New study shows grasses are taking an evolutionary shortcut by continually borrowing genes from their neighbours to grow bigger, stronger and taller The research, led by the University of Sheffield, is the first to show how frequently grasses exchange genes in the wild The naturally occurring process observed in grasses, including in some of the crops we eat, may mirror methods used to make genetically modified crops Understanding the rate is important to know the potential impact it can have on a plant’s ...

Arcadia has made a major new philanthropic donation to the University of Cambridge, taking its total support for the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme to over $138 million. The Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme supports the large-scale restoration of Europe’s most treasured but endangered ecosystems, enriching biodiversity while revitalising local economies.  The work recognises humanity’s dependence on healthy, functioning ecosystems - for example in preventing urban flooding, and reducing the impacts ...

(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A small segment of the U.S. population considers violence, including lethal violence, to be usually or always justified to advance political objectives. This is according to newly published research from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program (VPRP). The study provides a complex portrait of the attitudes and concerns about the state of democracy in the U.S. It also highlights the underlying beliefs that may inform the potential for violence. The study was published Sept. 29, 2023, in Injury Epidemiology. A preprint, or version that had not yet been peer reviewed, was shared online ...

SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 6, 2023 – Research led by Mays Cancer Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) has discovered that altering certain molecular interactions could yield new strategies for treating prostate cancer and related diseases. The study focuses on androgen receptors (AR), which are protein molecules that help direct the development of male sexual characteristics, essentially by turning genes on or off as necessary. The researchers determined that an optimum level of ...

New research being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Hamburg, Germany (2-6 Oct) shows that low muscle mass is associated with a two-fold risk of death from cardiovascular disease in individuals with diabetes. This association is independent of frailty, glycaemic control and the microvascular complications retinopathy (damage to the blood vessels of the retina) and nephropathy (kidney disease), the analysis of data on US adults found. Sarcopenia – age-related loss of muscle mass and strength – was known to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality ...

The latest data on the metabolic problems faced by trans people are presented at a session at this year’s Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (Hamburg 2-6 October). While evidence on increased or decreased rates of diabetes among trans men and women remains unclear, the evidence that they face higher rates of cardiovascular disease continues to mount. The talk is by Dr Dorte Glintborg, Department of Endocrinology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark. “While increased rates of cardiovascular disease might normally go hand-in-hand with increased rates of diabetes, for trans men (assigned female at birth AFAB), use of testosterone ...

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, a disorder of progressively worsening memory and other thinking abilities. It rose up in the ranks of leading causes of death over the past several decades. It can also limit the duration of a working career, create uncertainty in the financial planning for retirement and rob patients of enjoyment and happiness in the final years. An effective treatment against this disease could give back to the patient the decision when to retire and improve quality of life in advanced age.   Now, scientists at the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University are on the trail ...

On October 2, 2023, Center for BrainHealth, part of The University of Texas at Dallas, held its annual Friends of BrainHealth Scientist Selection Luncheon at the Dallas Country Club. This year was a special one, with Ramona Jones, founding BrainHealth Advisory Board member, kicking off a five-year sponsorship of the luncheon. Her five children made this sponsorship gift in her honor and surprised her with the naming for her 95th birthday in August 2023. The Friends of BrainHealth donor circle is dedicated to supporting ...

Rheumatoid arthritis appears three times more often in women Women need to know whether they can stop taking drugs while pregnant  Genetic markers could predict who will improve and who will worsen during pregnancy  When women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) plan to become pregnant, many anguish over whether to stop their medications, risking a flareup in their disease, or continue with medication and risk possible harm to the baby. About 50% to 75% will see their disease naturally improve during pregnancy for not-yet-known reasons, while others may see a worsening of their RA. But they have had no way of knowing which would happen to them. Now, Northwestern Medicine scientists ...

Settling a half century of debate, researchers have discovered that tiny linear defects can propagate through a material faster than sound waves do.  These linear defects, or dislocations, are what give metals their strength and workability, but they can also make materials fail catastrophically ­– which is what happens every time you pop the pull tab on a can of soda.  The fact that they can travel so fast gives scientists a new appreciation of the unusual types of damage they might do to a broad range of materials in extreme conditions ­­­­– from rock ripped apart ...

A new attempt to predict earthquakes with the aid of artificial intelligence has raised hopes that the technology could one day be used to limit earthquakes’ impact on lives and economies. Developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin, the AI algorithm correctly predicted 70% of earthquakes a week before they happened during a seven-month trial in China. The AI was trained to detect statistical bumps in real-time seismic data that researchers had paired with previous earthquakes. The outcome was a weekly forecast in which the AI successfully predicted 14 earthquakes within about 200 miles of where it estimated they would happen and at almost exactly the ...

MSU has a satellite uplink/LTN TV studio and Comrex line for radio interviews upon request. Images Highlights: New Michigan State University research published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that plants such as oak and poplar trees will emit more of a compound called isoprene as global temperatures climb. Isoprene from plants represents the highest flux of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere behind methane. Although isoprene isn’t inherently bad — it actually helps plants better tolerate insect pests and high temperatures — it can worsen air pollution by reacting ...

The purpose of the award is to create the Access for All in ALS (ALL ALS) Consortium to conduct clinical research that will include ALS patients nationwide, generating a longitudinal biorepository linked to detailed clinical information that will be made available to research scientists throughout the world using a web-based portal. As part of this new consortium Barrow will manage half of 34 clinical sites in the study which spans the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The consortium will be led by researchers at Barrow, Massachusetts General Hospital and Columbia University. “Barrow Neurological Institute is honored to be selected by the NIH to help coordinate this ...

