At the end of the last global ice age, the deep-frozen Earth reached a built-in limit of climate change and thawed into a slushy planet. Results from a Virginia Tech-led study provide the first direct geochemical evidence of the slushy planet — otherwise known as the “plumeworld ocean” era — when sky-high carbon dioxide levels forced the frozen Earth into a massive, rapid melting period. “Our results have important implications for understanding how Earth's climate and ocean chemistry changed after the extreme conditions of the last global ...

International survey of more than 1600 biomedical researchers on the perceived causes of irreproducibility of research results   ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002870 Article Title: Biomedical researchers’ perspectives on the reproducibility of research Author Countries: Canada, Australia, United States Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

Integrating data from different experimental approaches into one model is challenging – this study presents a community-based, full-scale in silico model of the rat hippocampal CA1 region that integrates diverse experimental data from synapse to network ##### In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology:   http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002861 Article Title: Community-based reconstruction ...

SAN ANTONIO — November 5, 2024 — Hydrologists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) will begin a 12-month targeted water-sampling campaign of the Las Moras Springs system near Brackettville, Texas. The project will analyze and characterize the system of springs and their relationship to the Pinto Creek watershed to improve water management and conservation efforts. “Las Moras, like many other Texas spring systems, are at-risk and prone to going dry. It is important to clear up uncertainties about their source and relationship with ...

Considered one of the fastest-growing agricultural frontiers in Brazil, and the area with the highest greenhouse gas emissions in the Cerrado, Brazil’s savanna-type biome, the region known as MATOPIBA risks facing water shortages in the years ahead. Water overuse may mean that between 30% and 40% of demand for crop irrigation cannot be met in the period 2025-40. MATOPIBA is a portmanteau of the names of four states – Maranhão, Tocantins, Piauí, and Bahia (all but Tocantins located in Brazil’s Northeast ...

Thanks to a 'natural experiment' involving 30,000 people, researchers at Radboud university medical center were able to determine very precisely what an extra year of education does to the brain in the long term. To their surprise, they found no effect on brain structure and no protective benefit of additional education against brain aging. It is well-known that education has many positive effects. People who spend more time in school are generally healthier, smarter, and have better jobs and higher incomes than those with less education. However, whether prolonged education actually causes changes in brain structure over the long term ...

Targeting and customizing blood vessels in tumors to increase T cell infiltration and maintain their function may represent the next breakthrough in cancer therapy. The European Research Council has recognized this by awarding a prestigious Synergy Grant to the project VASC-IMMUNE, where three researchers, each possessing complementary expertise in this research topic, will synergize to advance the field. Professors Anna Dimberg and Magnus Essand are both from the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University and Professor Thomas Tüting is from the Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Magdeburg. The successful implementation ...

Mosquitoes are much more blunt. Mating occurs for a few seconds in midair. And all it takes to woo a male is the sound of a female’s wingbeats. Imagine researchers’ surprise when a single change completely killed the mosquitoes’ libidos.   Now a study out of UC Santa Barbara reveals that this is really all there is to it. Researchers in Professor Craig Montell’s lab created deaf mosquitoes and found that the males had absolutely no interest in mating. “You could leave them together with the females ...

INDIANAPOLIS – A commentary, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, calls for traumatic brain injury to be recognized as a chronic condition as are diabetes, asthma, depression and heart failure. To provide comprehensive care for traumatic brain injury throughout individuals’ lifespans, the authors propose that coordinated care models they and others have developed, tested and applied to various populations -- including older adults, individuals living with depression and post-intensive care unit survivors -- be adapted to improve communication and integration between brain injury specialists -- including ...

SAN ANTONIO — November 5, 2024 —Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. James Walker has received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Hypervelocity Impact Society. This honor recognizes individuals who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the field of hypervelocity science. Hypervelocity impact is typically viewed as impacts at speeds above 2 kilometers per second (4,475 miles per hour); for some materials, however, lower speed impacts display hypervelocity impact effects. The ...

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and obesity are at a higher risk of giving birth to smaller babies in terms of birth weight, length, and head circumference, according to a recent study conducted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). One in eight women is affected by the hormone disorder PCOS. Common characteristics are elevated levels of male sex hormones, infrequent or irregular menstrual periods, and the formation of small cysts on the ovaries. In the study, 390 children born to women ...

Researchers are developing new ideas about the best ways to make lab-grown diamonds while minimizing other forms of carbon, such as soot. These diamonds aren’t destined for rings and necklaces, though. These are the kinds that are needed for the computers, optics and sensors of the future.  One new study, conducted by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Princeton University, investigated ways to reliably grow diamond at lower temperatures than those currently used. Diamond has properties ...

The American Pediatric Society (APS) is pleased to announce Maria E. Trent, MD, MPH, as the 2025 David G. Nichols Health Equity Award recipient.  The David G. Nichols Health Equity Award, administered by the APS and endowed by the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Foundation, was created to recognize demonstrated excellence in advancing child and adolescent health, well-being, and equity through quality improvement, advocacy, practice, or research. This award recognizes Dr. Trent’s outstanding contributions to advancing child and adolescent health, well-being, and equity and the far-reaching impact of her work. The award will be presented to Dr. Trent ...

