Science
press releases.

Science27 Jul 2023

New insights into the origin of the Indo-European languages

For over two hundred years, the origin of the Indo-European languages has been disputed. Two main theories have recently dominated this debate: the ‘Steppe’ hypothesis, which proposes an origin in the Pontic-Caspian Steppe around 6000 years ago, and the ‘Anatolian’ or ‘farming’ hypothesis, suggesting an older origin tied to early agriculture around 9000 years ago. Previous phylogenetic analyses of Indo-European languages have come to conflicting conclusions about the age of the family, due to the combined effects of inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the datasets they used and limitations in the way that phylogenetic methods analyzed ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Exposure to like-minded sources on Facebook is prevalent but did not increase polarization during the 2020 U.S. election

People often debate whether social media creates "echo chambers" by showing users content that matches their politics and in turn increases polarization. A new study published today in the journal Nature reports that reducing Facebook users' exposure to content from politically "like-minded" sources had no measurable effect on their political beliefs or attitudes during the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The findings are part of a broader research project examining the role of ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

From Down Under to Underground: surprising daddy long-legs spiders discovered in Australia and Réunion

Australia’s rich and diverse fauna never fails to surprise us, as a new spider species has been documented from the continent. The novel species, a blind daddy long-legs, was found in boreholes in the arid Pilbara of Western Australia. It is the first cave-adapted daddy long-legs spider reported from the continent, with other blind species of its genus so far only found in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. “It represents a subfamily that was previously thought to be restricted to the tropical north and east of the continent,” says Bernhard Huber, one of the authors of a recent study published ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) chooses Symplectic Grant Tracker to manage funding for innovative scientific research

Digital Science, a technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce that the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) has chosen Symplectic Grant Tracker from Digital Science’s suite of flagship products to advance its aims of providing catalytic funding for innovative scientific research and the development of academic scientists. RCSA joins the 50+ foundations, charities and funders worldwide who manage their end-to-end grant lifecycle using Symplectic Grant Tracker. Designed from the outset to meet research funding needs, Grant Tracker includes features to assist applicants, reviewers, committees and ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

New resource harmonizes 16S and shotgun sequencing data for microbiome research

Two leading sequencing techniques are no longer at odds, thanks to an international effort led by scientists at University of California San Diego. In a study published July 27, 2023 in Nature Biotechnology, the researchers debuted a new reference database called Greengenes2, which makes it possible to compare and combine microbiome data derived from either 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon (16S) or shotgun metagenomics sequencing techniques. “This is a significant moment in microbiome research, as we’ve effectively rescued over a decade’s worth of 16S data that might have otherwise become obsolete in the modern world ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Preventing weight gain: Yo-yo no-go zones for Australians

There’s no doubt that Aussies love a good celebration. We’re all in when it comes to the weekend, and most of us can’t go past a Christmas celebration without a little bit of overindulging. But all this comes at a cost, and it’s taking a massive toll on our waistline. Now, a world-first study from the University of South Australia exposes the real weight gains of everyday Australians, in a move to tackle overweight and obesity. Funded by the NHMRC, and published in JAMA Open Network today, the study explored how weight changes across a 12-month period, finding that weight fluctuated throughout the year. Specifically, ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Introducing the 'Polyphenols Innovation Network': Catalyzing advances in polyphenols research

Malta – We are delighted to announce the launch of the Polyphenols Innovation Network (PIN), a pioneering initiative designed to accelerate progress in the field of polyphenols research by fostering a collaborative and innovative environment. Under the banner of PIN, our mission is to assemble a diverse team of multidisciplinary experts, committed to advancing the frontiers of polyphenols research, applications, and innovation. Projects of PIN: Three pioneering projects have been earmarked for initiation under the auspices ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Fullerene-pillared porous graphene with high water adsorption capacity

Separation processes are essential in the purification and concentration of a target molecule during water purification, removal of pollutants, and heat pumping, accounting for 10–15% of global energy consumption. To make the separation processes more energy efficient, improvement in the design of porous materials is necessary. This could drastically reduce energy costs by about 40–70%. The primary approach to improving the separation performance is to precisely control the pore structure. In this regard, ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Fusion model hot off the wall

