Science
press releases.

Science7 Aug 2023

Scientists crack the code of what causes diamonds to erupt

An international team of scientists led by the University of Southampton has discovered that the breakup of tectonic plates is the main driving force behind the generation and eruption of diamond-rich magmas from deep inside the Earth. Their findings could shape the future of the diamond exploration industry, informing where diamonds are most likely to be found. Diamonds, which form under great pressures at depth, are hundreds of millions, or even billions, of years old. They are typically found in a type of volcanic rock known as kimberlite. Kimberlites are found in the oldest, thickest, ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

A fungus gets comfortable

Aspergillus fumigatus strains that infect humans have a significantly altered metabolism compared to other strains in the environment. At the same time, infection with the fungus leads to an apparent change in the human lung microbiome. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) in Jena, Germany, came to this conclusion after using machine learning models to analyze genome data from about 250 fungal strains and lung microbiome data from 40 patients. The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is widely distributed in the environment, where it performs important ecological functions. ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

More work needed to unlock mysteries of Asia’s bees

Although the collapse of hives of European honey bees (Apis mellifera) has gained worldwide attention in recent years, there are massive gaps in knowledge of other bee species, particularly in the Asian region, which contains over half the world’s human population and where food security (in which bees play a key role) remains a major challenge. According to a recent global analysis, only 1% of the global public data on bee distribution comes from Asia, even though 15% of the world’s bee species are thought to live there. In a new paper, “Opportunities and challenges in Asian bee research and conservation”, published in the journal ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Study: People expect others to mirror their own selfishness, generosity

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New research shows that a person’s own behavior is the primary driver of how they treat others during brief, zero-sum-game competitions. Generous people tend to reward generous behavior and selfish individuals often punish generosity and reward selfishness – even when it costs them personally. The study found that an individual’s own generous or selfish deeds carry more weight than the attitudes and behaviors of others. The findings are reported in the journal Cognitive Science. Previous research into this arena of human behavior suggested that social norms are the primary factor guiding a person’s decision-making in competitive scenarios, ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Study reveals successful strategies for removing invasive caimans from Florida Everglades

The spectacled caiman, a species native to Central and South America, has been established in Florida since the 1970s. The pet trade and crocodilian farming industries, escapes and deliberate releases made it possible for caimans to invade the Florida Everglades. They pose a threat to native wildlife occupying the same habitat as our native alligators and crocodiles, competing for food and other resources. Meanwhile, they also prey upon birds, small mammals, fish and other reptiles. In a new University of Florida study, published in the journal Management of Biological Invasions, wildlife ...

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Science7 Aug 2023

Sports media use linked to belief in rape myths

PULLMAN, Wash. – Young men in a recent study who were regular consumers of sports media were more likely to accept rape myths, a set of false and prejudiced beliefs that can serve to excuse or downplay sexual assault. This connection held even after accounting for participants who believed in certain negative “masculine norms,” namely that men should control women or they should be sexually permissive and try to have sex with as many women as possible. “Sports media exposure had a unique contribution, and it was significant,” said Stacey Hust, a professor at Washington State University’s Murrow College of Communication and the study’s ...

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Science6 Aug 2023

Go with the flow

The antibiotic cefazolin is an essential drug according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It is usually produced via batch manufacturing, but this multistep process is time-consuming, wasteful and requires very specialized facilities. Now for the first-time, researchers have manufactured cefazolin using the continuous-flow method. This method is cheaper, quicker, less wasteful and more flexible in terms of how much drug can be produced when it’s needed. Improving access to cefazolin is vital for global health and particularly relevant for countries such as Japan, which experienced a shortage in 2019. This study is published in the Bulletin ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Powerful gene editing approach boosts rotifers in pantheon of laboratory animals

By Wynne Parry Much about tiny, swimming rotifers makes them ideal study subjects. Although barely visible to the naked eye, these transparent animals and their innards are readily viewed under a microscope. What’s more, they grow readily in laboratory culture, offering scientists an otherwise difficult-to-obtain perspective from their corner of the animal kingdom. However, while rotifers have been used experimentally for more than a century by many research groups, scientists have so far lacked the ability to readily manipulate rotifers’ genetics, placing a hard limit on the experiments they can run with these animals. A joint ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Department of Natural Resources Eric Quaempts selected as the 2023 ESA Regional Policy Award Winner

