Science
press releases.

Science8 Dec 2023

A dynamic picture of how we respond to high or low oxygen levels

SAN FRANCISCO—December 8, 2023—It only takes holding your breath for slightly too long to understand that too little oxygen is bad for you. But can you also have too much? Indeed, breathing air with a higher oxygen level than your body needs can cause health problems or even death. But with scant research on the topic, scientists have known little about how the body senses too much oxygen. Now, a new study from Gladstone Institutes has greatly expanded the scientific body of knowledge about the mechanisms at play, and why it matters for health. Their findings, reported in the journal Science Advances, explain how breathing air with different levels of ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

Finding the most heat-resistant substances ever made

The most durable, heat-resistant materials ever made could be hiding in plain sight. The U.S. Department of Defense wants to know if minerals and rocks found on Earth and in space hold the secrets of next-generation high-temperature materials. To find out, the DOD awarded $6.25 million through its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative, or MURI, to a team from the University of Virginia and Arizona State University. The group is led by UVA’s Elizabeth J. Opila, the Rolls-Royce Commonwealth Professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. The ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

Time-tested magnesium oxide: Unveiling CO2 absorption dynamics

Magnesium oxide is a promising material for capturing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and injecting it deep underground to limit the effects of climate change. But making the method economical will require discovering the speed at which carbon dioxide is absorbed and how environmental conditions affect the chemical reactions involved. Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory analyzed a set of magnesium oxide crystal samples exposed to the atmosphere for decades, and another for days to months, to gauge the reaction rates. They found that carbon ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

A fork in the rhod: Janelia researchers unveil comprehensive collection of rhodamine-based fluorescent dyes

When Senior Scientist Jonathan Grimm came to Janelia 13 years ago, he didn’t know much about fluorescence or fluorescent dyes. But as an organic chemist who had been working in drug discovery at Merck, he certainly knew a thing or two about medicinal chemistry. On a whim, Grimm and Janelia Senior Group Leader Luke Lavis decided to try using a mainstay medicinal chemistry reaction Grimm had picked up in the pharmaceutical industry to improve centuries-old dye chemistry. They thought this approach could allow access to completely new, previously inaccessible rhodamines – molecules Lavis had been working to make brighter and longer-lasting so they could be ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

The Gerontological Society of America congratulates new 2023 awardees

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) — the country’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging — is proud to acknowledge the work of 34 outstanding individuals through its prestigious awards program. GSA salutes outstanding research, recognizes distinguished leadership in teaching and service, and fosters new ideas through a host of awards. Nominated by their peers, the recipients’ achievements serve as milestones in the history and development of ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

County–level variation in preterm birth rates

About The Study: In this analysis of U.S. county-level preterm and early preterm birth rates, substantial geographic disparities were observed, which were associated with place-based social disadvantage. Stability in aggregated rates of preterm birth at the national level masked increases in nearly 1 in 6 counties between 2007 and 2019. Authors: Sadiya S. Khan, M.D.,M.S., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, is the corresponding author. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

A micro-ring resonator with big potential

EPFL researchers have developed a hybrid device that significantly improves existing, ubiquitous laser technology. The team at EPFL’s Photonic Systems Laboratory (PHOSL) has developed a chip-scale laser source that enhances the performance of semiconductor lasers while enabling the generation of shorter wavelengths. This pioneering work, led by Professor Camille Brès and postdoctoral researcher Marco Clementi from EPFL’s School of Engineering represents a significant advance in the field of photonics, with implications for telecommunications, metrology, and other high-precision applications. The ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

First observation of structures resulting from 3D domain swapping in antibody light chains

Ikoma, Japan – Antibodies (immunoglobulins) are Y-shaped proteins that recognize and neutralize specific pathogens. Their ability to target specific molecules or cells has made them promising candidates for future drug development. However, their light chains—parts of the antibody that contribute to recognizing and binding to specific antigens—misfold and aggregate, leading to amyloidosis, a condition that brings about complications and tissue dysfunction in the body. In the context of drug development, antibody aggregation can compromise their capacity to bind to antigens ...

