February 8, 2024, Mountain View, CA — The SETI Institute, leading humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world, is pioneering innovative approaches to understanding our place in the cosmos. The SETI Institute is proud to support a groundbreaking project from London-based filmmaker and SETI Institute Designer of Experiences Dr. Nelly Ben Hayoun-Stépanian that combines insights from intergenerational trauma, neuroscience, quantum physics, and ...

In quantum sensing, atomic-scale quantum systems are used to measure electromagnetic fields, as well as properties like rotation, acceleration, and distance, far more precisely than classical sensors can. The technology could enable devices that image the brain with unprecedented detail, for example, or air traffic control systems with precise positioning accuracy. As many real-world quantum sensing devices are emerging, one promising direction is the use of microscopic defects inside diamonds to create “qubits” that can be used for quantum sensing. Qubits are the building blocks of quantum ...

In a win for chemistry, inventors at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, or CFRP, and later recovering all of its starting materials. A lightweight, strong and tough composite material, CFRP is useful for reducing weight and increasing fuel efficiency of automobiles, airplanes and spacecraft. However, conventional CFRPs are difficult to recycle. Most have been single-use materials, so their carbon footprint is significant. By contrast, ORNL’s closed-loop ...

Extraordinary technological innovations have driven an expansion in artificial intelligence (AI) use. At the same time, they have brought little-understood risks to every sector of the economy. Now, as part of a new consortium, University of Notre Dame researchers will help establish the advanced measurement techniques required to identify the risks associated with current AI systems and to develop new systems that are safer and more trustworthy. The consortium, called the Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (AISIC), was formed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce that works to develop standards for ...

Research Highlights: An artificial intelligence (AI) system to help guide treatment decisions for stroke patients led to improved stroke care quality and fewer recurrent strokes, heart attacks and vascular death among stroke survivors three months after a stroke. The study, conducted in hospitals in China, compared artificial intelligence-based evaluation and treatment for ischemic stroke patients to standard evaluation and treatment by the stroke care team. Embargoed until 12:16 p.m. MT/2:16 p.m. ET, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024 PHOENIX, Feb. 8, 2024 — Ischemic stroke survivors who received care recommendations from an ...

DALLAS, Feb. 8, 2024 — Announced during the NFL PLAY 60 Super Bowl LVIII Fitness Break Broadcast which aired virtually in classrooms earlier today, three schools have been recognized as national grant winners in the NFL PLAY 60 Movement Moment Matchups, a series that invited classrooms across the country to get active with the 32 NFL clubs throughout the fall. The winners are Beasley Elementary School in St. Louis, Mo., Birchview Elementary School in Ishpeming, Mich. and Shelton Elementary School in Golden, Colo. The three schools will each receive $1,000 grants to use for physical activity equipment for their school. Movement Moment Matchups ...

A new study in mice provides insights that could one day open therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in humans. For men, sexual health and well-being largely depend on the ability to attain penile erections, which can be compromised by aging and other health risk factors, including diabetes and atherosclerosis. Penile erection is controlled in part by the corpora cavernosa (CC) – erectile vascular tissue that can fill with blood and enlarge upon vasodilation. Sympathetic release of the vasoconstrictor norepinephrine suppresses penile blood flow to a basal level. Upon sexual arousal, ...

Air pollutants reduce nocturnal hawkmoth pollination of evening primrose flowers by altering the flowers’ appealing scents, according to a new study that involved field experiments in Washington state. The findings illustrate the impact of anthropogenic airborne pollutants on an animal’s olfactory ability and suggest that such pollutants may limit global pollination. Human activities have drastically altered the environment. Sensory pollutants – human-introduced noise, artificial light, and chemical pollutants – can change animal behavior and fitness by introducing new stimuli or modifying naturally ...

The 15-kilometer-long magma dike that formed beneath Grindavík, Iceland, in November 2023, which caused widespread damage and evacuation of the local population, reached an unprecedented subsurface magma flow rate of 7400 cubic meters per second, researchers report. The dike formation preceeded the more recent Sundhnúkur eruptions in December 2023 and January 2024. The study, which combined satellite-based geodetic observations and seismic measurements of the Sundhnúkur crater chain and physical modeling, shows how fracturing and tectonic stress can drive massive magma flow into dikes with only modest overpressure in the feeding magma body. According to the authors, the ...

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new fusion of materials, each with special electrical properties, has all the components required for a unique type of superconductivity that could provide the basis for more robust quantum computing. The new combination of materials, created by a team led by researchers at Penn State, could also provide a platform to explore physical behaviors similar to those of mysterious, theoretical particles known as chiral Majoranas, which could be another promising component for quantum computing. The ...

International research led by the Department of Medicine and Life Sciences (MELIS) at Pompeu Fabra University, in collaboration with Hospital del Mar, Hospital Clínic, Charité - Medical University of Berlin, and the universities of Oslo and Genoa, has developed a computational biology tool, based on multi-level network analysis, to achieve an integrated vision of multiple sclerosis. This tool could be used to study other complex diseases such as types of dementia.  Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune ...

Young children in India who suffer from life-threatening diarrhea frequently are given ineffective treatments because health providers misperceive the wishes of a child’s caregiver, according to a novel new study.   Using actors posing as child caregivers to examine the behavior of health providers in two divergent regions in India, researchers found that the perceived preferences of a child’s caregiver was a more important factor in the way a child was treated than the views of the health care provider about the best course of action.   The ...

