A new study by researchers at ProtectedSeas highlights the potential of marine radar technology to monitor speed of small vessels. The research, aimed at testing the accuracy of radar in assessing potential violations, found that the technology could detect speed violations with 95% confidence, offering a promising solution to help reduce the threat of vessel strikes on whale populations. The analysis was recently published in the journal Sensors. The impact of small vessels on whales is becoming a growing concern in busy marine environments due to the increasing number ...

The National Center to Reframe Aging — the leading organization for proven communication strategies and tools to effectively frame aging issues — is partnering with The West End Home Foundation (WEHF), an independent charitable foundation located in Nashville, Tennessee. The National Center to Reframe Aging will be a strategic partner to support the WEHF’s mission to enrich the lives of older people through grant making, advocacy, and community collaboration. Key leaders of the Tennessee Department of Disability and Aging and the Tennessee aging network will participate in educational opportunities and receive tools from the National Center ...

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 4:00 P.M. ET, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 16, 2025 MINNEAPOLIS — A new study has found important clues about the roles age, sex, hormonal changes and genetics play in how certain biomarkers for dementia are expressed in the blood, according to a study published on April 16, 2025, online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Blood tests that detect biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias are emerging and as these tests are further developed, they are becoming important tools for understanding and diagnosing ...

Large, grand-design spiral galaxies like our own Milky Way are common in the nearby Universe. But they have proven hard to find in the early Universe, which is consistent with expectations that large disks with spiral arms should take many billions of years to form. However, assistant astronomer Christina Williams of NSF NOIRLab, which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, has discovered a surprisingly mature spiral galaxy just one billion years after the Big Bang [1]. This is the most distant, earliest known ...

Iron Age purple dye "factory" in Israel was in operation for almost 500 years, using mollusks in large-scale specialized manufacturing process     Article URL: https://plos.io/44elLDX Article title: Tel Shiqmona during the Iron Age: A first glimpse into an ancient Mediterranean purple dye ‘factory’ Author countries: U.S., Israel Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work. END ...

In a new study of people with long-term vegan diets, most ate an adequate amount of total daily protein, but a significant proportion did not meet required levels of the amino acids lysine and leucine. Bi Xue Patricia Soh and colleagues at Massey University, New Zealand, present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 16, 2025. Proteins are made up of various molecular “building blocks” known as amino acids. While the human body can synthesize most of the amino acids we need to live, we completely rely on the ...

The Harvard RoboBee has long shown it can fly, dive, and hover like a real insect. But what good is the miracle of flight without a safe way to land? A storied engineering achievement by the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory, the RoboBee is now outfitted with its most reliable landing gear to date, inspired by one of nature’s most graceful landers: the crane fly.    Publishing in Science Robotics, the team led by Robert Wood, the Harry Lewis and Marlyn McGrath Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the John A. Paulson School ...

Analysis of job applicant data from one large employer suggests that a policy meant to improve employment prospects for people with criminal records did not actually lead to changes in job offers for people with records. Deborah Weiss of Northwestern University, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 16, 2025. Parts of the U.S. have introduced “Ban-the-Box” (BTB) laws, which aim to improve job prospects for people with criminal records. ...

ANN ARBOR—Ancient Homo sapiens may have benefitted from sunscreen, tailored clothes and the use of caves during the shifting of the magnetic North Pole over Europe about 41,000 years ago, new University of Michigan research shows. These technologies could have protected Homo sapiens living in Europe from harmful solar radiation. Neanderthals, on the other hand, appear to have lacked these technologies and disappeared around 40,000 years ago, according to the study, published in Science Advances and led by researchers at Michigan Engineering and the U-M Department of Anthropology. The team found ...

Astronomers have found a planet that orbits at an angle of 90 degrees around a rare pair of peculiar stars. This is the first time we have strong evidence for one of these ‘polar planets’ orbiting a stellar pair. The surprise discovery was made using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Several planets orbiting two stars at once, like the fictional Star Wars world Tatooine, have been discovered in the past years. These planets typically occupy orbits that roughly align with the plane in which their host stars orbit each ...

Astronomers have discovered a planet that orbits at a 90-degree angle around a rare pair of strange stars – a real-life ‘twist’ on the fictional twin suns of Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker’s home planet of Tatooine. The exoplanet, named 2M1510 (AB) b, orbits a pair of young brown dwarfs — objects bigger than gas-giant planets but too small to be proper stars. Only the second pair of eclipsing brown dwarfs known – this is the first exoplanet found on a right-angled path to the orbit of its two host stars. An international team of researchers led ...

A QUT-led study analysing data from NASA’s Perseverance rover has uncovered compelling evidence of multiple mineral-forming events just beneath the Martian surface – findings that bring scientists one step closer to answering the profound question: did life ever exist on Mars? The QUT research team led by Dr Michael Jones, from the Central Analytical Research Facility and the School of Chemistry and Physics, includes Associate Professor David Flannery, Associate Professor Christoph Schrank, Brendan Orenstein and Peter Nemere, together with researchers from North America and Europe. The findings were published in the prestigious journal ...

Using advanced DNA sequence analysis, a research team led by NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Assistant Professor Elizabeth Hénaff has discovered that tiny organisms in Brooklyn's highly contaminated Gowanus Canal have developed a comprehensive collection of pollution-fighting genes. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Microbiology on April 15, 2025. The team identified 455 species of microorganisms wielding 64 different biochemical pathways to degrade pollutants ...

