Science
press releases.

Science18 Dec 2023

Little bacterium may make big impact on rare-earth processing

ITHACA, N.Y. - A tiny, hard-working bacterium – which weighs one-trillionth of a gram – may soon have a large influence on processing rare earth elements in an eco-friendly way. In a new study, Cornell University scientists show that genetically engineering this bacterium could improve the efficiency for the purification of elements found in smartphones, computers, electric cars and wind turbines, and could even boost global economic supply chains. Vibrio natriegens, the bacterium, offers a sustainable ...

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Science18 Dec 2023

NIH researchers create genetic atlas detailing early stages of zebrafish development

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have published an atlas of zebrafish development, detailing the gene expression programs that are activated within nearly every cell type during the first five days of development, a period in which embryos mature from a single cell into distinct cell types. These diverse cells become tissues and organs that form juvenile fish capable of swimming and looking for food. The findings are published in Developmental Cell. “Perhaps surprisingly, tiny zebrafish provide us with significant insight ...

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Science18 Dec 2023

TAMEST names Nidhi Sahni, Ph.D., as the Recipient of the 2024 Mary Beth Maddox Award & Lectureship

AUSTIN/HOUSTON – TAMEST (Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology) has announced Nidhi Sahni, Ph.D., The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, as the recipient of the 2024 Mary Beth Maddox Award and Lectureship in cancer research. She was chosen for her role in identifying novel biomarkers and drug targets, which are expected to have a significant impact on cancer by translating into more effective prognosis and therapy for the disease. The Mary Beth Maddox Award and Lectureship recognizes women scientists in Texas bringing new ideas and innovations to the fight ...

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Science18 Dec 2023

ASU research reveals regions in U.S. where heat adaptation and mitigation efforts can most benefit future populations

Tempe, Ariz., December 18, 2023 – Extreme heat waves, once considered rare, are now frequent and severe in cities due to climate change. Phoenix faced such a brutal heat wave in July of 2023 when it endured 31 consecutive days of high temperatures of at least 110 F. The severity of the heat wave triggered a state of emergency. In June of 2021, the town of Lytton, B.C., Canada, hit a blistering 121 F, leading to a fire that burnt most of the village. This pattern repeated in Europe in 2022, where heat caused fatal illnesses, wildfires and damaged infrastructure, highlighting ...

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Science18 Dec 2023

Big Science in the 21st Century – a new ebook published by IOP Publishing

IOP Publishing is proud to announce the release of ‘Big Science in the 21st Century’, a comprehensive exploration of the impact of Big Science on our society and the new perspectives it opens on evaluating its societal benefits. Authored by a diverse group of contributors, the book offers a multifaceted view of the challenges, merits, and transformations of Big Science across different disciplines and geographical boundaries. It delves into the transformative role of Big Science in shaping the world we live in, from its historical roots in the aftermath of the Second World War to its contemporary ...

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Science18 Dec 2023

Researchers invent "methane cleaner": Could become a permanent fixture in cattle and pig barns

In a spectacular new study, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have used light and chlorine to eradicate low-concentration methane from air. The result gets us closer to being able to remove greenhouse gases from livestock housing, biogas production plants and wastewater treatment plants to benefit the climate. The research has just been published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has determined that reducing methane gas emissions will immediately reduce the rise in global temperatures. The gas is up to 85 times more potent ...

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Science18 Dec 2023

Parents’ top resolutions: More patience, less time on phones

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Among many parents’ top resolutions for the New Year: More patience, less time on phones, better consistency with discipline and healthier family habits. Their tweens and teens are setting goals too – including achievements related to grades and school, success in an activity, exercise and nutrition and earning money, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health. Nearly three in four parents polled report making ...

