Science
press releases.

Science7 Mar 2024

Nanoscale CL thermometry with lanthanide-doped heavy-metal oxide in TEM

A groundbreaking method for measuring the temperature of nanometer-sized samples within a transmission electron microscope (TEM) has been developed by Professor Oh-Hoon Kwon and his research team in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST. This innovative technology, utilizing nano-thermometers based on cathodoluminescence (CL) spectroscopy, opens up new possibilities for analyzing the thermodynamic properties of fine samples and advancing the development of high-tech materials. The transmission electron microscope allows researchers to observe ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

Pinging pipes could help to identify lead water lines without excavation

As any percussionist or fidgety pen-tapper can tell you, different materials make different noises when you hit them. Researchers at Drexel University hope this foundational acoustic phenomenon could be the key to the speedy removal of lead water lines that have been poisoning water supplies throughout the country for decades. A recent study conducted with geotechnical engineering consultant Seaflower Consulting Services, showed that it is possible to discern a buried pipe’s composition by striking ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

A new manganese-fluorine catalyst with exceptional oxidizing power

A research team, affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a cutting-edge catalyst with exceptional oxidizing power, capable of extracting electrons from compounds. Anticipated to revolutionize various fields, including the development of metal catalysts and synthetic chemistry, this catalyst marks a significant breakthrough in catalytic research. Led by Professor Jaeheung Cho in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST, the research team successfully synthesized the pioneering manganese-fluorine catalyst, utilizing the Macrocyclic Pyridinophane System. This catalyst demonstrates the ability to induce oxidation reactions, ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

An aspirin a day? Poll of older adults suggests some who take it may be following outdated advice

One in four older adults take aspirin at least three times a week, mostly in hopes of preventing heart attacks and strokes, a new poll shows. But many people aged 50 to 80 who said they take aspirin may not need to, the findings from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging suggest. In all, 57% of people aged 50 to 80 who say they take aspirin regularly also said they don’t have a history of cardiovascular disease. Such people should have a conversation with their health care provider about what’s best for them before stopping or starting aspirin use. National guidelines have changed in recent years for using aspirin for prevention, ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

Exploring the effectiveness of a novel pain management device for endometriosis pain

Endometriosis is a chronic condition affecting women, often resulting in painful symptoms such as menstrual cramps and pelvic pain. Pain caused by endometriosis significantly lowers the quality of life and reproductive health of affected women, with around one-third of women still experiencing pain and discomfort despite treatment. While hormonal therapies and surgeries are common treatments, they often do not result in complete alleviation of symptoms. Effectively managing pain is, therefore, crucial for managing ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

STI cases on the rise across Europe

The findings reveal a troubling surge in cases of syphilis, gonorrhoea, and chlamydia, indicating a pressing need for heightened awareness of STI transmission, and the need to enhance robust prevention, access to testing, and effective treatment to address this public health challenge. In 2022, the number of reported cases saw a significant increase compared to the previous year, with gonorrhoea cases rising by 48%, syphilis cases by 34%, and chlamydia cases by 16%. In addition, cases of lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV) and congenital syphilis (caused by transmission from mother to fetus) have also substantially increased. These trends underscore the urgent need for ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

Foot-eye coordination: how our vision changes in rhythm with our walking

For the first time, neuroscientists have established a link between shifts in our visual perception and the cadence of our steps while walking. The research, published in Nature Communications, shows that the brain processes vision in a rhythmic manner, rising and falling in sensitivity in a cycle that corresponds to the rhythm of our steps. When swinging from one step to the next, human perception is good and reactions fast. During footfall, however, our vision is not as sharp and reactions are slowed. Lead author Dr Matthew Davidson from the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney said: “This work reveals a previously unknown relationship between perception ...