Many people fail at achieving their early career dreams. But a new study suggests that those failures don’t have to harm your self-esteem if you think about them in the right way. Researchers found that people who viewed career goal failures as a steppingstone to new opportunities never lost self-esteem, no matter how many times they failed. But those who thought their failures left them worse off showed a drop-off in how they felt about themselves. “It’s not how many times you have had to give up. It is how you felt about the failures, and whether you thought they led to something better for you,” ...

Pathology experts engineered an ultrasensitive test capable of detecting a highly specific biomarker found in multiple common cancers  In collaboration with cancer researchers across the country and the globe, the team evaluated the tool’s ability to detect the biomarker in ovarian cancer, gastroesophageal cancer, colon cancer, and other cancers  Diagnostic assays have potential for early cancer detection, monitoring, and prognostics   Marker ‘LINE-1 ORF1p’ is a protein encoded by a human transposon that has further potential applications in tissue diagnostics and may also facilitate treatment of cancers for which no accurate biomarkers ...

Alex Zhavoronkov, Ph.D., founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine (“Insilico”) will present at the 6th LSX Nordic Conference happening in Copenhagen Oct. 10-11. Zhavoronkov, a leader in generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for drug discovery and biomarker development, will present on Oct. 11, 2pm CET on “‘How Artificial Intelligence is Shaping the Future of Drug Discovery, Design, and Development.”   The LSX Nordic Congress is a leading strategy, investment and partnering conference for the Nordic region connecting life science and healthcare ...

In a recent randomized, controlled human study, consuming grapes for 16 weeks improved key markers of eye health in older adults.  The study, published in the scientific journal Food & Function looked at the impact of regular consumption of grapes on macular pigment accumulation and other biomarkers of eye health.[1]  This is the first human study on this subject, and the results reinforce earlier, preliminary studies where consuming grapes was found to protect retinal structure and function.[2]   Science has shown that an aging population has a higher risk of eye disease and vision problems.  Key risk factors for eye disease include 1) oxidative ...

When we’re married or in a long-term romantic relationship, we may eventually come to take each other for granted and forget to show appreciation. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds that it doesn’t have to stay this way. The study examined why perceived gratitude from a spouse or romantic partner changes over time, and whether it can be improved through relationship intervention programs. “Gratitude almost seems to be a secret sauce to relationships, and an important piece to the puzzle of romantic relationships that hasn’t gotten much attention ...

The 2021 results began a global conversation that sparked public imagination and incited dissenting commentary throughout the scientific community as to the accuracy of the ages.     “The immediate reaction in some circles of the archeological community was that the accuracy of our dating was insufficient to make the extraordinary claim that humans were present in North America during the Last Glacial Maximum. But our targeted methodology in this current research really paid off,” said Jeff Pigati, USGS research geologist ...

More than 10,000 Pre-Columbian archaeological sites likely rest undiscovered throughout the Amazon basin, estimates a new study. The findings, derived from remote sensing data and predictive spatial modeling, address questions about the influence of pre-Columbian societies on the Amazon region. “The massive extent of archaeological sites and widespread human-modified forests across Amazonia is critically important for establishing an accurate understanding of interactions between human societies, Amazonian forests, and Earth’s climate,” write the authors. ...

New radiocarbon (14C) and optically simulated luminescence ages have confirmed the controversial antiquity of the ancient human footprints discovered in White Sands National Park, and reported in a study in 2021. Addressing the widespread criticism of their previous study, researchers report that the independent ages from multiple resolved sources conclusively show that the footprints were left behind between roughly 23,000 and 20,000 years ago, demonstrating that humans were present in southern North America during the Last Glacial ...

In this Special Issue of Science, three Reviews highlight how recent advances in the field of ancient DNA have greatly advanced our understanding of the evolutionary history of many plants and animals, including our own species. “This special issue examines the changing landscape of how ancient DNA (aDNA) is studied today, including previously untapped sources, improvements in technology, and ethical challenges, and what we’ve learned about ourselves though ancient DNA,” write Corinne Simonti and Madeleine ...

Wastewater release from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan is expected to have negligible effects on people and the ocean, Jim Smith and colleagues report in a Perspective. The planned releases of radioactive wastewater, 350 million gallons of which has been stored at the site since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered the Fukushima plant’s meltdown, began in August 2023 and are expected to continue for perhaps the next 30 years. The second release is scheduled to start on October 5th. While the scheduled releases have sparked international concern, Smith et al. discuss the science behind the risks and ...

A fundamental discovery about the Fischer Tropsch process, a catalytic reaction used in industry to convert coal, natural gas or biomass to liquid fuels, could someday allow for more efficient fuel production. Washington State University researchers discovered previously unknown self-sustained oscillations in the Fischer Tropsch process. They found that unlike many catalytic reactions which have one steady state, this reaction periodically moves back and forth from a high to a low activity state. The discovery, reported in Science, means that these well-controlled oscillatory states might be used in the future to enhance the reaction rate and the yields of desired ...

University of Birmingham News Release STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 14.00 Thursday 5th October ET 2023/ 19.00 Thursday 5th October UK 2023 Researchers have identified a ‘guard mechanism’ for a protein which attacks microbes in infected cells, opening the possibility of new treatments for Toxoplasma, Chlamydia, Tuberculosis and even cancer. A study, led by the University of Birmingham and published today (5th October) in Science has discovered the lock and key mechanism that controls the attack protein GPB1. GBP1 is activated during ...