Measuring between 3 to 3.5 meters, 16 million years old: Paleontologists from the University of Zurich have announced the discovery of a new species of freshwater dolphin in the Peruvian Amazon region. Surprisingly, its closest living relatives can be found in the river dolphins of South Asia. River dolphins are among the rarest modern cetaceans, with most extant species critically endangered. Despite their similar appearance, however, these animals are not directly related, but represent the late survivors of different cetacean groups that once inhabited our planet. An international ...

Using data from both mice and humans, a Johns Hopkins Medicine research team has found that a cell surface protein that senses odors and chemicals may be responsible for — and help explain — sex differences in mammalian blood pressure. The unusual connection between such protein receptors and sex differences in blood pressure, reported in the March 20 issue of Science Advances, may lead to a better understanding of long known differences in blood pressure between females and males.  Blood ...

Repairing patients’ dura more durably Highly adhesive and mechanically strong Dural Tough Adhesive addresses multiple limitations in the repair of the dural membrane lining the brain and spinal cord after trauma and surgeries. By Benjamin Boettner (BOSTON) — The dural membrane (dura) is the outermost of three meningeal layers that line the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord. Together, the meninges function as a shock-absorber to protect the CNS against trauma, circulate nutrients throughout the CNS, as well as remove waste. The dura also is a critical biological barrier that contains cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding ...

Quantum computers promise to tackle some of the most challenging problems facing humanity today. While much attention has been directed towards the computation of quantum information, the transduction of information within quantum networks is equally crucial in materializing the potential of this new technology. Addressing this need, a research team at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is now introducing a new approach for transducing quantum information: the team has manipulated quantum bits, so called qubits, by harnessing the magnetic field ...

Frequent musculoskeletal pain is linked with an increased risk of exiting work and retiring earlier, according to a new study from the University of Portsmouth. The paper published this week in open-access journal PLOS ONE found the association between musculoskeletal pain and retiring earlier persisted even after accounting for working conditions, job satisfaction and sex. Dr Nils Niederstrasser and colleagues used data on 1,156 individuals aged 50+ living in England who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Over the course of the 14-year data collection period, 1,073 of the individuals retired. The researchers found that people with musculoskeletal ...

A millimeter-scale, chip-less and battery-less implant can wirelessly monitor a series of parameters within your body and communicate with a wearable device attached on the skin. In a recent study published in the journal Science Advances, researchers from Peking University have unveiled a miniaturized implantable sensor capable of health monitoring without the need of transcutaneous wires, integrated circuit chips, or bulky readout equipment, thereby reducing infection risks, improving biocompatibility, and enhancing portability. Han Mengdi from Peking University, the lead researcher of ...

Published in Nature, a new study has identified recurring, ‘toxic’ human conversation patterns on social media, which are common to users irrespective of the platform used, the topic of discussion, and the decade in which the conversation took place. In particular, the study suggests that prolonged conversations on social media are more prone to toxicity, and polarisation, when divergent viewpoints from debate lead to an escalation of online disagreement. Contrary to the prevailing assumption, the study suggests that toxic interactions do not deter users from engagement, they actively participate in conversations. It also suggests that toxicity ...

Immunological memory — the ability to respond to a previously encountered antigen, or foreign substance, with greater speed and intensity on re-exposure is a hallmark of adaptive immunity. Innate immune cells also develop metabolic and epigenetic memories that boost their responses, but it was previously unknown if non-immune cells like astrocytes, which interact with immune cells and contribute to inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), acquire aspects of immune memory of encountering ...

Quebec City, March 20, 2024–Canada should ban marketing of unhealthy foods wherever children may be exposed, whether on TV, social media or billboards. This is one of the main conclusions of a Canada-wide study involving more than fifty food and nutrition experts made public today by a team from Université Laval's Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences.   The study, conducted as part of a research program funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, also recommends better funding ...

The 7th World Conference on Targeting Phage Therapy 2024 is set to take place on June 20-21 at the Corinthia Palace Malta, introducing the latest advancements within the field of phage research and therapy. Robert T. Schooley, M.D., Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and Co-Director of the Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, will lead the discourse, presenting insights and strategies essential to Phage Therapy in his talk titled "Phage Therapeutics 2024: Essential Translational Research Components for Clinical Trials."   Agenda at a Glance Day One: will focus on Phages, Hosts & Microbiome, exploring ...

Many companies proclaiming ethical credentials resist paying a premium to test their suppliers’ sustainability claims, new research suggests. A team from Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City, University of London, studied responses from 234 managers with procurement decision-making powers. While buyers’ purchasing decisions are not solely price-driven, the team found, they are often happy to accept suppliers’ reassurances about sustainability rather than pay a premium for third party verification. Despite accepting ...

To “breathe” in an environment without oxygen, bacteria in the ground beneath our feet depend upon a single family of proteins to transfer excess electrons, produced during the “burning” of nutrients, to electric hairs called nanowires projecting from their surface, found by researchers at Yale University and NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA-FCT).  This family of proteins in essence acts as plugs that power these nanowires to create a natural electrical ...

With the rise in gestational diabetes and metabolic disorders during pregnancy, metformin is also being prescribed more frequently. Although it is known that the oral antidiabetic agent can cross the placental barrier, the impacts on the brain development of the child are largely unknown. An interdisciplinary research team from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrücke (DIfE) have now been able to demonstrate in a mouse model that although metformin has positive effects in pregnant animals, it does not in the offspring. The results were published in the specialist journal ‘Molecular ...