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Science7 Mar 2024

Powerless mechanoluminescent touchscreen underwater

Optical properties of afterglow luminescent particles (ALPs) in mechanoluminescence (ML) and mechanical quenching (MQ) have attracted great attention for diverse technological applications. Recently, a team of researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has garnered attention by developing an optical display technology with ALPs enabling the writing and erasure of messages underwater. The team, comprised of Professor Sei Kwang Hahn and PhD candidate Seong-Jong Kim from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the POSTECH, uncovered a distinctive optical phenomenon in ALPs. Subsequently, they successfully created ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Study reveals unexpected literacy in autistic people who cannot speak

About one-third of autistic people are unable to communicate using speech, and most are never provided an effective alternative. However, a new study from scientists at the University of Virginia suggests that many of these individuals are literate, raising the possibility that they could learn to express themselves through writing. The study published in the journal Autism, reports that five times more nonspeaking autistic teenagers and adults demonstrated knowledge of written language conventions than would be expected from previous estimates of their abilities. The finding has important implications for the millions of autistic ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

The sweet stuff: How insects tell sugars apart

New Haven, Conn. — Whereas humans have one receptor on their tongues that can detect all sorts of sweet things, from real sugar to artificial sweeteners like aspartame, insects have many receptors that each detect specific types of sugars. Yale researchers have now uncovered one way insect receptors are able to be so selective, an insight they say will help us understand how animals decipher the chemical world and how we might mimic that ability in the future. They reported their findings in a study published March 6 in Nature. Sugar is important to animals ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Black people half as likely to be evaluated for genetic testing as white people

MINNEAPOLIS – Genetic testing has become a more common way to diagnose and manage many neurologic conditions including dementia, Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy, but a new study has found not everyone may have the same level of access to these tests. Black people were half as likely as white people to be evaluated for genetic testing, according to a study published in the March 6, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Genetic testing is crucial for identifying neurologic conditions and has potential to impact treatment and management of symptoms,” said study author Colin A. Ellis, ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Does stroke risk linked to sleep apnea vary by race?

MINNEAPOLIS – The risk of stroke tied to sleep apnea may vary for Black people and white people, according to a study published in the March 6, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found that white people diagnosed with sleep apnea, whether or not they used a continuous positive airway pressure machine (CPAP), were at increased risk for stroke. White people who were at high risk for sleep apnea but had not been diagnosed with the condition were also at increased risk for stroke. The study did not find an ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Long-acting opioids may be unnecessary in study of total knee replacement

Replacing long-acting with immediate-release opioids after total knee replacement surgery resulted in comparable pain management but less nausea-medication usage and less need for residential rehabilitation after hospital discharge. The results of this small study, a Rutgers Nursing doctoral program project for lead author Anoush Kalachian, support a broader trend toward better management of prescription opioids – which directly resulted in the deaths of nearly 17,000 Americans in 2021 and can spur the use of illegal opioids. Widespread changes in opioid use patterns for knee replacement patients would have a significant impact on ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Factors associated with age-related hearing loss differ between males and females

Certain factors associated with developing age-related hearing loss differ by sex, including weight, smoking behavior, and hormone exposure, according to a study published on March 6, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Dong Woo Nam from Chungbuk National University Hospital, South Korea, and colleagues. Age-related hearing loss (ARHL), slowly-advancing difficulty in hearing high-frequency sounds, makes spoken communication more challenging, often leading to loneliness and depression. Roughly 1 in 5 people around the world suffer ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

New deep-sea worm discovered at methane seep off Costa Rica

Greg Rouse, a marine biologist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and other researchers have discovered a new species of deep-sea worm living near a methane seep some 50 kilometers (30 miles) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Rouse, curator of the Scripps Benthic Invertebrate Collection, co-authored a study describing the new species in the journal PLOS ONE that was published on March 6. The worm, named Pectinereis strickrotti, has an elongated body that is flanked by a row of feathery, gill-tipped appendages called ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Film festivals are becoming more diverse in several ways, new study reports

A group of Tallinn University researchers has published an innovative study that sheds light on the intricate dynamics of the global film festival circuit, revealing insights into diversity and public value creation within the industry. The research demonstrates that festival programming has become more thematically diverse, and the inclusion of films by women creatives has increased between 2012–2021. The study “Quantifying the global film festival circuit: Networks, diversity, and public value creation,” published open access in the PLOS ONE journal, provides a comprehensive analysis of over 600 film festivals worldwide, spanning a period ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Charge fractionalisation observed spectroscopically

