Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric methane concentrations have nearly doubled, with its radiative forcing accounting for one-third of all greenhouse gases. As one of the world's largest methane emitters, China made a clear commitment as early as 2007 to "strive to control the growth rate of methane emissions." The country's 12th, 13th, and 14th Five-Year Plans all proposed measures to control methane emissions. In 2023, China released the "Methane Emission Control Action ...

The income and education levels of a child’s environment determine their relationship to nature, not whether they live in a city or the countryside. This is the finding of a new study conducted by researchers at Lund University, Sweden. The results run counter to the assumption that growing up in the countryside automatically increases our connection to nature, and yet the study also shows that nature close to home increases children’s well-being. There is a general concern that, with urbanisation, people have lost contact with nature. According to research, less contact ...

An international study led by Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (IRNAS-CSIC), of the Spanish National Research Council (CISC), has shown that as the number of global change factors increases, terrestrial ecosystems become more sensitive to the impacts of global change. The results, published in the prestigious journal Nature Geoscience, show that the resistance of our ecosystems to global change decreases significantly as the number of environmental stressors increases, especially when this stress is sustained over time. This is the conclusion reached by the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning ...

Researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey have discovered that a protein produced by parasitic worms in the gut enhances wound healing in mice. The study, to be published August 23 in the journal Life Science Alliance (LSA), reveals that applying the protein to skin wounds speeds up wound closure, improves skin regeneration, and inhibits the formation of scar tissue. Whether the protein can be harnessed to enhance wound healing in human patients remains to be seen. Skin wounds must be rapidly closed in order to prevent infection, but rapid wound closure can favor the development of scar tissue instead of properly regenerated skin. The balance between scarring ...

In a recent comprehensive review published in Cyborg Bionic Systems, researchers led by Keyi Li from the General Hospital of Northern Theater Command in Shenyang, along with international collaborators, detail significant advances in the identification and application of biomarkers for prostate cancer (PCa). This critical insight is pivotal as prostate cancer remains one of the most common malignancies among men globally, emphasizing the urgent need for effective diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Prostate cancer is characterized by a multitude of molecular aberrations that complicate its early ...

A team of researchers led by Professor Sebastian Deindl at Uppsala University has developed a pioneering method that vastly improves the ability to observe and analyse complex biological processes at the single-molecule level. Their work is set to be published in the upcoming issue of the journal Science. “With our new technique, we can now extend single-molecule biophysics to the genome scale. This advance is expected to significantly deepen our understanding of how nucleic-acid interacting proteins function in ...

The detection of individual particles and molecules has opened new horizons in analytical chemistry, cellular imaging, nanomaterials, and biomedical diagnostics. Traditional single-molecule detection methods rely heavily on fluorescence techniques, which require labeling of the target molecules. In contrast, photothermal microscopy has emerged as a promising label-free, non-invasive imaging technique. This method measures localized variations in the refractive index of a sample's surroundings, resulting from light absorption by sample components, which induces temperature changes in the surrounding region. Whispering ...

Dementia with Lewy bodies is a type of dementia that is similar to both Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease but studies on long-term treatments are lacking. A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association, highlights the potential cognitive benefits of cholinesterase inhibitor treatment. Lewy body disease, which includes dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson’s disease with and without dementia, is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, following Alzheimer’s disease. DLB accounts for approximately ...

NEW YORK, August 23, 2024 —  In a groundbreaking advancement, researchers with the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC) have experimentally demonstrated that metasurfaces (two-dimensional materials structured at the nanoscale) can precisely control the optical properties of thermal radiation generated within the metasurface itself. This pioneering work, published in Nature Nanotechnology, paves the way for creating custom light sources with unprecedented capabilities, ...

University of Leeds News Embargoed until 23 August 10:00 BST A selection of AQ Stripes graphic images are available here   The global concentrations of one of the main air pollutants known to affect human health have been graphically illustrated for the first time by a team of scientists. The Air Quality Stripes which were created by the University of Leeds, the University of Edinburgh, North Carolina State University, and the UK Met Office, starkly contrast the significant improvements in air quality across much of Europe with the alarming deterioration in parts ...

Still unknown what causes neurological complications of COVID-19 including ‘long COVID,’ ‘brain fog’ and loss of taste and smell Viruses with a deletion in the spike protein are better able to infect the brains of mice ‘These findings suggest there might be treatments that could work better to clear the virus from the brain’ CHICAGO --- Scientists have discovered a mutation in SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, that plays a key role in its ability to infect the central nervous system. The findings may help scientists understand its neurological symptoms and the mystery of “long COVID,” and ...

A variety of vegetarian diets appear to protect against risk of mortality and contributing conditions, with a pesco-vegetarian diet — which includes fish — providing the most protection against risk in very elderly people, according to a new study. Researchers at Loma Linda University Health found that vegetarian diets are associated with lower risk for all-cause mortality and many cause-specific mortalities, especially among males and in middle-aged subjects. However, slightly higher risks were observed among very elderly vegetarians for neurological conditions such as stroke, dementia, and Parkinson’s Disease. Despite this, ...

Cervical cancer, the fourth most common cancer type in women, causes approximately 350,000 deaths each year, mainly in middle- and low-income countries. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is known to cause 95% of these cases. Public health authorities in 37 countries currently vaccinate girls between nine and 14 years of age, before they typically start sexual activity.  HPV is also known to increase the risk of genital warts and cancers of the penis, anus, mouth, and throat in infected men, which is one of the reasons why the WHO and the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) ...

