Imagine a robot. Perhaps you've just conjured a machine with a rigid, metallic exterior. While robots armored with hard exoskeletons are common, they're not always ideal. Soft-bodied robots, inspired by fish or other squishy creatures, might better adapt to changing environments and work more safely with people. Roboticists generally have to decide whether to design a hard- or soft-bodied robot for a particular task. But that tradeoff may no longer be necessary. Working with computer simulations, MIT researchers have developed a concept for a soft-bodied robot that can turn rigid on demand. The approach could enable a new generation of robots that combine the strength and precision of rigid robots with the fluidity and safety of ...

The models used to produce global climate scenarios may overestimate the energy and emission savings from improved energy efficiency, warns new research led by academics at the University of Sussex Business School and the University of Leeds. In a review of 33 studies, the researchers find that economy wide rebound effects may erode around half of the energy and emission savings from improved energy efficiency. These rebound effects result from individuals and businesses responding to the benefits of improved energy efficiency - such as cheaper heating, lighting and travel. These responses improve quality-of-life, raise productivity and boost industrial competitiveness, ...

Professor Christiani Jeyakumar Henry, Senior Advisor of Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and his team have developed a Glycaemic Index (GI) glossary of non-Western foods. The research paper (attached PDF) was published in Nutrition & Diabetes on 6 Jan 2021: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41387-020-00145-w. Observational studies have shown that the consumption of low glycaemic index (GI) foods is associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), significantly less insulin resistance and a lower prevalence of the metabolic syndrome. ...

Recently, research team led by academician GUO Guangcan from CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of CAS, has made an important progress in quantum information theory. Prof. LI Chuanfeng and Prof. XIANG Guoyong from the team, cooperated with Dr. Strelstov from University of Warsaw, investigated the imaginary part of quantum theory as a resource, and several important results have been obtained. Relevant results are now jointly published as Editors' Suggestion in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review A. Complex number is a mathematical ...

It is millions of trillions of times brighter than the sunlight and a whopping 1,000 trillionth of a second, appropriately called the instantaneous light. It is the X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) light that opens a new scientific paradigm. Combining it with AI, an international research team has succeeded in filming and restoring the 3D structure of nanoparticles that share structural similarities with viruses. With the fear of a new pandemic growing around the world due to COVID-19, this discovery is attracting the attention among academic circles for imaging the structure of the virus with both high accuracy and speed. An international team of researchers from POSTECH, National University of ...

Targeted, efficient and with few side effects: A new method for combating periodontitis could render the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics superfluous. It was developed and tested for the first time by a team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI and Periotrap Pharmaceuticals GmbH. The aim is to neutralise only bacteria that cause periodontitis while sparing harmless bacteria. The study appeared in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Periodontitis is a common bacterial inflammation of the gums. According to the World Health Organization WHO Oral ...

Ask Eric Weaver about pandemics, and he's quick to remind you of a fact that illustrates the fleeting nature of human memory and the proximal nature of human attention: The first pandemic of the 21st century struck not in 2019, but 2009. That's when the H1N1/09 swine flu emerged, eventually infecting upwards of 1.4 billion people -- nearly one of every five on the planet at the time. True to the name, swine flus jump to humans from pigs. It's a phenomenon that has been documented more than 400 times since the mid-2000s in the United States alone. "They're considered the great mixing vessel," said Weaver, associate professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "They're susceptible to their own circulating ...

Parents who reported more hassles using a child car seat or booster seat - such as the child is uncomfortable or having to make multiple trips in a day - were less likely to follow recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) on child passenger safety, according to a study published in the journal Academic Pediatrics. Researchers obtained information about transportation safety behaviors and 20 hassles when using child car seats among 238 socioeconomically and racially diverse parents of children 1 to 10 years of age. Eighty percent of parents reported at least a little bit of a problem with one ...

Neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease are in the firing line after researchers identified an attractive therapeutic drug target. An international collaboration, co-led by University of Queensland researchers, has isolated and analysed the structure and function of a protein found in the brain's nerve fibres called SARM1. Dr Jeff Nanson said the protein was activated when nerve fibres were damaged by injury, disease, or as a side effect of certain drugs. "After a damaging incident occurs, this protein often induces ...

Fireworks are used in celebrations around the world, including Independence Day in the U.S., the Lantern Festival in China and the Diwali Festival in India. However, the popular pyrotechnic displays emit large amounts of pollutants into the atmosphere, sometimes causing severe air pollution. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology have estimated that, although so-called environmentally friendly fireworks emit 15-65% less particulate matter than traditional fireworks, they still significantly deteriorate air quality. Fireworks displays can cause health problems, such as respiratory ailments, because they ...

Wine lovers recognize that a perfectly paired wine can make a delicious meal taste even better, but the reverse is also true: Certain foods can influence the flavors of wines. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry have explored how lipids -- fatty molecules abundant in cheese, meats, vegetable oils and other foods -- interact with grape tannins, masking the undesirable flavors of the wine compounds. Tannins are polyphenolic compounds responsible for the bitterness and astringency of red wines. Wine testers have noticed that certain foods reduce these sensations, improving the flavor of a wine, but scientists aren't sure why. Some studies have ...

DALLAS, March 3, 2021 -- American Indian people with atrial fibrillation (AFib) had the highest risk of non-hemorrhagic stroke when compared with people in other racial and ethnic groups, and they also experienced the highest overall risk for stroke even without atrial fibrillation (AFib), according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. "In previous research, we have confirmed that American Indian individuals, when compared with those in other racial or ethnic groups, have the highest risk of atrial fibrillation, which is a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can substantially increase the risk of blood clots and stroke," said lead study ...

DALLAS, March 3, 2021 -- The association between race and ethnicity and specific characteristics of some U.S. counties may have a significant impact on death rates related to cardiovascular disease, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. across all racial and ethnic groups, and disparities in cardiovascular outcomes for racial and ethnic minority groups have been documented extensively. This study presents a detailed analysis of county-level predictors of cardiovascular ...

The first proof of the origin of malignant rhabdoid tumour (MRT), a rare childhood cancer, has been discovered by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in the Netherlands, and their collaborators. The study, published today (3 March 2021) in Nature Communications, found that MRT arises from developmental cells in the neural crest* whose maturation is blocked by a genetic defect. The team also identified two drugs that could be used to overcome this block and resume normal development, bringing hope of new treatments for the disease. Malignant rhabdoid tumour (MRT) is a rare soft tissue cancer that predominantly affects infants. ...

A robotics platform designed by Toronto researchers to screen thousands of COVID-19 samples at once has the potential to revolutionize how labs track the spread of viruses and other pathogens, according to new findings. The END ...

Wild pigs are often maligned as ecosystem destroyers, but a University of Queensland study has found they also cultivate biodiverse rainforests in their native habitats. Dr Matthew Luskin has been researching the effect of native pigs in Malaysian rainforests and found their nests may be critical to maintaining diverse and balanced tree communities. "We've shown that wild pigs can support higher diversity ecosystems and are not just nuisances and pests, thanks to a beneficial effect of their nesting practices," Dr Luskin said. "Prior to giving birth, pigs build birthing nests made up of hundreds of tree seedlings, usually on flat, dry sites in the forest. "As they build their nests, the pigs ...

Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified a drug that works against depression by a completely different mechanism than existing treatments. Their study showed that ezogabine (also known as retigabine), a drug that opens KCNQ2/3 type of potassium channels in the brain, is associated with significant improvements in depressive symptoms and anhedonia in patients with depression. Anhedonia is the reduced ability to experience pleasure or lack of reactivity to pleasurable stimuli; it is a core symptom of depression and associated with worse outcomes, poor response to antidepressant medication, and increased risk of suicide. Ezogabine was ...