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Science16 Dec 2023

Stalled progress toward eliminating child marriage in India

Embargoed for release: Friday, December 15, 6:30 PM ET Key points: Using national data between 1993 and 2021, researchers observed that India’s national prevalence of child marriage—defined by the study as marriage before age 18—declined throughout the study period. The decade between 2006 and 2016 saw the largest magnitude of reduction in child marriage, while the years between 2016 and 2021 saw the smallest. During these latter years, six Indian states/union territories saw increases in the prevalence of girl child marriage and eight saw increases in boy child marriage. The study is among the first to examine how the prevalence of child marriage ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Unstable ‘fluttering’ predicts aortic aneurysm

Northwestern University researchers have developed the first physics-based metric to predict whether or not a person might someday suffer an aortic aneurysm, a deadly condition that often causes no symptoms until it ruptures. In the new study, the researchers forecasted abnormal aortic growth by measuring subtle “fluttering” in a patient’s blood vessel. As blood flows through the aorta, it can cause the vessel wall to flutter, similar to how a banner ripples in the breeze. While stable flow predicts normal, natural growth, unstable flutter is highly predictive of future abnormal growth and potential rupture, the researchers found. Called ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Toward more precise and flexible targeted spectroscopy measurements in the retina

Many ocular diseases involve changes in the structure and function of different regions of the back of the eye, also known as the “eye fundus.” For example, fluorescent pigments and tiny yellowish deposits called drusen accumulate under the retina in age-related macular degeneration, and the degeneration of neurons called ganglion cells is a defining characteristic of glaucoma. Interestingly, changes in the eye fundus are not restricted to vision-related diseases only. Certain neurological diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s can cause changes in retinal nerves and ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Pesticides and adjuvants disrupt honey bee’s sense of smell

It has long been known that exposure to pesticide sprays is harmful to honey bees. In a new study, researchers have uncovered the effect of such sprays on the sense of smell in bees, which could disrupt their social signals. Honey bees live in dynamic communities and constantly communicate with each other using chemicals that serve as social cues. For example, nurse bees—that are responsible for taking care of larvae that ultimately become queens and worker bees—constantly monitor the ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Rembrandt broke new ground with lead-based impregnation of canvas for The Night Watch

New research has revealed that Rembrandt impregnated the canvas for his famous 1642 militia painting ‘The Night Watch’ with a lead-containing substance even before applying the first ground layer. Such lead-based impregnation has never before been observed with Rembrandt or his contemporaries. The discovery, published today in Science Advances, underlines Rembrandt's inventive way of working, in which he did not shy away from using new techniques. The surprising observation is yet another result from Operation Night Watch, the largest and most wide-ranging research and conservation project in the history ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

SFU and UBC researchers receive $1.25 million to study cumulative effects on B.C. salmon

Salmon researchers from British Columbia are embarking on a three-year study to understand and help mitigate the cumulative threats affecting the vulnerable species in the province’s watersheds. The Watershed Futures Initiative, which includes researchers from Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and University of Montana, has received $1.25 million from the federal and provincial governments – through the joint British Columbia Salmon Restoration and Innovation Fund – to tackle the combined impacts of logging, mining, urban development, agriculture, climate change and other factors on salmon. While ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in menstrual products including tampons, pads, and liners

The average menstruator will use over 11,000 tampons or sanitary pads in their lifetime. Vaginal and vulvar tissue that touch pads and tampons is highly permeable. Through this permeable tissue chemicals are absorbed without being metabolized, which makes endocrine-disrupting chemicals potentially dangerous when found in menstrual products. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals can interfere with human hormones and cause medical issues, including gynecological conditions such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids. Joanna Marroquin, a Mason PhD in Public Health student, and Associate ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Five researchers named Argonne Distinguished Fellows for 2023

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has named five highly accomplished scientists as Argonne Distinguished Fellows in 2023. They are Glenn Decker, Paul Fenter, Robert Fischetti, Sven Leyffer and Valentine Novosad. The honor recognizes scientists who have not only achieved international esteem but who have also demonstrated exceptional achievements in science or engineering relevant to Argonne’s core missions. They are leaders of major, complex, high-priority projects or programs that have an impact on the future of the Laboratory. Only a small ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Study shows exposure to household chemicals can lower odds of getting pregnant

Exposure to phthalates, a group of plasticizing and solvent chemicals found in many household products, was linked to a lower probability of getting pregnant, but not to pregnancy loss, according to research by a University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental and reproductive epidemiologist. The study, published this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, also noted an association between preconception exposure to phthalates and changes in women’s reproductive hormones, as well as increased inflammation and oxidative stress. “Phthalates ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

