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Science11 Aug 2023

Hundred-year storms? That's how long they last on Saturn.

The largest storm in the solar system, a 10,000-mile-wide anticyclone called the Great Red Spot, has decorated Jupiter's surface for hundreds of years. A new study now shows that Saturn — though much blander and less colorful than Jupiter — also has long-lasting megastorms with impacts deep in the atmosphere that persist for centuries. The study was conducted by astronomers from the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, who looked at radio emissions from the planet, which come from below the surface, and found long-term disruptions in the distribution ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

New concussion headset shows when it's safe to return to play

A new digital headset designed to measure alterations in brain function could change decisions about how quickly an athlete is ready to return to play after a concussion. In an evaluation of the device, UC San Francisco researchers found it revealed brain changes even in athletes whose concussion symptoms had gone away, suggesting they could be playing too soon. Although not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the device could fill an important niche among athletes, clinicians, trainers and coaches, who are concerned about the long-term effects of repeated sports-related concussions. These include chronic traumatic encephalopathy, ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Study: Infant formula safety checks can be improved with stratified sampling

URBANA, Ill. – Producers of infant formula employ comprehensive food safety systems, including product testing to ensure those systems are working. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds that some testing methods are more powerful at catching contaminants than others. Spacing out samples over time in a stratified sampling pattern is better at catching risky pathogens like Cronobacter than randomly sampling from the product as it is being produced, the researchers found. Furthermore, while taking more samples of product generally increases the chance to catch the pathogen, there is a point after which it ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Behind the rind: new genomic insights into watermelon evolution, quality, and resilience

Watermelon is a globally significant agricultural product, both in terms of the total amount produced and the total economic value generated. Scientists at the Boyce Thompson Institute have constructed a comprehensive "super-pangenome" for watermelon and its wild relatives, uncovering beneficial genes lost during domestication that could improve disease resistance and fruit quality of this vital fruit crop. "We aimed to delve deeper into the genetic variations that make watermelons so diverse and unique," stated ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Perceptions of safety of daily cannabis vs tobacco smoking and secondhand smoke exposure

About The Study: This survey study of 5,035 adults found that adults increasingly perceived daily smoking and secondhand exposure to cannabis smoke as safer than tobacco smoke from 2017 to 2021. Given that these views do not reflect the existing science on cannabis and tobacco smoke, the findings may have important implications for public health and policy as the legalization and use of cannabis increase. Authors: Beth Cohen, M.D., M.A.S., of the University of California, San Francisco, 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.2023.28691) Editor’s ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

De-code of the crop

A research group led by Kyoto University's Graduate School of Agriculture has deciphered buckwheat's high-precision chromosomal-level genome sequence, a key step toward unraveling the evolution of the buckwheat genome and the origins of the cultivated crop. By altering specific genes using a method independent of common genome-editing techniques, the researchers successfully developed a self-fertile buckwheat variety as well as a new type of the crop with a sticky, mochi-like texture. This breeding method may contribute to a more diverse range of orphan crops than what is possible with existing genome editing technologies. With the world's population predicted to reach ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Evolving elegance: TU Dresden scientists connect beauty and safeguarding in ammonoid shells

Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusk animals that are now an iconic fossil group often collected by amateurs. Over 350 million years of evolution, ammonoids developed increasingly elaborate shells with fractal-like geometry. For nearly 200 years, scientists have debated the reason why these animals show a trend of increasing complexity in their shell structures. Dr. Robert Lemanis and Dr. Igor Zlotnikov from the B CUBE – Center for Molecular Bioengineering at TU Dresden created mechanical simulations of theoretical and computed tomography-based models to unveil a potential explanation: the intricate architecture of these shells may have been nature's ingenious ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Researchers “film” novel catalyst at work

A novel catalysis scheme enables chemical reactions that were previously virtually impossible. The method developed at the University of Bonn is also environmentally friendly and does not require rare and precious metals. The researchers recorded the exact course of the catalysis in a kind of high-speed film. They did this using special lasers that can make processes visible that last only fractions of a billionth of a second. The results allow them to further optimize the catalyst. They have been published in the international edition of the renowned journal Angewandte Chemie. Let’s say you are playing mini ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Mosquito hearing could be targeted by insecticides

