Averting our eyes from things that scare us may be due to a specific cluster of neurons in a visual region of the brain, according to new research at the University of Tokyo. Researchers found that in fruit fly brains, these neurons release a chemical called tachykinin which appears to control the fly’s movement to avoid facing a potential threat. Fruit fly brains can offer a useful analogy for larger mammals, so this research may help us better understand our own human reactions to scary situations and phobias. Next, the team want to find out how these ...

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) – ​​Rising ocean temperatures are sweeping the seas, breaking records and creating problematic conditions for marine life. Unlike heatwaves on land, periods of abrupt ocean warming can surge for months or years. Around the world these ‘marine heatwaves’ have led to mass species mortality and displacement events, economic declines and habitat loss. New research reveals that even areas of the ocean protected from fishing are still vulnerable to these extreme events fueled by climate change. A study published today in Global Change Biology, led by researchers at UC Santa ...

A collaboration of scientists from The University of Manchester and the University of Hong Kong have found a source for the mysterious alignment of stars near the Galactic Centre. The alignment of planetary nebulae was discovered ten years ago by a Manchester PhD student, Bryan Rees, but has remained unexplained. New data obtained with the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope in Chile and the Hubble Space Telescope, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, has confirmed the alignment but also found a particular ...

·  Colorism – system of inequality that views lighter skin as more beautiful and advantageous – motivates skin lightening ·  Users aren’t aware of adulterated ingredients in over-the-counter products such as mercury and steroids  ·  Products are purchased from chain grocery stores or online, used without medical advice   CHICAGO --- Skin lightening is prevalent in the U.S. among skin of color individuals – particularly women – but the people who use those products don’t know the risks, reports a new Northwestern ...

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE EMBARGOED UNTIL 05:01 LONDON TIME (GMT) ON THURSDAY 13 JULY 2023 Images and paper available at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18XRYP9dHcC1Z8lc3B86j3k6BzgIesqUS?usp=sharing Small-winged and lighter coloured butterflies likely to be at greatest threat from climate change The family, wing length and wing colour of tropical butterflies all influence their ability to withstand rising temperatures, say a team led by ecologists at the University of Cambridge. The researchers believe this could help identify species whose survival is under threat from climate change. Butterflies with smaller or lighter coloured wings are likely to ...

Defying conventional wisdom, researchers have uncovered a novel coupling mechanism involving leaky mode, previously has been considered unsuitable for high-density integration in photonic circuits. This unexpected finding opens new possibilities for dense photonic integration, revolutionizing the scalability and application of photonic chips in optical computing, quantum communication, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), optical metrology, and biochemical sensing.   In a recent Light Science & Application publication, Sangsik Kim, associate professor of electrical engineering ...

A study examining unemployment and underemployment figures and suicide rates in Australia has found both were significant drivers of suicide mortality between 2004-2016. The researchers say the findings indicate that economic policies such as a Job Guarantee, which prioritise full employment, should be a core part of any comprehensive national suicide prevention strategy. Predictive modelling also revealed an estimated 9.5 percent of suicides reported during that time resulted directly from unemployment ...

Overview Associate Professor Hiroto Sekiguchi (Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology) and Assistant Professor Susumu Setogawa and Associate Professor Noriaki Ohkawa (Comprehensive Research Facilities for Advanced Medical Science, Dokkyo Medical University; Assistant Professor Setogawa is currently a Specially Appointed Assistant Professor at University Public Corporation Osaka) have developed a flexible electrocorticography (Note 1) film for simultaneous detection of multisensory information (Note 2) from multiple regions of the cerebral cortex by placing neural ...

Mycelium, an incredible network of fungal strands that can thrive on organic waste and in darkness, could be a basis for sustainable fireproofing. RMIT researchers are chemically manipulating its composition to harness its fire-retardant properties. Associate Professor Tien Huynh, an expert in biotechnology and mycology, said they’ve shown that mycelium can be grown from renewable organic waste. “Fungi are usually found in a composite form mixed with residual feed material, but we found a way to grow pure mycelium sheets that can be layered and engineered into different uses – from flat panels for the building industry to a leather-like material for ...

The structure of a molecular junction with noncovalent interaction plays a key role in electron transport, reveals a recent study conducted by researchers at Tokyo Tech. Through simultaneous surface-enhanced Raman scattering and current–voltage measurements, they found that a single dimer junction of naphthalenethiol molecule shows three different bondings, namely π–π intermolecular and through-π and through-space molecule–electrode interactions. The π–π interaction is a type of noncovalent interaction that occurs when the electron clouds in the π orbitals ...

New research suggests that targeting autoimmune inflammation associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using two drugs, one of them already approved for multiple sclerosis, could be a promising approach for treatment. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It leads to the gradual loss of muscle control, eventually resulting in paralysis and difficulty with speech, swallowing, and breathing. The exact cause of ALS is not fully understood, and currently, there is no cure ...

Taylor & Francis has taken a significant step in reducing unnecessary plastic use with the introduction of paperwrap for journal print copies mailed in the UK. Paperwrap, a relatively new packaging technology, has become more common in recent years, but is typically most suited to publications with very high print runs. Taylor & Francis’ Global Supplier Team spent several months investigating how it might be applied to journal print runs, which included rolling out live trial mailings to colleagues around the world to test how the journals could be packaged, and whether there was any impact on the speed ...

A new talking therapy for depression has shown encouraging early signs of being more effective and cheaper to deliver than the current best practice of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).  A pilot trial from the University of Exeter, funded by the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR) and published in Lancet EClinical Medicine, has found Augmented Depression Therapy (ADepT) could be a significant advance in depression care.   A core feature of depression is anhedonia (reduced ...