NRL’s Debra Rolison elected 2023 National Academy of Inventors Fellow

WASHINGTON – Debra Rolison, Ph.D., of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) has been named Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), for having demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating and facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and welfare of society. Rolison has been at the lab for over 43 years and heads the Advanced Electrochemical Materials section. The recognition by the NAI is attributed to the efforts made by her team’s inventions related to a new form factor for zinc anodes in rechargeable ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

North America’s first people may have arrived by sea ice highway

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the hottest debates in archeology is how and when humans first arrived in North America. Archaeologists have traditionally argued that people walked through an ice-free corridor that briefly opened between ice sheets an estimated 13,000 years ago. But a growing number of archeological and genetic finds — including human footprints in New Mexico dated to around 23,000 years old — suggests that people made their way onto the continent much earlier. These early Americans likely traveled along the Pacific coastline from Beringia, the land bridge between Asia and North America ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Menu labeling and calories purchased in restaurants in a national fast food chain

About The Study: Fewer calories were purchased in restaurants with calorie labels compared with those with no labels, suggesting that consumers are sensitive to calorie information on menu boards, according to the results of this study of 2,329 Mexican-inspired fast food restaurants in six U.S. locations. Associations differed by location. Authors: Brian Elbel, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the New York University School of Medicine in New York, 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/jamanetworkopen.2023.46851) Editor’s ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Molecular trap and zap

Patients struggling with some chronic diseases often must wait years for a proper diagnosis. For example, symptoms such as shortness of breath can be attributed to many pulmonary as well as cardiovascular disorders, so patients may be treated for a misdiagnosed disease that is far from accurate diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, one of the most promising methods to deal with this problem is to track the levels of specific compounds in the body during the development of a specific disease. Moving in this direction, scientists at the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland) and the National ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

From PIC to probe

Similarly as for electronics, photonic circuits can be miniaturized onto a chip, leading to a so-called photonic integrated circuit (PIC). Although these developments are more recent than for electronics, this field is rapidly evolving. One of the main issues, however, is to turn such a PIC into a functional device. This requires optical packaging and coupling strategies to bring light into and to get light out of the PIC. For example, for optical communication a connection needs to be made with optical fibers, which then transport the light ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Prone to abandoning New Year’s resolutions? Bayes’ research suggests blaming money worries rather than being time-poor

People who abandon New Year’s resolutions or other commitments can maintain the respect of their peers by blaming external factors such as lack of money, new research suggests. Studies have found that people were more likely to be seen as having good self-control despite abandoning a commitment to live a healthier life if they claimed they did not have the money for a gym membership or expensive new cooking equipment. People who instead claimed they didn’t have the time to exercise or to replace a takeaway ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

US adults eat a meal’s worth of calories of snacks in a day

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Snacks constitute almost a quarter of a day’s calories in U.S. adults and account for about one-third of daily added sugar, a new study suggests. Researchers analyzing data from surveys of over 20,000 people found that Americans averaged about 400 to 500 calories in snacks a day – often more than what they consumed at breakfast – that offered little nutritional value. Though dietitians are very aware of Americans’ propensity to snack, “the magnitude of the impact ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Trip or treat?

NEWS RELEASE EMBARGOED UNTIL FRI, DEC. 15 – 5:00 A.M. Eastern Contact Colleen McDonald - Sr. Consultant, Earned Media 414.801.3146 | cmcdonald@mcw.edu Trip or Treat? Scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin make strides in designing non-hallucinogenic psychedelic treatments that may accelerate research on mental health benefits; research findings published in Nature Communications. Milwaukee, Wis. – Dec. 15, 2023 – There is nothing magic about the recent increase ...

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Science15 Dec 2023

Large sequence models for sequential decision-making

Transformer architectures have facilitated the development of large-scale and general-purpose sequence models for prediction tasks in natural language processing and computer vision, e.g., GPT-3 and Swin Transformer. Although originally designed for prediction problems, it is natural to inquire about their suitability in another important field, sequential decision-making and reinforcement learning problems, which are typically beset by long-standing issues involving sample efficiency, credit assignment, and partial observability, etc. In recent years, sequence models, especially the Transformer, have attracted increasing interest in the RL communities, spawning ...

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