Kyoto, Japan -- Humans may never be able to tame the Sun, but hydrogen plasma -- making up most of the Sun's interior -- can be confined in a magnetic field as part of fusion power generation: with a caveat. The extremely high temperature plasmas, typically as high as 100 million degrees Celsius, confined in the tokamaks -- donut-shaped fusion reactors -- cause damage to the containment walls of these mega devices. Researchers inject hydrogen and inert gases near the device wall to cool the plasma by radiation and recombination, ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Cannabis poisonings rise after legalization, new review concludes

A new meta-analysis (an analysis of past research) published by the scientific journal Addiction has found that cannabis legalisation is associated with increased rates of cannabis poisoning. The risk of cannabis poisoning was higher among studies that focused on children. Cannabis poisoning occurs when too much cannabis is consumed at one time. The effects of cannabis poisoning include lethargy, drowsiness, dizziness, hypertension, palpitations, tachycardia (elevated heart rate), nausea, vomiting, irritability, agitation, coma, and slowing of the central nervous system. Cannabis use in children ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

A demonstration of substituent effects in anti-aromatic compounds

Circularly conjugated compounds with 4n+2 pi-electrons are known as aromatic compounds. They are generally stable and are therefore found in our surroundings. On the other hand, anti-aromatic compounds with 4n pi-electrons have been conventionally considered unstable, and the creation of stable anti-aromatic compounds has been one of the challenging issues in organic chemistry. Several studies on the synthesis, isolation, and characterization of stable and clearly anti-aromatic compounds have been reported in recent years. In general, anti-aromatic compounds are considered to be more susceptible to substituents than aromatic compounds because of their narrower HOMO-LUMO gap. However, ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Cigarette smokers more at risk for tobacco dependence than users of smokeless tobacco or multiple tobacco products

New York, NY (July 27, 2023) – Cigarette smokers have higher odds of tobacco dependence than those who vape or use a variety of types of tobacco products, according to a Mount Sinai study published in July in Nicotine & Tobacco Research. The findings suggest that tailored tobacco cessation programs are needed for people with different tobacco use habits. The researchers identified three clear types of tobacco users: those who predominantly smoke cigarettes, those who predominantly use smokeless tobacco, and those who predominantly use a combination of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and cigars. This discovery is important for tailoring tobacco use reduction ...

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Science27 Jul 2023

Mapping the changing landscape of gender-affirming care for teens

Many families whose transgender children need gender-affirming care will need to drive much further than before because of laws and other actions passed since 2021 in 20 states, a new study shows. The restrictions mean that 25% of Americans age 10 to 17 now live more than a day’s drive away, round trip, from a clinic that could provide medications and hormones to support their gender transition. Before the restrictions, less than 2% lived this far from a clinic that could provide such care. One ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Screening won’t solve racial disparities in melanoma outcomes, study suggests

Increased skin cancer screening in individuals with skin of color is not sufficient to address racial disparities in melanoma survival rates, according to a new JAMA Dermatology study by UPMC and University of Pittsburgh researchers. Melanoma causes the most deaths of any skin cancer, but is usually treatable if caught early. Although the disease is most common in white individuals, survival odds are worse in people with darker skin tones. “In this study, we asked whether screening could address this disparity by helping detect melanoma early,” said senior author Laura Ferris, M.D., Ph.D., dermatologist at UPMC and professor of dermatology at the Pitt School of Medicine. ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Lizards may miss out on mating opportunities and pick partners more hastily under warming temperatures

Lizards may miss out on mating opportunities and pick partners more hastily under warming temperatures ### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0285656 Article Title: Behavioural plasticity in activity and sexual interactions in a social lizard at high environmental temperatures Author Countries: Argentina Funding: N.R. - Student Research Grant 2019 - Animal Behavior Society https://www.animalbehaviorsociety.org/web/index.php. M. C. - Consejo Nacional ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Aphids make tropical milkweed less inviting to monarch butterflies, study finds

Many gardeners will tell you that aphids are the bane of their existence. According to a new study from the University of Florida, these tiny pests also pose problems for the iconic monarch butterfly. The study found that when oleander aphids infested tropical milkweed — a nonnative milkweed species commonly used across southern portions of the U.S. stretching from California to Florida — the butterflies laid fewer eggs on the plants, and caterpillars developing on those plants were slower to mature. Monarch butterflies depend on milkweed and its close relatives to complete their life ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Lifespan of ageing science’s model organism driven by reproductive self-destruction

