Science
press releases.

Science4 Mar 2024

Researchers develop amphibian-inspired camouflage skin

Inspired by amphibians such as the wood frog, investigators designed and synthesized a new type of camouflage skin involving one-dimensional photonic crystal structures assembled in three-dimensional flexible gels. As described in Advanced Optical Materials, the camouflage skin can quickly recognize and match the background by modulating the optical signals of external stimuli. It demonstrated excellent mechanical performance, self-adaptive camouflage capabilities in response to complex surroundings, and long-term stability in real-world living environments. Bright structural color and mechanical flexibility were maintained even at temperatures as low as -80℃. The advance ...

Read the release

Science4 Mar 2024

Humans have driven the Earth’s freshwater cycle out of its stable state

A new analysis of freshwater resources across the globe shows that human activity has pushed variation in the planet’s freshwater cycle well outside of its pre-industrial range. The study shows that the updated planetary boundary for freshwater change was surpassed by the mid-twentieth century. In other words, for the past century, humans have been pushing the Earth’s freshwater system far beyond the stable conditions that prevailed before industrialization. This is the first time that global water cycle change has been assessed over such a long timescale with an appropriate reference baseline. The findings, published in Nature Water, show that human ...

Read the release

Science4 Mar 2024

Swapping meat for Quorn lowers bad cholesterol by 10-percent

Regularly substituting meat for mycoprotein such as Quorn could help to lower bad cholesterol by 10-percent, which is comparable to switching to a Mediterranean or vegan diet. New research by the University of Exeter, published in Clinical Nutrition, also found substituting meat for Quorn reduces blood glucose and c-peptide concentrations associated with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. With one in six UK adults suffering from raised cholesterol, the findings indicate that mycoprotein - the high protein, high-fibre food source that’s the main ingredient in Quorn - could play a key role in ...

Read the release

Science4 Mar 2024

Rare astrolabe discovery reveals Islamic – Jewish scientific exchange

The identification of an eleventh century Islamic astrolabe bearing both Arabic and Hebrew inscriptions makes it one of the oldest examples ever discovered and one of only a handful known in the world. The astronomical instrument was adapted, translated and corrected for centuries by Muslim, Jewish and Christian users in Spain, North Africa and Italy. Dr Federica Gigante, from Cambridge University’s History Faculty, made the discoveries in a museum in Verona, Italy, and published them today in the journal Nuncius. Dr Gigante first came across a newly-uploaded ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

In wake of powerful cyclone, remarkable recovery of Pacific island’s forests

After one of the most intense cyclones in world history tore through the Pacific island of Tanna in Vanuatu, new research led by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa showed the resilience of the island’s forests. In the Pacific islands, climate change is expected to increase the intensity and frequency of cyclones, causing huge potential risks to forests and the people who depend on them. In March 2015, Cyclone Pam touched down on the island of Tanna as the strongest Pacific island cyclone in history ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

PSU study sheds light on 2020 extreme weather event that brought fires and snow to western US

The same weather system that led to the spread of the devastating Labor Day wildfires in 2020 brought record-breaking cold and early-season snowfall to parts of the Rocky Mountains. Now, new research from Portland State is shedding light on the meteorology behind what happened and the impacts of such an extreme weather event. “It’s really interesting to see such an amplified pattern result in opposing extremes in the Pacific Northwest and the Rocky Mountains,” said Emma Russell, a master’s student in geography ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Mining the treasures locked away in produced water

In an ironic twist, a treasure trove of critical minerals is dumped out with water considered too polluted and expensive to clean. Texas A&M University researcher Dr. Hamidreza Samouei is investigating the components of produced water and says this waste byproduct of oil and gas operations contains nearly every element in the periodic table, including those of significant interest to national economies. His goal is to treat the water using unwanted carbon dioxide (CO2) in stages to recover these valuable elements and ultimately produce fresh water for agricultural use once the processes are complete. “Recognizing the latent value ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Minoritized groups face high anxiety when taking part in research experiments

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- When participating in research studies, moderately anxious or highly anxious children from minoritized groups are likely to be hypervigilant to threat, further compounding the effects of their general state of anxiety, a research study led by a University of California, Riverside, psychologist reports. The study, which involved the participation of 46 Inland Southern California preadolescent Latina girls (8–13 years), has implications also for children from families with low socioeconomic status. “Psychological research is often conducted in white, educated, and affluent communities,” said Kalina Michalska, ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Orcas demonstrating they no longer need to hunt in packs to take down the great white shark

