With negotiations around the Global Plastics Treaty set to resume next week, an international group of scientists has renewed calls for the ambitions and commitments of the Treaty to be driven by robust scientific evidence that is free from conflicts of interest. Government officials from across the world, and around 4,000 observers representing different aspects in society will gather in Ottawa, Canada, from April 23 to 29 for the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4). It will be the fourth of an expected five sessions convened to negotiate an international and legally binding global treaty after the mandate ...

By Shawn Ballard Electrostatic capacitors play a crucial role in modern electronics. They enable ultrafast charging and discharging, providing energy storage and power for devices ranging from smartphones, laptops and routers to medical devices, automotive electronics and industrial equipment. However, the ferroelectric materials used in capacitors have significant energy loss due to their material properties, making it difficult to provide high energy storage capability. Sang-Hoon Bae, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and materials science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in ...

Mount Sinai researchers, in collaboration with scientists at The Rockefeller University, have uncovered a mechanism in the brain that allows cocaine and morphine to take over natural reward processing systems. Published online in Science on April 18, these findings shed new light on the neural underpinnings of drug addiction and could offer new mechanistic insights to inform basic research, clinical practice, and potential therapeutic solutions. “While this field has been explored for decades, our study is ...

Sinking land is overlooked as a hazard in urban areas globally, according to scientists from Virginia Tech and the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom.  In an invited perspective article for the journal Science, Virginia Tech’s Manoochehr Shirzaei collaborated with Robert Nicholls of the University of East Anglia to highlight the importance of recent research analyzing how and why land is sinking — including a study published in the same issue that focused on sinking Chinese cities.   Results from the accompanying research study showed that ...

Tulane University researchers have identified a promising new approach to treating persistent neurological symptoms associated with Lyme disease, offering hope to patients who suffer from long-term effects of the bacterial infection, even after antibiotic treatment. Their results were published in Frontiers in Immunology.  Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and transmitted through tick bites, can lead to a range of symptoms, including those affecting the central ...

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – April 18, 2024) Metabolic health (normal blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, among other factors) influences the effectiveness of influenza vaccinations. Vaccination is known to be less effective in people with obesity compared to those with a healthier body mass index (BMI), but St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have found it is not obesity itself, but instead metabolic dysfunction, which makes the difference. In a study published today in Nature Microbiology, the researchers found switching obese mice to a healthy diet before flu vaccination, but not after, completely protected ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $16 million in funding for four projects providing classroom training and research opportunities to train the next generation of accelerator scientists and engineers needed to deliver scientific discoveries.  U.S. global competitiveness in discovery science relies on increasingly complex charged particle accelerator systems that require world-leading expertise to develop and operate. These programs will train the next generation of scientists and engineers, providing the expertise needed ...

Marine Resource Economics (MRE) is pleased to announce the 2024 winners of the journal’s Publication of Enduring Significance Award:  Kenneth Ruddle, Edvard Hviding, and Robert E. Johannes for their 1992 article, “Marine Resources Management in the Context of Customary Tenure,” and Frank Asche for his 2008 contribution entitled “Farming the Sea.”    In “Marine Resources Management in the Context of Customary Tenure,” Ruddle, Hviding, and Johannes use a case study-based analysis to show how and why customary marine sea ...

Health-care professionals who work with people experiencing homelessness know many of the people may also be living with a mental health disorder. University of Calgary researchers wanted to better understand how often these two things are connected, and what they found surprised them. “We found 66-to-75 per cent of people who are experiencing homelessness have an underlying mental health condition” says Dr. Dallas Seitz, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and clinician-researcher at the Cumming School of Medicine, and senior author of the paper. “We have always ...

The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon was the largest accidental oil spill in history. With almost 100 million gallons (379 million liters) of oil combined with dispersants suggested to remain in the Gulf, it is one of the worst pollution events ever. More than a decade later, its long-term effects  are still not fully understood. In a new study, researchers from Louisiana State University and Tulane University examined the endemic Gulf of Mexico fish species that may have been most impacted by the oil spill to see how their distribution has changed over the years. To get their data, they studied museum specimens from natural ...

CAMBRIDGE, MA — Have you ever felt reluctant to share ideas during a meeting because you feared judgment from senior colleagues? You’re not alone. Research has shown this pervasive issue can lead to a lack of diversity in public discourse, especially when junior members of a community don’t speak up because they feel intimidated. Anonymous communication can alleviate that fear and empower individuals to speak their minds, but anonymity also eliminates important social context and can quickly skew too far in the other direction, leading to toxic or hateful speech. MIT ...

Animal and plant populations have been extensively studied, which has helped to understand ecosystem processes and evolutionary adaptations. However, this has not been the case with microbial populations due to the impossibility of isolating, culturing and analyzing the genetic content of the different species and their individuals in the laboratory. Therefore, although it is known that populations of microorganisms include a great diversity, this remains largely uncharacterized. Now, a new study from the Institut de Ciències del Mar (ICM-CSIC) recently published in the journal Microbiome highlights the potential of marine microbial populations as indicators ...

Twin studies have proven invaluable for teasing out the effects of both genetics and the environment on human biology. In a study published April 2 in Cell Reports, researchers studied pairs of twins to look at how the interplay of genetics and environment affect cognitive processing—the way that people think. They found that some cognitive abilities appear to be regulated more by environmental factors than by genetics. “Past research has suggested that general intelligence—often referred to as intelligence quotient or IQ—has a heritability ranging from 50% to 80%,” says senior and corresponding author Xiaohong Wan of Beijing Normal University in China. ...

