Researchers at the University of Washington have developed small robotic devices that can change how they move through the air by "snapping" into a folded position during their descent. When these "microfliers" are dropped from a drone, they use a Miura-ori origami fold to switch from tumbling and dispersing outward through the air to dropping straight to the ground. To spread out the fliers, the researchers control the timing of each device's transition using a few methods: an onboard pressure ...

In a survey of cat owners, those who fed their cats vegan diets tended to report better health outcomes for their pets than those who provided meat-based diets, though the differences were not statistically significant. Andrew Knight of the University of Winchester, UK, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 13. Many pet foods contain cooked meat as the primary protein source, but a growing number of available products use alternative protein sources, such as plants or fungi. Some veterinary professionals ...

In a study involving several wolves and dogs, both animals performed better at finding hidden food if they had observed the food being hidden by a person—suggesting that they remembered where the food was, and did not rely solely on scent to find it. Sebastian Vetter of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on September 13. Many species transmit important information through social learning, where one individual learns by observing ...

A trained detection dog found sea turtle nests in Florida more accurately and efficiently than humans, indicating potential for dog-assisted nest monitoring ### Article URL:  https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0290740 Article Title: Use of a scent-detection dog for sea turtle nest monitoring of three sea turtle species in Florida Author Countries: USA Funding: The authors received no specific funding for this work. END ...

A new study updates the planetary boundary framework and shows human activities are increasingly impacting the planet and, thereby, increasing the risk of triggering dramatic changes in overall Earth conditions. For over 3 billion years, the interaction between life (represented by the planetary boundary, Biosphere Integrity) and climate have controlled the overall environmental conditions on Earth. Human activities, for example replacing nature with other land uses, changing the amount of water in rivers and in soil, the introduction of synthetic chemicals to the open environment, and the emission of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere ...

University of Liverpool researchers have secured £2.66m Medical Research Council funding to clinically test a novel immunotherapeutic strategy for non-small cell lung cancer – one of the most deadly cancers. Professor Christian Ottensmeier, and Professor Natalia Savelyeva from the Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology are collaborating with industry partner Genomics England and working closely with Touchlight Genetics Ltd to develop a vaccine therapy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have not had sufficient benefit from standard immunotherapy. Non-small ...

A new study finds that a natural compound found in many plants inhibits the growth of drug-resistant Candida fungi — including its most virulent species, Candida auris, an emerging global health threat. The journal ACS Infectious Diseases published the discovery led by scientists at Emory University. Laboratory-dish experiments showed that the natural compound, a water-soluble tannin known as PGG, blocks 90% of the growth in four different species of Candida fungi. The researchers also discovered how PGG inhibits the growth: It grabs up iron molecules, essentially starving the fungi of an essential nutrient.   By starving the fungi rather than attacking ...

The vertebral bones that form the spine are derived from a distinct type of stem cell that secretes a protein favoring tumor metastases, according to a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. The discovery opens up a new line of research on spinal disorders, helps explain why solid tumors so often spread to the spine, and could lead to new orthopedic and cancer treatments. In the study, published Sept. 13 in Nature, the researchers discovered that vertebral bone is derived from ...

“This study provides evidence that supports the belief of researchers and advocates that national policies protecting the human rights of lesbian, gay and bisexual people have an impact on individual development,” University of Delaware Assistant Professor Eric K. Layland said. “For LGB people, many of these identity and social milestones occur during the critical developmental period of adolescence. Results of this study add to other research showing protective policy can benefit LGB health by ...

Unruptured cerebral aneurysms of sizes and locations that require attention may be frequently missed in routine clinical care, but a machine learning algorithm could minimize missed care opportunities, according to a new study from UTHealth Houston. The research, published today in Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology, was led by senior author Sunil A. Sheth, MD, associate professor in the Department of Neurology with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, as well as co-first authors Hyun Woo Kim, MD, vascular and interventional neurology fellow at UTHealth Houston, and ...

If the Chicago region replaced 30% of all on-road combustion-engine vehicles — including motorcycles, passenger cars and trucks, buses, refuse trucks and short- and long-haul trucks — with electric versions, it would annually save more than 1,000 lives and over $10 billion, according to a new Northwestern University study. The new study, which simulates air quality at a neighborhood scale, also found that areas with predominantly Black, Hispanic and Latinx residents would benefit most. The study underscores the potential of electric vehicles (EVs) to improve ...

Philadelphia, September 13, 2023 – There is already robust evidence that people living with cardiovascular disease are disproportionately affected by poor air quality and extreme temperatures, in large part due to climate change, the greatest threat to human health of the 21st century. In this special theme issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, published by Elsevier, noted experts comprehensively review how climate change occurs and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and provide practical tips on how to become a climate-smart cardiovascular healthcare provider. Not long ago, climate change was a fringe topic deemed only ...

Two graduate students from Western University have developed a ground-breaking method for predicting which intensive care unit (ICU) patients will survive a severe brain injury.   Matthew Kolisnyk and Karnig Kazazian combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with state-of-the art machine learning techniques to tackle one of the most complex issues in critical care. Whether it is the result of a stroke, cardiac arrest or traumatic brain injury, lives can forever be changed by a serious brain injury. When patients are admitted to the ICU, families are faced with tremendous uncertainty. Will my loved one recover? Are they aware of what is going on? Will they ever be the same ...

