About The Study: In this multiyear cross-sectional study of a representative sample of young children in the U.S., the increased prevalence of high screen time in 2020 returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2021; however, it remained elevated in children living in poverty. Two hours or more of daily screen time was associated with lower psychological well-being among preschool-aged children. Authors: Soyang Kwon, Ph.D., of Northwestern University in Chicago, is the corresponding author. To access the ...

Adults who sleep only three to five hours a day are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This is demonstrated in a new study from Uppsala University, published in JAMA Network Open. It also shows that chronic sleep deprivation cannot be compensated by healthy eating alone.      “I generally recommend prioritising sleep, although I understand it’s not always possible, especially as a parent of four teenagers,” says Christian Benedict, Associate Professor and sleep researcher at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences at Uppsala University and leading researcher behind the study. He and a team of researchers have examined the link between type 2 ...

A novel screening system developed at Kyoto University enables researchers to investigate sperm cell development and health at the molecular level. The new approach, published in Cell Genomics, promises breakthroughs in male contraception and infertility treatments.  The study, led by Professor Jun Suzuki of the Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences (iCeMS), addresses a critical gap by directly targeting genes within testicular cells inside living organisms. Utilizing a genetic tool called CRISPR, which can ...

Scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking sensor that can wirelessly detect chemical warfare agents, marking a significant leap in public safety technology. This innovative device, capable of identifying substances like dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), offers a new level of efficiency and reliability in monitoring and responding to chemical threats, without the need for direct power sources or physical connections. The urgent need for advanced detection of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) to ensure global security has led to the development of a novel gas sensor. This sensor is distinguished ...

Sometimes the solution to a problem can be as simple as changing the way the components are structured   Researchers have proposed a reconfiguration of zinc anodes, a component of renewable energy sources, to help improve the battery and reduce the reliance society has on fossil fuels. The potential that different configurations of a zinc anode can have could reduce costs and side reactions while increasing the safety of the rechargeable zinc metal battery (RZMB) and, of course, improve its “green” rating.    The results were published in Energy Materials and Devices ...

A research team has successfully synthesized a metal nanocluster and determined its crystal structure. Their study provides experimental evidence for understanding and designing nanoclusters with specific properties at the atomic level. Metal nanoclusters have wide-ranging applications in the biomedical field.   Their work is published in the journal Polyoxometalates on February 6, 2024.   Scientists have shown interest in ligand-protected atomically precise metal nanoclusters because they have definite atomic structures and exceptional ...

Liver cancer, unfortunately, is the sixth most common cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer-related death globally. However, its distribution and causes vary greatly across different regions. While areas like Eastern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa see the most cases, the reasons behind them differ significantly. In high-income countries, liver cancer has been on the decline thanks to widespread newborn hepatitis B vaccination and antiviral drugs. Meanwhile, low-income countries witness a worrying rise, ...

Sprinting “like a jet plane taking off” will help produce Premier League star strikers of tomorrow, new research has revealed.   A University of Essex study of Tottenham Hotspur’s academy has shown that just a few words can instantly boost sprinting speed by 3 per cent over 20 metres.    It would normally take weeks of targeted training to achieve such a large increase.  These short bursts of acceleration are largely seen in goal-scoring situations and could be the difference in beating a defender and finding the net.  Dr Jason Moran, from the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences, discovered simple analogies increased ...

OAK BROOK, Ill. – Coronary artery calcium scoring with CT can identify symptomatic patients with a very low risk of heart attacks or strokes, according to a new study published today in Radiology, a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Researchers said the findings may one day help some patients with stable chest pain avoid invasive coronary angiography. Coronary artery calcium scoring with CT was developed to noninvasively measure the amount of calcium in the arteries of the heart. Higher scores are linked with atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque in the arteries. A score of 1 to 399, for instance, suggests a moderate amount of plaque, while 400 ...

Haim Sompolinsky, Professor in Residence in Harvard’s Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Department of Physics, has received the Brain Prize for his pioneering contributions to computational and theoretical neuroscience. Considered the world’s most prestigious prize for neuroscience research, the Brain Prize 2024 is shared by Sompolinsky, Larry Abbott of Columbia University, and Terrence Sejnowski of the Salk Institute. All three scientists have helped uncover key principles governing the brain’s structure, ...

Although several studies have linked smoking during pregnancy with neurodevelopmental disorders, the results of behavioral experiments in mice prenatally exposed to nicotine have been inconsistent. In a recent study, scientists from Japan developed a deep learning-based framework to automatically observe and classify mice behavior in such experiments, producing more accurate and unbiased results. They show that prenatal exposure to nicotine could increase the risk of autism spectrum- and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders in newborns. The fact that smoking is a risk factor for several diseases, including cancer, stroke, and diabetes, has been known for approximately ...

Which natural products are helping solve biotech challenges? How can enzymes supercharge biodegradation for a greener tomorrow? What role does RNA play in cancer and other diseases? You’ll find the answers to these questions and more at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, to be held March 23–26 in San Antonio. Secure your front-row seat to cutting-edge findings, approaches and technologies in the biological sciences by registering for a complimentary ...

