Although energy production from wind and solar has grown rapidly in the United States, its integration into the national electric grid has been impeded by poor grid interconnection policies, leaving thousands of new facilities for generating renewable energy waiting to be connected to the grid.  In a Policy Forum, Les Armstrong and colleagues highlight the interconnection problem and discuss whether federal grid policy reforms alone are enough to address it. Armstrong et al. argue that while the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) recent orders to improve this bottleneck are a step in the right direction, fundamental issues remain unaddressed. In the ...

In the gut, dozens of strains of bacteria exert different effects on the immune system that in turn impact our health – fending off pathogens, helping digest food and maybe even influencing behavior. But pinpointing which bacteria exert which effects has been challenging. Better understanding this process could lead to a powerful way to treat a host of diseases. For developing a method by which to zero in on individual gut bacterium’s impacts on T cells, Kazuki Nagashima, a senior research scientist at Stanford University, is the winner of this year’s NOSTER & Science Microbiome ...

New research describes for the first time how a spreading wave of disruption and the flow of fluid in the brain triggers headaches, detailing the connection between the neurological symptoms associated with aura and the migraine that follows. The study also identifies new proteins that could be responsible for headaches and may serve as foundation for new migraine drugs. “In this study, we describe the interaction between the central and peripheral nervous system brought about by increased concentrations of proteins released ...

Researchers led by Yasuhiro Murakawa at the RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) and Kyoto University in Japan and IFOM ETS in Italy have discovered several rare types of helper T cells that are associated with immune disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and even asthma. Published July 4 in Science, the discoveries were made possible by a newly developed technology they call ReapTEC, which identified genetic enhancers in rare T cell subtypes that are linked to specific immune ...

In recent years global warming has left its mark on the Antarctic ice sheets. The "eternal" ice in Antarctica is melting faster than previously assumed, particularly in West Antarctica more than East Antarctica. The root for this could lie in its formation, as an international research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute has now discovered: sediment samples from drill cores combined with complex climate and ice-sheet modelling show that permanent glaciation of Antarctica began around 34 million years ago – ...

Curious bits of DNA tucked inside genomes across all kingdoms of life historically have been disregarded since they don’t seem to have a role to play in the competition for survival. Or so researchers thought. These DNA pieces came to be known as “selfish genetic elements” because they exist, as far as scientists could tell, to simply reproduce and propagate themselves, without any benefit to their host organisms. They were seen as genetic hitchhikers that have been inconsequentially passed ...

A previously unknown mechanism by which proteins from the brain are carried to a particular group of sensory nerves causes migraine attacks, a new study shows. This may pave the way for new treatments for migraine and other types of headaches. More than 800,000 Danes suffer from migraines – a condition characterised by severe headache in one side of the head. In around a fourth of all migraine patients, headache attacks are preceded by aura – symptoms from the brain such as temporary visual or sensory disturbances preceding the migraine attack by 5-60 minutes. While ...

The complexity of the melodies of the most popular songs each year in the USA — according to the Billboard year-end singles charts — has decreased since 1950, a study published in Scientific Reports suggests. Madeline Hamilton and Marcus Pearce analysed the most prominent melodies (usually the vocal melody) of songs that reached the top five positions of the US Billboard year-end singles music charts each year between 1950 and 2022. They found that the complexity of song rhythms and pitch arrangements decreased over this period as the average number of notes ...

Firstly, the authors provided a detailed explanation of the experimental methods and procedures. This study recruited 30 healthy subjects (15 males and 15 females), aged between 20 to 50 years, with an average age of 42 ± 6.58 years. All participants had no severe visual or auditory impairments and were right-handed. The subjects met the biometric standards for astronaut candidates and were rigorously screened. The experiment used Unity 3D to model the space station, simulating the internal scenes of the space station. The subjects started from the core node module and found the laboratory module I, where they operated the Space Raman Spectrometer ...

Plastic items from around the world are continuously washing ashore on Norwegian coastlines. This reflects a much larger systemic issue facing the nations of the world. Scientists have long reported the consequences of plastic pollution and the urgent need for intervention, but global plastic production and consumption continue to rise. This underscores the importance of Norway’s advocacy for a global agreement that guarantees stopping the flow of plastics into the environment. But Norway also has a responsibility in generating plastic pollution. In a study conducted ...

A new study of curriculum reading material at the University of Glasgow finds that 94% of recommended Tropical Ecology authors are white, and that 80% of authors are affiliated with universities outside of the tropics. Dr Stewart White, Senior Lecturer at the School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Glasgow, UK, intends to change that. “Tropical rainforest research was long the preserve of rich white men and the resulting literature was the same,” says Dr White. “This historical bias in tropical research and publication is still ...

New research reveals how the surprising internal anatomy of the helmeted hornbill’s casque allows it to withstand damage during aerial jousting battles with rivals. Researchers hope that this new understanding can help to conserve this critically endangered species, as well as provide new insights into developing impact-resistant bio-mimetic materials. “When I started in Hong Kong, I visited City University of Hong Kong (HKU)’s conservation forensics group to chat about their research and they introduced me to this amazing bird, to its ...

Researchers have discovered the unique nanostructures responsible for the electric blue spots of the bluespotted ribbontail ray (Taeniura lymma), with possible applications for developing chemical-free colouration. The team are also conducting ongoing research into the equally enigmatic blue colouration of the blue shark (Prionace glauca). Skin colouration plays a key role in organismal communication, providing life-critical visual clues that can warn, attract or camouflage. Bluespotted ribbontail ...