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – During a bout of influenza, B cells interact with other immune cells and then take different paths to defend the body. One path is the B cells that differentiate into antibody producing cells. Another path is the B cells that differentiate into lung-resident memory B cells, or lung-BRMs, that are critical for pulmonary immunity. Unlike antibody-producing B cells that help fight the current infection, the long-lived, non-circulating lung-BRMs migrate to the lungs from draining lymph nodes. ...

For the first time in one year, three faculty at the University of Oklahoma have received Maximizing Investigators’ Research Awards from the National Institutes of Health. The recipients are Gallogly College of Engineering faculty Vivek Bajpai, Ph.D., John R. Clegg, Ph.D., and Stefan Wilhelm, Ph.D. The highly competitive five-year, $1,866,485 grants will support their ambitious research programs without the need to recompete for funding throughout the duration of their awards.   Bajpai, an assistant professor in the School of Sustainable Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, will lead the project, “Epigenetic and Transcriptional ...

The consortium, comprising of UNIST, DGIST, and POSTECH has been chosen for the esteemed 2023 University ICT Research Center Project (ITRC) by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT). This prestigious selection recognizes their expertise in the ‘Quantum Information and Communication Technologies‘ sector. The consortium aims to develop advanced quantum technologies while nurturing exceptional master’s and doctorate-level talents. With a total funding amounting to 8.25 billion won—7.5 billion won from government subsidies—the project spans eight years. The kick-off meeting held at UNIST on August ...

A new climate study led by scientists at the University Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science found that temperature fluctuations in the tropical Atlantic Ocean temperature is largely driven by human-induced aerosol emissions, impacting rainfall in West Africa’s Sahel region and hurricane formation in the Atlantic. The findings, published in the journal Nature, comes in a year when several hurricanes, including Hurricane Idalia, formed within days of each other over the tropical Atlantic. “Our ...

Researchers at West Virginia University have taken the first steps toward developing technology that can capture carbon dioxide in the air and use it for eco-friendly manufacturing of methanol. The process they have begun modeling — which involves pulling air from buildings — could increase the sustainable supply of methanol, one of the world’s most extensively used raw materials, while removing a planet-warming greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Project lead Xingbo Liu, who serves as professor, associate dean for research and chair of engineering ...

              New Orleans, LA – An LSU Health New Orleans research study led by Siqiong June Liu, PhD, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, has found that cerebellar inhibitory interneurons are essential for fear memory, a type of emotional memory formation. Inhibitory interneurons within the cerebellar circuitry act as gatekeepers and control the output of the cerebellar cortex. The formation of fear memory requires the activity of these interneurons. The findings, which ...

Scientists call long-spined sea urchins “the lawn mowers of the reefs” because they eat algae that could otherwise smother reef ecosystems and kill corals. That’s why researchers affiliated with the University of Florida Tropical Aquaculture Lab (TAL), who work at the Florida Aquarium’s Conservation Campus in Apollo Beach, are trying to raise as many urchins as possible.   Aaron Pilnick, a post-doctoral researcher at TAL, led newly published research that identifies substrates that help long-spined sea urchins – scientifically known as Diadema -- ...

The human microbiome includes the genetic material of more than 100 trillion tiny microorganisms – fungi, yeast, bacteria, and even viruses, most of which hang out in our gastrointestinal tract to serve as guardians of our health. But when a healthy microbiome gives way to an imbalance — a “pathobiome” — any number of health problems can occur — from rheumatoid arthritis, to bacterial vaginosis. New data published this month in the journal Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, from researchers at Drexel’s College of Medicine, gives more evidence to the possibility that developing a pathobiome ...

WASHINGTON  – A peer-reviewed study by Environmental Working Group scientists has found unsettling details about the potential health risks of common household cleaning products.  The study, published today in Chemosphere, analyzed 30 cleaning products, including multipurpose and glass cleaners, air fresheners and more. The study revealed that these everyday products may release hundreds of hazardous volatile organic compounds, known as VOCs.  Researchers tested both conventional products and “green” cleaning products and detected a total of 530 unique VOCs in the 30 products. Of these, 193 VOCs were hazardous – identified ...

Professor Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, Chair of the European Respiratory Society’s Environment and Health Committee and based at the University of Copenhagen, said:   “Today’s vote by the European Parliament to strengthen the legally binding limit values for air quality is an important step in the right direction toward clean air for all, even though the full alignment with World Health Organization was moved from 2030 to 2035. As we prepare for the negotiations with the Council, this is great news for all European citizens, especially the millions who live ...

The very first life on earth is thought to have developed from “protocells” – liquid mixtures of many different types of molecules. Researchers from the University of Göttingen have now shown that in such mixtures, small imbalances in the number of molecules of different types can have an unexpected effect. A surprising interplay with the complex pattern of interactions strongly amplifies such imbalances – meaning that a type of molecule that is only slightly in the majority can almost entirely separate out from the others. ...

Does the human brain have an Achilles heel that ultimately leads to Autism? With a revolutionizing novel system that combines brain organoid technology and intricate genetics, researchers can now comprehensively test the effect of multiple mutations in parallel and at a single-cell level within human brain organoids. This technology, developed by researchers from the Knoblich group at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Treutlein group at ETH Zurich, ...