New simulations provide mathematical support for the theory that the spread of political ideas across international borders may have a big impact on election outcomes, and that small actions boosting a minority idea can gradually lead to global-scale political change. Jose Segovia-Martin and Óscar Rivero present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on May 29. People in many regions around the world are increasingly exposed to international information—such as news and opinions shared via social media—allowing for the possibility of ...

The YouTube comments sections of politically neutral news outlets might be more conducive to cooperative, cross-partisan conversation than their liberal and conservative counterparts, according to a study published May 29, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Seung Woo Chae and Sung Hyun Lee from Indiana University. The study, which focused on the media response to the 2019 release of the Mueller report, found that more cross-partisan discussions took place on liberal channels than conservative ones and mainstream news outlets hosted more cross-partisan ...

In the first large-scale observation with human coding of infant vocalizations using all-day home recordings, babies of all ages from birth up to a year old squealed and growled in significant cluster patterns, suggesting the babies may have been actively engaged in noisemaking play and sound practice, according to a study published May 29, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Hyunjoo Yoo from the University of Alabama, Pumpki Lei Su from the University of Texas at Dallas, and colleagues. In their first year of life, babies spend a remarkable amount of time vocalizing—both responding with noises to parents and caregivers, as well as self-directed babbling that could ...

The sweat bee, H. rubicundus, is less sociable in Scotland than in Cornwall, but is genetically differentiated and genetically isolated too ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0302688 Article Title: Genetic differentiation at extreme latitudes in the socially plastic sweat bee Halictus rubicundus Author Countries: Netherlands, UK Funding: This work is part of a project that received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Horizon's 202 research and innovation programme (grantagreement no. 695744). RAB was funded by a Wageningen Graduate School Postdoctoral Talent fellowship and a BBSRC discovery ...

Smartphone use may help adolescents feel better - at least in the moment, finds real-time survey of US teens ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0298422 Article Title: Real-world adolescent smartphone use is associated with improvements in mood: An ecological momentary assessment study Author Countries: USA Funding: This study used data from a larger project that was funded by a stand-alone research agreement between Facebook's Youth Research Fund (2018-2020, Facebook, Inc.) ...

Cambridge researchers have shown that members of the public have little trouble in learning very quickly how to use a third thumb – a controllable, prosthetic extra thumb – to pick up and manipulate objects. The team tested the robotic device on a diverse range of participants, which they say is essential for ensuring new technologies are inclusive and can work for everyone. An emerging area of future technology is motor augmentation – using motorised wearable devices such as exoskeletons or extra robotic body parts to advance our motor ...

A recent study has introduced a novel method combining nano informatics and machine learning to precisely predict cancer cell behaviors, enabling the identification of cell subpopulations with distinct characteristics like drug sensitivity and metastatic potential. This research could transform cancer diagnosis and treatment, enhancing personalized medicine by facilitating rapid and accurate testing of cancer cell behaviors from patient biopsies and potentially leading to the development of new clinical tests to monitor disease progression and treatment effectiveness. In an important advance in the fight against ...

A new type of immunotherapy, developed by UCL researchers, has shown promising preclinical results against a bone cancer called osteosarcoma, as part of a study in mice. Osteosarcoma is the most common bone cancer in teenagers but is still relatively rare, with around 160 new cases each year in the UK. Meanwhile, more than 150,000 people suffer from cancer that has spread to the bones. Cancer that starts in or spreads to the bones is particularly hard to treat, meaning that it is a leading cause of cancer-related death. ...

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) designed and implanted a transparent window in the skull of a patient, then used functional ultrasound imaging (fUSI) to collect high-resolution brain imaging data through the window. Their preliminary findings suggest that this sensitive, non-invasive approach could open new avenues for patient monitoring and clinical research, as well as broader studies of how the brain functions. “This is the first time anyone had applied ...

HOUSTON, May 29, 2024 – Mim Rahimi, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Houston, has received a National Science Foundation CAREER award for his research proposal focusing on liquid-liquid interfaces for electrochemical carbon capture research. His research proposal is “Leveraging Liquid-Liquid Interfaces for Innovative Electrochemical Carbon Capture.” It was selected for $537,719 in funding, with research running through August 2029. “The project ...

An analysis of civilian injuries resulting from interactions with police in Illinois found that residents of all races and ethnicities are more likely to sustain injuries if they live in economically under-resourced areas. The risk of injury decreases as communities become more racially diverse, the researchers found.  The study from the University of Illinois Chicago analyzed information on nearly 5,000 injuries caused by police that were treated in Illinois hospitals between 2016 and 2022. The researchers then compared that information with socioeconomic data from the U.S. Census on each injured person’s home ZIP code. The study is published in the ...

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80% of those living with dementia receive informal care from family members or friends. This equates to 16 million family caregivers in the U.S. However, caring for family members with dementia is often associated with increased caregiver burden (which includes emotional, physical, and financial strain), stress, and worse physical health for the caregiver.   A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Gerontology, led by George Mason University researchers, found that a 9-week online stress ...

Sticks and stones aren’t enough to thwart biological attraction, but sometimes those are the only tools available to pastoralists trying to prevent wildlife from eloping with their livestock.   A new study led by Colorado State University brings awareness to both the human impacts of these encounters – ranging from economic loss to death – and conservation concerns for the wild animals that are often endangered.     Conserving threatened and endangered species is a globally recognized priority, but justice and equity for the marginalized pastoralist populations around the world who experience conflict with these species are often ...

