WASHINGTON, Feb. 6, 2024 – Earth’s moon achieved its Swiss cheese appearance from celestial objects crashing into its surface, forming impact craters. But craters weren’t all that was left behind; the intense pressure and temperature of such a collision also impacts the rocks and dust covering the lunar surface, known as regolith, altering its mineral composition and structure. Analyzing the resulting minerals provides modern researchers clues to the moon’s past. China’s Chang’e-5, the first lunar sample ...

A new study of a 7–8-million-year-old extinct fossil ape from China called Lufengpithecus offers new insights into the evolution of human bipedalism. The study, published in The Innovation, was conducted by a team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (YICRA), and New York University (NYU). Humans and our closest relatives, the living apes, display a remarkable diversity of locomotor abilities, from walking upright on two legs to climbing and clambering in trees to walking using all four limbs. Scientists have long been fascinated ...

Artificial intelligence is growing into a pivotal tool in chemical research, offering novel methods to tackle complex challenges that traditional approaches struggle with. One subtype of artificial intelligence that has seen increasing use in chemistry is machine learning, which uses algorithms and statistical models to make decisions based on data and perform tasks that it has not been explicitly programmed for. However, to make reliable predictions, machine learning also demands large amounts of data, which isn’t always available in chemical research. Small chemical datasets simply do not provide enough information for these algorithms to train on, which limits their effectiveness. In ...

In recent years, carbon-based catalysts — especially nitrogen-doped nanocarbons — have emerged as sustainable, reliable alternatives to the metal catalysts that have traditionally been used to support chemical reactions. Researchers from the Key Laboratory of Advanced Carbon-Based Functional Materials (Fujian Province University) at Fuzhou University synthesized nanocarbons from guanine molecules to better understand the precise role nitrogen plays in the carbon-based materials and explore the reaction mechanisms of these catalytic systems.   In a recently published study, the research team clarified how different types of nitrogen can modulate oxidative dehydrogenation ...

Mucormycosis is a relatively rare but serious fungal infection increasingly recognised for its poor prognosis and high mortality. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of mucormycosis reached high levels during 2021–2022 in India.   This study led by Dr. Rizwan Suliankatchi Abdulkader (Indian Council of Medical Research) established a multicentric ambispective cohort of patients hospitalised with mucormycosis across India and reported their baseline profile, clinical characteristics, and outcomes at discharge.   Mucormycosis was diagnosed based on mycological confirmation on direct microscopy (KOH/Calcofluor white stain), ...

Research introduces new DNA methylation-based method for accurately assessing cell composition in the human pancreas, addressing a critical gap in diabetes research. By overcoming limitations of traditional protein marker-based approaches, the study provides a more precise means to identify specific cell types. The findings offer insights into beta-cell dysfunction across diabetes types and have direct clinical implications, enhancing our understanding of diabetes development and potentially guiding more tailored treatment ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Meteora sporadica is a small, unicellular eukaryote (protist) that was discovered in deep Mediterranean sea sediments in 2002. It differs from known protists by the presence of two lateral arms that swing back and forth. However, the ultrastructure and phylogenetic position of M. sporadica remain unknown. In this study, researchers successfully cultured and analyzed two strains of M. sporadica from marine sediments in detail. Ultratructural observations revealed ...

Tsukuba, Japan—Leguminous plants have a mechanism (rhizobial symbiosis) to efficiently acquire nitrogen, which is an essential macronutrient for growth, through the nitrogen-fixing bacteria rhizobia. Root nodules are organs on plant roots that facilitate the symbiotic relationship. Rhizobia coloniza these nodules and fix nitrogen by converting nitrogen from air into ammonia. Iron is needed for the enzymes that catalyze nitrogen fixation; however, where and how iron is transported to the nodule and used for nitrogen fixation is largely unknown. In this study, using the legume model plant Lotus japonicus, a transcriptome ...

PHOENIX, Feb. 6, 2024 – Eleven scientists leading the way in stroke research will be recognized during the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2024 for their exceptional professional achievements. The meeting will be held in Phoenix, Feb. 7-9, and is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health. The illustrious group of awardees includes four groundbreaking scientists who have devoted their careers to stroke research and six scientists will be recognized for their notable new research. The awards include the Ralph L. Sacco Outstanding Stroke Research ...

While wind farms have become a widely popular method of generating energy, researchers are now looking at the impact of these large farms on wind patterns and the surrounding environment. Using large-scale simulations to better understand the way air moves across and within wind farms, researchers from UBC Okanagan and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) in the Netherlands have developed a modelling framework that will help improve wind energy forecasts and productivity. The researchers also hope to learn how large wind farms can alter natural wind patterns. “Wind farms are getting so large that ...

Be front and center for the hottest research findings in the molecular life sciences at Discover BMB, the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, to be held March 23–26 in San Antonio. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the top minds in the field. Reporters are invited to register for a complimentary press pass to attend #DiscoverBMB in San Antonio or access press materials electronically. Please note that only a limited number of complementary on-site press passes will be issued, so advance registration is recommended. Find more information in the #DiscoverBMB newsroom. As part of an exciting program spotlighting the ...

Scientists have found the strongest evidence yet that our brains can compensate for age-related deterioration by recruiting other areas to help with brain function and maintain cognitive performance. As we age, our brain gradually atrophies, losing nerve cells and connections and this can lead to a decline in brain function. It’s not fully understood why some people appear to maintain better brain function than others, and how we can protect ourselves from cognitive decline. A widely accepted notion is that some people’s brains are able to compensate ...