An orca (killer whale) has been observed, for the first-ever time, individually consuming a great white shark – and within just two minutes. “The astonishing predation, off the coast of Mossel Bay, South Africa, represents unprecedented behavior underscoring the exceptional proficiency of the killer whale”, remarks Dr. Alison Towner from Rhodes University, who led an international research team into the discovery. Their findings are published today in the peer-reviewed African Journal of Marine Science. The groundbreaking insight is the latest from Dr. Towner and the team, who, in 2022 in the same journal, ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

EU funding for outstanding early-career researcher Pieter Gunnink

Dr. Pieter Gunnink from the Institute of Physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has been awarded a EUR 190,000 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship by the European Commission. The grant is an individual award for Gunnink's outstanding achievements in the field of spintronics and provides financial support for his research over a period of 24 months. Modern information processing relies heavily on the use of electrical current, the transport of which requires large amounts of energy. The field of ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Associate Professor Ron Korstanje, Ph.D., of The Jackson Laboratory named Evnin Family Chair

Associate Professor Ron Korstanje, Ph.D., has been named the Evnin Family Chair at The Jackson Laboratory. An expert in the genetics of kidney function and disease, Korstanje’s appointment marks a new chapter in his 20 years of service to JAX’s mission. “Ron’s exceptional contributions to JAX have advanced research discoveries and nurtured generations of future scientists,” said President and CEO Lon Cardon, Ph.D., FMedSci. “His appointment as the Evnin Family ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Most smokers in England wrongly believe vaping is at least as harmful as smoking

More than half of smokers in England wrongly believe that vaping is more harmful or as harmful as smoking, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers. The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open and funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at survey responses from 28,393 smokers in England between 2014 and 2023. The research team found that public perceptions of e-cigarettes had worsened considerably over the past decade, with an overall increase in the perceived harm of e-cigarettes since 2021, coinciding with a sharp rise in vaping among young ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

The role of history in how efficient color names evolve

Suppose two speakers of the same language are playing a guessing game where each has the same color swatches, and Player 1 tries to get Player 2 to guess a hue by naming the color. If the second player consistently guesses correctly as often as possible, that indicates their language has an efficient color naming system. Past research has shown that efficient color vocabularies are constrained both by how people perceive colors and by how much they want or need to communicate about a given color. For example, Penn researchers found in a 2021 study that the need to communicate about reds and yellows is high across languages, while greens are more important in some languages. Now, ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Trends in recurring and chronic food insecurity among US families with older adults

About The Study: The results of this study highlight how rates of recurring and chronic food insecurity among families with older adults rose substantially over the past 20 years. Monitoring national trends in food insecurity among older adults has direct programmatic and policy implications. Authors: Cindy W. Leung, Sc.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.5463) Editor’s ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Safety assessments for older drivers would benefit from introducing spatial orientation tests

Older drivers who have worse spatial orientation ability experience greater difficulty when making turns across oncoming traffic, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA). Spatial orientation skills are the combination of skills that enable us to mentally determine our position, or the position of our vehicle and other vehicles, relative to the environment. Lead author Sol Morrissey, a PhD researcher at UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “Driving safety is typically reduced in older adults due to changes that take place during ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

New type of metallacrown ether, polyoxometalatocrown ether, opens research opportunities

Crown ethers were discovered in 1967. They were then modified by adding a metal-containing unit creating metallacrown ethers. These metallacrown ethers have been the subject of intensive research. Depending on the molecular makeup of the metallacrown ethers and their resultant architecture, the properties and therefore the uses of the metallacrowns can change. They have many different uses currently, and ongoing studies continue to expand their application. Just a few of these include magnetic refrigeration, imaging agents—specifically as potential contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging—and single-molecular ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Making sense of Mendelian randomization

Mendelian randomization, a powerful tool in medical research, helps us understand whether certain factors truly cause disease. This technique uses genetic variations as "natural experiments" to reveal cause-and-effect relationships. However, choosing the proper genetic variations is crucial for accurate results. Think of a train network where the genetic variation is the starting point, the exposure is a station, and the disease is the destination. The train must pass through the exposure station en route to the disease. This represents the critical assumption of Mendelian randomization: ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Study identifies multi-organ response to seven days without food