Painting roofs white or covering them with a reflective coating would be more effective at cooling cities like London than vegetation-covered “green roofs,” street-level vegetation or solar panels, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. Conversely, extensive use of air conditioning would warm the outside environment by as much as 1 degree C in London’s dense city centre, the researchers found. The research, published in Geophysical Research Letters, used a three-dimensional urban climate model of Greater London to test the thermal effects of different passive and active urban heat management systems, including painted “cool roofs,” rooftop solar panels, ...

One of the challenges of cramming smarter and more powerful electronics into ever-shrinking devices is developing the tools and techniques to analyze the materials that make them up with increasingly intimate precision. Physicists at Michigan State University have taken a long-awaited step on that front with an approach that combines high-resolution microscopy with ultrafast lasers. The technique, described in the journal Nature Photonics, enables researchers to spot misfit atoms in semiconductors with unparalleled precision. Semiconductor physics labels these atoms as “defects,” which sounds negative, but they’re ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Treating cancer can sometimes feel like a game of Whac-A-Mole. The disease can become resistant to treatment, and clinicians never know when, where and what resistance might emerge, leaving them one step behind. But a team led by Penn State researchers has found a way to reprogram disease evolution and design tumors that are easier to treat. They created a modular genetic circuit that turns cancer cells into a “Trojan horse,” causing them to self-destruct and kill nearby drug-resistant ...

Pancreatic cancer is a particularly aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancer, in part because it is often resistant to chemotherapy. Now, researchers at Stanford have revealed that this resistance is related to both the physical stiffness of the tissue around the cancerous cells and the chemical makeup of that tissue. Their work, published on July 4 in Nature Materials, shows that this resistance can be reversed and reveals potential targets for new pancreatic cancer treatments. “We found that stiffer tissue can cause pancreatic cancer cells to become resistant to chemotherapy, while softer tissue made ...

A research team led by Osaka University discovered that the new organic molecule thienyl diketone shows high-efficiency phosphorescence. It achieved phosphorescence that is more than ten times faster than traditional materials, allowing the team to elucidate this mechanism. Osaka, Japan – Phosphorescence is a valuable optical function used in applications such as organic EL displays (OLEDs) and cancer diagnostics. Until now, achieving high-efficiency phosphorescence without using rare metals such as iridium and platinum has been a significant challenge. Phosphorescence, which occurs when a molecule transitions ...

More than two hundred international experts will take part in the 10th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP2024), a scientific summit organized by the UB Institute of Cosmos Sciences (ICCUB), which will be held in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Biology at the University of Barcelona from 8 to 12 July. This meeting, hosted by the UB for the first time, will bring together world experts in the fields of nuclear physics and hadronic physics to discuss the latest advances in theory, experimentation and technology ...

Findings published in a new peer-reviewed paper in the British Journal of Educational Studies challenges the idea that academically selective schools are necessary for clever pupils to achieve good outcomes. Selective schools are government-funded schools that enrol only the highest performing students. Pupils take a standardized entrance exam, from which the best-scoring are enrolled. Some argue that selective schools are necessary for bright pupils to reach their full academic potential. Selective schools can ...

One of the greatest mysteries of science could be one step closer to being solved. Approximately 80% of the matter in the universe is dark, meaning that it cannot be seen. In fact, dark matter is passing through us constantly – possibly at a rate of trillions of particles per second. We know it exists because we can see the effects of its gravity, but experiments to date have so far failed to detect it. Taking advantage of the most advanced quantum technologies, scientists from Lancaster University, the University of Oxford, and Royal Holloway, ...

This accolade highlights her pioneering research in the use of a diverse array of advanced microscopy techniques to uncover fundamental biophysical processes. Currently holding a prestigious EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) Australia Group Leader fellowship, Dr Ananthanarayanan leads one of the largest and most dynamic research group in the EMBL Australia Node in Single Molecule Science, based in the Department of Molecular Medicine in the School of Biomedical Sciences. Her research, which focuses on motor proteins and cytoskeleton dynamics, has set new standards ...

Recently, a research team led by Dr. ZHU Yingjie from the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences has published a study in Neuron, the study presents a comprehensive transcriptional profile of the lateral septum (LS) at the single-cell level, elucidating the spatial distribution of its major neuronal types. The study shows that neurons expressing estrogen receptor 1 (LSEsr1), predominantly located in the ventral subregion of LS, play a crucial role in reward-seeking and methamphetamine (METH) addiction. In 1954, psychologists Olds and Milner discovered the brain's reward system through intracranial ...

Utilization of biomass as the basic feedstock for the production and chemicals and energy storage has been demonstrated to be an important alternative to achieve sustainable society, which has attracted increasing interests in both academic and industrial communities for decades. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), one of the most important bio-based platform compounds, could serve as a bridge feedstock between biomass resources and chemicals. It is possible to synthesize a series of high-value added chemicals from HMF through hydrogenation, ...

Tokyo, Japan—A research team from Japan, including scientists from Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE 6501, Hitachi), Kyushu University, RIKEN, and HREM Research Inc. (HREM), has achieved a major breakthrough in the observation of magnetic fields at unimaginably small scales. In collaboration with National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the team used Hitachi’s atomic-resolution holography electron microscope—with a newly developed image acquisition technology and defocus correction algorithms—to visualize ...