Human wellbeing is connected to nature for food, climate regulation and culture, making the protection of nature a human rights matter. Added to that, recent developments in international human rights law highlight that governments need to consider human-nature connections when making decisions that may affect the environment. In a commentary published in npj Ocean Sustainability, an interdisciplinary group of researchers – including experts in ecosystem services, environmental governance, deep-sea ecology, and law – underscore that these developments should prompt a rethink of how any environmental decisions that hold the potential to impact biodiversity ...

Hybrid perovskites have great potential for use in advanced electronic devices like solar cells and LEDs. However, one major issue holding them back is that they don't last as long as needed for widespread commercial use. As these materials age, their performance drops, which is a big problem for both researchers and companies. To tackle this issue, it's important not only to improve the stability of these perovskites but also to develop methods for detecting how they age in real-time. By understanding how these materials degrade over time, we can make them more durable and efficient. In a recent study, researchers led by Prof. Yiwen Sun at Shenzhen University used the terahertz ...

Primate ornamentation plays a crucial role in communication not only within social groups but also between them, according to a new study. The research reveals that the males of species with overlapping home ranges often display vibrant colors or elaborate features, traits that may help reduce intergroup aggression by enabling quick assessments of potential rivals. Ornaments are sexually selected traits that serve as powerful signals, often indicating an individual’s genetic quality, health or physical strength. These differences ...

AUGUST 2024 TIP SHEET: A mouthwash-like rinse to predict head and neck cancer recurrence, new research identifies biomarkers to predict which colon cancer patients benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy, the Dolphins Cancer Challenge and StacheStrong team up to boost brain cancer research, the CDC issues anal cancer screening guidelines for HIV patients based partly on research at Sylvester, and three Sylvester physicians who become the latest early-career faculty scholars are highlighted in this month’s tip sheet from Sylvester Comprehensive ...

The anti-obesity medication semaglutide may help to prevent heart attacks and other major adverse cardiac events among overweight people who have cardiovascular disease, whether or not they also have heart failure, according to a new study led by UCL’s Professor John Deanfield. The results follow previous research* from the same international team finding that weekly injections of semaglutide were linked to a 20% reduction in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) such as heart attacks and strokes for people with obesity or who were overweight and had cardiovascular disease. The ...

Most people — up to 94% of U.S. adults — experience at least some dulling of their senses with age, finding themselves squinting at screens, craving stronger flavors, and missing snatches of conversations more and more frequently. Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine are looking into how these changes can go beyond mere inconvenience and actually worsen overall mental health in older adults. “When your senses decline, you can't experience the world as well,” said Jayant Pinto, MD, a physician ...

Scientists and engineers are ready to fly an infrared mission called EXCITE (EXoplanet Climate Infrared TElescope) to the edge of space.  EXCITE is designed to study atmospheres around exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system, during circumpolar long-duration scientific balloon flights. But first, it must complete a test flight during NASA’s fall 2024 scientific ballooning campaign from Fort Sumner, New Mexico.  “EXCITE can give us a three-dimensional picture of a planet’s atmosphere and temperature by collecting data the whole time the world orbits its star,” said Peter Nagler, the mission’s principal ...

As climate change creates hotter, drier conditions, we are seeing longer fire seasons with larger, more frequent wildfires. In recent years, catastrophic wildfires have destroyed homes and infrastructure, caused devastating losses in lives and livelihoods of people living in affected areas, and damaged wildland resources and the economy. We need new solutions to fight wildfires and protect areas from damage. Researchers at Stanford have developed a water-enhancing gel that could be sprayed on homes and critical infrastructure to help keep them from burning during wildfires. The research, published Aug. ...

Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Nina Fefferman became a mathematician because she loves puzzles. She’s just been awarded $18 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation to solve one puzzle that has the potential to change the world: how, when and why an infection in a population will spread, or cause an epidemic or pandemic, rather than dying out. Fefferman, director of the National Institute for Modeling Biological Systems and associate director of the UT One Health Initiative at the University ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) — While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary. One mosquito species, Aedes aegypti, spreads the viruses that cause over 100,000,000 cases of dengue, yellow fever, Zika and other diseases every year. Another, Anopheles gambiae, spreads the parasite that causes malaria. The World Health Organization estimates that malaria alone causes more than 400,000 deaths every year. Indeed, their capacity to transmit disease has earned mosquitoes the title of deadliest ...

Faculty members in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine have been awarded $5 million by the U.S. Department of Defense to work with partners in Ukraine on clinical and logistical challenges associated with modern large-scale combat operations and prolonged casualty care. The overarching program — Research and Scalable Infrastructure to Improve Outcomes on the Front Lines of Ukraine by Advancing Treatment and Evaluation (RESOLUTE) — is focusing on collecting data related to antibiotic-resistant wound infections, which have substantially increased amid the military conflict. The initial project — ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers are using artificial intelligence (AI) with an advanced 3D body-volume scanner – originally developed for the clothing industry – to help doctors predict metabolic syndrome risk and severity. The combination of tools offers doctors a more precise alternative to other measures of disease risk like body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio, according to findings published in the European Heart Journal - Digital Health. Metabolic syndrome can lead to heart attack, stroke and other serious health issues and affects over a third of the U.S. population and a quarter of people globally. ...