In an analysis of nationwide data from the Veterans Health Administration, approximately one-quarter of individuals with kidney stones had a diagnosis of osteoporosis or bone fracture around the time of their kidney stone diagnosis. The findings are published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Investigators identified 531,431 patients with kidney stone disease between 2007 and 2015, and they found that 23.6% of patients had a diagnosis of osteoporosis or fracture around the time of their kidney stone diagnosis. In patients with no prior history of osteoporosis or bone analyses before their kidney stone diagnosis, 9.1% ...

Patients with dementia may benefit from being referred to specialist palliative care--a branch of medicine that focuses on optimizing quality of life and providing relief from symptoms--but who should be referred, and when? A recent analysis of published studies on the topic found a lack of consensus regarding referral criteria for palliative care in patients with dementia. The results are published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The analysis identified a wide array of reasons for referring patients with dementia to specialist palliative care, broadly classified under 13 themes. The ...

Individuals with cancer face a higher risk of suicide than people in the general population, but little is known about the characteristics of patients with cancer who have died by suicide. A new study published in Psycho-Oncology compared the characteristics of suicide cases with and without cancer. Among 14,446 suicide cases between 2003 and 2017 in Hong Kong, 10% had a history of cancer. Compared with non-cancer cases, patients with cancer were generally older and less likely to live alone; more likely to use violent methods; less likely to have histories of physical and psychiatric problems; and more likely to communicate about their suicidal intent before death. "Patients with cancer ...

The impact of eating disorders in the United States was nearly $400 billion in 2018-19 when considering both economic costs and reduced wellbeing, according to a study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Investigators estimated that the total economic cost associated with eating disorders in 2018-19 was $64.7billion, equivalent to $11,808 per affected person, and the substantial reduction in wellbeing associated with eating disorders was valued at $326.5 billion. "Our study lays bare the devastating economic impact that eating disorders have in the United States, a country where the majority of people affected suffer alone and never receive ...

Students have diverse reasons for dropping out of colleges and universities without obtaining a degree. A new study published in the European Journal of Education provides a detailed analysis of these reasons. The study found that the most important reasons for leaving university without a degree are mainly related to students' lack of interest in their field of study, as well as wrong expectations concerning the content of their studies. Problems related to students' academic performance also appear to be important. The study suggests potential counter measures that higher education institutions might use to help students at risk of dropping out as they strive to finish their ...

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented economic disruption and unemployment worldwide, and it may be challenging for career counselors to determine how best to provide effective career counseling to unemployed people in the post-COVID-19 world. In an article published in the Journal of Employment Counseling, experts suggest applying a holistic model of career counseling that addresses the multifaceted needs of long-term unemployed people. The model was developed to address similar problems occurring in Greece in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The authors note that career counselors should work on multiple levels--with individuals, with employers, with policy makers, and within the wider social ...

A seven-year study of California's soupfin sharks sheds light on their migration and reproductive cycles, laying the groundwork for potential management strategies amid conservation concerns. The findings were published March 3 in the Journal of Applied Ecology by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and the University of San Diego (USD). Analyzing the tracking data from 34 female soupfin sharks (Galeorhinus galeus) tagged with acoustic transmitters, Scripps Oceanography researcher and USD professor Andrew Nosal discovered these sharks exhibit a triennial migratory cycle, returning to the tagging site off La Jolla, Calif. every three years. This is the first conclusive evidence in any animal of triennial philopatry, a term meaning 'home-loving,' ...

How have travel restrictions and reduced tourism in response to the COVID-19 pandemic affected mammals in different tourist destinations? Researchers recently reviewed published studies and news stories to consider this question. Their findings are published in Mammal Review. The authors noted that whether the pandemic has affected mammals positively or negatively is difficult to determine--their findings showed that effects of reduced tourism varied by species and the contexts that they are in. For example, some mammals in zoos thrived in the absence of visitors while others appeared to be deprived of ...