LA JOLLA, CA—La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) is working to guide the development of new tuberculosis vaccines and drug therapies.  Now a team of LJI scientists has uncovered important clues to how human T cells combat Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB. Their findings were published recently in Nature Communications. "This research gives us a better understanding of T cell responses to different stages in tuberculosis infection and helps us figure out is there are additional diagnostic ...

Repeat concussions, also referred to as repetitive mild traumatic brain injury, can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and raise the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. However, some people who experience repetitive mild traumatic brain injury never develop major disease. Onder Albayram and colleagues investigated the role of a protein known as p17 in protecting brains from long-term pathologies. In stressed neurons, p17 initiates production of C18-Ceramide, a bioactive sphingolipid that acts as a label of damaged mitochondria in neuronal axons. Labelled mitochondria are then detected and removed by autophagosomes. The authors knocked out p17 in mice.  Some p17-knockout ...

Are cultural evolution rates similar across human societies? The emerging field of Cliodynamics uses mathematical models to study history. Tobias Wand and colleagues used a data-driven approach to estimate the rates of cultural evolution in 23 geographic areas, using data from Seshat: Global History Databank, which records nine “complexity characteristics” for 370 polities over 10,000 years, ending in the nineteenth century. The complexity characteristics are polity population; extent of polity territory; the size of the largest urban center; hierarchical complexity; the ...

Next month, scientists from around the world will convene to share new results from across the physical sciences in nearly 11,000 individual presentations. The American Physical Society’s (APS) March Meeting will be held in person in Minneapolis and online everywhere March 3-8. Discounted hotel rates are available for in-person attendees at select Minneapolis hotels near the Minneapolis Convention Center. Book your hotel by Feb. 9 to receive the discount.  Press Registration News media with valid APS press credentials may register for the meeting at no cost. To request press credentials, visit APS’s online newsroom. Registration ...

The search for habitable exoplanets involves looking for planets with similar conditions to the Earth, such as liquid water, a suitable temperature range and atmospheric conditions. One crucial factor is the planet's position in the habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water could potentially exist on the planet's surface. NASA's Kepler telescope, launched in 2009, revealed that 20–50% of visible stars may host such habitable Earth-sized rocky planets. However, the presence of liquid water alone does not guarantee a planet’s habitability. On Earth, ...

Over the past two decades, microfluidic devices, which use technology to produce micrometer-sized droplets, have become crucial to various applications. These span chemical reactions, biomolecular analysis, soft-matter chemistry, and the production of fine materials. Furthermore, droplet microfluidics has enabled new applications that were not possible with traditional methods. It can shape the size of the particles and influence their morphology and anisotropy. However, the conventional way of generating droplets in a single microchannel structure is often slow, ...

The city you live in could be making you, your family, and your friends more unconsciously racist. Or, your city might make you less racist. It depends on how populous, diverse, and segregated your city is, according to a new study that brings together the math of cities with the psychology of how individuals develop unconscious racial biases. The study, published in the latest issue of Nature Communications, presents data and a mathematical model of exposure and adaptation in social networks that can help explain why there is more unconscious, or implicit, racial bias ...

6 February 2024 The Geological Society of America Release No. 24-01 Contributed by Arianna Soldati, GSA Science Communication Fellow Boulder, Colo., USA: Earth is a stressed planet. As plates move, magma rises, and glaciers melt—just to mention a few scenarios—rocks are subject to varying pressure and compressional and extensional forces. The effect of these stresses on rock mineralogy and texture is of great interest to the tectono-metamorphic community. Yet the link between process and outcome remains elusive. There are two possible states of stress: either all principal ...

For the first time, researchers including those at the University of Tokyo discovered a way to improve the durability of gold catalysts by creating a protective layer of metal oxide clusters. The enhanced gold catalysts can withstand a greater range of physical environments compared to unprotected equivalent materials. This could increase their range of possible applications, as well as reduce energy consumption and costs in some situations. These catalysts are widely used throughout industrial settings, including chemical synthesis and production of medicines, these industries could benefit from improved gold catalysts. Everybody loves gold: athletes, pirates, bankers — everybody. ...

  In a significant leap forward for quantum nanophotonics, a team of European and Israeli physicists, introduces a new type of polaritonic cavities and redefines the limits of light confinement. This pioneering work, detailed in a study published today in Nature Materials, demonstrates an unconventional method to confine photons, overcoming the traditional limitations in nanophotonics.   Physicists have long been seeking ways to force photons into increasingly small volumes. The natural length scale of the photon is the wavelength and when a photon is forced into a cavity much smaller than ...

Promising trial results indicate that a new type of cell therapy could improve the prognosis of those who are critically ill with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) resulting from severe Covid-19. Published in the journal Nature Communications, Professor Justin Stebbing of Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is the joint senior author of the new study investigating the use of agenT-797, MiNK Therapeutic’s allogeneic, unmodified invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cell therapy. The iNKT cell therapy has the effect of rescuing exhausted T cells and prompting an anti-inflammatory cytokine response, potentially activating anti-viral immunity to ...

Law enforcement seizures of “magic mushrooms” or “shrooms” containing the psychoactive component psilocybin increased dramatically in the United States between January 2017 and December 2022, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. The number of law enforcement seizures increased from 402 seizures in 2017 to 1,396 in 2022. In addition, the total weight of psilocybin mushrooms seized by law enforcement increased ...

Seizures by law enforcement officials of psilocybin, a compound found in psychedelic mushrooms, have increased by 369% since 2017, a new study shows. The authors say their findings may signal growing availability and public awareness of the hallucinogenic drug, along with possible heightened risks associated with recreational and unsupervised use of the drug. The study was led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and other members of the National Drug Early Warning System, an organization that conducts surveillance of shifting drug trends. Their analysis of national and state-level trafficking data ...