Researchers from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford have shown that weathering of rocks in the Canadian Arctic will accelerate with rising temperatures, triggering a positive feedback loop that will release more and more CO2 to the atmosphere. The findings have been published today in the journal Science Advances. For sensitive regions like the Arctic, where surface air temperatures are warming nearly four times faster than the global average, it is particularly crucial to understand the potential contribution of atmospheric CO2 from weathering. ...

A growing portion of Americans who are struggling to pay for their household energy live in the South and Southwest, reflecting a climate-driven shift away from heating needs and toward air conditioning use, an MIT study finds.  The newly published research also reveals that a major U.S. federal program that provides energy subsidies to households, by assigning block grants to states, does not yet fully match these recent trends. The work evaluates the “energy burden” on households, which reflects the percentage of income needed to pay for energy necessities, from 2015 to 2020. Households with an energy burden greater ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – If you smugly believe you’re right in a disagreement with a friend or colleague, a new study suggests why you may actually be wrong.   Researchers found that people naturally assume they have all the information they need to make a decision or support their position, even when they do not.   The researchers called it the “illusion of information adequacy.”   “We found that, in general, people don’t stop to think whether there might be more information that would help them make a more informed decision,” said study co-author ...

A new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Science Translational Medicine, shows that people with type 2 diabetes have lower levels of the protein that breaks down and converts creatine in the muscles. This leads to impaired function of the mitochondria, the 'powerhouses' of the cell. Creatine is a natural compound in the body that is also found in foods such as meat and fish. It is also a popular supplement for improving exercise performance as it can make muscles work harder and longer before they become fatigued. Despite creatine's ...

A new study published in the journal Science Advances [1] by researchers at the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea shows that the patchwork of different ecosystems found in mountainous regions played a key role in the evolution of humans. A notable feature of the archeological sites of early humans, members of the genus Homo known as hominins, is that they are often found in and near mountain regions. Using an extensive dataset of hominin fossils and artifacts, along with high-resolution landscape data and a 3-million-year-long simulation of Earth’s climate, the team of scientists from ICCP have provided a clearer picture of how ...

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and collaborators have discovered new understanding of bacterial photosynthesis. Using cutting-edge techniques, investigators have unveiled intricate detailed images of the key photosynthetic protein complexes of purple bacteria. These images shed new light on how these microorganisms harness solar energy. The study, published today, not only advances scientists’ understanding of bacterial photosynthesis but also has potential applications in the development of artificial photosynthetic systems for clean energy production. Like plants, many ...

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) announces the appointment of retired Lt. Gen. Robert Miller, MD, MBA, MSS, FAAP, FACHE, FACPE, as the new Executive Director of the Military Health Institute at UT Health San Antonio. Miller will assume his role, effective October 15. Miller joins UT Health San Antonio with more than 30 years of service in the United States Air Force, where he held several top leadership roles. Throughout his distinguished career, Miller served as command surgeon, director of education ...

Philadelphia, October 9, 2024 – The Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior (JNEB) is pleased to announce the 2024 Best Article, Best Research Brief, and GEM (Great Educational Material) awards. These awards were presented at the Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior's (SNEB) 2024 International Conference, held July 29 – August 1 in Knoxville, TN, and hosted online. These awards recognize the authors of the outstanding articles in each category published in the prior year in JNEB, as judged by members of the ...

As pedestrian fatalities in the United States reach a 40-year high, a novel approach to measuring crosswalk lengths across entire cities could provide urban planners with crucial data to improve safety interventions.  NYU Tandon School of Engineering researchers Marcel Moran and Debra F. Laefer published the first comprehensive, city-wide analysis of crosswalk distances in the Journal of the American Planning Association. Moran is an Urban Science Faculty Fellow at the Center for Urban Science + Progress (CUSP), and Laefer is a Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering and CUSP faculty member. "In general, lots of important data related ...

ROCHESTER, Minn. — A $25 million gift from the Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. family will establish the Gerstner Scholars Program in AI Translation at Mayo Clinic. Through this program, junior and early-career clinicians and clinician-investigators will collaborate with leading experts in artificial intelligence (AI), data science and informatics to drive breakthrough cures for patients. “We are deeply grateful to Lou and Robin Gerstner for their long-standing friendship and support,” says Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., Mayo Clinic's president and CEO. “Lou’s remarkable generosity over many years has been instrumental in ...

Juan Luis Jurat-Fuentes, professor in the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, was elected to serve as president of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology (SIP). Jurat-Fuentes officially began his appointment at the society’s 56th annual meeting, held July 28 – August 1 in Vienna, Austria. “Being elected by the SIP members as president is humbling and a great honor. I have big shoes to fill in this role as previous SIP executive councils were led by outstanding leaders,” Jurat-Fuentes said. Jurat-Fuentes has a long history of ...

HOUSTON – (Oct. 9, 2024) – Rice University bioengineer Kevin McHugh has been awarded $3.4 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a project to incorporate protection against poliomyelitis (polio) into the combination vaccine that protects against five common and dangerous childhood diseases. The research could help the polio eradication effort and play an instrumental role in improving access to immunization in low-resource settings ⎯ an important part of meeting sustainable development goals and achieving equity in health ...

