Annual snow cover days in all major skiing regions are projected to decrease dramatically as a result of climate change, with 1 in 8 ski areas losing all natural snow cover this century under high emission scenarios. These results are published in a new study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Veronika Mitterwallner from the University of Bayreuth, Germany and colleagues. Popular skiing destinations experience the impacts of climate change, which include reduced snowfall in regions around the world. Despite the social, economic, and ecological significance of the skiing industry, little research exists on how ski area distributions are affected by climate change ...

In a new study, people experiencing homelessness with a pet documented their lives in photos and participated in interviews, revealing their experiences and potentially informing support initiatives. Gemina Garland-Lewis of the University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues present this project in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 13, 2024. Having a pet while experiencing homelessness can boost physical and mental health and provide social benefits. However, it can pose unique challenges, such as making it difficult to access medical care, shelters, and other services at facilities ...

The Wim Hof method may produce a beneficial anti-inflammatory response characterized by increased epinephrine levels and a reduction in pro-inflammatory cytokines, according to a systematic review published March 13, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Omar Almahayni and Lucy Hammond from the University of Warwick, UK. The Wim Hof method is touted by founder and extreme athlete Wim Hof as a practical way to improve physical and mental health. It consists of three pillars—the Wim Hof breathing method, cold therapy, and commitment. Several studies have assessed the impact of the Wim Hof method on ...

Just one mindfulness and compassion session was associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress a week later, in clinical trial with 91 participants ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0299300 Article Title: Efficacy of a single session mindfulness based intervention: A randomized clinical trial Author Countries: USA Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Spending quality time with dogs reduces stress and increases the power of brain waves associated with relaxation and concentration, according to a study published on March 13, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Onyoo Yoo from Konkuk University, South Korea, and colleagues. Animal-assisted interventions, like canine therapy, are widely used in hospitals, schools, and beyond to help reduce anxiety, relieve stress, and foster feelings of trust. Studies of the potential benefits of animal interactions often take a holistic approach, comparing people’s mood or hormone levels before and after spending time with a service animal. But this approach doesn’t ...

Climate change has significantly increased crop water demand in the San Joaquin Valley, and the shift since 2011 is a volume of water the size of a major reservoir. #### Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000184 Article Title: An invisible water surcharge: Climate warming increases crop water demand in the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater-dependent irrigated agriculture Author Countries: United States Funding: This work was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ...

Researchers compared levels of anxiety among psychotherapy outpatients based on whether they initiated therapy before, during or after the onset of COVID-19 pandemic Authors say findings suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) can provide tools to help individuals manage anxiety in the face of major world events and upheaval   Belmont, Mass. – (March 13, 2024) The start of the COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented exposure to stressors driven by fears of a novel and deadly disease, intense uncertainty, and resulting ...

New study reveals insights into predator-prey dynamics in the animal kingdom, focusing on sea anemones. The surprising discovery of a native anemone population lacking the Nv1 neurotoxin led to an investigation into its impact on defending against grass shrimp, a native predator. Anemones without Nv1 showed weakened defensive abilities, while the neurotoxin, when present, attracted mummichog fish, natural predators of grass shrimp. This research enhances our understanding of marine ecosystems and the intricate balance of predator-prey interactions and tradeoffs. A new ...

Although COVID-19 has faded from the headlines, SARS-CoV-2 – the coronavirus behind the pandemic – is still rampantly infecting people around the world. Public health officials fear as the virus continues to evolve, it will eventually hit upon a diabolical mutation that renders current treatments ineffective, triggering a new wave of severe infection and social disruption. In pursuit of new therapies to avoid this dark fate, researchers at Stanford have now unveiled a compound that measures up as a potentially powerful anti-coronavirus drug, detailed in a paper published March 13 in Science Translational Medicine. ...

SAN ANTONIO — March 13, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has been awarded a three-year, $2,041,000 grant from NASA’s Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) program to further develop a novel ground-penetrating radar instrument. The Synthetic Pulse Artemis Radar for Crustal Imaging (SPARCI, pronounced “sparky”) instrument is designed to characterize the depth of the regolith and upper megaregolith, the upper broken-up layers of lunar crust associated with ...

ANYmal has for some time had no problem coping with the stony terrain of Swiss hiking trails. Now researchers at ETH Zurich have taught this quadrupedal robot some new skills: it is proving rather adept at parkour, a sport based on using athletic manoeuvres to smoothly negotiate obstacles in an urban environment, which has become very popular. ANYmal is also proficient at dealing with the tricky terrain commonly found on building sites or in disaster areas. To teach ANYmal these new skills, two teams, both from the group led by ETH Professor Marco Hutter of the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, followed different approaches. Exhausting the mechanical options Working ...

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive tumour of the lung that occurs especially in heavy smokers. Due to the rapid spread of this tumour type, most patients can only be treated with chemotherapy with remarkable initial anti-tumour efficacy. However, relapse often occurs over the course of time. A research team at the University of Cologne led by Professor Dr Roman Thomas, director of the Department of Translational Genomics and speaker of the Collaborative Research Center 1399 (CRC 1399, ...