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) will present its 16th annual Regional Policy Award to the Director for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s (CTUIR) Department of Natural Resources Eric Quaempts on Sunday, Aug 6, 5:00pm EDT, during the ESA Conference Opening Plenary. The ESA annual award recognizes the use of ecological science to inform regional policy decisions. This is the first time in the history of the ESA policy award that a Tribal member and Tribal governance employee has been recognized for integrating tribal ecological approaches. Since ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

A new, long-term study by researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill finds nitrogen fixation hotspots in Atlantic seaweed

A new study by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill examined nitrogen fixation among diazotrophs—microorganisms that can convert nitrogen into usable form for other plants and animals—living among sargassum. Sargassum, a brown macroalgae in the seaweed family, floats on the surface of the open ocean and provides habitat for a colorful array of marine life such as small fish, brine shrimp and other microorganisms. Previous studies have overlooked diazotrophs associated ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

New UNC study identifies disparities in testing and treating well water among low-income, BIPOC households in NC

North Carolina leads the nation for most households relying on private wells as a primary source of drinking water, with one in four households on private wells. These wells are not regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and most are not tested for contaminants, especially in low-income areas. A new study published in Environmental Justice by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that private well testing and treatment levels were significantly predicted by race and income, even though high levels of contamination were equally distributed across the research areas. “Although we found alarming levels of well water contamination ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

nTIDE July 2023 jobs report: People with disabilities continue to attain employment at an all-time high level

East Hanover, NJ – August 4, 2023 – People with disabilities maintained their job numbers, reflecting all-time highs in July, according to today’s National Trends in Disability Employment – semi-monthly update (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (UNH-IOD). nTIDE experts stated that more people with disabilities are engaged working and seeking work. Month-to-Month nTIDE Numbers (comparing June 2023 to July 2023) Based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Jobs Report released today, the labor force participation rate for people with disabilities (ages 16-64) ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

DOE awards $135 million for groundbreaking research by 93 early career scientists

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the selection of 93 early career scientists from across the country who will receive a combined $135 million in funding for research covering a wide range of topics, from artificial intelligence to astrophysics to fusion energy. The 2023 Early Career Research Program awardees represent 47 universities and 12 DOE National Laboratories across the country. These awards are a part of the DOE’s long-standing efforts to develop the next generation of STEM leaders ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Five ORNL scientists to receive DOE Early Career Research awards

The Department of Energy’s Office of Science has selected five Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists for Early Career Research Program awards. Since its inception in 2010, the program bolsters national scientific discovery by supporting early career researchers in fields pertaining to the Office of Science's eight major program offices: Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Biological and Environmental Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, Nuclear Physics, Accelerator R&D and Production and Isotope R&D and Production. Award ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

HSE researchers question the correctness of experiments denying free will

Neuroscientists from HSE University have criticized the famous studies that question the free will of our decisions. You can’t shift responsibility for your actions to the brain. The results of the new work were published in the Neuropsychologia journal. The dispute about how much free will people have in making their decisions has been going for decades. Neuroscientists have joined this discussion thanks to the electroencephalographic (EEG) experiments of Benjamin Libet. In the 1970-1980s, he showed that 0.5–1.5 seconds before conscious awareness of the intention to perform a movement, subjects ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Kordofan giraffes face local extinction if poaching continues

For immediate release Friday 4 August 2023 Kordofan giraffes face local extinction if poaching continues Poaching of two Critically Endangered Kordofan giraffes per year could result in extinction in just 15 years within Cameroon’s Bénoué National Park without intervention. These are the alarming new findings of a University of Bristol and Bristol Zoological Society-led study published in the African Journal of Ecology. One of the last populations of Kordofan giraffes roam Cameroon's Bénoué ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Team creates power generator that runs on natural atmospheric humidity

Scientists are looking for ways to use the low-value energy widely distributed in natural environments to generate electricity. A research team has created a power generator that collects the natural atmospheric humidity and produces continuous electrical signals. This is the first humidity generator designed using a nano-sized material called polyoxometalates. It holds the potential of being a new research direction for polyoxometalates in the sustainable utilization of low-value energy. The team’s work is published in the journal Nano Research on August 01. The team set out to solve ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