Specific receptors in the ears of mosquitoes have been revealed to modulate their hearing, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and University of Oldenburg. Scientists say, this discovery could help develop new insecticides and control the spread of harmful diseases, such as malaria. The ability of male mosquitoes to hear female mosquitoes is a crucial requirement for their reproduction. As a result, the finding could help develop novel insecticides or mating disruptors to prevent mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, dengue, and yellow fever In the study, published in Nature Communications, ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

USTC develops new catalysts for CO2 electroreduction

As a crucial part of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technology, CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) to carbon-based fuels and chemicals presents broad application prospects in renewable energy storage and CO2 negative emission. Recently, a team led by Prof. SONG Li and Associate Researcher HE Qun from the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) put forth a novel understanding of the mechanism of CO2RR on the nickel (Ni) single-atomic sites. Their study, titled "Asymmetric ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Researchers reveal Gasdermin D's hidden power in maintaining food tolerance

A research team led by Prof. ZHU Shu from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) illustrated the role of Gasdermin D (GSDMD) protein in immunity tolerance to food in the small intestine. The study was published in Cell. GSDMD, an executioner protein of cell pyroptosis, has garnered widespread attention. When cells are stimulated by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) or damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), the signaling receptors within the cells activate caspase-1/4/5/8/11, leading to the N-terminal cleavage of GSDMD and ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Researchers discover quasar-driven superbubble pairs

A team led by Prof. LIU Guilin and Prof. HE Zhicheng from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) discovered superbubble pairs generated by quasar-driven outflows of three red quasars for the first time. This study was published in Science Advances. The observed number of massive galaxies is significantly lower than the prediction of the current galaxy evolution theory, thus certain mechanism is needed to suppress star formation and modulate the growth of the galaxy. To bridge the gap between theory and observation, an outflow mechanism where a galaxy nucleus drives a massive amount of gas into intergalactic ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

USTC unveils high-precision flatness measurement for cryogenic mosaic focal plane arrays

A research team led by Professor WANG Jian, the deputy chief designer of the Wide Field Survey Telescope（WFST）and a faculty member of the State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Detection and Nuclear Electronics of the School of Physics, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences（CAS）, carried out the key technology of the main focus camera. The results were published in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement in July ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

USTC achieved dynamic imaging of interfacial electrochemistry

The research team led by Prof. LIU Xianwei from the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) has made progress in the dynamic imaging of interfacial electrochemistry. The results were published in Nature Communications under the title of "Dynamic Imaging of Interfacial Electrochemistry on Single Ag Nanowires by Azimuth-modulated Plasmonic Scattering ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Direct evidence for modified gravity at low acceleration from Gaia observations of wide binary stars

A new study reports conclusive evidence for the breakdown of standard gravity in the low acceleration limit from a verifiable analysis of the orbital motions of long-period, widely separated, binary stars, usually referred to as wide binaries in astronomy and astrophysics. The study carried out by Kyu-Hyun Chae, professor of physics and astronomy at Sejong University in Seoul, used up to 26,500 wide binaries within 650 light years (LY) observed by European Space Agency’s Gaia space telescope. Kareem El-Badry, then at Harvard and now a faculty at ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Hidden moles in hidden holes

Scientists have identified two types of mole which they believe have been living undiscovered in the mountains of eastern Turkey for as many as 3 million years. The new moles – named Talpa hakkariensis and Talpa davidiana tatvanensis – belong to a familiar group of subterranean, invertebrate-eating mammals found across Europe and Western Asia. While only one species, Talpa europaea, is found in Britain, further east there are a number of different moles, many of which have very small geographical ranges. The researchers – using cutting edge DNA technology – ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Indicator of PFAS found in some — but not all — period products

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 10, 2023 — Period products come in a variety of styles — liners, pads, tampons, cups and underwear — to help people feel comfortable during a menstrual bleed. But their labels don’t usually list the ingredients, so consumers don’t know what’s in their product of choice. Now, researchers have analyzed over 100 period products for fluorinated compounds, an indicator of potentially harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS. Their results show that while PFAS are absent from many products, ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Exercise training and yoga can help improve lung function in adults with asthma

Yoga and breathing control practices, in combination with aerobic training, are particularly key exercises for asthmatic people seeking to improve their lung function, a new peer-reviewed study suggests. The research which is published today in the journal Annals of Medicine highlights the importance of integrating appropriate exercise training into asthma management plans. The findings demonstrate just how effective specific types of exercise training can be to enhance lung function for those with adults, explains ...

