Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) announces the oldest swimming jellyfish in the fossil record with the newly named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis. These findings are announced in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.   Jellyfish belong to medusozoans, or animals producing medusae, and include today’s box jellies, hydroids, stalked jellyfish and true jellyfish. Medusozoans are part of one of the oldest groups of animals to have existed, called Cnidaria, a group which also includes ...

This press release is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/earths-most-ancient-impact-craters-are-disappearing/ AGU press contact: Rebecca Dzombak, news@agu.org (UTC-4 hours) Contact information for the researchers: Matthew S. Huber, University of the Western Cape, mhuber@uwc.ac.za (UTC+2 hours) WASHINGTON — Earth’s oldest craters could give scientists critical information about the structure of the early Earth and the composition of bodies in the solar system as well as help to interpret crater records on other ...

The silver rice rat, an endangered species endemic to the Florida Keys, makes its home as close to the shoreline as possible for easy access to its low-tide marine species diet. It is this proximity to the water that prompted a team of scientists at the University of Florida to examine the rats’ movement in correlation with historical tidal data over 17 years. The sea level rose 0.142 meters between 2004 and 2021, and the researchers also found that the rats moved to higher ground. In fact, the rats ...

By Adam Russell   A new research study shows pecans may help prevent obesity and reduce inflammation. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Laura McKenzie) “Obesity and diabetes numbers are increasing in modern society worldwide, and the trend in high fat diet consumption is one of the main reasons besides lifestyle and genetic predisposition,” said Luis Cisneros-Zevallos, Ph.D., professor of horticulture and food science in the Department of Horticultural Sciences in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and ...

WASHINGTON (August 1, 2023)— New analysis from researchers at the George Washington University links lead exposure either in utero or during childhood with an increased risk of engaging in criminal behavior in adulthood. While prior research has found an association between lead exposure and criminal behavior at the ​​aggregated population level, this is the first review to bring together the existing data at the individual-level of exposure and effects. The first systematic review of available studies that address links between individual lead exposure and crime, or other antisocial behaviors, the research team’s analysis included 17 ...

A study conducted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and 11 other hospitals and practices across the United States shows that use of low-dose atropine eyedrops, commonly used in a higher dose to treat lazy eye, was no better than a placebo at slowing myopia (nearsightedness) progression and elongation of the eye among children treated for two years.   The first randomized controlled trial of its kind aimed at identifying an effective way to manage myopia was published last week in JAMA Ophthalmology. It was conducted by the Pediatric Eye Disease Investigator Group and funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI).    “We found, interestingly, and honestly ...

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- A proposed machine learning framework and expanded use of blockchain technology could help counter the spread of fake news by allowing content creators to focus on areas where the misinformation is likely to do the most public harm, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. The research led by Thi Tran, assistant professor of management information systems at Binghamton University’s School of Management, expands on existing studies by offering tools for recognizing patterns in misinformation and helping ...

BOSTON – Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health system, officially opened the Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance, the first-of-its kind center in the world dedicated to preventing organ rejection after transplant surgery without the use of lifelong immunosuppressive medications. Immunosuppressive medications prevent the immune system from rejecting a transplanted organ, but come with serious side effects, increasing the chance of infections and other illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. The mission of the Legorreta Center is to eliminate these risks by eliminating ...

Abstract Research investigating social media use typically focus on late adolescents and young adults, despite a growing number of early adolescents, 93% to 97%—having at least one social media platform. Also, early adolescents are more likely to engage with newer sites, such as Snapchat and Instagram, than older platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Given the evolving landscape of social media, the present study examines the impact of the use of various social media platforms, along with its moderating effects, on adolescents’ academic achievement, using a sample of N = 1,459 early adolescents. Results were such that, as frequency ...

AURORA, Colo. (July 31, 2023) – Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have officially identified a central conduit to obesity: fructose. While fructose’s contribution to obesity is well-known, a study published today in Philosophical Transactions aggregates a large amount of work to make a full argument for how fructose drives obesity and diseases such as diabetes and fatty liver disease. “This is an in-depth review on a hypothesis that puts nature at the center of weight ...

In 2016, recognizing that lack of research in female animals was hampering the success of treatments for mood disorders, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) changed its policy for basic research to include sex as a biological variable for basic research, a move that triggered an explosion of research into sex differences. “Building a strong unbiased foundation of literature will help uncover more effective and sex-specific biomarkers for depression onset and target better treatment,” said Georgia Hodes, assistant professor in the School of Neuroscience, part of the Virginia Tech College of Science. Hodes and co-author Dawson Kropp, a Ph.D. ...

Carbon dioxide levels in Earth’s atmosphere — and, consequently, ocean temperatures — are rising. How high and how fast ocean temperatures can rise can be learned from temperature measurements of ancient oceans. At the same time, energy exploration also relies on knowing the thermal history of oil and gas source rocks, which is often difficult to determine. One of the most promising techniques for measuring ancient ocean temperatures and basin thermal histories relies on the co-enrichment of rare heavy oxygen and heavy carbon ...

Losing the ability to see clearly, and losing the ability to think or remember clearly, are two of the most dreaded, and preventable, health issues associated with getting older. Now, a new study lends further weight to the idea that vision problems and dementia are linked.  In a sample of nearly 3,000 older adults who took vision tests and cognitive tests during home visits, the risk of dementia was much higher among those with eyesight problems – including those who weren’t able ...