A study published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics marks a significant milestone in our understanding of the formation and dynamical evolution of multiple stellar populations in globular clusters (spherical and very compact stellar agglomerates typically populated by 1–2 million stars). This pioneering study, conducted by a group of researchers from the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), the University of Bologna, and Indiana University, is the first to perform a 3D kinematic analysis of multiple stellar populations for a representative sample of 16 globular clusters in our Galaxy. It provides ...

Hydrogen gas is a promising energy source with several advantages - it is lightweight, storable, energy-dense, and environmentally friendly compared to fossil fuels, producing no pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions. As such, it has extensive applications across different fields, including transportation, architecture, power generation, and industries. However, hydrogen is highly flammable, and therefore its safe and widespread use requires reliable methods for detecting leaks and ensuring its purity. The need for reliable detection methods has necessitated the development of trace-gas sensing techniques. While several methods have been developed for hydrogen sensing, ...

Even though psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are quite common, their diagnosis and treatment are challenging. While doctors today have a good idea of the clinical symptoms caused by these disorders, our overall understanding of their biological characteristics and underlying physiological causes remain obscure. Experts agree that problems with synapses—the connections that allow communication between neurons—might be a defining feature ...

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and at the University of Magdeburg in Germany have developed a novel type of nanomechanical resonator that combines two important features: high mechanical quality and piezoelectricity. This development could open doors to new possibilities in quantum sensing technologies. Mechanical resonators have been used for centuries for a multitude of applications. A key aspect of these devices is their ability to vibrate at specific frequencies. A well-known example is the tuning fork. When struck, the tuning fork oscillates at its resonance frequency, producing a sound wave within our hearing range. ...

Iliana Ivanova, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “Innovation thrives on collaboration, especially when tackling the pressing scientific challenges of our time. The ERC Synergy Grants work with Horizon Europe funding to connect brilliant minds across borders and disciplines, enabling them to push the frontiers of knowledge together. I am particularly delighted to see researchers from countries with historically fewer ERC grants among the awardees, reflecting our mission to ...

The CODICUM project brings together experts in history, literature, and bio-codicology from four Nordic universities to explore medieval knowledge networks. This groundbreaking study combines traditional humanities approaches with cutting-edge biomolecular analysis of fragments from medieval books, written on animal skin.   How book culture shaped medieval Europe   The project will investigate approximately 50,000 medieval Latin book fragments preserved in Nordic collections—one of Europe’s largest archives of medieval book culture.    "These fragments represent an extraordinary treasure trove that can transform our understanding ...

The origins of writing in Mesopotamia lie in the images imprinted by ancient cylinder seals on clay tablets and other artifacts. A research group from the University of Bologna has identified a series of correlations between the designs engraved on these cylinders, dating back around six thousand years, and some of the signs in the proto-cuneiform script that emerged in the city of Uruk, located in what is now southern Iraq, around 3000 BCE. The study—published in Antiquity—opens new perspectives on ...

Science can be difficult to explain to the public. In fact, any subfield of science can be difficult to explain to another scientist who studies in a different area. Explaining a theoretical science concept to high school students requires a new way of thinking altogether. This is precisely what researchers at the University of California San Diego did when they orchestrated a dance with high school students at Orange Glen High School in Escondido as a way to explain topological insulators. The experiment, led by former graduate student Matthew Du and UC San Diego Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Joel Yuen-Zhou, was published in Science Advances. “I ...

Tucson, Arizona, 5 November 2024 – Brain Medicine has launched an ambitious Festschrift series with the first of more than ten planned articles celebrating Dr. Seymour Reichlin's centennial year and his transformative impact on neuroendocrinology. The opening editorial, chronicling his revolutionary insights into brain-hormone interactions, inaugurates what promises to be one of the most comprehensive tributes in the field's history. “One could be both a physician caring for patients and a scientific investigator,” reflects Dr. Reichlin, whose work spanning nearly 80 years has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of how ...

In the 1960s, Japanese books became immensely popular in South Korea. Interestingly, Korean newspapers often wrote about this trend as if mainly women were interested in learning Japanese. Osaka Metropolitan University Associate Professor Jinsuk Yang examined South Korean newspaper articles and other historical documents from the 1960s and 1970s to understand why Japanese language learning was often described as something women did, even though men were also learning Japanese. Additionally, Professor Yang studied how women’s ability to speak Japanese affected ...

As buildings age, the demand for effective monitoring of their structural integrity has grown significantly. A breakthrough in nano-optical sensor technology now enables precise, real-time measurement of structural deformation and stability. This innovation promises to reshape the field of structural diagnostics, offering a cost-effective, time-efficient solution that reduces the need for specialized expertise traditionally required in this area. Led by Dr. Jae Sung Yoon, Principal Researcher at the Nano-lithography & Manufacturing Research Center within the Nano-convergence ...

Bio-based materials may pose a greater health risk to some of the planet’s most important species than the conventional plastics they are designed to replace, a new study has shown. Such materials are increasingly being advocated as environmentally friendly alternatives to plastics, and used in textiles and products including clothing, wet wipes and period products. However, microfibres of the materials are emitted into the environment through the laundry cycle, the application of sewage sludge as fertilisers, or the simple wear and tear of textile products. Despite increasing quantities of bio-based products being produced and sold all over the world, there has been ...