Sea surface temperature, wave energy and freshwater discharge from rivers influence the abundance and size of the marine organisms that inhabit rocky shores along the coast of Southeast Brazil more than ecological processes such as competition and predation. In areas where the water is colder, such as the Lakes Region (Região dos Lagos) in Rio de Janeiro state, marine organisms are 25%-100% larger than in areas where it is warmer, such as the coast of São Paulo state. These are the main conclusions of a study conducted by researchers affiliated with the Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP) in partnership with colleagues at the State University of Northern Rio de ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - As the Department of Energy (DOE) continues to accelerate a clean-energy future that includes fusion technology, a total of $49 million in funding for 19 projects was announced today in the Foundational Fusion Materials, Nuclear Science, and Technology programs. The purpose of the funding is to reorient the laboratory-based foundational and basic science research programs to better align and support the new FES program vision.   “The Fusion Nuclear Science Foundational research program, ...

A new study led by Pr. Serge McGraw, researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine and professor at Université de Montréal, shows that the effects of alcohol exposure on an embryo prior to implantation in the uterus can be detected in the late-gestation placenta. Using a mouse model well suited for this type of exposure, the researcher and his team observed significant molecular changes in the placenta, including the expression of numerous genes and DNA methylation, an epigenetic marker that influences gene expression by ...

Even if it is possible to reverse the rise of global temperatures after a temporary overshoot of 1.5°C, some climate damages inflicted at peak warming, including rising sea levels, will be irreversible, according to a new study published today in Nature. The study is the culmination of a three-and-a-half-year project, backed by the European innovation fund HORIZON2020, looking at so-called ‘overshoot’ scenarios where temperatures temporarily exceed the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C ...

Step aside hard, rigid materials. There is a new soft, sustainable electroactive material in town — and it’s poised to open new possibilities for medical devices, wearable technology and human-computer interfaces. Using peptides and a snippet of the large molecules in plastics, Northwestern University materials scientists have developed materials made of tiny, flexible nano-sized ribbons that can be charged just like a battery to store energy or record digital information. Highly energy efficient, biocompatible and made from sustainable materials, the systems could give rise to new ...

Imagine walking into a room where several different grandfather clocks hang on the walls, each ticking at a different pace.  Quantum physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have essentially recreated that room at the scale of atoms and electrons. The team’s advancement could pave the way for new kinds of optical atomic clocks, devices that track the passage of time by measuring the natural “ticking” of atoms. The group’s new clock is made from a few dozen strontium ...

About The Study: This cross-sectional study addresses the dearth of information on how intersectionality in gender and autism status impacts the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and the results confirm the elevated risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors among transgender or gender nonconforming and autistic populations. Interventions are needed to support college students with these identities.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Annabelle M. Mournet, MS, email amm883@psych.rutgers.edu. To ...

Each year millions of Pacific salmon make a grand journey from the ocean to their freshwater spawning grounds at the end of their life cycles. This migration has rippling effects through food webs and ecosystems along the way. Whether they decompose or are consumed by other animals, these salmon deliver both nutrients and contaminants they have accumulated in their bodies after spending most of their lives growing at sea.  A team of researchers from UConn, the University of South Dakota, the U.S. Geological Survey, Natural ...

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains the most aggressive and deadly type of breast cancer, but new findings from cancer researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, are pointing the way toward therapeutic strategies that could be tested in clinical trials in the future. Using patient-derived samples in pre-clinical work, researchers discovered that by combining two therapeutic agents they could nudge TNBC cells into a more treatable state. Findings are published in Nature. “When combined, these therapeutic agents ...

A UCLA-led study has provided an unprecedented look at how gene regulation evolves during human brain development, showing how the 3D structure of chromatin — DNA and proteins — plays a critical role. This work offers new insights into how early brain development shapes lifelong mental health. The study, published in Nature, was led by Dr. Chongyuan Luo at UCLA and Dr. Mercedes Paredes at UC San Francisco, in collaboration with researchers from the Salk Institute, UC San Diego and Seoul National University. It created the first map of DNA modification in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex — two regions ...

New research from the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience published this week in Nature has identified a key step in how neurons encode information on timescales that match learning. A timing mismatch Learning takes seconds to minutes. However, the best-understood mechanisms of how the brain encodes information happen at speeds closer to neural activity—around 1000 times faster. These mechanisms, known as Hebbian plasticity, suggest that if two connected neurons are both active within a hundredth of a second, then the connection between the two neurons is strengthened. In this ...

HOUSTON ―Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have demonstrated that patients with metastatic non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring specific mutations in the STK11 and/or KEAP1 tumor suppressor genes were more likely to benefit from adding the immunotherapy tremelimumab to a combination of durvalumab plus chemotherapy to overcome treatment resistance typically seen in this patient population.   Study results, published today in Nature, identify ...

Scientists discover viral trapdoor blocking HIV and herpes Ghent, 10 October 2024 – A group of researchers led by Xavier Saelens and Sven Eyckerman at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology discovered how a protein linked to the human immune system wards off HIV-1 and herpes simplex virus-1 by assembling structures in the cell that lure in these viruses and then trap them or even take them apart. The research was spearheaded by first author George Moschonas, published in Cell Host and Microbe, and could be used to devise new strategies to combat these viruses. The innate immune system of the human body can sense and respond to viruses by ...