August 1, 2023, Mountain View, CA – The SETI Institute is proud to announce that Dr. John Rummel will receive the prestigious 2023 Drake Award, recognizing his extraordinary and innovative programmatic contributions and unwavering advocacy for SETI and astrobiology. Rummel’s illustrious career has included roles at NASA Headquarters, where he served as Senior Scientist for Astrobiology, Planetary Protection Officer, Deputy Chief of the Mission from Planet Earth Study Office, and Program Scientist for SETI/High Resolution Microwave Survey. Despite sometimes facing significant opposition, Rummel has been an unwavering supporter of SETI science and funding, working to ...

Chestnut Hill, Mass. (08/01/2023 - Boston College Assistant Professor of Biology Emrah Altindis has received a two-year, $275,000-grant from the Beatson Foundation to explore the role of gut microbes and viruses triggering the autoimmunity of Type 1 diabetes. “Our lab is extremely grateful for the generous funding bestowed upon us by the Beatson Foundation,” Altindis said. “The receipt of this grant has evoked a profound sense of both excitement and gratitude within our team. We recognize the significant impact this funding will have on our research endeavors, particularly in the field of Type 1 Diabetes.” Funding for the project, titled ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A patch of ocean in the North Atlantic is stubbornly cooling while much of the planet warms. This anomaly — dubbed the "cold blob" — has been linked to changes in ocean circulation, but a new study found changes in large-scale atmospheric patterns may play an equally important role, according to an international research team led by Penn State. “People often think the atmosphere has a very short memory, but here we provide evidence that atmospheric circulation change is significant enough to induce some long-term impact on the climate system,” ...

Highlights: Michigan State University researchers are leading a $1.8 million grant project funded by the Office of Naval Research to evolve artificial intelligence. The research would make it possible to use AI more reliably for tasks we already accomplish with help from popular AI tools like ChatGPT. It could also enable people to entrust AI systems with more advanced jobs that rely on understanding language and visual information, including education, navigation and multimodal question-answering systems. The team is working to connect “classical” or symbolic AI with current deep neural networks and create a neuro-symbolic framework. ...

“We have discussed in detail the clinical implications of ER in avoiding overtreatment and undertreatment in DCIS.” BUFFALO, NY- August 1, 2023 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncotarget's Volume 14 on July 20, 2023, entitled, “Multiclonality of ER expression in DCIS – Implications for clinical practice and future research.” Estrogen receptor (ER) expression is not routinely evaluated in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). This may be because the prognostic role of ER in DCIS was unclear until the UK/ ANZ DCIS trial in 2021 showed that lack of ER expression in DCIS was associated with a greater than 3-fold risk of ipsilateral recurrence. This ...

The public funding of science is responsible for many of the biomedical and other scientific breakthroughs on which our lives depend. However, the process through which funding decisions are made, the peer review of grant proposals, has been historically understudied, and current approaches can lead to undesirable outcomes. Writing in Research Integrity and Peer Review, Stephen A. Gallo, then affiliated with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and Michael Pearce, Carole J. Lee, and Elena A. Erosheva from the University of ...

In the peak heat of summer, beachgoers don’t want their plans thwarted by harmful algal blooms (HABs). But current methods to remove or kill toxin-producing algae and cyanobacteria aren’t efficient or practical for direct applications in waterways. Now, researchers reporting in ACS ES&T Water have coated a floating sponge in a charcoal-like powder, and when paired with an oxidizing agent, the technique destroyed over 85% of algal cells from lake and river water samples. Swaths of electric green and bright orange-red HABs, or the less brilliantly colored cyanobacteria Microcystis aeruginosa, can produce toxins that can sicken humans ...

An evaluation of 17 previously published studies suggests that exposure to lead in the womb or in childhood is associated with an increased risk of engaging in criminal behavior in adulthood—but more evidence is needed to strengthen understanding. Maria Jose Talayero Schettino of the George Washington University, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS Global Public Health. Lead exposure can cause a variety of health challenges, such as cardiac issues, kidney ...

Biofilms are highly resistant communities of bacteria that pose a major challenge in the treatment of infections. While studying biofilm formation in laboratory conditions has been extensively conducted, understanding their development in the complex environment of the human respiratory tract has remained elusive. A team of researchers led by Alexandre Persat at EPFL have now cracked the problem by successfully developing organoids called AirGels. Organoids are miniature, self-organized 3D tissues grown from stem cells to mimic actual body tissues and organs in the human body. They represent ...

Many of the answers for effectively responding to a pathogen lie in its genome. Understanding the genetic code of a pathogen like Ebola or the virus that causes COVID-19 allows scientists to track its movement, predict future behavior, identify the source of the outbreak and, most importantly, develop effective vaccines and treatments. This technology was critical during the pandemic, and it will be even more so with future outbreaks.  That makes the continued development of genomic sequencing one of the most ...

Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a breath test that quickly identifies those who are infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. The device requires only one or two breaths and provides results in less than a minute. The study is available online in the journal ACS Sensors. The same group of researchers recently published a paper in the journal Nature Communications about an air monitor they had built to detect airborne SARS-CoV-2 — the virus that causes COVID-19 — within about ...

Researchers from the UvA and North Carolina State University have identified the specific mixture of pheromone chemicals that male moths use during courtship. The findings provide more detail about the complex blend of chemicals that males and females of this group of moths use in fundamental short-range communication. The publication in the scientific journal Current Biology appeared on 1 August. Scent compounds are essential for male moths to entice female conspecifics to mate. Both partners need to find and recognize each other in the dark. This is done by sex pheromones secreted by the female. Then it is up to the male to convince the female ...