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Science11 Aug 2023

Fat burning during exercise varies widely between individuals

New York, NY [August 10, 2023]—The best heart rate for burning fat differs for each individual and often does not align with the “fat burning zone” on commercial exercise machines, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers report. Instead, the researchers said, clinical exercise testing—a diagnostic procedure to measure a person’s physiological response to exercise—may be a more useful tool to help individuals achieve intended fat loss goals. The study, which used a machine learning-based modeling approach, was published online today in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease. “People with a goal of weight or fat loss may ...

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Science10 Aug 2023

Simple ballpoint pen can write custom LEDs

Researchers working with Chuan Wang, an associate professor of electrical and systems engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, have developed ink pens that allow individuals to handwrite flexible, stretchable optoelectronic devices on everyday materials including paper, textiles, rubber, plastics and 3D objects. In a paper published Aug. 7 in Nature Photonics, the team reports their simple and versatile fabrication approach to allow anyone to make a custom light-emitting diode (LED) or photodetector ...

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Science10 Aug 2023

Special Issue: Australia

In this Special Issue of Science, three Reviews, a Policy Forum, and a Perspective highlight Australia’s exceptional exposure to the risks of climate change and ecosystem degradation. Australia is home to Earth’s most ancient ecosystems and oldest continuous indigenous cultures, which have survived for more than 60,000 years. However, the continent’s unique ecosystems and cultural history have proved vulnerable to waves of European colonization and its associated social and environmental impacts. Ongoing climate change and the ...

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Science10 Aug 2023

How a massive North Atlantic cooling event disrupted early human occupation in Europe

A new study published in the journal Science finds that around 1.12 million years ago a massive cooling event in the North Atlantic and corresponding shifts in climate, vegetation and food resources disrupted early human occupation of Europe. The study published by an international group of scientists from the UK, South Korea and Spain presents observational and modelling evidence documenting that unprecedented climate stress changed the course of early human history. Archaic humans, known as Homo erectus moved from Africa into central Eurasia around 1.8 million years. From there on they spread towards western Europe, reaching the Iberian peninsula around 1.5 million ...

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Science10 Aug 2023

Extreme cooling ended the first human occupation of Europe

Paleoclimate evidence shows that around 1.1 million years ago, the southern European climate cooled significantly and likely caused an extinction of early humans on the continent, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. Published in the journal Science, the team of researchers discovered the occurrence of previously unknown extreme glacial conditions around 1.1 million years ago. The glacial cooling pushed the European climate to levels beyond what archaic humans could tolerate, emptying the continent of human populations. The oldest known human remains in ...

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Science10 Aug 2023

The positional transmitter of statoliths unveiled: It keeps plants from getting lazy

Plants orient their organs in response to the gravity vector, with roots growing towards gravity and shoots growing in the opposite direction. The movement of statoliths responding to the inclination relative to the gravity vector is employed for gravity sensing in both plants and animals. However, in plants, the statolith takes the form of a high-density organelle, known as an amyloplast, which settles toward gravity within the gravity sensing cell. Despite the significance of this gravity sensing mechanism, the exact process behind it has eluded scientists ...

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Science10 Aug 2023

Threatened grey-necked rockfowl's habitat even smaller than expected, study finds

SAN DIEGO (AUG. 10, 2023) — A new study on gray-necked rockfowl has found a much smaller range of suitable habitat for this elusive African bird than was previously assumed, and may warrant a downgrade in its conservation status. Scientists from the Cameroon Biodiversity Association (CAMBIO) in Cameroon, in partnership with San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, set out to better understand how much suitable habitat remains for the rockfowl, and where the birds can still be found. Understanding suitable habitat and its extent is crucial for protecting species. However, scientists have limited knowledge ...

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