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Science8 Dec 2023

Vocal Fry: A sonic feature of a diverse city #Acoustics23

SYDNEY, Dec. 8, 2023 – Vocal fry has a bad reputation in American English. A subtype of creaky voice, a feature of speech that sounds gravelly and pulselike, this manner of speech is sometimes used to form judgment about the speaker. In many languages, the creaky tone changes the meaning of words, exhibited in Lango spoken in South Sudan or Jalapa Mazatec spoken in Mexico. Hannah White and her Department of Linguistics colleagues at Macquarie University researched how creaky voice is reflected in Australian English used in Sydney, and what factors influence its prevalence. She will present ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

CCNY team develops pioneering indoor navigation system

In a major stride toward revolutionizing indoor navigation, a City College of New York-led team has developed groundbreaking technology that could chart real-time paths, delivering users—both sighted and low vision—a seamless and accurate indoor navigation experience complete with turn-by-turn guidance. The invention has earned a U.S. patent titled "System and Method for Real-time Indoor Navigation." The innovation is the brainchild of the City College-based CUNY Computational Vision and Convergence Laboratory (CCVCL) headed by Zhigang ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Cooling down the hot takes on Twitch

Twitch. Some see it as a fun online community of gamers and good-natured e-sports fandom. For others, it’s a perilous stream of potentially toxic content and hate speech. In the ever-evolving landscape of digital communication, the real-time nature of messages on live-stream platforms like Twitch and YouTube Live brings with it unique challenges for content moderation. At present, effective tools for moderating content in live streams are lacking because existing models have been trained on non-real-time social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. Research Assistant Dong-Ho Lee and Principal Scientist Jay Pujara, ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Study: How farmers decide to store or sell their grain

URBANA, Ill. – When farmers harvest their grain, they can choose to sell it right away or store it to obtain better prices later in the season. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign explores how Illinois corn and soybean producers make those decisions and why the cost-benefit evaluation of storage may differ across farms. Agricultural commodity prices fluctuate in response to changes in supply and demand, which depends on the stockpile of grain inventories around the country — but economists don’t really don't know how farmers decide to sell versus store their grain. “Economic theory provides guidance that Extension ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Damon Runyon launches post-baccalaureate research internship

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is thrilled to announce the launch of the Damon Runyon Scholars Program for Advancing Research and Knowledge (SPARK), a one-year intensive cancer research internship program for post-baccalaureate students who come from backgrounds underrepresented in the sciences. The goal of the program is to provide students who have the potential to become leaders in cancer research with rigorous scientific training and a network of mentors and peers to support their next steps into graduate school and beyond. Damon ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

The Morton Arboretum tree root scientist recognized as top-cited researcher

LISLE, Ill. (Dec. 7, 2023)— The Morton Arboretum Tree Root Biologist Luke McCormack, Ph.D., has been recognized as one of the most cited and influential researchers worldwide by global information services provider Clarivate’s esteemed 2023 list of “Highly Cited Researchers.” The list includes influential researchers at universities, research institutes and commercial organizations around the world who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their field(s) of research. McCormack is the first Arboretum ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Virtualware and Kessler Foundation renew collaboration in groundbreaking spatial neglect research

East Hanover, NJ – December 07, 2023 – Kessler Foundation, a leader in rehabilitation research, and Virtualware, an international leader in immersive and interactive technologies, expand their collaboration with a new agreement to further research and development aimed at advancing spatial neglect rehabilitation using virtual reality (VR) and tele-rehabilitation technology. This latest development stems from a strong, ongoing partnership initiated in 2018 between the VR innovator and the New Jersey-based disability-focused non-profit. The intervention, ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Grunt or whistle: successful honey-hunters know how to communicate with wild honey-seeking birds

In many parts of Africa, humans cooperate with a species of wax-eating bird called the greater honeyguide, Indicator indicator, which leads them to wild bees’ nests with a chattering call. By using specialised sounds to communicate with each other, both species can significantly increase their chances of accessing calorie-dense honey and beeswax. Human honey-hunters in different parts of Africa use different calls to communicate with honeyguides. In a new study, researchers have discovered that honeyguide birds in Tanzania and Mozambique discriminate among honey-hunters’ calls, responding much more readily to ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Geoscientists map changes in atmospheric CO2 over past 66 million years