LA JOLLA (April 18, 2024)—Salk Institute Professor Satchidananda Panda has been named a 2023 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. Panda is among 502 new AAAS Fellows spanning 24 scientific disciplines who were nominated by their peers for their distinguished efforts to advance science. The election recognizes his contributions to the field of chronobiology, particularly for applications to obesity and human health.  “The Salk community congratulates ...

A new urine test that measures 18 genes associated with prostate cancer provides higher accuracy for detecting clinically significant cancers than PSA and other existing biomarker tests, according to a study published April 18 in JAMA Oncology. The urine test, MyProstateScore 2.0 (MPS2), was shown to meaningfully reduce unnecessary prostate biopsies while providing highly accurate detection of worrisome prostate cancers, the researchers concluded.    “In nearly 800 patients with an elevated PSA level, the new test was capable of ruling out the presence of clinically significant prostate cancer with remarkable accuracy. This allows patients to avoid more burdensome and ...

Milan, April 17 2024 – The study, published in Nature Energy, is among the first to explore the FPV at the continental scale, finding that FPV installed at existing major reservoirs could produce 20-100% of the electricity expected from Africa’s planned hydropower dams.  Using a state-of-the-art energy planning model covering the continent’s entire energy system, the researchers found that FPV is cost-competitive with other renewables and thus a key part of Africa’s future energy mix. "Floating solar is fast becoming cost-competitive with land-based solar, and ...

Scientists in Cambridge University suggest molecules, vital to the development of life, could have formed from a process known as graphitisation. Once verified in the laboratory, it could allow us to try and recreate plausible conditions for life's emergence.  How did the chemicals required for life get there?   It has long been debated how the seemingly fortuitous conditions for life arose in nature, with many hypothesises reaching dead ends. However, researchers at the University of Cambridge have now modelled how these conditions could occur, producing the necessary ingredients for life in substantial ...

A geo-environmental scientist from Japan has composed a string quartet using sonified climate data. The 6-minute-long composition—entitled “String Quartet No. 1 “Polar Energy Budget”—is based on over 30 years of satellite-collected climate data from the Arctic and Antarctic and aims to garner attention on how climate is driven by the input and output of energy at the poles. The backstory about how the composition was put together publishes April 18 in the journal iScience as part of a collection “Exploring the Art-Science Connection.” “I strongly hope that this manuscript marks a significant turning point, transitioning ...

A new ancient species of snake dubbed Vasuki Indicus, which lived around 47 million years ago in the state of Gujarat in India, may have been one of the largest snakes to have ever lived, suggests new research published in Scientific Reports. The new species, which reached an estimated length of between 11 and 15 metres, was part of the now extinct madtsoiidae snake family, but represented a distinct lineage that originated in India. Debajit Datta and Sunil Bajpai describe a new specimen recovered from the Panandhro Lignite Mine, Kutch, Gujarat State, India, which dates ...

About The Study: The findings of this study with 322 participants suggest that racial discrimination predisposes Black young adults to metabolic syndrome via sleep problems and inflammation, which may serve as actionable targets for prevention in minoritized populations that could reduce existing disparities and promote health equity.  Authors: Nia Heard-Garris, M.D., M.B.A., M.Sc., of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/  (doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.5288) Editor’s Note: Please ...

About The Study: In this cross-sectional study using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for 10,000 cancer survivors, only 4% of cancer survivors adhered to all four American Cancer Society nutrition and physical activity guidelines, with the mean number of guidelines met being 2.0. Improved understanding of guideline adherence and its determinants may guide oncologists and general internists in providing recommendations for their patients who have completed cancer treatments.  Authors: Kathryn Norman, M.D., of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is the corresponding author.  To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...

ANN ARBOR, Michigan — Researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center have developed a new urine-based test that addresses a major problem in prostate cancer: how to separate the slow-growing form of the disease unlikely to cause harm from more aggressive cancer that needs immediate treatment.   The test, called MyProstateScore2.0, or MPS2, looks at 18 different genes linked to high-grade prostate cancer. In multiple tests using urine and tissue samples from men with prostate cancer, it successfully identified cancers ...

Findings of substantial variability in pathology AI models’ performance based on race, insurance type and age group serve as a “call to action” to researchers and regulators to improve medical equity Large foundation models that incorporate a richer level of detail may mitigate disparities between different demographic groups and enhance model accuracy.   Advanced artificial intelligence (AI) systems have shown promise in revolutionalizing the field of pathology through transforming the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease; however, the underrepresentation of certain patient populations in pathology ...

Making ever smaller and more powerful chips requires new ultrathin materials: 2D materials that are only 1 atom thick, or even just a couple of atoms. Think about graphene or ultra-thin silicon membrane for instance. Scientists at TU Delft have taken an important step in application of these materials: they can now measure important thermal properties of ultrathin silicon membranes. A major advantage of their method is that no physical contact needs to be made with the membrane, so pristine properties can ...

A new study published in the scientific journal Addiction has found that people who are maltreated as children may be three times more likely to be admitted to hospital for alcohol and substance use disorders by the age of 40, compared with those who are not maltreated. The study used data from over 6,000 children born at the Mater Mothers Hospital, Brisbane, Australia between 1981 and 1983.  Ten percent of those children (609 children) had at least one child maltreatment notification (reported or substantiated) up to 15 years of age. Compared with the rest of the children, those 609 ...