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have discovered a previously unknown ability of a group of immune system cells, known as Atypical B cells (ABCs), to fight infectious diseases such as malaria.    The discovery provides new insight into how the immune system fights infections and brings scientists a step closer to harnessing the body’s natural defences to combat malaria.  The scientists say ABCs could also be key to developing new treatments for chronic autoimmune conditions such as lupus.  According to the researchers, ABCs have long been associated with malaria, ...

Regular erections could be important for maintaining erectile function, according to a new study on mice published in Science by researchers at Karolinska Institutet. “We discovered that an increased frequency of erections leads to more fibroblasts that enable erection and vice versa, that a decreased frequency results in fewer of these cells,” says principal investigator Christian Göritz. In a new study on mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Uppsala University in Sweden ...

In most materials, heat prefers to scatter. If left alone, a hotspot will gradually fade as it warms its surroundings. But in rare states of matter, heat can behave as a wave, moving back and forth somewhat like a sound wave that bounces from one end of a room to the other. In fact, this wave-like heat is what physicists call “second sound.”  Signs of second sound have been observed in only a handful of materials. Now MIT physicists have captured direct images of second sound for the first time.  The new images reveal how heat can move like a wave, ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – People with aphasia have more trouble coming up with words they want to use when they’re prompted by images and words that carry negative emotional meaning, new research suggests. The study involved individuals whose language limitations resulted from damage to the brain caused by a stroke – the most common cause of aphasia, affecting at least one-third of stroke survivors. The disorder impairs the expression and understanding of language as well as reading and writing. Researchers from The Ohio State University who led the study said the findings – suggesting that prompts ...

Key Takeaways  Young women under the age of 30, Black women, and women with lower education levels are disproportionately affected by intimate partner homicide during pregnancy, reflecting the need to better serve and protect these vulnerable populations.  Particularly by firearms, increasing rates of intimate partner homicide of women who are pregnant or recently pregnant are occurring in states that have limited access to abortion.  Researchers describe a ‘dire ...

While combing through the human genome in 2007, computational geneticist Pardis Sabeti made a discovery that would transform her research career. As a then postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Sabeti discovered potential evidence that some unknown mutation in a gene called LARGE1 had a beneficial effect in the Nigerian population. Other scientists had discovered that this gene was critical for the Lassa virus to enter cells. Sabeti wondered whether a mutation in LARGE1 ...

Feb. 8, 2024 Contact: Katherine McAlpine, 734-647-7087, kmca@umich.edu    Image Leader in robotics at U-M and beyond elected to National Academy of Engineering Dawn Tilbury is recognized for advances in manufacturing network control and human-robot interaction, as well as engineering leadership ANN ARBOR—Dawn Tilbury, the Ronald D. and Regina C. McNeil Department Chair of Robotics at the University of Michigan, has been recognized with one of engineering's greatest honors—election to the National Academy of Engineering.  NAE members are outstanding researchers, ...

A competitive U.S. Department of Education program that prepares undergraduate students interested in careers in academic research has selected 16 undergraduate students from The University of Texas at Arlington to join. The McNair Scholars Program was named for physicist and astronaut Ronald E. McNair, the second Black astronaut in U.S. history and one of several crew members killed when the space shuttle Challenger exploded on Jan. 28, 1986. The program assists qualified first-generation ...

ITHACA, N.Y. – Cornell University researchers have identified a new way to harness the antioxidant and antibacterial properties of a botanical compound to make nanofiber-coated cotton bandages that fight infection and help wounds heal more quickly. The findings are especially important given the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Cotton gauze is one of the most common wound dressings; it’s inexpensive, readily available, comfortable and biocompatible. However, it doesn’t promote healing or fight infection. “Cotton alone cannot provide an answer for these ...

The macrophage is one of the body’s most important inhabitants. Meaning “big eater” in Greek, this immune cell consumes and digests problematic elements from microbes and cancer cells to dust and debris. Macrophages are especially important in the lungs, where they both fight bacterial infection and clear the lungs of excess surfactant, a protein- and lipid-rich layer that’s essential to healthy function but can create a sticky buildup if not controlled. In a recent study, investigators from Rockefeller University ...

Our resilient kidneys are invaluable members of the body’s purification system, and they excel at bouncing back after injury. This even holds true for most sick infants in the neonatal intensive care unit. Because of this remarkable ability, dips in kidney function in infants were often overlooked historically in favor of other pressing diseases or symptoms. But physicians and researchers have shown increased interest in understanding kidney health in newborns and young infants within the last decade, leading to the AWAKEN study (Assessment of Worldwide Acute Kidney Epidemiology in Neonates). With initial ...

National media coverage of police brutality influences public perceptions of law enforcement more than the performance of people’s local police departments, according to data analysis from NYU Tandon School of Engineering, challenging the assumption that public confidence in police depends mostly on feeling safe from local crime. In a study published in Communications Psychology, a NYU Tandon research team tracked media coverage of police brutality in 18 metropolitan areas in the United States – along with coverage of local crimes  – and analyzed tweets from those cities to tease out positive attitudes from negative ...

Tap into any social media platform, turn on the television or cue up a podcast, and it is easy to find examples of hypocrisy or bad behavior in political discourse, and new research from University of Nebraska–Lincoln political scientists may explain why. The findings from a large survey study, co-authored by Kyle Hull, Kevin Smith and Clarisse Warren, demonstrate the willingness of people to bend their morals — even behave unethically — when engaging in the political realm. Results also suggest that hostility toward outgroups (i.e., opposing party) is the driving factor for the moral ambiguity exercised ...