Embargoed: Not for Release Until 2:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time Thursday, Dec. 7 2023. Today atmospheric carbon dioxide is at its highest level in at least several million years thanks to widespread combustion of fossil fuels by humans over the past couple centuries. But where does 419 parts per million (ppm)—the current concentration of the greenhouse gas in the atmosphere—fit in Earth’s history? That’s a question an international community of scientists, featuring key contributions by University of Utah geologists, is sorting out by examining a plethora of markers in the geologic record that offer ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Ancient stars made extraordinarily heavy elements

How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth. The finding deepens our understanding of element formation in stars. We are, literally, made of star stuff. Stars are element factories, where elements constantly fuse or break apart to create other lighter or heavier elements. When we refer to light or heavy elements, we’re talking about their atomic mass. Broadly speaking, atomic ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Evolving trends in cosmetic breast augmentation: New data

November 30, 2023 – Ongoing quality improvement data submitted by Board-certified plastic surgeons highlight current trends in surgical technique in cosmetic breast augmentation using implants, reports a study in the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. "The findings illustrate evolving trends in breast enhancement over the past 16 years, including factors like the location of the incision and the type and positioning of implants," comments lead author Michael J. Stein, ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Sage partners with Overton on free-to-use tool that empowers researchers to uncover their policy impact

Sage has launched a tool to empower researchers to discover the real-world impact of their work on policy. Sage Policy Profiles lets researchers easily see specific citations of their work in policy documents and then illustrate and share that work’s impact graphically. The tool is powered by Overton, which hosts an extensive repository of global policy documents, guidelines, think-tank publications, and working papers. The free-of-charge, browser-based tool shows researchers where their work appears in evidence-based policies, offering insights into how policymakers make use of their research. Sage Policy Profiles presents these results ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Wasps that recognize faces cooperate more, may be smarter

ITHACA, N.Y. – A new study of paper wasps suggests social interactions may make animals smarter. The research offers behavioral evidence of an evolutionary link between the ability to recognize individuals and social cooperation. Furthermore, genomic sequencing revealed that populations of wasps that recognized each other – and cooperated more – showed recent adaptations (positive selection) in areas of the brain associated with cognitive abilities such as learning, memory and vision. The study focused on two distinct populations of paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus): A southern ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Opioid prescribing by surgeons

About The Study: This study found that during 2016 to 2022, the rate and size of opioid prescriptions from U.S. surgeons declined, but these declines were slower after mid-2020 compared with before 2020. During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid dispensing rate declined, potentially owing to decreased surgical volume, while opioid prescription size increased, potentially because surgeons wrote larger discharge prescriptions owing to barriers to obtaining refills. However, these changes were transient. Authors: Kao-Ping ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

WIC participation helped families better cope with 2022 infant formula shortage

SPOKANE, Wash. – Families that participated in the WIC program—also known as the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children—were much less likely to use potentially unsafe infant feeding practices during the 2022 U.S. infant formula shortage than income-eligible families that did not participate. Both WIC participants and non-participants reported being affected by the shortage at similar rates, according to a Washington State University study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

X-ray method enables micron-resolution imaging of living organisms over long time periods

WASHINGTON — Researchers have developed an X-ray imaging technique that can produce detailed images of living organisms with a much lower X-ray dose than previously possible. The advance enables small organisms or other sensitive samples to be studied at high resolution over much longer periods, which could reveal new insights into a variety of dynamic processes. The approach is based on phase contrast imaging, which relies not only on the absorption of X-rays in a sample, but also on the wave properties ...

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Science7 Dec 2023

Most of the world’s countries receive failing grade in global ‘human rights report card’

KINGSTON, R.I. —Dec. 7, 2023—A new report that grades all the countries of the world on their respect for human rights paints a grim picture of human rights practices in the 21st century. Produced by the Global RIghts Project (GRIP), a research team based in the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, the report draws on a vast quantitative human rights dataset to grade each country’s human rights practices on a 100-point scale. The report found that 60% of the world’s countries get an ‘F’ (a ...

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