Toothed whales like dolphins, orcas, and sperm whales produce their diverse repertoire of sounds through a distinct structure in the nasal passages, but in a way that is strikingly similar to the way terrestrial animals use the larynx or syrinx for vocalization. In a new study, researchers who employed four different techniques to get to the bottom of how these animals make the sounds they do describe this novel sound production system and show how it enables toothed whales to use different vocal registers for echolocation and communication. To date, vocal registers have been confirmed only in humans and crows. Odontocetes (toothed whales) navigate and hunt ...

Boreal fires, which typically account for 10% of global fire carbon dioxide emissions, contributed 23% in 2021, a new study reports. “Boreal forests could be a time bomb of carbon, and the recent increases in wildfire emissions we see make me worry the clock is ticking,” said study author Steven Davis, who will participate in an embargoed briefing on this study this week. Extreme wildfires – which impact the climate through the carbon dioxide they emit – have become more common. Wildfires in tropical forests ...

In the largest ever genetic analysis of grapevine varieties, including samples from previously undocumented specimens in private collections, researchers provide new insights into how, when, and where wine and table grapevines were domesticated, which has been a longstanding question. “This work represents a major international collaborative effort, challenging to do in any circumstances but especially so given that we conducted it during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns,” said author Wei Chen, who will also participate in an embargoed briefing ...

Biodiversity is declining rapidly. Many conservation actions focus on single species. An alternative approach is to comprehensively improve ecological processes and habitats, thereby supporting entire species communities. This so-called ecosystem-based management is however rarely implemented because it is costly. There is also a lack of evidence that ecosystem-based habitat management is more effective than obvious alternatives, such as releasing animals to enhance stocks. Important lesson for fish conservation  A research team based in Berlin, in close cooperation with numerous angling clubs organized in ...

Climate, tectonics and time combine to create powerful forces that craft the face of our planet. Add the gradual sculpting of the Earth’s surface by rivers and what to us seems solid as rock is constantly changing. However, our understanding of this dynamic process has at best been patchy. Scientists today have published new research revealing a detailed and dynamic model of the Earth’s surface over the past 100 million years. Working with scientists in France, University of Sydney geoscientists have published this new model in the prestigious journal Science. For the first time, it ...

Social animals should limit individuality to conform with the behaviour of the group, a University of Bristol study has found. Scientists at Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences observed that group safety was improved when animals paid attention to the behaviours of each other. Their findings, published today in PLoS Computational Biology, reveal that simple social behavioural rules can drive conformity behaviour in groups, eroding consistent behavioural differences shown by individual animals. Lead author Dr Sean Rands said: “Personality suppression may ...

Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside bone responsible for making red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Bone marrow failure syndromes lead to an increased risk of developing dangerous infections, anemia and an increased risk of blood cancers. Research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified a possible treatment strategy for a rare bone marrow failure syndrome that is named poikiloderma with neutropenia. The work also may have implications for treating other bone marrow failure syndromes with similar underlying dysfunctions. The research is published March 3 in the journal ...

Have you ever wondered how pedestrians ‘know’ to fall into lanes when they are moving through a crowd, without the matter being discussed or even given conscious thought? A new theory developed by mathematicians at the University of Bath in the UK led by Professor Tim Rogers explains this phenomenon, and is able to predict when lanes will be curved as well as straight. The theory can even describe the tilt of a wonky lane when people are in the habit of passing on one side rather than the other (for instance, in a situation where they are often reminded to ‘pass on the right’). This mathematical ...

Within minutes, a statistical model based on a global database of public reports of ground shaking can be used to identify an earthquake as a high- or low-impact event, according to a new study published in The Seismic Record. High-impact earthquakes, as defined by the study, are those associated with at least one destroyed building, at least 50 damaged buildings, at least two deaths, or any documented financial losses. The researchers were able to provide impact results for 393 global earthquake events from 2021 within 10 minutes. Their model was developed using more than 1.5 million globally collected felt ...

The oceans help to limit global warming by soaking up carbon dioxide emissions. But scientists have discovered that intense warming in the future could lessen that ability, leading to even more severe warming. The discovery comes from a study led by The University of Texas at Austin in which researchers analyzed a climate simulation configured to a worst-case emissions scenario and found that the oceans’ ability to soak up carbon dioxide (CO2) would peak by 2100, becoming only half as efficient at absorbing the greenhouse gas by 2300.  The decline happens because of the emergence of a surface layer of low-alkalinity water ...

DRI is pleased to announce “Space Education Educator Professional Development Training,” available for 80 educators. The training will be conducted in Las Vegas and Reno by four Nevada educators who were selected to attend the NASA Space Exploration Educators Conference in Houston in February. In addition to touring NASA facilities, the conference provided hands-on training in lesson plans and activities, and these educators will use the knowledge they gained to teach Nevada teachers.     “DRI is pleased to offer NASA-approved space education training to ...

Shine a laser on a drop of blood, mucus, or wastewater, and the light reflecting back can be used to positively identify bacteria in the sample. “We can find out not just that bacteria are present, but specifically which bacteria are in the sample – E. coli, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella, anthrax, and more,” said Jennifer Dionne, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and, by courtesy, of radiology at Stanford University. “Every microbe has its own unique optical fingerprint. It’s like the genetic and proteomic code scribbled ...