The lifespan of a small roundworm that has been used as a key model organism in ageing research is limited by how it self-sacrifices to feed its young, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The authors of the new Nature Communications paper say their findings raise questions about how well insights from the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) worm can be translated to human ageing advances. C. elegans is widely used as a laboratory animal, and has been central to ageing research for 40 years thanks to discoveries of genes that can be supressed to produce up to a tenfold increase in ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Mapping mass shootings in the United States

The United States has more than 10 times the number of mass shooting incidents than other developed countries, yet little research has shown the distribution and types of shootings, geographically. “I’m constantly asked, ‘What is public health doing about the rise in mass shootings?” says Leslie Barnard, MPH, a student working with the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Firearm Injury Prevention Initiative. Barnard, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Epidemiology in the Colorado School of Public Health at the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, wanted to find answers to address public ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Eight out of ten child deaths in low-income countries could be prevented

Eighty-two percent of child deaths in low-income countries could be prevented, according to a study from the international CHAMPS network published in JAMA Network Open. The study, which used the minimally invasive autopsy technique developed by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), found an infectious agent in 87% of cases and identified malnutrition as the most common underlying cause of death. Ninety-nine percent of deaths in children under five years of age occur in low- and middle-income countries. "If we want to prevent these deaths, we need to know the causes, but the problem is that we lack reliable data," says Quique Bassat, ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Global warming will cause more multiyear La Niña events: study

The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the Earth's most consequential interannual climate fluctuation. Alternating irregularly between warm El Niño and cold La Niña phases, it brings shifts in ocean surface temperature and disrupts wind and rainfall patterns across the tropics. Unlike El Niño, which usually lasts one year, La Niña tends to develop after an El Niño and lasts for two consecutive years or more. This is known as a multiyear La Niña event and exerts prolonged and aggregated impacts, such as increased wildfires, flooding, and altered ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Uruguay needs to strengthen screening awareness with 69 percent of vaccinated women having cervical screening tests

Research from the Registro Nacional de Cáncer notes that Uruguay has the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in Latin America. In particular, cervical cancer is the third leading cause of cancer related morbidity among Uruguay's female population. To further motivate action to combat cervical cancer, BGI Genomics today released its State of Cervical Cancer Awareness Report in Uruguay. This report assesses the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to cervical cancer screening and the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. By examining these key areas, this survey seeks to highlight the associated barriers and opportunities. ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

Immobilizing melanoma

Although rare, mucosal melanoma in humans has a low survival rate. It has been difficult to investigate due to a lack of similar cancers in animals for study. Researchers explored a protein common to human and canine mucosal melanoma. The protein seems to be what makes this cancer so problematic, as it mobilizes the cancer cells, allowing them to spread. Researchers hope that eliminating this protein could lead to a potential treatment. The study is published in Molecular Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. Melanoma is a type of cancer that begins in ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

A symmetric-actuating linear piezoceramic ultrasonic motor capable of producing a scissoring effect

As an electromechanical actuator, symmetric-actuating devices are often used in the fields where symmetrical motion, drive, and control are required, such as grasping or scissoring operations, and fast symmetric opening or closing of microchannels. One scenario with strong demand is minimally invasive surgery, including precision grasping and cutting tumor cells, retinal microsurgery, etc. In the field of micro electromechanical devices, the scissoring or grasping operation essentially belongs to two symmetrical actuations between two end-effectors. However, there is almost no one motor that can directly generate two symmetrical linear motions. In general, to produce two symmetrical ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

2023 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists announced

NEW YORK, July 26, 2023 – The Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced today the 2023 laureates of the Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. Each will receive $250,000, the largest unrestricted scientific award for America’s most innovative, faculty-ranked scientists and engineers who are under the age of 42. The winners and their distinguished research: 2023 Laureate in Life Sciences: William Anderegg, Ph.D., The University of Utah (Ecology & Evolutionary ...

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Science26 Jul 2023

MD Anderson and Nexo Therapeutics announce strategic research collaboration to advance new therapies against intractable targets

HOUSTON, GOLDEN, Colo. and WATERTOWN, Mass. ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Nexo Therapeutics today announced a multi-year strategic collaboration that aligns the innovative technology and capabilities of each organization at the earliest stages of drug discovery and development to rapidly advance impactful new cancer therapies against previously undruggable targets. The agreement brings together Nexo’s unique drug discovery platform, which combines innovative covalent chemistry and chemical biology, with the translational research and drug development expertise ...

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