Whether in solar cells or in the human eye: whenever certain molecules absorb light, the electrons within them shift from their ground state into a higher energy, excited state. This results in the transport of energy and charge, leading to charge separation and eventually to the generation of electricity. An international team of scientists led by Dr Antonietta De Sio and Prof. Dr. Christoph Lienau from the Ultrafast Nano-Optics research group at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, has now observed the earliest steps of this process in a complex dye molecule. As ...

Too much fat can be unhealthy: how fat cells, so-called adipocytes, develop, is crucial for the function of the fat tissue. That is why a team led by researchers from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn investigated the influence of primary cilia dysfunction on adipocyte precursor cells in a mouse model. They found that overactivation of the Hedgehog signaling pathway causes abnormal development into connective tissue-like cells instead of white fat cells. Their findings have now been published in The EMBO Journal. White adipose tissue stores energy and regulates important metabolic processes ...

Two new studies from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have investigated how mutations that occur in muscles and blood vessels over time can affect ageing. The studies, which are published in Nature Aging, show that such mutations can reduce muscle strength and accelerate blood vessel ageing. The results can be of significance to the treatment of age-related diseases. Somatic mutations are non-hereditary genetic changes in cells and occur during a lifetime as a result of environmental factors or through random errors when a cell copies its DNA before dividing. The mutations can give rise to cancer, but otherwise their effect has been disputed. “We’ve discovered that mutations ...

The odds of high-severity wildfire were nearly one-and-a-half times higher on industrial private land than on publicly owned forests, a new study found. Forests managed by timber companies were more likely to exhibit the conditions that megafires love—dense stands of regularly spaced trees with continuous vegetation connecting the understory to the canopy. The research, led by the University of Utah, University of California, Berkeley, and the United States Forest Service, is the first to identify how extreme weather conditions and forest management practices jointly impact fire severity.Leveraging ...

The multicenter study analyzed nearly 2,000 digitized tissue slides from colon cancer patients across seven independent cohorts in Europe and the US. The samples included both whole-slide images of tissue samples and clinical, demographic, and lifestyle data. The researchers developed a novel “multi-target transformer model” to predict a wide range of genetic alterations directly from routinely stained histological colon cancer tissue sections. Previous studies were typically limited to predicting single genetic alterations and did not account for co-occurring mutations ...

Research shows that early childhood maltreatment is associated with significant delays in social and cognitive development. Unfortunately, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, children under age one face the highest risk of maltreatment, particularly neglect. The Child Protective Services (CPS) system is responsible for responding to maltreatment and preventing its recurrence. Most children with substantiated maltreatment reports remain with their parents, and CPS provides ...

Epidemiological studies have revealed a strong correlation between red meat consumption and the development of inflammatory bowel disease. In a new study published in Molecular Nutrition and Food Research that was conducted in mice, red meat consumption caused an imbalance of bacteria in the intestinal microbiota.  Investigators fed mice various kinds of red meat including pork, beef, and mutton for two weeks, and then they induced inflammation in the colon. Intake of these three red meat diets exacerbated colonic inflammation. ...

An analysis in Business Strategy and the Environment reveals that among U.S. firms, those with stronger LGBTQ+ inclusion have higher environmental performance scores and greater renewable energy consumption.   In the analysis of 2010–2023 data on 898 firms, this relationship was partially mediated by environmental innovation, indicating that LGBTQ+ inclusive workplace practices enhance environmental outcomes by fostering innovation.   Investigators also found that firms headquartered in states that recognized same-sex marriage prior to the Obergefell v. Hodges case (which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed ...

The European Regulation list on mandatory labelling of foods includes 14 allergenic foods. Research published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy has identified eight additional foods frequently involved in food-induced anaphylaxis.  The research was based on an analysis of food-induced anaphylaxis cases reported to the Allergy Vigilance Network from 2002–2023. Allergenic foods involved in ≥1% of cases and not included in the European Regulation list included goat’s and sheep’s milk (2.8% of cases), buckwheat (2.4%), peas and lentil (1.8%), alpha-gal (1.7%), pine nut (1.6%), kiwi (1.5%), beehive products (1.0%), and apple (1.0%).  Due ...

Most people recover from Dengue fever, which is caused by a virus transmitted from the Asian tiger mosquito, but some infected individuals experience serious bleeding, a sudden drop in blood pressure, and even death. Although Dengue fever has long been recognized as a disease of the tropics and sub-tropics, a study published in Global Change Biology reveals that it is likely to spread increasingly northward and through Western Europe as climate change expands the Asian tiger mosquito’s habitat.  The mosquito lays its eggs in water where, with sufficient temperature, larvae develop and give rise to flying bloodsucking adults. After ...

Self-harm in young people is a major public health concern, rates are rising, and the adolescent years presents a critical period of intervention. Another modern challenge facing adolescents is sleep deficiency, with global reductions in total sleep time and inconsistent sleep patterns, and as many as 70% of teenagers getting inadequate sleep.  Published today in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers at The University of Warwick and University of Birmingham have investigated this relationship between multiple measures of sleep problems and self-harm, using data from over 10,000 teenagers from the Millenium Cohort.  10,000 teenagers, ...

Astronomers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have discovered a vast and expanding bubble of gas and dust surrounding a red supergiant star – the largest structure of its kind ever seen in the Milky Way. The bubble, which contains as much mass as the Sun, was blown out in a mysterious stellar eruption around 4000 years ago. Why the star survived such a powerful event is a puzzle, the scientists say. The new results are published in the scientific journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, and the team was led by Mark Siebert, Chalmers, Sweden. Using the ALMA radio telescope ...

