Why would someone decide to give their money to help a stranger bring a creative project to life? Recent research has found that backers of crowdfunding projects participate, in part, because of a sense of indirect success and the feeling that they are contributing to something bigger. Crowdfunding — raising money for a new venture by collecting small amounts from many people — is most often done online, and messaging on the most popular sites reinforces the perception of a more democratic market. But the reality is a bit ...

CORVALLIS, Ore. – An international coalition of climate scientists says in a paper published today that the Earth’s vital signs have worsened beyond anything humans have yet seen, to the point that life on the planet is imperiled. William Ripple, a distinguished professor in the Oregon State University College of Forestry, and former OSU postdoctoral researcher Christopher Wolf are the lead authors of the report, and 10 other U.S. and global scientists are co-authors. “Without actions ...

In a year marked by wildfire, catastrophic flooding, and deadly weather events, an international team of scientists has updated its influential 2019 World Scientists Warning of a Climate Emergency report, which has been cosigned by over 15,000 scientists representing 163 countries. According to the team, “life on planet Earth is under siege” and “we are now in uncharted territory.”                 Writing in the journal BioScience, William Ripple, a distinguished ...

Researchers from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and University Health Network (UHN) have demonstrated that by analyzing patients’ blood samples, they are able to detect cancer earlier in individuals with Li-Fraumeni syndrome, an inherited condition with an almost 100 percent life-time risk of developing cancer. The research, led by Drs. Trevor Pugh and Raymond Kim at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, UHN and OICR and Dr. David Malkin at SickKids, has been published in Cancer Discovery. The study, which was funded primarily ...

Flu season is upon us, and existing vaccines are only ~40-60% effective at reducing the risk of serious illness. While any level of protection against influenza viruses is better than none, there remains a lot of room for improvement of future vaccines. The Precision Vaccines Program (PVP) at Boston Children’s Hospital was awarded a Vaccine Adjuvant Development Program contract (75N93023C00040) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) that can extend up to 5 years and $9 million, ...

It is estimated that over 80% of engineering failures are due to material fatigue, so the fight against metal fatigue failures continues, as this is a key parameter for lightweight structures for all mechanical systems, such as aircraft, automobile and energy-production systems. Recently, joint research by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University achieved a breakthrough by creating an aluminium alloy with unprecedented fatigue resistance using advanced 3D printing techniques. ...

Mount Sinai researchers have discovered a link between certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and an increased risk for thyroid cancer, according to a study published in eBioMedicine today. PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are a large, complex group of synthetic chemicals that can migrate into the soil, water, and air. Due to their strong carbon-fluorine bond, these chemicals do not degrade easily in the environment. Forever chemicals been used in consumer products around the world since the 1940s, including nonstick cookware, water-repellent clothing, stain-resistant fabrics, and other products that resist grease, water, and oil. Multiple national and international ...

Hamilton, Canada: The extraordinary rise in cryptocurrency prices over the previous decade has prompted huge investments in the cryptocurrency sector. Undeniably, digital currencies have won the faith of the world's top investors, ranging from large corporations and tech millionaires to criminals, money launderers, and sanction busters. Thanks to blockchain and other technological breakthroughs, digital currencies now constitute an advanced element of the world’s modern financial ...

Washington, October 24, 2023—Participating in policy debate programs in middle and high school is associated with improvements in English language arts (ELA) achievement and increases in the likelihood that students graduate from high school and enroll in postsecondary education, according to new research. The study was published today in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association. It was conducted by Beth Schueler from the University of Virginia and Katherine Larned from Harvard University. Video: Study co-author Beth Schueler discusses ...

Fire buffers composed of irrigated banana trees could slow and calm wildfires and generate profit for residents of fire-prone regions, according to a study. Climate change is increasing wildfire risk. Wildfires in the Western United States doubled in frequency between 1984 and 2015. At the same time, more people are living in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) than ever before, an area that often has high or extreme fire risk. Barath Raghavan and colleagues investigate the potential of banana trees to act as a multifunctional fire buffer in the WUI. Banana trees have a high water content, ideal for stopping fire. When irrigated by recycled water, they can produce ...

Scientists at The University of Toledo have proven that engineered bacteria can lower blood pressure, a finding that opens new doors in the pursuit of harnessing our body’s own microbiome to treat hypertension. The study, published this month in the peer-reviewed journal Pharmacological Research, represents a paradigm shift, said Dr. Bina Joe, a hypertension researcher at UToledo and the paper’s senior author. “The question we always ask is, can we exploit microbiota to help our health, for which optimal blood pressure is a cardinal sign. Until now, we have simply said ...

Meltwater that runs along the east coast of Greenland, hardly enters the open ocean before reaching the western side of the island.  That is one of the conclusions NIOZ PhD-candidate Elodie Duyck draws in the thesis she is defending today at Utrecht University. In the changing climate, fresh water from Greenland and the Arctic could disrupt the circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. “Understanding where, and how much, of that fresh and light water enters the Atlantic Ocean is critical to predict how the circulation may evolve under climate change”, Duyck ...

Older adults who live in disadvantaged communities are less likely to attend cardiac rehabilitation after common heart procedures, a Michigan Medicine-led study finds. The study aimed to calculate how many Medicare beneficiaries attended cardiac rehabilitation, a medically supervised program exercise and education program, after coronary revascularization between mid-2016 and 2018. Patient communities were categorized using the Distressed Community Index, which analyzes economic well-being and social determinants of health, such as educational disparities and poverty rate, of United States zip codes. Only ...