New findings reveal that the body undergoes significant, systematic changes across multiple organs during prolonged periods of fasting. The results demonstrate evidence of health benefits beyond weight loss, but also show that any potentially health-altering changes appear to occur only after three days without food. The study, published today in Nature Metabolism, advances our understanding of what’s happening across the body after prolonged periods without food. By identifying the potential health benefits from fasting ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Mass-produced, commercial promising multicolored photochromic fiber

Fiber, as the wearable material with the longest application in the history of humankind, is currently an ideal substrate for wearable devices due to its excellent breathability, flexibility, and ability to adapt perfectly to the 3D irregular shape of the human body. As a means of visualization in the field of functional fibers, light-emitting fiber breaks the rigidity of the traditional display interface and is expected to become an emerging interaction interface. The current commercial light-emitting fibers are polymer optical fibers and Corning® Fibrance® light-diffusing fibers. These fibers ...

Read the release

Science1 Mar 2024

Does trying to look younger reduce how much ageism older adults face?

Every year, millions of older Americans spend money and time to try to look younger than they are. They color graying hair, buy anti-balding products, use teeth whiteners and wrinkle fillers, and much more. Now, a new study looks at what this kind of effort means for older adults’ experiences with the ageism that pervades American society. The study also explores how a person’s perception of how old they look relates to both their positive and negative age-related experiences, and their physical and mental health. In all, 59% of adults age 50 to 80 say they think they look younger than other people their age. The percentage was ...

Read the release

Science29 Feb 2024

Refrigerate lettuce to reduce risk of E. coli contamination, researchers say

URBANA, Ill. – Leafy green vegetables are important sources of dietary fiber and nutrients, but they can harbor harmful pathogens. In particular, lettuce has often been involved in outbreaks of foodborne illness across the U.S. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign examines factors that affect E. coli contamination on five different leafy greens – romaine lettuce, green-leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, and collards. “We are seeing a lot of outbreaks on lettuce, but not so much on kale and other brassica vegetables. We wanted to learn more about the susceptibility of different leafy greens,” said lead author Mengyi Dong, now a postdoctoral ...

Read the release

Science29 Feb 2024

Shining a light on the effects of habituation and neural adaptation on the evolution of animal signals

A new paper published in The Quarterly Review of Biology examines the possible effects of two properties of receiver playing fields documented in studies of animal psychology—habituation and neural adaptation—on the efficacy of mate choice signals. In “A Bridge between Animal Psychology and Sexual Selection: Possible Effects of Habituation and Neural Adaptation on Mate Choice Signals,” William G. Eberhard notes that researchers have paid little attention to habituation and neural adaptation in relation to sexual selection. Eberhard argues in favor of adding further dimensions to studies of female choice, noting that standard ...

Read the release

Science29 Feb 2024

A landmark study maps the precise orchestration of prenatal development

In a landmark study, researchers at University of Washington and The Jackson Laboratory have characterized, in exacting detail, the rapid series of events that transform a single fertilized cell into a living, complex being. The work, reported this month in Nature, not only has enabled the team to explore which genes drive the differentiation of hundreds of cell types, but also shows, for the first time, that there are very rapid changes in genetic activity within the hour immediately following birth, underscoring the speed with which newborns must adapt. “The ...

Read the release

Science29 Feb 2024

Unveiling rare diversity: the origin of heritable mutations in trees

Tropical trees are at the heart of this study. They are essential for climate regulation, maintaining biodiversity and providing crucial resources for many local communities. Understanding how they evolve genetically is therefore of vital importance for preserving biological diversity and finding sustainable solutions for tropical forest adaptation to the environmental pressures they face. The aim of this study was to identify the mutations accumulated during growth by two specimens of tropical trees sampled in French Guiana, a French overseas department covered to 96% by tropical forest. To do this, the scientists ...

Read the release

Science29 Feb 2024

Preprints raise possibility of rethinking the peer-review process as they become more widely used and accepted

Preprints raise possibility of rethinking the peer-review process as they become more widely used and accepted – new article encourages their growing momentum and provides recommendations to empower researchers to provide open and constructive peer review for preprints ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002502 Article Title: Recommendations for accelerating ...

Read the release