Science
press releases.

Science11 Oct 2023

Is less more? Or is less sometimes less? Examining the consumer trend toward minimalist packaging in consumable products

Researchers from Texas Christian University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of Georgia published a new Journal of Marketing article that examines the consumer trend towards minimalist packaging in consumable products. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “Symbolically Simple: How Simple Packaging Design Influences Willingness to Pay for Consumable Products” and is authored by Lan Anh N. Ton, Rosanna K. Smith, and Julio Sevilla. Designing products is both an ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Peregrine falcons set off false alarms to make prey easier to catch

Predators must eat to survive — and to survive, prey must avoid being eaten. One theory, the Wolf-Mangel model, suggests predators could use false attacks to tire prey out or force them to take bigger risks, but this has been hard to show in practice. Now, scientists observing peregrine falcons have found evidence that they deliberately exhaust their prey to improve later hunting success. “Although predators are imagined as clever in novels and movies, like the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, empirical biologists are generally not inclined to give much credence to such ideas,” ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Scientists discover ‘flipping’ layers in heterostructures to cause changes in their properties

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) semiconductors are special materials that have long fascinated researchers with their unique properties. For one, they are flat, one-atom-thick two-dimensional (2D) materials similar to that of graphene. They are compounds that contain different combinations of the transition metal group (e.g., molybdenum, tungsten) and chalcogen elements (e.g., sulfur, selenium, tellurium). What's even more fascinating is that assembling different TMD layers into vertical stacks creates a new artificial material called a van der Waals (vdW) heterostructure. By incorporating different materials, it becomes possible to ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Killing remains a threat to Bornean orangutans

University of Queensland research has found despite considerable conservation efforts, the illegal killing of critically endangered orangutans on Borneo may be an ongoing threat to the species. PhD candidate Emily Massingham from UQ’s Faculty of Science managed a team of researchers which visited 79 villages across the Bornean orangutan range in Kalimantan, conducting face to face interviews with 431 people. “Our study builds on previous research which indicated killing was one of the key reasons for orangutan population decline, alongside habitat loss,” Ms Massingham said. “The ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Renting rather than owning a private sector home linked to faster ‘biological ageing’

The biological impact of renting, as opposed to owner occupancy, is nearly double that of being out of work vs having paid employment, the findings suggest. Fortunately, these effects are reversible, emphasising the importance of housing policy in health improvement, say the researchers. Numerous aspects of housing are associated with physical and mental health, including cold, mould, crowding, injury hazards, stress, and stigma. But exactly how they might exert their effects isn’t entirely clear, say the researchers. To explore this further, they drew on epigenetic ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Genes may be responsible for third of complex regional pain syndrome cases

But the condition is less common in men, even though they are more likely to have the 4 genetic variations implicated in heightened risk, suggesting that there may be sex specific causes, say the researchers. Most cases of CRPS are usually triggered by an injury, with the skin of the affected body part hypersensitive to the slightest touch or temperature change. CRPS is difficult to treat, and while it often improves with time, some people experience intense pain for many years. But why some people develop CRPS yet others don’t after the same injury, isn’t clear. ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Death is only the beginning: Birds disperse eaten insects’ eggs

Relationship patterns among flightless stick insects suggest that birds disperse the eggs after eating gravid females. Lab experiments previously suggested the possibility, but a new genetic analysis of natural populations in Japan by Kobe University researchers now supports the idea. Most species of stick insects are flightless, yet they are distributed over wide distances and across geographical features that would impede the expansion of flightless animals. This has caused researchers to speculate that their eggs might be dispersed by birds feeding on gravid females, much in the same way as many plant species rely on birds eating their seeds together ...