In Germany, women vote more left-wing – but that was not always the case

For several years now, women have been voting more left-wing than men. This trend first appeared in the 2017 German general election and intensified in 2021. This is shown by a study carried out by the sociologist Dr Ansgar Hudde from the Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology at the University of Cologne (UoC). The trend is most evident among the youngest voters aged 18 to 24: In this group, the Greens, the Left and the Social Democrats (SPD) are much more popular among women than among men; the radical right-wing AfD and, above all, the economically liberal FDP are much more popular among men. The Christian ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Researchers find genetic cause of Raynaud’s phenomenon

Researchers at Queen Mary University of London’s Precision Healthcare Research Institute (PHURI) and the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have identified the genetic causes of Raynaud’s phenomenon. Their findings, published today in Nature Communications, could lead to the first effective treatments for people with Raynaud’s. Raynaud’s phenomenon (RP) is a heritable condition that affects blood circulation. It’s a vasopastic condition, which means ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Consuming added sugars may increase risk of kidney stones

Between 7% and 15% of people in North America, between 5% and 9% of people in Europe, and between 1% and 5% of people in Asia suffer from kidney stones. Common symptoms are severe pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, chills, and bloody urine. But kidney stones don’t just reduce the quality of life: in the long run, they may lead to infections, swollen kidneys (hydronephrosis), renal insufficiency, and end-stage renal disease. Known risk factors for developing kidney stones include being an adult male, obesity, chronic diarrhea, dehydration, and having inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, or gout. Now, a ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Unveiling a new mechanism that accelerates aging of adipose tissues

Korean researchers have unveiled a novel signaling pathway that fosters aging-related chronic metabolic disorders. A research team led by Professor Jong Kyoung Kim from the Department of Life Sciences at POSTECH along with Professor Seung-Hoi Koo from the Division of Life Sciences at Korea University and principal researcher Geum-Sook Hwang from Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI) announced the discovery of a new mechanism where BCAA metabolic pathway becomes impaired due to aging, resulting in dysfunctions of adipose cells and chronic metabolic disorders. The research findings were published in Nature Aging (IF=16.6) ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Childhood trauma may heighten subsequent risk of pregnancy complications

Childhood trauma, such as abuse, emotional neglect, and exposure to domestic violence, may heighten a woman’s subsequent risk of pregnancy complications, and of giving birth to a low birthweight or premature baby, finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published in the open access journal BMJ Open. The risks of pregnancy related diabetes, high blood pressure, depression/anxiety and of giving birth to underweight and or premature babies may all be significantly higher, the analysis suggests. While previously ...

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Science4 Aug 2023

Mortality gap exists in 3,110 counties, 5 racial-ethnic groups, 19 causes, 20 years

SEATTLE, Wash. August 3, 2023 – An analysis of 19 causes of death in the United States revealed persistent disparities and a familiar pattern across five racial-ethnic groups and 3,110 counties from 2000 to 2019. That’s according to the most comprehensive peer-reviewed research published today in The Lancet. The mortality rates among American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) and Black populations were substantially higher than among White populations nationally and in most counties. For example, mortality was higher among the AIAN population than the White population in nearly all counties for skin and ...

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Science3 Aug 2023

Winter storms over Labrador Sea influence Gulf Stream system

The Gulf Stream, which brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico to Europe and keeps the climate mild, is only part of a larger system of oceanic currents called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC for short. It runs through the Atlantic like a giant climate machine: as warm water from the tropics is transported northwards at the surface, the current reverses in the North Atlantic – the water cools, becomes heavier and flows south at depth. Where exactly these sinking processes take place is the subject of current research, and recent measurement programmes have located them to the east of Greenland. ...

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Science3 Aug 2023

A spinout’s biggest competitor may be the parent company, not other entrepreneurs

Spinouts, or new ventures started by employees leaving a parent firm, often outperform other types of new firms. But a new study published in Strategic Management Journal finds that when parent firms identify and implement ideas internally, they outperform spinouts. For example, if employees at Microsoft leave the parent and start their own spinout in the competing industry, the spinout potentially needs to compete against a new establishment formed by Microsoft in the same industry. New ventures by former employees often have an edge over competitors because of the knowledge transfer from their ...

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