventing optical tweezers: laser beams that can be used to manipulate microscopic particles. While useful for many biological applications, optical tweezers require extremely controlled, static conditions to work properly. “Optical tweezers work by creating a light ‘hotspot’ to trap particles, like a ball falling into a hole. But if there are other objects in the vicinity, this hole is difficult to create and move around,” says Romain Fleury, head of the Laboratory of Wave Engineering in EPFL’s School ...

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New study unveils formation secrets of tiny rare earth elements
Science

New study unveils formation secrets of tiny rare earth elements

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Natural Sciences have revealed a novel route to the formation of bastnäsite, a crucial mineral for the extraction of rare earth elements (REEs). Their work offers promise in one day making the extraction of these REEs more efficient. The study – published today in the journal Nanoscale – uncovers for first time how fluocerite, a rare mineral, quickly forms and transforms into bastnäsite. The occurrence and origin of fluocerite in natural deposits was not fully understood, ...

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DOE awards Sandia small business program and local veteran
Science

DOE awards Sandia small business program and local veteran

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Department of Energy has once again awarded Sandia National Laboratories for its work helping small businesses. One of those businesses, owned by a disabled veteran, was also awarded for its extraordinary work. DOE Mentor of the Year Sandia’s small business Mentor-Protégé Program has been named as DOE Mentor of the year, an award it has received for three consecutive years. Now in its fifth year, the program has mentored five protégés from around the country. More than 150 volunteer mentors and support personnel help these small and disadvantaged businesses grow, succeed and navigate doing business ...

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Australia’s giant lizards help save sheep from being eaten alive
Science

Australia’s giant lizards help save sheep from being eaten alive

Giant lizards called heath goannas could save Australian sheep farmers millions of dollars a year by keeping blowfly numbers down - and must be prioritised in conservation schemes to boost native wildlife, say researchers. A study led by the University of Cambridge has found that heath goannas - a species of giant, scavenging lizard - act as natural clean-up crews by clearing maggot-ridden animal carcasses from the landscape. This reduces the emergence of blowflies, which attack sheep by laying eggs on their backsides that hatch into flesh-eating maggots. The disease, known as ‘fly strike’, costs the Australian sheep farming industry an estimated $280 million a year. This ...

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NYU Abu Dhabi researchers present new evidence for how heat is transported below the sun’s surface
Science

NYU Abu Dhabi researchers present new evidence for how heat is transported below the sun’s surface

Abu Dhabi, UAE, June 25, 2024: A team of solar physicists at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS), led by Research Scientist Chris S. Hanson, Ph.D., has revealed the interior structure of the sun’s supergranules, a flow structure that transports heat from the sun’s hidden interior to its surface. The researchers’ analysis of the supergranules presents a challenge to the current understanding of solar convection. The sun generates energy in its core through nuclear fusion; that energy is then transported to ...

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Scientists identify safe havens we must preserve to prevent ‘the sixth great extinction of life on Earth’
Science

Scientists identify safe havens we must preserve to prevent ‘the sixth great extinction of life on Earth’

In a groundbreaking new article, a coalition of conservationists and researchers have shown how we can protect Earth’s remaining biodiversity by conserving just a tiny percentage of the planet’s surface. This affordable, achievable plan would make it possible for us to preserve the most threatened species from extinction, safeguarding Earth’s wildlife for the future. “Most species on Earth are rare, meaning that species either have very narrow ranges or they occur at very low densities ...

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Beyond work: Employment affects identity in late 20-somethings
Science

Beyond work: Employment affects identity in late 20-somethings

Osaka, Japan — For people in their late 20s, “Your job doesn’t define you” is likely an unconvincing cliché. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have unveiled critical insights into the intricate relationships between employment status, identity development and life satisfaction among Japanese individuals in late emerging adulthood, or their late 20s, highlighting the importance of stable employment during this pivotal life stage. Their findings were published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence on May 15. Identity reflects a sense of self and is closely ...

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Model shows how plankton survive in a turbulent world
Science

Model shows how plankton survive in a turbulent world

How do particles move in turbulent fluids? The answer to this question can be found in a new model presented in a thesis from the University of Gothenburg. The model could help speed up the development of new drugs. When you stir a glass of water, it is easy to think that any particles in the water will end up in chaos and move completely randomly. But this is not always the case. For example, the so-called active micro-swimmers can move through flow on their own. Navid Mousavi, a PhD student at the University of Gothenburg, has created a model including various hydrodynamic factors to study how these particles handle and even ...

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Science

Chronic loneliness may increase stroke risk among older adults

Embargoed for release: Monday, June 24, 7:30 PM ET Key points: In a study of loneliness and stroke risk over time among adults ages 50+, those who experienced chronic loneliness had a 56% higher risk of stroke than those who consistently reported not being lonely. Those who experienced situational loneliness did not have an elevated risk of stroke—suggesting that the impact of loneliness on stroke risk occurs over the longer term. Boston, MA—Chronic loneliness may significantly raise older adults’ risk of stroke, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Loneliness is increasingly considered a ...

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Science

Risk of Parkinson’s more than double for people with anxiety

The risk of developing Parkinson’s is at least twice as high in people with anxiety compared to those without, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, investigated whether there was a link between people over the age of 50 who had recently developed anxiety and a later diagnosis of Parkinson’s. The team used UK primary care data between 2008 and 2018 and assessed 109,435 patients who had developed anxiety after the age of 50 and compared them to 878,256 matched ...

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