Read the release

Science11 Oct 2023

Bringing out the color in zinc

Zinc is an important element that is found widely in biological systems, is cheap to manufacture relative to other metals, and has low toxicity. However, unlike other similar metals that exhibit a variety of vibrant colors in metal complexes, seeing different colors for zinc materials was not thought possible. In a study published recently in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, researchers from the Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, have synthesized a complex with two zinc ions that does exhibit color—greatly expanding the ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

OmniMotion allows for better video motion estimation

ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell researchers have developed a new optimization tool to estimate motion throughout an input video, which has potential applications in video editing and generative AI video creation. The tool, called OmniMotion, is described in a paper, “Tracking Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” presented at the International Conference on Computer Vision, Oct. 2-6 in Paris. “There are these two dominant paradigms in motion estimation – optical flow, which is dense but short range, and feature tracking, which is sparse but long range,” said Noah ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Finding explanation for Milky Way’s warp

The Milky Way is often depicted as a flat, spinning disk of dust, gas, and stars. But if you could zoom out and take an edge-on photo, it actually has a distinctive warp — as if you tried to twist and bend a vinyl LP. Though scientists have long known through observational data that the Milky Way is warped and its edges are flared like a skirt, no one could explain why. Now, Harvard astronomers at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian (CfA) have performed the first ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Imani Perry, Jason Buenrostro land MacArthur ‘genius grants’

One produces richly detailed interpretations of Black America’s past and present, the other pathbreaking technologies that further understanding of gene expression. Today, two professors in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were named as recipients of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s 2023 “genius grant.” Imani Perry, the Henry A. Morss Jr. and Elisabeth W. Morss Professor of Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and of African and African American Studies, is a multidisciplinary thinker recognized for her fresh insights on the resilience and beauty of Black American cultural expressions. Jason ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Neanderthal gene variants associated with greater pain sensitivity

People who carry three gene variants that have bene inherited from Neanderthals are more sensitive to some types of pain, according to a new study co-led by UCL researchers. The findings, published in Communications Biology, are the latest findings to show how past interbreeding with Neanderthals has influenced the genetics of modern humans. The researchers found that people carrying three so-called Neanderthal variants in the gene SCN9A, which is implicated in sensory neurons, are more sensitive to pain from skin pricking after prior exposure to mustard oil. Previous research ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Study shows little improvement in mandated disaster plans, despite required updates

LAWRENCE — Hurricanes, floods, heat waves and other disasters are striking the United States with increased severity and frequency, and since 2000 the Federal Disaster Mitigation Act has required states and local jurisdictions to have plans in place to reduce damages from such events. A new study from the University of Kansas has found little improvement over time to these plans, in spite of regularly required updates. Plans to mitigate risk from natural hazards hold the potential to help states and local communities proactively steer development into safer areas and reduce exposure of existing housing, businesses, roads and other vital assets. ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Discovery reveals fragile X syndrome begins developing even before birth

Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, may be unfolding in brain cells even before birth, despite typically going undiagnosed until age 3 or later. A new study published today in the journal Neuron by researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison showed that FMRP, a protein deficient in individuals with fragile X syndrome, has a role in the function of mitochondria, part of a cell that produces energy, during prenatal development. Their results fundamentally change how scientists understand the developmental origins of fragile ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Women with a disability are more likely to experience child marriage than women without a disability

In 2015, the United Nations created the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve by 2030. With only seven years to go, the world is not on track to meet the goal of eliminating child marriage and other forms of violence against women and girls. Child marriage has been linked with negative reproductive and mental health outcomes. Although there have been some improvements around the world toward the UN goal, progress towards reducing child marriage has been uneven and stagnant, particularly in fragile states where ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Humans can make abstract choices independent of motor actions, but in lab tasks, choices are typically reported with an associated action

Humans can make abstract choices independent of motor actions, but in lab tasks, choices are typically reported with an associated action; this study shows that the human brain encodes perceptual choices independently of the specific motor actions used to implement them, even if such abstraction is not required by the task context. ##### 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.3002324 Article Title: Abstract perceptual choice signals during action-linked decisions in the human brain Author Countries: Germany Funding: ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

UMass Amherst study finds gender differences in HIV stigma in the Dominican Republic

In a University of Massachusetts Amherst study recently published in PLOS ONE, researchers explored and described gender differences in HIV-related stigma and social support among people living with HIV (PLHIV) experiencing food insecurity in the Dominican Republic. “Men’s experience of stigma were subtler and women described outright rejection and instances of physical violence, including intimate partner violence,” says lead author and postdoctoral researcher Alane Celeste-Villalvir. For people living with HIV, stigma associated with the disease continues to be a significant ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Chinese government’s corporate subsidies have had little effect on firms’ productivity