A research team led by the Paul Scherrer Institute has spectroscopically observed fractionalisation of electronic charge in an iron-based metallic ferromagnet. Experimental observation of the phenomenon is not only of fundamental importance. Since it appears in an alloy of common metals at accessible temperatures, it holds potential for future exploitation in electronic devices. The discovery is published in the journal Nature. Basic quantum mechanics tells us that the fundamental unit of charge is unbreakable: the electron charge is quantised. Yet, we have come to understand that exceptions exist. In some situations, ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

New study may broaden the picture of the consequences of childhood adversity

A research team has examined the link between adverse childhood experiences and the risk of mental health problems later in life, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry. The researchers from Karolinska Institutet and University of Iceland have found that the risk of suffering from mental illness later in life among those experiencing significant adversity in childhood can be partly explained by factors shared by family members, such as genetics and environment. Several previous studies have shown that people who have experienced ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Revealing the evolutionary origin of genomic imprinting

Some of our genes can be expressed or silenced depending on whether we inherited them from our mother or our father. The mechanism behind this phenomenon, known as genomic imprinting, is determined by DNA modifications during egg and sperm production. The Burga Lab at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences uncovered a novel gene regulation process, associated with the silencing of selfish genes, that could represent the first step in the evolution of imprinting. Their discovery, reported in Nature, ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Revolutionary elephant iPSC milestone reached in Colossal’s Woolly Mammoth Project

Dallas, TX – March 06, 2024 - Colossal Biosciences (“Colossal”), the world’s first de-extinction company, announces today that their Woolly Mammoth team has achieved a global-first iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) breakthrough. This milestone advancement was one of the primary early goals of the mammoth project, and supports the feasibility of future multiplex ex utero mammoth gestation. iPSC cells represent a single cell source that can propagate indefinitely and give rise to every other type of cell in a body. As such, the progress with elephant iPSCs extends far beyond ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Microbes impact coral bleaching susceptibility, new study shows

Washington, D.C. – March 6, 2024 – A new study provides insights into the role of microbes and their interaction as drivers of interspecific differences in coral thermal bleaching. The study was published this week in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. “The diversity, community dynamic and interaction of coral associated microorganisms play important roles in the health state and climate change response pattern of coral reefs,” said lead study author Biao ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

A new genus of fungi on grasses

While ecologically important, small mushrooms on monocots (grasses and sedges) are rarely studied and a lack of information about their habitat and DNA sequences creates difficulties in determining their presence or absence in ecological studies and their genetic relationships to other mushroom taxa. This study led by Drs. Karen W. Hughes and Ronald H. Petersen (University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA) examined a mushroom species, Campanella subdendrophora, (also known as Tetrapyrgos subdendrophora), which fruits on grasses in the US Pacific Northwest. The researchers evaluated its phylogenetic position concerning both Campanella and Tetrapyrgos ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Scientists uncover comparable net radiation between the high-elevation Tibetan Plateau and the low-elevation Yangtze River region

Land–atmosphere interactions play a crucial role in shaping Earth’s climate system, profoundly influencing weather patterns, climate variables, and ecological processes. Despite being located at similar latitude, the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and Yangtze River region (YRR) represent two distinct climate zones, garnering significant attention in this field. The former, situated in western China at an altitude exceeding 4000 m, is characterized by an arid climate, whereas the latter, located in the eastern Chinese plain, experiences a humid climate. Although both the TP and YRR have ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

Scientists-CT scanned thousands of natural history specimens, which you can access for free

Read the online version (Available 8:00 a.m. ET, March 6, 2024) Watch the video (Embargoed. Do not distribute before 8:00 a.m. ET, March 6, 2024) Natural history museums have entered a new stage of scientific discovery and accessibility with the completion of openVertebrate (oVert), a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online. Researchers published a summary of the project in the journal BioScience in which they review the specimens that have been scanned to date and offer a glimpse of how the data might be used to ask new questions ...

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Science6 Mar 2024

INFUSE workshop gives private and public fusion partners a chance to network and share experiences

More than 120 people gathered for the 2024 Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE) Workshop at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) from Feb. 27-28. The event, which was sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), is a part of the INFUSE awards program that funds laboratories or universities so they can partner with private sector companies working on the science and technology ...

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