A team of scientists led by CABI have conducted a new study which shows that three ways to fight the invasive Prosopis juliflora tree in Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania all proved very effective in almost all cases. The three-year research, published in the journal CABI Agriculture and Bioscience, revealed that cut stump and basal bark herbicide application and manual uprooting were highly effective, killing the trees in between 85-100% of cases. In addition, three incremental restoration interventions were tested ...

Laptops and schoolwork on kitchen tables, a deserted playground, face masks on a washing line, an empty church, a walk in the woods. As the UK Covid inquiry continues for a fifth week, researchers at the University of East Anglia have created a unique snapshot of lockdown life. When the pandemic first hit, the team embarked on a project to track the physical and mental health of the nation. More than a thousand participants signed up and up and they were followed every day for three months in the first study of its kind. As well as keeping daily lifestyle diaries about their physical activity, diet and mood, ...

Heliconius butterflies’ brains grew as they adopted a novel foraging behaviour, scientists at the University of Bristol have found. A region of their brain, known as the mushroom body due to its shape, are two to four times larger than those of their close relatives. The findings, published today in Nature Communications, suggest that the structure and function of the nervous system are closely linked to an organism's ecological niche and behaviour. Dr Stephen Montgomery of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences explained: “Heliconius are the only butterflies known to collect and digest pollen, which gives them an adult source ...

New Haven, Conn. — While pembrolizumab is an approved treatment for patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), only some patients respond to this therapy. Treatment failure, researchers say, is often caused by differences in the tumor microenvironment. An ongoing phase II study (KEYNOTE-495/KeyImPaCT) led by a researcher at Yale Cancer Center reveals that combining pembrolizumab with other treatments reduced the size of target tumors, resulting in a higher response rate for patients with advanced NSCLC. The new research was published July 10 in Nature Medicine. “We are excited to share these new ...

Every night, uncounted numbers of devices across the globe update their operating systems (OS), and everyday users log on expecting fast, secure connections and services to keep their increasingly online lives moving forward. But as artificial intelligence and other more complex systems come online, the foundation of all them is teetering. Every aspect of society — from government and industry to education and entertainment — relies on devices with stable operating systems. And every OS relies on ...

The National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have collectively awarded millions of dollars in grant funding to numerous Virginia Tech researchers who all have one thing in common.  They were awarded Emerging Social Aspects of Global Change seed funding. Since 2015, this funding has led to faculty from seven colleges and 15 departments collaborating and engaging in 10 research projects that address the social or policy aspects of major global environmental issues. Sponsored by Fralin Life Sciences Institute’s Global Change Center and the Institute ...

Imagine you just swallowed a pill containing a miniature camera that will help your doctor collect images to diagnose a condition you’ve been battling for years. No, it’s not something from the latest science fiction or Marvel Comics movie – it’s a technique called bioimaging. While traditional methods of bioimaging such as an MRI, CT scan, or an X-ray are more commonly known, the use of nanodevices is becoming more popular. They are less invasive and provide health care professionals with a closer look deep inside tissue. Researchers from Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering and College of Science are using their expertise ...

As utility-scale solar farms become more widespread as a source of renewable energy, Virginia Tech scientists are researching environmental consequences with respect to stormwater and the sediment and nutrients transported in runoff. With a $3.4 million grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, researchers from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will lead a comprehensive six-year study to determine how utility-scale solar farms impact stormwater runoff and local soil and water quality throughout the state. “Solar is probably going to be the No. 1 land use change that will occur over the next decade in many parts of Virginia, particularly in existing ...

Papillary craniopharyngiomas (PCPs) are a rare type of brain tumor that cause substantial morbidity for patients. While surgery and radiation are often used to treat PCPs, incomplete removal of the tumor and toxicity from radiation can leave patients with life-long health challenges after treatment, including neuroendocrine dysfunction or vision or memory loss. Investigators from the Mass General Cancer Center, a member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, led the first multicenter treatment protocol in this rare tumor. The study was based on laboratory discoveries by Mass General Brigham researchers who studied the genetic drivers of PCP growth, ...

A groundbreaking study published today reveals the critical yet severely understudied factor of salinity changes in ocean and coastlines caused by climate change. The study was co-authored by an international team of researchers, including Dr. Cliff Ross, University of North Florida biology chair/professor, and Dr. Stacey Trevathan-Tackett, UNF biology graduate program alum and research faculty member at Deakin University in Australia. Changes in salinity, or salt content, due to climate change and land use can have potentially devastating impacts on vital coastal and estuarine ecosystems, yet this has rarely been studied until now. This new research provides valuable ...

Two University of Texas at Arlington faculty members have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Kevin Schug, Shimadzu Distinguished Professor of Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will travel to Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, continuing a decades-long relationship that began during his days as a graduate student. Ling Xu, associate professor in the School of Social Work, will use the award to travel to Taiwan and embark on 10-month project to raise awareness about the ...

In a new study, researchers and members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area are the first to publish evidence of wealth-driven patterns in maternal investment among ancient populations. Ancestors of the Muwekma Ohlone living 2,000 years ago at Kalawwasa Rummeytak in present-day Silicon Valley in California’s San Francisco Bay Area, placed high value on women’s economic contributions to their communities, according to the study. Women stayed in the villages in which they were born, and their male partners moved from their birth communities to join their wives’ families. Women’s intimate knowledge of the local ecology and female ...