Research Highlights: Exposure to tobacco before birth and beginning smoking during childhood or adolescence were significantly associated with the development of Type 2 diabetes in adulthood, according to a study of nearly half a million adults in the UK Biobank. Among those exposed to tobacco before birth or who began smoking during childhood or adolescence, participants who had a genetic predisposition to develop Type 2 diabetes and started smoking in childhood or adolescence had the highest risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Embargoed until 10:30 a.m. ...

NEW YORK, NY — Motor neurons are the cells the brain uses to command muscles to act. Scientists typically thought of them as simple connections, much like the cables that link computers with their accessories. Now, in fly studies, researchers at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute have discovered that single motor neurons can each direct an insect’s body to move in far more complex ways than previously thought. The findings were published in Nature on March 20. "This is one of the first times scientists have analyzed in 3D what single motor neurons do ...

Modern humans dispersed from Africa multiple times, but the event that led to global expansion occurred less than 100,000 years ago. Some researchers hypothesize that dispersals were restricted to “green corridors” formed during humid intervals when food was abundant and human populations expanded in lockstep with their environments. But a new study in Nature, including ASU researchers Curtis Marean, Christopher Campisano, and Jayde Hirniak, suggests that humans also may have dispersed during arid intervals along “blue highways” created by seasonal rivers. Researchers also found evidence of cooking and stone tools that represent the oldest evidence of archery. Working ...

Researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have found that a specific subtype of a microbe commonly found in the mouth is able to travel to the gut and grow within colorectal cancer tumors. This microbe is also a culprit for driving cancer progression and leads to poorer patient outcomes after cancer treatment. The findings, published March 20 in the journal Nature, could help improve therapeutic approaches and early screening methods for colorectal cancer, which is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in adults in the U.S. according to the American Cancer Society. Examining colorectal cancer tumors removed from ...

Some anti-cancer treatments not only target tumour cells but also healthy cells. If their effects on the latter are too strong, their use can become limiting. A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with Basel-based FoRx Therapeutics, has identified the mechanism of action of PARP inhibitors, used in particular for breast and ovarian cancer in patients carrying the BRCA gene mutation. These inhibitors block two specific activities of the PARP proteins. By blocking one of them, the toxic effect on cancer cells is maintained, while healthy cells are preserved. This work, published in the journal Nature, will help improve the efficacy of these treatments.  Despite ...

Imagine being able to count the different types of blood cells being formed inside the tiny bones of a mouse and pinpointing the strings and clusters of cells within the bone marrow that are responsible for producing specific types of blood cells. That’s exactly what a team of scientists led by experts at Cincinnati Children’s achieved in a far-reaching study published March 20, 2024, in the prestigious journal Nature. Their work adds unprecedented new understanding of the “elegant” and “resilient” anatomy of bone marrow while also generating evidence of unexpected variations in how the skeleton ...

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. Recent developments at MD Anderson offer insights into a combination therapy that slows pancreatic cancer progression, an all-oral treatment for older patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) unable to receive intensive chemotherapy, novel targets to protect against osteoporosis and bone metastasis, the generation ...

If it walks like a particle, and talks like a particle… it may still not be a particle. A topological soliton is a special type of wave or dislocation which behaves like a particle: it can move around but cannot spread out and disappear like you would expect from, say, a ripple on the surface of a pond. In a new study published in Nature, researchers from the University of Amsterdam demonstrate the atypical behaviour of topological solitons in a robotic metamaterial, something which in the future may be used to control how robots move, sense their surroundings and communicate. Topological solitons can be found in many ...

The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has appointed Etta D. Pisano, MD, FACR, senior portfolio lead, to build the agency's clinical trial portfolio and lead the ARPA-H Advancing Clinical Trials Readiness Initiative under ARPA-H Resilient Systems Mission Office Director Jennifer Roberts. The first radiologist to be appointed to such a role, Dr. Pisano is an internationally recognized expert in women's health, breast cancer research, and the use of artificial intelligence in ...

Scientists have for the first time created a giant quantum vortex to mimic a black hole in superfluid helium that has allowed them to see in greater detail how analogue black holes behave and interact with their surroundings. Research led by the University of Nottingham, in collaboration with King’s College London and Newcastle University, have created a novel experimental platform: a quantum tornado. They have created a giant swirling vortex within superfluid helium that is chilled to the lowest possible temperatures. Through the observation of minute wave dynamics on the superfluid’s surface, the research team has shown that these quantum ...

Researchers have developed FloorLocator, a breakthrough in indoor navigation technology, which combines the high efficiency of Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) with the advanced  learning capabilities of Graph Neural Networks (GNNs). This innovative approach ensures remarkable accuracy and scalability for floor localization, crucial for enhancing emergency responses, indoor positioning, and personalized recommendation systems. Indoor positioning is transforming with applications demanding precise location tracking. Traditional methods, including fingerprinting and sensor-based techniques, though widely used, face significant drawbacks such as the ...

The bustling streets of a modern city are filled with countless individuals using their smartphones for streaming videos, sending messages and browsing the web. In the era of rapidly expanding 5G networks and the omnipresence of mobile devices, the management of cellular traffic has become increasingly complex. To address this challenge, mobile network operators need methods for the accurate prediction of cellular traffic. A comprehensive survey published 5 Jan. in Intelligent Computing explores deep learning techniques for cellular traffic prediction. Better cellular traffic prediction would enhance intelligent 5G network construction and resource management, thereby ...