SAN DIEGO, March 25, 2025 — Sugar coatings aren’t only for candies; they also help viruses, like the ones that cause COVID-19, hide from their hosts’ immune system. Now, researchers have developed a universal vaccine that targets coronaviruses and the sugars that they use as cover. As demonstrated in animal studies, the vaccine removed sugar molecules from an area of a coronavirus spike protein that rarely mutates and created effective and plentiful antibodies to inactivate the virus. Chi-Huey Wong, a chemistry professor ...

SAN DIEGO, March 25, 2025 — Plastic is everywhere. And many products we use in everyday life, such as cutting boards, clothes and cleaning sponges, can expose people to tiny, micrometer-wide plastic particles called microplastics. Now, chewing gum could be added to the list. In a pilot study, researchers found that chewing gum can release hundreds to thousands of microplastics per piece into saliva and potentially be ingested. The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical ...

SAN DIEGO, March 25, 2025 — Deep below Earth’s surface, rock and mineral formations lay hidden with a secret brilliance. Under a black light, the chemicals fossilized within shine in brilliant hues of pink, blue and green. Scientists are using these fluorescent features to understand how the caves formed and how life is supported in extreme environments, which may reveal how life could persist in faraway places, like Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. The researchers will present their results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). ACS Spring 2025 is being held March 23-27; it features about 12,000 presentations on ...

SAN DIEGO, March 25, 2025 — The upcoming U.S. Open has professional golfers and spectators looking forward to getting on the green. But the grass’ condition, regardless of a player’s skill, can drastically skew the chances of a winning putt. Now, scientists can slow the roll of a golf ball on a lightning-fast, dry course and speed it up on a sluggish, wet course thanks to a coating that soaks up water molecules without interfering with the ball’s aerodynamics. Thomas J. Kennedy III, owner of Chemical Innovative Solutions Inc., will present his results at the spring meeting of the American Chemical ...

A new published study reveals plants, fungi, bacteria, protists, and even some viruses deploy venom-like mechanisms, similar to that of venomous snakes, scorpions and spiders, according to researchers at Loma Linda University School of Medicine.   The definition of venom is a biological toxin introduced into the internal milieu of another organism through a delivery mechanism such as a sting or bite that inflicts a wound. According to lead author William K. Hayes, PhD, professor of biology for the Department of Earth and Biological Sciences at the School of Medicine, the findings show that reliance on venom for solving problems like predation, ...

Ecosystem disrupted following the disappearance of Great white sharks, new study finds Known for their powerful ability to launch out of the water in pursuit of prey, the loss of Great white sharks from False Bay in South Africa has scientists and conservationists concerned about the rippling effects on the ecosystem. Miami, Florida – A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, has uncovered evidence of far-reaching ecosystem consequences following the disappearance of Great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) from False Bay, South Africa. The research, conducted by scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel ...

By using new geometric shapes in the shock-absorbing material, researchers at the Universities of Gothenburg and Isfahan have developed a bicycle helmet that provides better protection against head injuries. The material absorbs shock by contracting bilaterally. Bicycle helmets are important for protecting cyclists from head injuries, but traditional designs have limitations in terms of impact absorption and fit. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Isfahan in Iran designed a bicycle helmet whose shock-absorbing ...

HOUSTON, Texas, USA, 25 March 2025 – Schizophrenia affects millions worldwide, yet its causes remain one of the greatest medical mysteries. In an exclusive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Consuelo Walss-Bass, a pioneering researcher in psychiatric genetics, shares how both genetic predisposition and environmental factors contribute to severe mental health disorders. As the John S. Dunn Foundation Distinguished Chair in Psychiatry at UTHealth Houston, Dr. Walss-Bass has dedicated her career to understanding these mechanisms, transforming scientific discoveries into real-world applications ...

The Super-Kamiokande and T2K Collaborations present a joint measurement of neutrino oscillation parameters from their atmospheric and beam neutrino data. It uses a common interaction model for events overlapping in neutrino energy and correlated detector systematic uncertainties between the two datasets, which are found to be compatible. Using 3244.4 days of atmospheric data and a beam exposure of 19.7(16.3) x 1020 protons on target in (anti)neutrino mode, the analysis finds a 1.9???? exclusion ...

Crashes on electric scooters are mostly due to the behaviour of the riders, with one-handed steering and riding in a group being some of the largest risk factors. The researchers are also concerned about riders who deliberately crash or cause dangerous situations when riding, a phenomenon that seems to be specific to electric scooters. This is shown by a study from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, which for the first time examines the causes behind crashes with electric scooters from naturalistic data within an urban environment. The arrival of electric scooters in cities has meant an opportunity to quickly and smoothly make shorter trips. But not ...

Abstract The National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki, Ph.D.) has revealed, through fMRI-based brain activity analysis, that multiple regions in the human cerebral cortex flexibly represent numerical quantity. This finding comes from research by HAYASHI Masamichi (Researcher (Tenure-Track)) at Center for Information and Neural Networks (CiNet), part of NICT’s Advanced ICT Research Institute, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo’s graduate student KIDO Teruaki (NICT ...

Depression is a mental health condition that affects 280 million people worldwide. It is twice as common in women than men and this pattern starts to develop during adolescence. Researchers have studied the biological processes that drive depression in adults and shown a potential role for the kynurenine pathway, but this is the first time it has been investigated in adolescents in relation to biological sex.  The study was published in Biological Psychiatry and funded by MQ Mental Health Research and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). The ‘kynurenine ...

