Giant lizards called heath goannas could save Australian sheep farmers millions of dollars a year by keeping blowfly numbers down - and must be prioritised in conservation schemes to boost native wildlife, say researchers. A study led by the University of Cambridge has found that heath goannas - a species of giant, scavenging lizard - act as natural clean-up crews by clearing maggot-ridden animal carcasses from the landscape. This reduces the emergence of blowflies, which attack sheep by laying eggs on their backsides that hatch into flesh-eating maggots. The disease, known as ‘fly strike’, costs the Australian sheep farming industry an estimated $280 million a year. This ...

This process is currently not included in models that predict sea level rise, so the new results could offer a more accurate picture of how the world will change with global warming and how much coastal areas will need to adapt. Carried out by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the findings are published in the journal Nature Geoscience. “We have identified the possibility of a new tipping-point in Antarctic ice sheet melting,” says Alex Bradley, an ice dynamics researcher ...

We get healthy dietary fibres from consuming fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. But why are the fibres so good for us? A team of researchers has discovered that dietary fibres play a crucial role in determining the balance between the production of healthy and harmful substances by influencing the behaviour of bacteria in the colon. Dietary fibres benefit our health, and scientists from DTU National Food Institute and the Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports at the University of Copenhagen have now uncovered an essential part of why this is the case. Different types of bacteria inside our colon compete to utilize an essential amino acid called tryptophan. This competition ...

The largest and most ethnically and geographically comprehensive investigation to date of the gut microbiome of people with type 2 diabetes (T2D), prediabetes, and healthy glucose status has found that specific viruses and genetic variants within bacteria correspond with changes in gut microbiome function and T2D risk. Results of the study—which represents a collaboration across Brigham and Women’s Hospital (a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system), the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health—are published in Nature Medicine. "The microbiome is highly variable across different geographic ...

Abu Dhabi, UAE, June 25, 2024: A team of solar physicists at NYU Abu Dhabi’s Center for Astrophysics and Space Science (CASS), led by Research Scientist Chris S. Hanson, Ph.D., has revealed the interior structure of the sun’s supergranules, a flow structure that transports heat from the sun’s hidden interior to its surface. The researchers’ analysis of the supergranules presents a challenge to the current understanding of solar convection. The sun generates energy in its core through nuclear fusion; that energy is then transported to ...

A genetic variation common in people of African ancestry is associated with an increased risk of complications from diabetes, including diabetic retinopathy, according to a report published June 25 in the journal Nature Medicine.   The investigators found that the diagnosis of diabetes and treatment needed to prevent diabetes complications may be delayed in people who carry the variant, G6PDdef, because it is associated with reduced levels of HbA1c, a widely used clinical marker of blood glucose levels.   Testing for genetic variations that cause G6PD ...

In a groundbreaking new article, a coalition of conservationists and researchers have shown how we can protect Earth’s remaining biodiversity by conserving just a tiny percentage of the planet’s surface. This affordable, achievable plan would make it possible for us to preserve the most threatened species from extinction, safeguarding Earth’s wildlife for the future.    “Most species on Earth are rare, meaning that species either have very narrow ranges or they occur at very low densities ...

Today, the FRONTIERS Science Journalism Initiative opens the second call for applications for its science journalism in residency programme. The application period will remain open until the 25th of September 2024, at 17:00 CEST. Funded by the European Research Council (ERC), this initiative offers science journalists the opportunity to develop independent journalism while spending three to five months in a host research institution, located in an EU Member State or a country associated with the EU’s Horizon Europe Programme. The residency ...

Osaka, Japan — For people in their late 20s, “Your job doesn’t define you” is likely an unconvincing cliché. Osaka Metropolitan University researchers have unveiled critical insights into the intricate relationships between employment status, identity development and life satisfaction among Japanese individuals in late emerging adulthood, or their late 20s, highlighting the importance of stable employment during this pivotal life stage. Their findings were published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence on May 15. Identity reflects a sense of self and is closely ...

How do particles move in turbulent fluids? The answer to this question can be found in a new model presented in a thesis from the University of Gothenburg. The model could help speed up the development of new drugs. When you stir a glass of water, it is easy to think that any particles in the water will end up in chaos and move completely randomly. But this is not always the case. For example, the so-called active micro-swimmers can move through flow on their own. Navid Mousavi, a PhD student at the University of Gothenburg, has created a model including various hydrodynamic factors to study how these particles handle and even ...

Washington, June 25, 2024—A new study finds that early elementary school teachers report feeling less close to chronically absent students and view them less positively, even when those students do not cause trouble in the classroom. This “cooling down” in the relationship between teachers and their chronically absent students may exacerbate the academic challenges these children face.   The study—by Michael A. Gottfried and Phil H. Kim at the University of Pennsylvania, and Tina Fletcher at the ...

A new device can measure carbon dioxide captured in concrete more simply and in a third of the time of current methods. Researchers at the University of Tokyo worked with engineers in industry to create the boxlike device called the concrete thermal gravimetry and gas analyzer. The device heats concrete samples to almost 1,000 degrees Celsius, causing the CO2 within to be released so it can be measured. Compared to the current technique, which involves a time-consuming and complicated process of crushing concrete samples into powder for sampling, this new method is simpler, more accurate and user-friendly. The researchers hope it ...

The World Economic Forum, in association with Frontiers, new Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2024, released today (25 June), shows that among technologies emerging globally, reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) and High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) have the potential to connect billions worldwide who currently have no internet access.   The report also highlights how advances in genetically engineering animal organs for use in human transplantation gives hope to the millions on waiting lists worldwide. Other technologies in the top ten that that could transform lives and societies ...