Jackson School of Geosciences Professor Peter Flemings is the recipient of the 2024 Robert R. Berg Outstanding Research Award, a top honor bestowed by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, a worldwide professional association. Over the course of his career, Flemings has worked to apply his academic research to effect real-world breakthroughs. His work analyzing how pressure within Earth’s crust is controlled by geology and fluid flow, for example, shaped how oil companies now safely search for hydrocarbons. Flemings and his students explored how the evolution of rock layers controls the flow of fluids within them and the distribution ...

Findings from a new study conducted by a team of researchers at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and published in the journal mBio, reflect the important role that the gut microbiome (communities of bacteria) plays in the airway health of persons with cystic fibrosis.    Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that causes sticky, thick mucus to build up in the lungs and other organs, causing persistent infections that can be deadly. Until relatively recently, CF microbiology research has largely ...

Scientists have long suspected nematodes, commonly known as roundworms, inhabit Utah’s Great Salt Lake sediments, but until recently, no one had actually recovered any there. It took a University of Utah postdoc with a hammer and loads of field experience to solve the puzzle. Along with biology professor Michael Werner, postdoctoral researcher Julie Jung announced in a study published March 13 that they discovered thousands of tiny worms in the lake’s microbialites, those reef-like structures that cover about a fifth of the lakebed. Their initial attempts failed to find nematodes in lakebed sediments, prompting Jung to take a hammer to samples ...

Most U.S. consumers surveyed in February 2024 predicted that they would see an increase in food prices over the next 12 months. Sixty-four percent of respondents predict food prices to rise in the next year, and the average predicted increase is 3.7%, according to the February Consumer Food Insights Report. The survey-based report out of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support of agricultural and food policies and trust in information sources. Purdue experts conducted and evaluated the survey, which ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Three peer-reviewed journals have recently published research papers by Penn State’s Hammel Family Human Rights Initiative. The papers illustrate how the initiative’s programs help K-12 educators address difficult issues such as racism. The three journals that published the initiative papers are School-University Partnerships, Journal of Practitioner Research and Journal of Teacher Education. JTE, as it’s known, is widely considered the top-ranked research journal in the field of teacher education. Some of the scholars who independently ...

Oil and gas operations across the United States are emitting more than 6 million tons per year of methane, the main component of natural gas and the most abundant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide, according to Stanford-led research published March 13 in Nature. These emissions, which result from both intentional vents and unintentional leaks, amount to $1 billion in lost commercial value for energy producers. The annual cost rises to $10 billion when researchers account for harm to the economy and human well-being caused by adding this amount of heat-trapping methane ...

Images Physicists often turn to the Rayleigh-Taylor instability to explain why fluid structures form in plasmas, but that may not be the full story when it comes to the ring of hydrogen clumps around supernova 1987A, research from the University of Michigan suggests.   In a study published in Physical Review Letters, the team argues that the Crow instability does a better job of explaining the "string of pearls" encircling the remnant of the star, shedding light on a longstanding astrophysical mystery.   "The fascinating ...

NEWPORT, Ore. – Marine heat waves in the northeast Pacific Ocean create ongoing and complex disruptions of the ocean food web that may benefit some species but threaten the future of many others, a new study has shown. The study, just published in the journal Nature Communications, is the first of its kind to examine the impacts of marine heat waves on the entire ocean ecosystem in the northern California Current, the span of waters along the West Coast from Washington to Northern California. The researchers found that the biggest beneficiary of marine heat waves is gelatinous zooplankton – predominantly ...

The International Society of Microbiota (ISM) announces its 11th World Congress, "Targeting Microbiota 2024", scheduled for October 14-15 at the Corinthia Palace in Malta. This event is set to highlight the latest research and developments in microbiotal medicine, emphasizing its impact on human health and its potential in shaping future medical treatment approaches. Detailed Workshop: Probiotic Prescribing Practices dedicated to Medical Professionals The congress will feature a critical workshop on October 15, titled “Probiotic Prescribing Practices: Empowering Medical Doctors for Improved Patient Health.” ...

Engineering Biology for Climate & Sustainability is the fifth technical roadmap developed by the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) and represents the first dedicated to innovations and opportunities towards overcoming a significant global challenge. The roadmap targets and challenges are aligned and were drawn from existing climate and sustainability literature, particularly those focused on long-term impacts and opportunities, including reports from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  The roadmap consists of six themes ...

ChatGPT and its ability to hold conversations and produce written content have been the focus of a lot of attention in the last year in the field of technology and artificial intelligence. However, AI has been around for some time, helping us in all sorts of everyday tasks, from navigation systems to social network algorithms, not to mention machine translation. Ever since neural machine translation (NMT) systems began to be used on a widespread basis a few years ago, AI has seen exponential growth in its uptake in the translation industry. This has led to new challenges in the relationship between human and machine translators. Today, the post-editing ...

An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. The advancement, led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Universidade de São Paulo, could herald a new era in insulin production, one day eliminating drug scarcity and high costs for people living with diabetes.  “Mother Nature designed the mammary gland as a factory to make protein really, really efficiently. We can take advantage ...

Ammonia (NH3) is an important molecule with many applications. The end product of the famed Haber–Bosch process, it is commonly synthesized to capture nitrogen for fertilizers, and is used for refrigeration, in cleaning products, and in the production of pharmaceuticals. Recently, this modest molecule has also attracted interest as a potential resource for addressing one of today’s most pressing challenges — the need for reliable and abundant renewable fuels. Ammonia is stable and safe ...