The Network for Education and Research on Peace and Sustainability (NERPS) at Hiroshima University is inviting submissions for Trends in Peace and Sustainability (TRENDS), an innovative academic platform dedicated to exploring the complex interplay between peace and sustainability. TRENDS aims to become a forum for scholars, professionals, and advocates to share their research, insights, and viewpoints on the pursuit of peace amid sustainability challenges. It aims to promote interdisciplinary engagement, stimulating conversation ...

The call for the 2024 Carbon Future Young Investigator Award is open! About The Award Tsinghua University Press announces the 2024 Carbon Future Young Investigator Award. This award is intended to recognize and encourage outstanding early career researchers in the areas of carbon-related materials, catalysis, energy conversion and storage, as well as low carbon emission process and engineering. The award includes an honorarium of $1,000 for each awardee (up to 10 awardees).   Eligibility The nominee must be a current PhD student or postdoctoral researcher. The nominee’s ...

ST. LOUIS, MO, March 5, 2024 – The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) have received a $4.9 million grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to build on previous advances in gene editing of tef for reduced height and lodging resistance in advanced, farmer preferred tef lines.  The grant will support research to validate the improved semi dwarf tef in Ethiopia under greenhouse and multi location field conditions and generate lodging resistance ...

In a series of studies, a team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The stunning images, captured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) in Chile, represent one of the largest ever surveys of planet-forming discs. The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy. “This is really a shift in our field of study,” says Christian Ginski, a lecturer at the University of Galway, Ireland, ...

A theoretical experiment characterized the network architecture of a species-rich ecosystem over 8 months. Predator–prey interaction networks play a key role in structuring ecosystems, but ecological research has often treated such networks as static, despite the broadly accepted understanding of ecosystems as dynamic. Hirokazu Toju and colleagues followed the complex food webs between 50 predatory spider species and 974 prey species, including midges, springtails, mosquitoes, and aphids, for eight months. The studied ecosystem is a warm-temperate grassland ...

In the Japanese art of Kintsugi, an artist takes the broken shards of a bowl and fuses them back together with gold to make a final product more beautiful than the original.  That idea is inspiring a new approach to managing plasma, the super-hot state of matter, for use as a power source. Scientists are using the imperfections in magnetic fields that confine a reaction to improve and enhance the plasma in an approach outlined in a new paper in the journal Nature Communications. “This approach allows you to maintain ...

Researchers built a model that can predict with 73.5% accuracy when a person will experience aesthetic chills: shivers, goosebumps, or a feeling of cold down the neck or spine elicited by aesthetic stimuli, such as beautiful music or an inspirational speech. Felix Schoeller and colleagues surveyed 2,937 people from Southern California, through an online platform, gathering data on their personalities, demographic backgrounds, and emotional state. The authors then exposed survey respondents to 40 emotion-evoking audiovisual clips sourced from social media, selected because commenters had reported experiencing aesthetic chills while watching and listening. ...

PULLMAN, Wash. – Bacteria can be tricked into sending death signals to stop the growth of their slimy, protective homes that lead to deadly infections, a new study demonstrates. The discovery by Washington State University researchers could someday be harnessed as an alternative to antibiotics for treating difficult infections. Reporting in the journal, Biofilm, the researchers used the messengers, which they named death extracellular vesicles (D-EVs), to reduce growth of the bacterial communities by up to 99.99% in laboratory experiments. “Adding the death extracellular vesicles to ...

Text-to-image generative AI systems like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and DALL-E can produce images based on text prompts that, had they been produced by humans, would plausibly be judged as “creative.” Some artists have argued that these programs are a threat to human creativity. If AI comes to be relied on to produce most new visual works, drawing on what has been done before, creative progress could stagnate. Eric Zhou and Dokyun “DK” Lee investigated the impact of text-to-image AI tools on human creativity, seeking to understand ...

Since its introduction, cryptocurrency governance has been one of the most controversial global financial topics. While some countries have established elaborate regulations for cryptocurrencies, many countries are still reluctant to oversee the markets, and some have outright banned them. Most studies suggest that public agencies naturally want to regulate markets and bring them into their purview. However, the significant differences in cryptocurrency regulation over the world call this view into question. Moreover, these differences cannot be explained by the development ...

While the transportation sector has witnessed a dramatic shift toward electric vehicles (EVs), the idea of using hydrogen as a clean and efficient fuel for transportation has been explored for many decades. These vehicles emit water on combustion, and since they are based on the production of existing engine vehicles, they are expected to have a lower manufacturing carbon footprint than EVs. However, storing and transporting hydrogen requires high pressures and low temperatures, which are energy-intensive processes. To address this, ammonia has ...

How to optimise running? A new mathematical model1 has shown, with great precision, the impact that physiological and psychological parameters have on running performance and provides tips for optimised training. The model grew out of research conducted by a French-British team including two CNRS researchers2, the results of which will appear on March 5th 2024 in the journal Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. This innovative model was developed thanks to extremely precise data3 from the performances of Matthew Hudson-Smith (400m), Femke Bol (400m), and ...

The water cycle looks simple in theory — but human impacts, climate change, and complicated geography mean that in practice, floods and droughts remain hard to predict. To model water on Earth, you need incredibly high-resolution data across an immense expanse, and you need modeling sophisticated enough to account for everything from snowcaps on mountains to soil moisture in valleys. Now, scientists funded by the European Space Agency have made a tremendous step forward by building the most detailed models created to date.        “Simulating ...