Over the past 15 years, the Chinese government has made significant efforts to promote innovation-driven growth through industrial policy and corporate subsidies. In a new study, researchers examined government subsidies to businesses in China to determine whether they are making firms more productive. The study found that China’s rising wave of subsidizing businesses has had limited effect on promoting the firms’ productivity. The study, by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and ShanghaiTech University, appears in the Journal of Comparative Economics. “Many countries have criticized China ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Syphilis transmission in US higher among transgender women and Black gay and bisexual men, study finds

Transgender women and Black gay and bisexual men in Chicago are nearly twice as likely to contract syphilis at some point in their lives as white gay men, according to a new study conducted by scientists at Northwestern University. The study, “Syphilis prevalence, incidence, and demographic differences in a longitudinal study of young sexual and gender minority adults assigned male at birth,” is the first to examine syphilis over time among young sexual and gender minorities — a category which encompasses gay and bisexual men, trans women and non-binary individuals. They found meaningful demographic differences ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Pingpong balls score big as sound absorbers

Long-term exposure to low-frequency noise can cause numerous health problems, but the solution may be found in an unexpected object, a pingpong ball. Conventionally thought of as the hollow plastic balls that speed through the air during a fast-tempo game of table tennis, with a few modifications, pingpong balls can help absorb the city din. Low-frequency noise is ubiquitous in cities, near roads, and by airports. Though potentially heard as background in the acoustic landscape, it can trigger earaches, respiratory impairment, irritability, and other ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

How to cope when your values clash with your co-workers’

COLUMBUS, Ohio – In our increasingly polarized society, more people may find themselves in a workplace where they are one of the few conservatives or few liberals around. A new study found that those whose values – political or otherwise – don’t match the majority in their organization felt they received less respect and as a result were less engaged at work. Moreover, their co-workers noticed their lack of engagement. “It is a real issue that organizations face,” said Tracy Dumas, lead author of the study and associate professor of management and human resources at The Ohio State University’s ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

The ribosome–depression link

A group of ribosomal protein genes connect animal models of depression to human patients with major depressive disorder. In order to research depression treatments, scientists use a mouse model, inducing a state with similarities to depression though exposure to variable, unpredictable, and uncontrolled stressors over days or weeks. But is this state molecularly akin to what humans with major depressive disorder experience? To find out, Xiaolu Zhang, Mahmoud Ali Eladawi, and colleagues examine transcriptomics data from postmortem human brain tissue and from several mouse models of stress, seeking to pinpoint conserved ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Ionic crystal generates molecular ions upon positron irradiation, finds new study

Positron, the antiparticle of electron, has the same mass and charge as that of an electron but with the sign flipped for the charge. It is an attractive particle for scientists because the use of positrons has led to important insights and developments in the fields of elementary particle physics, atomic physics, materials science, astrophysics, and medicine. For instance, positrons are known to be components of antimatter. They are also powerful in detecting lattice defects in solids and semiconductors and in structural analysis of the topmost surface of crystals. Positronic compounds, namely ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Researchers find pre-Columbian agave plants persisting in Arizona landscapes

A new paper in the Annals of Botany, published by Oxford University Press, reveals that researchers have found unaltered agave plant species cultivated by several early cultures including the Hohokam people, a large Native American group in the Southwest that existed between 300 and 1500 CE. Agave plants have been of great economic and social importance in the Americas for at least 9,000 years. Before people cultivated corn, agave plants were one of their main carbohydrate sources. Archaeological research indicates the Hohokam increased agricultural potential by building terraces for agave dry farming. Agricultural features such as terraces and rock piles were especially characteristic ...

Read the release

Science10 Oct 2023

Food taxes, farm subsidies and GM crops: new ‘how-to’ guide launched for tailor-made food policies

October 10, WASHINGTON D.C. – A new tool will help governments customise food and agriculture policies based on country-level circumstances to increase their effectiveness at improving diets, adapting to changing climate and protecting natural resources. The Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA) Sourcebook is the first to compile dozens of frameworks and approaches for designing food and agriculture policies, such as reforming farm subsidies, water policies, food safety regulations and taxes. The authors from the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the International Food Policy Research Institute ...

Read the release