UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Despite their reputation as buzzing nuisances, flies serve a critical role as some of the Earth’s most prolific pollinators — and new research led by Penn State scientists suggests they are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures. In a study recently published in the Journal of Melittology, an international team of researchers looked at the heat tolerance for a variety of species of bees and flies in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Their findings suggest that rising temperatures pose a greater threat to flies than bees, as bees can tolerate much higher temperatures than flies and have a ...

The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) is establishing eight new Research Units. This was decided by the DFG Joint Committee on the recommendation of the Senate. The new Research Units will receive total funding of approximately €30 million, including a 22-percent programme allowance for indirect project costs. In addition to these eight newly created Research Units, it was decided to extend two Research Units and one Clinical Research Unit for a second funding period. Two of the newly established Research Units and one that has been extended receive funding under the framework of the ...

A recent perspective published Nov. 13 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal, asserts that today's artificial intelligence systems have finally realized Alan Turing's vision from over 70 years ago: machines that can genuinely learn from experience and engage in human-like conversation. Authored by Bernardo Gonçalves from the University of São Paulo and University of Cambridge, the paper also sheds light on how current energy-hungry transformer-based systems contrast with Turing's prophecy of machines that would develop intelligence naturally, like human children. Gonçalves' ...

Quantum walks are a powerful theoretical model using quantum effects such as superposition, interference and entanglement to achieve computing power beyond classical methods. A research team at the National Innovation Institute of Defense Technology from the Academy of Military Sciences (China) recently published a review article that thoroughly summarizes the theories and characteristics, physical implementations, applications and challenges of quantum walks and quantum walk computing. The review was published Nov. 13 in Intelligent Computing, a Science Partner Journal, in an article titled “Quantum Walk Computing: Theory, Implementation, and Application”. As ...

We know a lot about how much fossil-derived carbon is emitted to the atmosphere but less about how much is stored in human-made products. In a study publishing December 20 in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Sustainability, ecological economists estimate that each year, humans add around 400 million tons of fossil carbon to long-lasting products such as plastics, buildings, and human infrastructure. Although these products could be considered a “carbon sink,” proper waste management is essential ...

Northwestern University engineers are the first to successfully demonstrate quantum teleportation over a fiberoptic cable already carrying Internet traffic. The discovery introduces the new possibility of combining quantum communication with existing Internet cables — greatly simplifying the infrastructure required for distributed quantum sensing or computing applications. The study will be published on Friday (Dec. 20) in the journal Optica. “This is incredibly exciting because nobody thought it was possible,” said Northwestern’s Prem Kumar, who led the study. “Our work ...

About The Study: The findings of this cross-sectional study underscore significant disparities and gaps in biennial mammography screening for women ages 40 to 49. Two-fifths of women in this age group did not receive biennial screening. Lower biennial screening rates were observed among racial and ethnic minority populations, sexual minority populations, rural residents, and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. To optimize early breast cancer detection, ensuring equitable adherence to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations is crucial. Corresponding Author: To ...

About The Study: This study found that early adoption and implementation of Tobacco 21 (T21) policies (minimum age of 21 for legal access to tobacco products) maximizes potential premature mortality reductions. However, the strength of T21 policies and enforcement varies widely across states. Enforcement of the federal T21 law is critical in the 8 states without state-level T21 cigarette policies of their own.   Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Jamie Tam, PhD, email jamie.tam@yale.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link ...

Artificial intelligence can provide critical insights into how complex mixtures of chemicals in rivers affect aquatic life – paving the way for better environmental protection.  A new approach, developed by researchers at the University of Birmingham, demonstrates how advanced artificial intelligence (AI) methods can help identify potentially harmful chemical substances in rivers by monitoring their effects on tiny water fleas (Daphnia).   The team worked with scientists at the Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES), in China, and the Hemholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), in Germany, to analyse ...

December 20, 2024 — For women undergoing breast reconstruction after mastectomy, older age is associated with small but significant increases in certain complications, reports a study in the January issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer. Older women may be less satisfied with the appearance of the reconstructed breasts, ...

Academics from Northumbria University are part of an international research team which has used data from satellites to track changes in the thickness of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Global warming is causing the Ice Sheet to melt and flow more rapidly, raising sea levels and disturbing weather patterns across our planet. Because of this, precise measurements of its changing shape are of critical importance for tracking and adapting to the effects of climate warming. Scientists have now delivered the first measurements of Greenland Ice Sheet thickness change using CryoSat-2 and ICESat-2 – the ESA and ...

A new prediction model for infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) in patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) offers a groundbreaking approach to improving patient outcomes. Developed by a team of researchers across eight Chinese hospitals, the model harnesses five early clinical indicators—respiratory rate, temperature, serum glucose, calcium, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN)—to identify high-risk patients within 24 hours of hospital admission. The study, recently published in eGastroenterology, analyzed data from over 3,000 patients diagnosed with AP between 2017 and 2023. Researchers employed advanced statistical methods, including LASSO regression and multivariate analysis, to develop ...

Using an AI tool, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have analysed brain images from 70-year-olds and estimated their brains’ biological age. They found that factors detrimental to vascular health, such as inflammation and high glucose levels, are associated with an older-looking brain, while healthy lifestyles were linked to brains with a younger appearance. The results are presented in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association. Every year, over 20,000 people in Sweden develop some form of dementia, with Alzheimer’s disease accounting for approximately two-thirds of cases. However, the speed at which ...