Piezoelectric materials have long been celebrated for their ability to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy, making them indispensable in smart systems for sensing, actuation, and vibration control. However, incorporating porosity and multidirectional grading into these materials introduces a host of challenges in understanding their behavior under varying environmental conditions. These complexities are further compounded by the interaction of hygrothermal conditions with electrical and mechanical loads. As a result, there is a pressing need for more in-depth research to predict the real-world performance of these materials. Published ...

Switching from diesel to electric trains dramatically improved the air quality aboard the San Francisco Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter rail line, reducing riders’ exposure to the carcinogen black carbon by an average of 89%, finds a new study published today in the journal Environmental Science and Technology Letters.  The electrification of the system also significantly reduced the ambient black carbon concentrations within and around the San Francisco station, the study found. “The transition from diesel to electric trains occurred over just a few weeks, and yet we saw the same drop in black carbon concentrations in the station as California ...

A bioreactor that mimics a circulatory system can deliver nutrients and oxygen to artificial tissue, enabling the production of over 10 grams of chicken muscle for cultured meat applications. These results are publishing in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology on April 16. “Our study presents a scalable, top-down strategy for producing whole-cut cultured meat using a perfusable hollow fiber bioreactor,” says senior author Shoji Takeuchi of The University of Tokyo. “This system enables cell distribution, alignment, contractility, ...

Physicists in the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have created a compact laser that emits extremely bright, short pulses of light in a useful but difficult-to-achieve wavelength range, packing the performance of larger photonic devices onto a single chip. Published in Nature, the research is the first demonstration of an on-chip, picosecond, mid-infrared laser pulse generator that requires no external components to operate. The device can make what’s called an optical frequency comb, a spectrum of light consisting of equally spaced frequency lines (like a comb), used today in precision measurements. ...

About The Study: This analysis found that past-month binge drinking among young adult females in 2021-2023 was higher than males, reversing 2017-2019 patterns, whereas males in other age groups continued to binge and heavy drink at higher rates. These findings may be due to more rapid decreases in binge drinking over time among young adult males relative to females, or to plateauing or increases in binge drinking among females. Further investigation using other nationally representative surveys is needed to elucidate these explanations. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Bryant Shuey, MD, MPH, email bryant.shuey@pitt.edu. To ...

Beneath Yellowstone lies a magma reservoir, pulsing with molten and superheated rock and exsolved gases. Scientists have long known about the chamber’s existence, but have yet to precisely locate its uppermost boundary and characterize the contents of the chamber closest to the surface—information crucial for understanding the potential perils this volcanic feature poses. That changed this week with new research by seismologists from the University of Utah and the University of New Mexico (UNM) who used hundreds of portable seismometers and a mechanical vibration source to render 2D seismic reflection images of the ground beneath Yellowstone’s caldera. Using ...

A team of scientists led by Prof. LIU Zhaoping at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Chicago and other institutions, has developed zero thermal expansion (ZTE) materials. This innovation has achieved nearly 100% voltage recovery in aging lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), as detailed in a study published in Nature. LIBs have become increasingly essential in the markets for electric vehicles and aircraft. Lithium-rich layered oxide cathode materials can deliver record capacities exceeding 300 mAh/g, thanks to revolutionary oxygen-redox (OR) ...

New research from Barcelona and Dresden: Glycolysis — the process of converting sugar into energy — plays a key role in early development. More than fuel: Glycolysis doesn’t just power cells — it helps steer them toward specific tissue types at critical moments in development. Better embryo models: Stem-cell–based embryo models that rely on glycolysis form structures more similar to natural embryos. Predict and control development in a dish: These findings improve our ability to predict and control how stem-cell-based embryo models will develop, ...

About The Study: Across multinational cohorts, a noise-adapted artificial intelligence (AI)-electrocardiogram (ECG) model estimated heart failure risk using lead I ECGs, suggesting a potential heart failure risk-stratification strategy requiring prospective study using wearable and portable ECG devices. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Rohan Khera, MD, MS, email rohan.khera@yale.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamacardio.2025.0492) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, 2 hours of mother-neonate skin-to-skin contact (SSC) in the delivery room did not enhance neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 to 3 years of age. However, the SSC group demonstrated improved breastfeeding practices up to 12 months compared with standard care, suggesting that the feasible and low-cost SSC intervention should be encouraged in clinical practice. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Laila Kristoffersen, RN, PhD, email laila.kristoffersen@ntnu.no. To ...

Scientists have designed a ‘cosmic radio’ detector which could discover dark matter in 15 years.  Published today in Nature, scientists at King’s College London, Harvard University, UC Berkley and others have shared the foundation of what they believe will be the most accurate dark matter detector to date.  Dark matter is the unobservable form of matter could make up as much as 85% of mass in the Universe, but scientists are not sure exactly what it is.  Axions are one of the leading ...

As we age, blood stem cells, the essential source of new blood cells in the body, can accumulate genetic mutations. These mutations can give the cells a growth advantage, laying the foundation for developing serious health conditions. Now, scientists at The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) have not only discovered the mechanism that fuels their unchecked growth but have also found a way to stop it. Led by Jennifer Trowbridge, professor and The Dattels Family Chair at JAX, the study reported today in the April 16 issue of Nature Communications reveals that a common aging-associated mutation in the gene Dnmt3a boosts the power-generating function of mitochondria ...