Modern fabrication tools such as 3D printers can make structural materials in shapes that would have been difficult or impossible using conventional tools. Meanwhile, new generative design systems can take great advantage of this flexibility to create innovative designs for parts of a new building, car, or virtually any other device. But such “black box” automated systems often fall short of producing designs that are fully optimized for their purpose, such as providing the greatest strength in proportion to weight or minimizing the amount of ...

CHICAGO – The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) announced it has established an endowed National Academy of Medicine (NAM) fellowship to provide early-career anesthesiology scholars with the opportunity to experience and participate in committee, workshop, and roundtable activities of NAM and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Offering a robust catalogue of research grants and programs for early-career anesthesiology investigators, FAER – an American Society of Anesthesiologists’ foundation – is always exploring new avenues of support for up-and-coming researchers. The NAM Fellowship Program was recognized as one such ...

Amsterdam, March 2, 2023 – The overall responsiveness of patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) to COVID-19 vaccines has been shown to be decreased in patients with cirrhosis. A new prospective study in JHEP Reports, published by Elsevier, now shows that this lower response is observed up to six months following two-dose COVID-19 mRNA vaccination, but it does not reduce vaccine efficacy. In this prospective study, more than 350 patients with CLD were recruited in clinical centers from Austria, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and Spain. Cirrhosis, alongside age and vaccine ...

Human noroviruses are the leading cause of acute gastroenteritis worldwide, a major global health problem for which there are no specific treatments or vaccines. Understanding the first phase of infection – the process the virus follows to invade cells – is a decisive step in the development of effective preventive and therapeutic strategies. A team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine is making strides in that direction. The researchers report in the journal Nature Communications that the globally dominant human norovirus GII.4 strain invades gastrointestinal cells via an unexpected mechanism. The viral strategy involves interactions ...

A team of researchers from the University of British Columbia and BC Cancer have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model that predicts cancer patient survival more accurately and with more readily available data than previous tools. The model uses natural language processing (NLP) – a branch of AI that understands complex human language – to analyze oncologist notes following a patient’s initial consultation visit—the first step in the cancer journey after diagnosis. By identifying characteristics unique to each ...

Research Highlights: A study of people ages 70 and older found walking an additional 500 steps per day, or an additional quarter mile of walking, was associated with a 14% lower risk of heart disease, stroke or heart failure. Compared to adults who took less than 2,000 steps per day, adults who took about 4,500 steps per day had a 77% lower observed risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event. Only about 3.5% of participants who took around 4,500 steps per day had a cardiovascular event, compared to 11.5% of those who took less than 2,000 steps per day, over the 3.5-year follow-up period. Embargoed until 10:45 a.m. CT/11:45 a.m. ET, ...

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) fully supports the new “Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Obesity” issued from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) calling for earlier and more intensive treatment of obesity in children and teens. Published in the journal Pediatrics in February, this is the first comprehensive guideline on obesity in 15 years from the AAP, the largest professional association of pediatricians in the U.S.  According to AAP, more evidence ...

Most firearm owners keep at least one firearm unlocked, with some viewing gun locks as an unnecessary obstacle to quick access in an emergency, according to a Rutgers study. But when they do lock their firearms, Rutgers researchers found that firearm owners are most likely to use gun safes. In a study published in JAMA Network Open and funded by the Defense Health Agency, researchers surveyed a national sample of 2,152 English-speaking adult firearm owners, asking them what locking devices they used and why. Unlike previous studies, participants were presented with both words and images describing each ...

In a new study published in Nature Sustainability an international team of scientists from the Earth Commission, convened by Future Earth, investigates how global biophysical boundaries need to be adjusted to ensure a safe and just future for people, nature and the planet. The Earth Commission is the scientific cornerstone of the Global Commons Alliance This new framework integrates methods to reduce harm to people, increase access to resources, address tradeoffs, and challenge powerful interests whilst addressing inequality between generations and between humans and nature ...

Africa, where humans first evolved, today remains a place of remarkable diversity. Diving into that variation, a new analysis of 180 indigenous Africans from a dozen ethnically, culturally, geographically, and linguistically varied populations by an international scientific team offers new insights into human history and biology, and may inform precision medicine approaches of the future. The work clarifies human migration histories, both historical and more recent, and provides genetic evidence of adaptation to local environments, ...

More than two million citizens across 30 European countries have been involved in thousands of projects and initiatives as part of efforts to transition to renewable energy, according to an analysis published in Scientific Reports. With investments ranging between 6.2 and 11.3 billion Euros, these findings highlight the important role of collective action in the decarbonisation of Europe. The energy system in Europe is undergoing a significant transition towards renewables and decarbonisation. However, the contribution ...

About The Study: The findings of this study suggest that despite calls for the expansion of outpatient surgery to mitigate the growing backlog of surgical cases in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, uptake of this practice occurred in only a small subset of operations. Further studies should explore potential barriers to the uptake of this approach, particularly for procedures that have been shown to be safe when performed in an outpatient setting.  Authors: Cornelius A. Thiels, D.O., M.B.A., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, is the corresponding author To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/   (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.1198) Editor’s ...

About The Study: The results of this study of more than 20,000 men with low-risk prostate cancer suggest that active surveillance rates are rising nationally but are still suboptimal, and wide variation persists across practices and practitioners. Continued progress on this critical quality indicator is essential to minimize overtreatment of low-risk prostate cancer and by extension to improve the benefit-to-harm ratio of national prostate cancer early detection efforts.  Authors: Matthew R. Cooperberg, M.D., M.P.H., of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center in San Francisco, is the corresponding ...