The British evolutionary biologist JBS Haldane is said to have quipped that any divine being evidently had ‘an ordinate fondness for beetles’. This bon mot conveyed an important truth: the ‘tree of life’ – the family tree of all species, living or extinct – is very uneven. In places, it resembles a dense thicket of short twigs; elsewhere it has only sparse but long branches. A few groups tend to predominate: as Haldane pointed out, more than 40% of extant insects are beetles, while 60% of birds ...

Europe is experiencing longer and more intense transmission seasons for mosquito-borne diseases, including WNV infection and chikungunya virus disease. This shift is driven by climatic and environmental factors such as rising temperatures, longer summer seasons, milder winters and changes in rainfall patterns — conditions that combine to create a favourable environment for mosquitoes to thrive and transmit viruses. Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC Director, said: 'Europe is entering a new phase — where longer, more widespread and more ...

A new study led by William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS shows that tidal marshes, including both natural wetlands and man-made living shorelines, generate approximately $90 million annually in economic value for communities across Virginia’s Middle Peninsula. Published in the journal Nature-Based Solutions and funded by a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Research Program (NA21NMF4570524-T1–01), the study combined ecological data, spatial modeling, economic valuation and stakeholder ...

Mass General Brigham researchers identified seven molecules in the blood linked to excessive daytime sleepiness, including factors related to diet and hormones. Approximately one in three Americans reports experiencing overwhelming drowsiness during the day—a condition known as excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). EDS is linked to an increased risk of serious conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity, and diabetes. A new study led by investigators from Mass General Brigham and Beth ...

Researchers have shown that there is strong evidence that e-cigarette use may act as a gateway to cigarette smoking and other health issues in young people. A review of reviews has revealed that there is a consistent link between e-cigarette use and later cigarette smoking, as well as potential links between vaping and a range of health issues, including asthma, mental health concerns, and drug use. Researchers, from the University of York and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), argue that more research is needed to determine whether there is a direct cause and effect, but the consistency of the findings between the studies conducted ...

Vaping among teens and young people is consistently linked to subsequent smoking, marijuana and alcohol use, finds an overarching (umbrella) review of systematic reviews of the evidence, published online in the journal Tobacco Control. And it’s associated with other harmful consequences, including heightened risks of asthma, cough, injuries and mental ill health as well as possibly pneumonia, bronchitis, headaches, migraine, dizziness/lightheadedness, low sperm count, and poor mouth health. The findings reinforce policy measures to restrict sales and marketing ...

A diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, found predominantly in fish oils, may help ward off the development of short sightedness (myopia) in children, while a high intake of saturated fats, found in foods such as butter, palm oil, and red meat, may boost the risk of the condition, finds research published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology. The global prevalence of myopia is rising, especially in East Asia, and it’s predicted that around half of the world’s population will be affected by 2050, note the researchers. Risk factors ...

A series of hide-and-seek experiments with a bonobo named Kanzi shows for the first time that apes can mentally keep track of multiple familiar humans at once, even when they are out of sight. Kanzi could also recognize caregivers from their voices alone, an ability never before tested on bonobos. The work, led by Johns Hopkins University’s Social and Cognitive Origins Group, answers key questions about how animals manage to keep track of their groupmates and uncovers yet another aspect of human social cognition shared with our closest relatives. “People think social intelligence is a thing that makes humans unique—that because we have to manage so many different relationships, ...

What lies beneath Fickle Hill in northern California? Maybe the answer to an earthquake mystery that has puzzled seismologists for decades. The origin of the 1954 magnitude 6.5 earthquake that rattled residents around Humboldt Bay has been unclear, but a new study now suggests a surprising source: the Cascadia subduction interface. In the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, a team of researchers shares the scientific sleuthing that led them to that conclusion, in a tale that combines fading paper records, modern methods and modeling, and eyewitness accounts of the event. The ...

Teaching about periods in schools is still too focused on basic biological facts with insufficient information around how menstruation can affect a woman’s mood and wellbeing, problems associated with menstrual bleeding and the impact on physical and academic performance, concludes a new study by UCL (University College London) researchers. The survey and focus group based research, published in the academic journal Women’s Health, also suggests that periods should be taught amongst mixed sex groups as well as single sex at both primary and ...

For researchers from The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a new avenue for reducing carbon emissions can be found on the side. A side of salad dressing, that is. In 2020, the United States federal government committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. An important step towards carbon neutrality is embracing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), an alternative to conventional jet fuel that is made from renewable feedstocks. As part of this initiative, Grainger engineers have been hard at work creating the critical nanocatalysts for converting biocrude oil ...

By analyzing millions of messenger RNA molecules (mRNA) during the course of ALS, researchers at Stockholm University, in collaboration with scientists at the Paris Brain Institute and Örebro University, have identified why certain nerve cells are resistant to the disease and what happens in the sensitive nerve cells when they are affected. The study, published in the scientific journal Genome Research, focuses on a hereditary form of ALS caused by mutations in the SOD1 gene.  “We have gained a better understanding of how nerve cells can be protected against ALS. This opens up new targets ...

A Yale research team has created a new computer tool that can pinpoint when exactly genes turn on and off over time during brain development — a finding that may one day help doctors identify the optimal window to deploy gene therapy treatments. Dubbed “chronODE,” the tool uses math and machine learning to model how gene activity and chromatin (the DNA and protein mix that forms chromosomes) patterns change over time. The tool may offer a variety of applications in disease modelling and basic genomic research and perhaps lead to future therapeutic uses. “Basically, we ...