Buy your ticket on a Tuesday. Search in your browser’s incognito mode. Use a VPN to pretend you live in Suriname. “There are so many hacks out there for finding cheaper airline tickets,” says Olivia Natan, an assistant professor of marketing at the Haas School of Business. “But our data shows many of these beliefs are wrong.” With four colleagues—Ali Hortaçsu and Timothy Schwieg from the University of Chicago, Kevin Williams from Yale, and Hayden Parsley from the University of Texas at Austin—Natan looked deeply into the structure and processes behind how ...

A new paper in the journal Function, published by Oxford Univetrsity Press, finds that a widely prescribed drug for treating hypertension, amlodipine, is not dangerous for patients, despite recent concerns from researchers and clinicians that taking amlodipine may have risks.  Approximately 700,000 Americans die from hypertension each year and researchers believe some 116 million Americans (and one in five adults worldwide) have the disease, which is responsible for 7.6 million deaths per year. If untreated, hypertension significantly increases ...

Physical activity has positive effects on mental health and yet, activity rates are declining. This is particularly worrying because the mental well-being of teenagers continues to deteriorate. In the US, one in six school children is diagnosed with some type of mental disorder. Riding bikes is a promising approach to introduce school-aged children to physical activity. Now, researchers in the US have investigated how adolescents’ psychosocial well-being changed after participating in a school-based cycling program. “Participation in a school cycling education program during the Covid-19 pandemic was associated with improved psychosocial well-being amongst middle schoolers in the ...

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in daily products such as paints, adhesives, furniture, cosmetics, and deodorants make our lives easier. However, constant exposure can cause serious health problems such as respiratory illness, headaches, dermatitis, and cancer. Natural ventilation is the most effective way to reduce VOCs in indoor air, but recently, air purifiers have become a common method to maintain indoor air quality due to the frequent extreme outdoor condition (e.g. high concentration of fine dust, heat waves, and extreme cold). Generally, air purifiers remove ...

Osaka, Japan – As you watch Morpho butterflies wobble in flight, shimmering in vivid blue color, you’re witnessing an uncommon form of structural color that researchers are only beginning to use in lighting technologies such as optical diffusers. Furthermore, imparting a self-cleaning capability to such diffusers would minimize soiling and staining and maximize practical utility. Now, in a study recently published in Advanced Optical Materials, researchers at Osaka University have developed a water-repelling ...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2023) – Patients and oncologists are supportive of complementary therapies, such as nutrition counseling, exercise, massage, and mediation, for cancer treatment, according to a new survey conducted on behalf of the Healing Works Foundation. However, a disconnect exists between this growing interest and oncologists’ perceptions of patient support. One-third of oncologists said their patients lack interest in these therapies, but only 13% of cancer patients cite lack of interest when asked ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Farmers are used to growing crops and producing other goods, but a new study led by Penn State researchers suggests the social media platform TikTok may help them cultivate something new: empathy around the issue of climate change. The researchers published their work in the Journal of Rural Studies. The team, who analyzed responses to climate change TikToks posted by farmers, found that many people responded to the videos with warmth and compassion, signaling emotional empathy. However, the researchers also found that the videos were not as successful at triggering cognitive empathy ...

EX-Fusion Inc. (CEO: Kazuki Matsuo, hereinafter referred to as "EX-Fusion") has established a Collaborative Research Cluster focused on advancing liquid metal devices (Terminology 1) for the realization of commercial laser fusion reactors (Figure1, Terminology 2) in collaboration with Tokyo Institute of Technology (President: Kazuya Masu, hereinafter referred to as "Tokyo Tech"). The signing ceremony to formalize this partnership was held on October 11, marking the official commencement of their joint efforts. The ‘EX-Fusion Liquid Metal Collaborative Research Cluster’ has been established with the support of the Tokyo Tech's Open Innovation Platform. ...

The massive 2015 flooding of the Sagavanirktok River in northern Alaska had immediate impacts, including closure of the Dalton Highway for several days, but it also contributed to longer-term ground subsidence in the permafrost-rich region. That’s the finding by assistant professor Simon Zwieback at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute in a study published Sept. 27 by the journal Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. Zwieback is the paper’s lead author. UAF scientists Mikhail Kanevskiy, Donald Walker, Vladimir ...

A new study, jointly conducted by the University of Adelaide and University of Essex, has found that renting, rather than owning, a private-sector home leads to faster biological ageing. The negative health impacts of renting were shown to be greater than those of experiencing unemployment or being a former smoker. “Our findings demonstrate that housing circumstances have a significant impact on biological ageing, even more so than other important social determinants, such as unemployment, for example, and therefore health impacts should be an important consideration shaping housing policies,” ...

Scientists at Stanford University School of Medicine and Sanford Burnham Prebys have demonstrated a new way to accelerate recovery from peripheral nerve injury by targeting an enzyme that was thought to be responsible for muscle wasting with aging.   Damage to the peripheral nervous system (the nerves that form the communications network between the brain, spinal cord and body) is debilitating; the effectiveness of physiotherapy as treatment is limited. Whether from trauma, disease or aging, nerve function declines and/or is lost, resulting in diminished strength and even paralysis.   In ...

Australian researchers have designed an algorithm that can intercept a man-in-the-middle (MitM) cyberattack on an unmanned military robot and shut it down in seconds. In an experiment using deep learning neural networks to simulate the behaviour of the human brain, artificial intelligence experts from Charles Sturt University and the University of South Australia (UniSA) trained the robot’s operating system to learn the signature of a MitM eavesdropping cyberattack. This is where attackers ...