□ Professor Jin-ho Chang’s research team from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at DGIST (President Kun-woo Lee) developed “Ultrasound-assisted photothermal therapy (ULTRA-PTT)” technology that significantly enhances the performance of conventional photothermal therapy. This technology was developed in collaboration with Senior Researcher Hye-min Kim from the Advanced Photonics Research Institute at GIST (President Ki-chul Lim) using the team’s proprietary “ultrasound-induced optical clearing” technology.   □ Phototherapy, using light, ...

Adoptive T-cell therapy has revolutionized medicine. A patient’s T-cells — a type of white blood cell that is part of the body’s immune system — are extracted and modified in a lab and then infused back into the body, to seek and destroy infection, or cancer cells.  Now Georgia Tech bioengineer Ankur Singh and his research team have developed a method to improve this pioneering immunotherapy.  Their solution involves using nanowires to deliver therapeutic ...

Plant-sourced nitrate proves positive to human health     New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found that nitrate from plant sources is associated with a lower risk of mortality while nitrate from other sources such as animal-based foods, processed meat and tap water, is linked to a higher risk of mortality.   Nitrate, a compound found in vegetables, meat, and drinking water, has been the subject of debate due to its potential impact on health. Emerging evidence suggests that dietary nitrate may play a role in preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD), dementia, and ...

□ Professor Kyung-In Jang’s research team from the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at DGIST (President Kunwoo Lee) has succeeded in developing a highly stable stretchable electronic device, which overcomes the mechanical limitations of conventional inorganic materials and enhances their stretchability and durability. In collaboration with Professor Taeho Park’s team from the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH (President Seong-Keun Kim), the research team has developed a stretchable hybrid polymer and applied it to electronic devices, enabling them to operate stably even under deformation ...

Fully automated diagnostic techniques, including liquid handling robots, are poised to improve the lives of millions of people living with inflammatory diseases worldwide.   A landmark WEHI study has revealed new methods in detecting necroptosis, a key factor in many inflammatory diseases like psoriasis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease. The findings mark a huge leap forward in our ability to diagnose necroptosis accurately. They also offer practical methods that can be easily reproduced in hospitals worldwide, giving hope for new ways to treat inflammatory diseases. At a glance Necroptosis is a form of cell death, one of the body’s natural ...

Embargoed for release: Monday, June 24, 7:30 PM ET Key points: In a study of loneliness and stroke risk over time among adults ages 50+, those who experienced chronic loneliness had a 56% higher risk of stroke than those who consistently reported not being lonely.  Those who experienced situational loneliness did not have an elevated risk of stroke—suggesting that the impact of loneliness on stroke risk occurs over the longer term. Boston, MA—Chronic loneliness may significantly raise older adults’ risk of stroke, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.  “Loneliness is increasingly considered a ...

The risk of developing Parkinson’s is at least twice as high in people with anxiety compared to those without, finds a new study by UCL researchers. The research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, investigated whether there was a link between people over the age of 50 who had recently developed anxiety and a later diagnosis of Parkinson’s. The team used UK primary care data between 2008 and 2018 and assessed 109,435 patients who had developed anxiety after the age of 50 and compared them to 878,256 matched ...

A new study of drinking patterns across Europe from 2000 to 2019 shows that drinking occurs in stable, beverage-specific clusters that seem to be partly determined by geography.  The study was published today by the scientific journal Addiction. The study identified six drinking patterns in Europe in 2019: Wine-drinking countries: France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Sweden.  Characterized by the highest consumption of wine, lowest consumption of beer and spirits, and lowest overall alcohol consumption. High beer/low spirit drinking ...

Scientists at the University of Copenhagen discover a link between birthweight and the risk of health complications from obesity during childhood. The findings highlight the need for prevention and treatment approaches for children with obesity who were born with a lower birth weight. Hundreds of millions of people live with obesity, which is normally measured as a higher-than-optimal body mass index (BMI). While an elevated BMI increases the risk of a range of cardiometabolic diseases and is responsible for around five million deaths a year according to the World Health Organization, not everyone is equally at risk. Scientists at the ...

Vienna, Austria: Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the active ingredients in cannabis, is thought to be safe as it does not cause a “high”. Increasing numbers of pregnant women take CBD, believing that it can help alleviate symptoms such as morning sickness, insomnia, anxiety and pain.   However, research presented today (Tuesday) at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2024 [1,2], suggests that it may affect offspring. Two studies in mice have shown that gestational exposure to CBD alters the behaviour of offspring and also affects the nerve cells (neurons) in the insular cortex (IC) ...

A fingerprint may soon be all a doctor needs to check whether tuberculosis patients are taking their antibiotics – thanks to a new study led by the University of Surrey.    Scientists successfully detected the drugs in finger sweat – and with almost the same accuracy as a blood test.    Professor Melanie Bailey, an analytical chemist and co-author of the study from the University of Surrey, said:    “Up until now, blood tests have been the gold standard for detecting drugs in somebody’s ...

By Leah Shaffer Using animals to study heart disease doesn’t always translate well to human health outcomes, and human heart cells available for research don’t work outside the human body.  “You can’t keep them alive, much less function outside of the person for long enough to study these processes,” said Nathaniel Huebsch, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Huebsch is studying cells with a mutation that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease that can set off heart failure ...