If you’ve ever belly-flopped into a pool, then you know: water can be surprisingly hard if you hit it at the wrong angle. But many species of kingfishers dive headfirst into water to catch their fishy prey. In a new scientific study in the journal Communications Biology, researchers compared the DNA of 30 different kingfisher species to zero in on the genes that might help explain the birds’ diet and ability to dive without sustaining brain damage. The type of diving that kingfishers do-- what researchers call “plunge-diving”-- is an aeronautic feat. “It’s a high-speed dive from air to water, and it’s done by very few bird species,” says ...

Two different regions of the brain are critical to integrating semantic information while reading, which could shed more light on why people with aphasia have difficulty with semantics, according to new research from UTHealth Houston. The study, led by first author Elliot Murphy, PhD, postdoctoral research fellow in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, and senior author Nitin Tandon, MD, professor and chair ad interim of the department in the medical school, was published today in Nature Communications. Language depends largely on the integration of vocabulary across multiple words ...

It's viable to produce low-cost, lightweight solar panels that can generate energy in space, according to new research from the Universities of Surrey and Swansea.  The first study of its kind followed a satellite over six years, observing how the panels generated power and weathered solar radiation over 30,000 orbits.  The findings could pave the way for commercially viable solar farms in space. Professor Craig Underwood, Emeritus Professor of Spacecraft Engineering at the Surrey Space Centre at the University of Surrey, said:  “We are very pleased that a mission designed to last one year is still working after six. These detailed data ...

Bacterial diversity in the gut plays an important role in human health. The crucial question, however, is where are the sources of this diversity? It is known that an important part of the maternal microbiome is transferred to the baby at birth, and the same happens during the breastfeeding period via breast milk. Further sources were yet to be discovered. However, a team led by Wisnu Adi Wicaksono and Gabriele Berg from the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) has now succeeded in proving that plant microorganisms from fruit and vegetables contribute to the human microbiome. They report this in a study published in ...

Patients with a dysfunctional aortic heart valve who received a new, prosthetic valve through a minimally invasive procedure had similar outcomes at five years as those who underwent open-heart surgery, a new study shows. The international multicenter study, with key contributions by the Cedars-Sinai heart team and published in The New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture to the ongoing dialogue comparing the minimally invasive heart procedure—called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR—to open-heart surgery. “Our data at five years validate that TAVR is a good alternative to open-heart surgery in younger patients with aortic ...

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Using anonymized smartphone data from nearly 10,000 police officers in 21 large U.S. cities, research from Indiana University finds officers on patrol spend more time in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods. “Research on policing has focused on documented actions such as stops and arrests – less is known about patrols and presence,” said Kate Christensen, assistant professor of marketing at the IU Kelley School of Business. “Police have discretion in deciding where law enforcement is provided within America’s cities,” she said. “Where police officers are located matters, because it affects ...

A novel device developed by researchers from Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and Chiba University in a new study utilizes ions and an electric field to effectively capture infectious droplets and aerosols, while letting light and sound pass through to allow communication. The innovation is significant in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, since it shows promise in preventing airborne infection while facilitating communication. Airborne infections, such as H1N1 influenza, SARS, and COVID-19, are spread by aerosols ...

Remember when your parents used to say, “Eat your greens, they are good for you”? Well, they were really onto something. Several studies have shown that higher intakes of cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, one of the most widely consumed vegetables in the United States, are associated with reduced risks of diseases such as diabetes and cancer, thanks to their organosulfur compounds, such as glucosinolates and isothiocyanates that exhibit a broad spectrum of bioactivities including antioxidant activity. However, few studies have focused on ...

A lack of clarity around sustainability reporting is allowing ASX-listed companies to retrospectively alter figures, ensuring CEO bonus pay tied to these metrics is realised, new research suggests.  Sustainability reports serve as critical tools for investors, regulators and other stakeholders to gauge a company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. They highlight issues such as environmental pollution and worker safety that might otherwise be overlooked. Close to 90% of ASX top 200 companies provide detailed ESG information. Many of these ...

Layered lithium cobalt oxide, a key component of lithium-ion batteries, has been synthesized at temperatures as low as 300°C and durations as short as 30 minutes. Lithium ion batteries (LIB) are the most commonly used type of battery in consumer electronics and electric vehicles. Lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2) is the compound used for the cathode in LIB for handheld electronics. Traditionally, the synthesis of this compound requires temperatures over 800°C and takes 10 to 20 hours to complete. A team of researchers at Hokkaido University and Kobe University, led by Professor Masaki Matsui at Hokkaido University’s Faculty of Science, have developed a new method to ...

Harnessing new advances in genomic surveillance technology could help detect the rise of deadly ‘superbugs’ and slow their evolution and spread, improving global health outcomes, a new Australian study suggests. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to the medicines and chemicals we use to kill them. These ‘superbugs’ make infections harder to treat and increase the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. Without significant intervention, global annual deaths involving antimicrobial resistance are estimated ...

AURORA, Colorado (October 23, 2023) - The burning of sugarcane and rice husks may be releasing a toxicant causing a mysterious kidney disease in agricultural workers, according to a paper out today in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. An ongoing epidemic of chronic kidney disease has been observed among manual laborers in hot agricultural communities throughout the world, including along the Pacific coast of Central America, India and Sri Lanka. While heat stress and climate change have contributed to this epidemic, researchers have identified tiny silica particles released from sugarcane ash that can be inhaled or ingested through contaminated drinking water that cause ...