Leaders from the Mass General Cancer Center, a member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, will present research discoveries and outcomes from clinical trials in cancer at the 2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held May 31-June 4, in Chicago. ASCO brings together leading experts in clinical oncology to share the latest breakthroughs in cancer research, science and medicine. Presentations from Mass General Cancer Center investigators include a plenary session on palliative care delivery via telehealth versus in-person for patients with advanced lung cancer. Oral presentations ...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Physicist Holly Szumila-Vance has always been curious about how the world works. Throughout her career, she has never been afraid to tackle new and tough challenges to satisfy that curiosity. In doing so, she has helped reveal new details of how the ubiquitous proton interacts with the strong force inside matter. Now, her work to reveal the nature of matter at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility has just won special recognition: the prestigious 2024 Guido Altarelli Award – Experimental ...

SEATTLE — May 29, 2024 — Foam mixed with medications is already used to treat conditions such as varicose veins, hemorrhoids, wounds on the skin and even hair loss. Now, Fred Hutch Cancer Center scientists have found that foam might also be used as a vehicle to deliver expensive gene therapies. Published May 28 in Nature Communications, bioengineer Matthias Stephan, MD, PhD, and his Fred Hutch team report that a foaming liquid worked better than a standard liquid formulation at transferring gene therapy components to cells in laboratory studies.  “Gene therapies are the new wave of medicine, but they are extremely ...

The waste generated by power generation utility companies could be a potential source of metals and minerals that are key components of modern electronics, batteries, vehicles, and the clean-energy industry as a whole. Zheng Yao, principal research scientist within Lehigh University’s Energy Research Center (ERC), and a multidisciplinary team of researchers recently received a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to identify rare earth elements (REEs) and elements of interest (EOIs) in wastewater and solid waste streams, and to develop the technology that could extract those elements.  The project team includes ...

Darío Gil, Ph.D., IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research and a member of the Board of Trustees for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has been elected chair of the National Science Board (NSB). The NSB is the governing board of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and adviser to Congress and the President on policy matters related to STEM research and STEM education. “Darío Gil’s insights and innovative thinking will be indispensable to his leadership of the NSB,” said RPI President Martin A. Schmidt, Ph.D. “His election speaks volumes about his exceptional talents ...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study by Brown University researchers may help redefine how scientists map the surface of the Moon, making the process more streamlined and precise than ever before. Published in the Planetary Science Journal, the research by Brown scholars Benjamin Boatwright and James Head describes enhancements to a mapping technique called shape-from-shading. The technique is used to create detailed models of lunar terrain, outlining craters, ridges, slopes and other surface hazards. By analyzing the way light hits different surfaces of the Moon, it allows researchers to estimate the three-dimensional ...

Professor Dariusz Stramski of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has been selected by The Oceanography Society as the 2024 recipient of the Nils Gunnar Jerlov Medal in recognition of his significant and wide-ranging contributions to the field of optical oceanography. With a distinguished career spanning over 40 years, Dr. Stramski has made profound impacts on the study of ocean optics. Born in Poland, Stramski received his M.S. with honors in oceanography (1978) and Ph.D. in Earth ...

(Toronto, May 28, 2024) A new study in JMIR Cardio, published by JMIR Publications, shows that a fully digital, artificial intelligence (AI)–driven lifestyle coaching program can effectively reduce blood pressure (BP) in adults with hypertension. This AI-based program leverages data from wearable activity trackers and BP monitors as well as a mobile app questionnaire to tailor lifestyle guidance. The research team, led by Jared Leitner of the University of California, San Diego, used this innovative intervention to help manage ...

A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a new machine-learning method that detects hate speech on social media platforms with 88 per cent accuracy, saving employees from hundreds of hours of emotionally damaging work. The method, dubbed the Multi-Modal Discussion Transformer (mDT), can understand the relationship between text and images as well as put comments in greater context, unlike previous hate speech detection methods. This is particularly helpful in reducing false positives, which are often ...

A new method of drug delivery using proline, an amino acid found in chicken feathers and skin tissue, could be used to limit the side effects of chemotherapy and repair important enzymes, new research suggests. Published in the journal Chem today, researchers have designed a cage (a box made of single molecules) from biologically compatible peptides, short amino acids that form the basis of proteins. These cages can house drugs of different sizes and transport them in the body with high levels of precision.  The negative ...

It’s every driver’s nightmare: a pedestrian stepping out in front of the car seemingly out of nowhere, leaving only a fraction of a second to brake or steer the wheel and avoid the worst. Some cars now have camera systems that can alert the driver or activate emergency braking. But these systems are not yet fast or reliable enough, and they will need to improve dramatically if they are to be used in autonomous vehicles where there is no human behind the wheel. Quicker detection using less computational ...

Graphene has been called “the wonder material of the 21st century.” Since its discovery in 2004, the material—a single layer of carbon atoms—has been touted for its host of unique properties, which include ultra-high electrical conductivity and remarkable tensile strength. It has the potential to transform electronics, energy storage, sensors, biomedical devices, and more. But graphene has had a dirty little secret: it's dirty. Now, engineers at Columbia University and colleagues at the University of Montreal and the National Institute of Standards and Technology are poised to clean things up with an oxygen-free chemical vapor ...