Artisanal fishers can be almost as accurate as satellite data when it comes to their awareness of features that can be found in the marine environment, a new study has shown. Published in the journal Ocean and Coastal Management, the research set out to establish the value of local ecological knowledge (LEK) and its ability to generate high quality habitat maps around five Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea. Ten fishermen, based on their individual experience and knowledge, were asked to pinpoint areas where they believed seagrass beds could be found along the coastlines of their respective islands. The maps they produced were then compared ...

Pro-environmental behaviour increases among school students who participate in insect-related citizen science projects, according to new research from the University of Adelaide. Students who participated in citizen science project Insect Investigators, which engages students in the discovery of new insects, not only expressed an intention to change their personal behaviour but also to encourage others to protect nature. “As a result of their involvement in this program, students expressed intentions to further engage in insect–science–nature activities,” says the University of Adelaide’s Dr Erinn Fagan-Jeffries, who contributed ...

Electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECR) driven by green electricity represents a promising strategy for CO2 mitigation and utilization by producing fuels and chemicals. Tandem strategy based on multifunctional tandem catalysts or cascade reactors enables deep CO2 reduction to high-value multi-carbon products. Nevertheless, it is challenging to precisely regulate the multi-step reaction pathways toward efficient CO2 conversion. A comprehensive understanding of the tandem reaction mechanisms is crucial for guiding the rational design of advanced catalysts and reactor systems to address these challenges. This review systematically ...

A recent study published in Soil Ecology Letters has elucidated the combined effects of soil amendments and pest attacks on plant-induced defence mechanisms and their impact on the behaviour of biological control agents. The research, conducted by the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Fundación MEDINA, focused on the utilisation of vermicomposted olive mill waste as a soil amendment and its consequence on the tri-trophic interactions between olive trees (Olea europaea), ...

It plays a central role in intelligent agent systems to model agents’ epistemic states and their changes. Asynchrony plays a key role in distributed systems, in which the messages transmitted may not be received instantly by the agents. Epistemic interaction behaviors can change agents’ epistemic states, while the latter will affect the former. So far, the literature mainly focuses on formalizing the change of epistemic state after receiving information.  To model epistemic interactions between ...

Lignans are low molecular weight polyphenolic compounds with important antitumor and antiviral properties. However, their low amounts in medicinal plants and complex structures make sustainable production through plant extraction and chemical synthesis challenging, limiting their availability to meet market demand. In a study published in Nature Chemical Biology, a research group led by Prof. ZHOU Yongjin from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, collaborating with Prof. ZHANG Lei ...

Iron-dependent ferroptosis, a non-apoptotic cell death mechanism, is gaining attention for its role in immune suppression. Ferroptosis, driven by excessive lipid peroxides and iron-dependent reactive oxygen species (ROS), differs from other cell death forms in its immunogenicity. It involves the regulation of the cystine/glutamate transport system xc−, with glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) preventing toxic lipid peroxide accumulation. Ferroptosis-related factors are implicated in various diseases, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Macrophages, crucial for immune response, are affected by ferroptosis. ...

A study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, a leading journal in dementia research, has demonstrated the high accuracy of plasma p-tau217 as a blood-based biomarker for detecting abnormal brain beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). More significantly, the study validates its effectiveness even in individuals with cerebrovascular disease (CeVD), which is highly prevalent in Asian populations. This finding can enhance early diagnosis, improve patient risk stratification, and facilitate better clinical management of AD in diverse populations.   The ...

The monsoon rains have long remained the lifeblood of India, providing the lion’s share of the water used for drinking and irrigation. The yearly arrival of the rains, which quenches the thirst of the harsh summers, is caused by the movement of cloud bands from the equator towards the north. A recent study from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has shown that contrary to previous understanding, the strength of the cloud band plays a key role in its movement as well as the density of rains that the Indian subcontinent receives during the wet spells of the monsoon. India receives 80% ...

Two researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC have been elected as senior members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), an organization that recognizes inventors holding US patents and promotes academic technology and innovation to benefit society.  The newly elected senior members are Preet Chaudhary, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and the Ronald H. Bloom Family Chair in Lymphoma Research, and Michael Selsted, MD, PhD, professor of pathology.  “Professors Chaudhary and Selsted are nationally known for their entrepreneurial research, and I’m thrilled to see them acknowledged with this ...

●      Records of more than 170,000 lung cancer patients combined with chest x-ray rates from 7,400 GP practices were analysed in the new research led by the University of Sheffield ●      The study, published in the British Journal of General Practice, shows link between the frequency of chest x-rays and earlier diagnosis and improved survival ●      Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths globally   A groundbreaking study has revealed a significant link between the frequency of chest x-ray referrals from GPs ...

Polarisation in lower-income countries largely flows from economic and material issues, while social topics and identity-related debates are the most polarising subjects in richer nations, new research reveals. The study from City St George’s, University of London analysed 40 years of global data to explore how modernisation influences ideological divides, shedding light on the factors driving ideological polarisation across different nations around the world. As political divisions deepen in many countries, the study clarifies the complex, multifaceted implications ...

Abu Dhabi, UAE, March 24, 2025: Researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Microfluidics and Microdevices Laboratory (AMMLab) have developed an innovative sensing system that restores the missing tactile feedback in minimally invasive surgery (MIS), enhancing precision, ease of use, and safety. The new "off-the-jaw" system integrates force and angle sensors into the handle of laparoscopic tools, providing surgeons with real-time measurements of grasping forces and insights into tissue stiffness and thickness. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) involves small incisions, reducing ...