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory infections, particularly in infants, children under 5 years, and older adults. Its rapid spread makes RSV a serious public health concern. Currently, there are no effective medications for RSV, and current treatment focuses on providing supportive care and preventing its spread. In a recent study, authors from the Chinese Academy of Medical Science and Peking Union Medical College, Nanjing Medical University, Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention of the Chinese Center ...

Scientists have discovered a way to remove toxic compounds from potatoes, making them safer to eat and easier to store. The breakthrough could cut food waste and enhance crop farming in space and other extreme environments. Potato plants naturally produce chemicals that protect them from insects. The chemicals, called steroidal glycoalkaloids, or SGAs, are found in high quantities in the green parts of potato peels, and in the sprouting areas. They render the potatoes unsafe for insects as well as humans.  "These compounds are critical for plants to ward off insects, but they ...

The war in Ukraine is causing hunger thousands of miles from the battlefields, according to a study released today. Nearly three years of war in the “breadbasket of the world” has left croplands destroyed and forced laborers who grow, harvest and process a bounty of wheat, barley and oats to flee. Combined with export bans from other countries, ripple effects resonated through global trade and upended food supply systems. But understanding how far those disruptions reached, who suffered and who gained has been difficult. Researchers at Michigan State University’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability (CSIS) lead a unique effort, relying ...

TORONTO, December 20, 2024 — The unspoken rule for women of colour in academia is to be everything to everyone – mentor, diversity champion, tireless scholar, and silent workhorse, says York University equity studies Assistant Professor Yvonne Su in her recent paper published today in Nature Human Behaviour. “We are expected to carry the banner of inclusion, but we are not truly included. Inclusion, as it’s currently defined, is about optics, not transformation,” observes Su in the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies. “It’s about showing diversity on the surface ...

Leuven, 20 December 2024- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons. The average life span after diagnosis of this incurable disease is two to five years. In the relentless pursuit of understanding the cause of motor neuron death, scientists from KU Leuven and the VIB Center for Brain and Disease Research have identified an intriguing new lead: tiny, antenna-like structures 0n cells called primary cilia. Their study, published in Brain, could open a potential new avenue for therapeutic development. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s ...

The aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system, which uses geothermal heat as a renewable energy source, is one of the solutions to reducing fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emission. This system stores heat underground in aquifers, using groundwater as a heat medium. The heat is then extracted as needed according to the season to efficiently heat and cool buildings. Its use is mainly expanding in Europe, and its widespread introduction is expected in Japan. However, regular inspection is required to utilize ...

A brotherly research duo has discovered that when the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produces top quarks – the heaviest known fundamental particles – it regularly creates a property known as magic. This finding, published in Physical Review D, has implications for the progression of quantum computing, with magic being a measure that describes how difficult a quantum system is for a non-quantum computer to calculate. “The higher the magic, the more we need quantum computers to describe the behaviour,” explains Professor Martin White, from the University ...

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have discovered that a protein which mediates the transport of alkali metal ions, such as potassium, and halides ions across plant membranes acts similarly to a protein found in animals. The protein is a cation-chloride cotransporter (CCC), and these are present in all cellular life forms. Some CCCs are able to transport two types of ions, both potassium and halide chloride, while others can also transport a third – sodium. The selectivity of plant CCCs has been controversial, and it was previously understood ...

Communities up and down the West Coast of the United States can expect the potent storms known as atmospheric rivers to evolve as the climate warms. But residents in Southern California will see much different changes than residents in more northerly locations like Seattle. New research, led by scientists at the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), found that warming conditions will increase evaporation of ocean waters and significantly alter atmospheric rivers to the south. Farther north, however, atmospheric rivers will be most influenced by rising temperatures in the ocean and atmosphere. While ...

Newly published results from a 2021 experiment led by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist have begun to reveal the particle-level processes that create the type of auroras that dance rapidly across the sky. The Kinetic-scale Energy and momentum Transport experiment — KiNET-X — lifted off from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on May 16, 2021, in the final minutes of the final night of the nine-day launch window. UAF professor Peter Delamere’s analysis of the experiment’s results was published Nov. 19 in Physics of Plasmas. “The ...

Patience — like its corollary impatience — has always been a sort of “I know it when I see it” concept. And that didn’t sit well with UC Riverside psychology researcher Kate Sweeny. “Philosophers and religious scholars call patience a virtue, yet most people claim to be impatient,” Sweeny said. “That made me wonder if maybe patience is less about being a good person and more about how we deal with day-to-day frustrations.” For purposes of her research, Sweeny sought to better define what constitutes patience, and impatience, and the factors that determine them. Impatience, ...

A new global analysis reveals that an estimated 61.8 million people in 2021 were autistic —equivalent to 1 in every 127 individuals. Conducted as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021, the research identifies autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as one of the top ten causes of non-fatal health burden for youth under 20 years old.   Key findings reveal stark disparities: the global prevalence of ASD is significantly higher among males, at 1,065 cases per 100,000 males, almost double of global prevalence among females (508 per 100,000 females). Regions like High-Income ...