Researchers at Monash University have identified a new way of mapping ‘phosphenes’ – the visual perception of the bright flashes we see when no light is entering the eye – to improve the outcome of surgery for patients receiving a cortical visual prosthesis (‘bionic eye’). Cortical visual prostheses are devices implanted onto the brain with the aim of restoring  sight by directly stimulating the area responsible for vision, the visual cortex, bypassing damage to the retina of ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A civics test policy mandated in 18 states that focuses on rote memorization and testing of political knowledge did not improve youth voter turnout as intended, according to Penn State College of Education researchers. As an alternative, they recommend a thorough integration of practical information on the voter registration process within social studies curricula. “Providing students opportunities to really engage with what leadership means, having discussions and debates with leaders and politicians, mock elections… ...

A small molecule previously shown to enhance strength in injured or old laboratory mice does so by restoring lost connections between nerves and muscle fibers, Stanford Medicine researchers have found. The molecule blocks the activity of an aging-associated enzyme, or gerozyme, called 15-PGDH that naturally increases in muscles as they age. The study showed that levels of the gerozyme increase in muscles after nerve damage and that it is prevalent in muscle fibers of people with neuromuscular diseases. The research is the first to show that damaged motor neurons — nerves connecting the spinal cord to muscles — can be induced to regenerate ...

A prestigious National Institute on Aging training grant to develop a future workforce of research scientists in the field of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias was awarded to researchers at the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona Health Sciences. Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD, Regents Professor and director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science, is principal investigator on Translational Research in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias, or TRADD, a five-year, ...

Researchers led by Professor Steve Watson and Dr Eleyna Martin from the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Birmingham have delivered a breakthrough for thrombosis researchers, by producing the first binding molecules (ligands) of defined composition to make platelets clump together in a predictable way.  The research team developed antibody fragments called nanobodies and crosslinked these to make ligands to four platelet receptors (GPVI, CLEC-2, FcɣRIIA and PEAR1).  The nanobodies can be used to develop validated clinical assays for testing patients with platelet disorders such as bleeding or thrombosis, and as research ...

HOUSTON, October 11, 2023 – The American Heart Association’s Paul “Bear” Bryant Awards has named football legend Archie Manning and his wife, “First Lady of Football” Olivia, as recipients of the 2024 Paul “Bear” Bryant Heart of a Champion Award, presented by Houston-based St. Luke’s Health. The Heart of a Champion Award recognizes individuals whose notable contributions and positive influence have helped define the ways we enjoy, watch and engage in sports, and whose life exemplifies characteristics for which Coach Bryant was known, ...

A saline injection treatment widely used for calcific tendinopathy - a common, painful condition caused by a build-up of calcium in the rotator cuff tendons of the shoulder - provides no meaningful benefit over placebo, concludes a trial published by The BMJ today. The results show that benefits from ultrasound guided lavage (where saline is injected into the calcium deposits to help dissolve them) along with a steroid injection or from a steroid injection alone are no better than from sham (placebo) treatment. The researchers say the findings question the use of ultrasound guided lavage for this condition ...

A team of scientists have presented a five-step approach to through which governments can plan a transition away from high levels of industrial meat production and consumption that is fair and just for affected stakeholders.  As part of a policy forum article published in the CABI One Health journal researchers – led by Cleo Verkuijl of the Stockholm Environment Institute – argue that a just transition in animal agriculture is necessary for more effective and equitable One Health outcomes. The scientists highlight that – motivated by both environmental and public health concerns – policymakers in several countries are adopting regulatory and financial measures ...

The majority of research and public discourse on US maternal mortality focuses on pregnancy-related maternal deaths—deaths caused or accelerated by a pregnancy—rather than the broader category of pregnancy-associated maternal deaths, which are deaths from any cause during pregnancy or up to one year postpartum, including those that are pregnancy-related. As US maternal mortality continues to worsen at an alarming and inequitable rate, clinical and public health communities should expand their research to include pregnancy-associated maternal deaths to better identify the factors that contribute to this worsening epidemic, according ...

(Thursday, 12 October 2023, Berlin, Germany) New research reveals that acne significantly influences how individuals are perceived in social settings. Faces with acne are seen as less attractive, trustworthy, confident, successful, dominant and happy, with adult female acne having the strongest negative effect. 1 This ground-breaking research, presented today at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2023, assessed the effect of different anatomical variants of acne on natural gaze patterns and social perception.1 The researchers tracked the eye movements of 245 participants (mean age: 31.63 years; SD: ...

(Thursday, 12 October 2023, Berlin, Germany) Skin cancer detection using artificial intelligence (AI) software has rapidly improved, new research has shown, with the latest software reaching a 100% detection rate for melanoma.1 The study, presented today at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress 2023, assessed 22,356 patients with suspected skin cancers over a 2.5-year period.1 As well as a 100% (59/59 cases identified) sensitivity for detecting melanoma - the most serious form of skin cancer2 - the new ...

Human milk is known to provide numerous health benefits to infants, including lower risks of infection, childhood obesity, allergies and autoimmune diseases, which is why the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life.  Yet some 60% of new parents struggle to meet their breast-feeding goals, and an inadequate milk supply is the most frequent reason given for earlier-than-desired weaning.  A team of breast cancer-breast ...

As California works to meet climate and air quality goals, a key to the transition will come from biomass, which is renewable organic material from plants and animals. New research from the University of California, Davis, published in the journal Global Change Biology Bioenergy, examines the good and bad uses of biomass and the best pathways to meet California’s goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 85% of 1990 levels by 2045. “California is fortunate in having a large biomass resource,” said lead author Peter Freer-Smith, an adjunct professor in the Department of Plant Sciences. “Finding ...