UCL Press Release Under embargo until Friday 9 February, 00:01 UK time Industrial pollution leaves its mark in Mediterranean corals For the first time, pollutants from burning fossil fuels have been found embedded in corals, offering scientists a potential new tool to track the history of pollution, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, identified carbon particles emitted by burning fossil fuels embedded in the corals of Illa Grossa Bay, off the Columbretes Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. Finding this type of pollution – known as fly-ash or spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs) ...

Recent breakthroughs in spatial biology technology have transformed biomedical research; however, legal disputes are preventing small, innovative companies from advancing new technologies and ideas. Ongoing litigation poses a threat to the progress of even the most promising scientific technologies and the potential discoveries they could enable, according to the authors of the exclusive article titled “Sounding an Alarm Over Spatial Biology,” in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN). Click here to read the article ...

SAN ANTONIO, Feb. 8, 2024 – More than one out of three people have pre-diabetes, characterized by abnormal blood sugar levels not yet in the diabetes range – and yet associated with significant increases in eye, kidney and neuropathic diseases, and risk of cardiovascular death. Moreover, the number of people with the condition is expected to double by 2030, with prevalence substantially higher in minority populations, including Hispanics. Both pre-diabetes and diabetes are considered global epidemics. As pre-diabetes largely is underdiagnosed and undertreated, ...

ROCKVILLE, MD – February 8, 2024 – The American Association for Anatomy (AAA) is honored to announce its 2024 awards recipients. Eighteen of the association’s 2,455 members have been selected because they advanced AAA’s values: community, respect, inclusion, integrity, and discovery.   The AAA awards program provides over $650,000 in awards, research grants, and scholarships annually. Many recipients go on to achieve significant success in their careers.  "We, as anatomy ...

BOTHELL, WA, Feb. 8, 2024 — Athira Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHA), a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegeneration, today announced publication of research highlighting the neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of ATH-1105 in preclinical models of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The original research article, “ATH-1105, a small-molecule positive modulator of the neurotrophic HGF system, is neuroprotective, preserves neuromotor function, and extends survival in preclinical models of ALS,” authored by Berthiaume, A., and Reda, S., et al., was published ...

DURHAM, N.C. – You know that package warning that oral birth control won’t prevent STIs? Well in the case of gonorrhea, the sexually transmitted bacterium that causes the disease can use those hormones to help it resist antibiotic attacks. Like many bacteria, this bug, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is equipped with pumps to push the killing chemicals out of its cells. But what’s unique, according to a Duke and Emory study online this week in Nature Communications, is that the hormones of the human urogenital tract actually allow gonorrhea to make and use more of these pumps to fight intrinsic ...

The Fannie and John Hertz Foundation today announced 45 finalists for the 2024 Hertz Fellowships in applied science, mathematics and engineering. Selected from more than 860 applicants and representing 21 universities, the finalists advance to a culminating round of interviews for one of the most competitive and coveted doctoral fellowships in the nation. The 2024 class of Hertz Fellows will be announced in May. Since 1963, the Hertz Foundation has granted fellowships empowering the nation’s most promising young ...

Lung tumors called adenocarcinomas sometimes respond to initially effective treatments by transforming into a much more aggressive small cell lung cancer (SCLC) that spreads rapidly and has few options for treatment. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a mouse model that illuminates this problematic process, known as histological transformation. The findings advance the understanding of how mutated genes can trigger cancer evolution and suggest targets for more effective treatments. The researchers, whose results were published ...

Argonne is part of a multi-institutional effort to survey the sky for clues about the origins and nature of our universe. For more than five years, scientists at the South Pole Telescope in Antarctica have been observing the sky with an upgraded camera. The extended gaze toward the cosmos is picking up remnant light from the universe’s early formation. Now researchers have analyzed an initial batch of data, publishing details in the journal Physical Review D. The results from this limited dataset hint at even more powerful future insights about the nature of our universe. The telescope at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, which is operated by the National ...

AUSTIN, Texas — The Management Department in the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin has long been recognized as a powerhouse for research excellence and teaching innovation. Now, it holds a new distinction. It is the first academic department in the business school to be named as the result of a generous gift. The newly named Rozanne and Billy Rosenthal Department of Management has been made possible by a $25 million gift from two married Longhorns, Rozanne Rosenthal, B.S. ’74, and Billy Rosenthal, BBA ’72. ...

AUSTIN, Texas -- In recognition of her research and scholarship, Laura Starks, a professor of finance at The University of Texas at Austin, was recently named a fellow of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). She is among eight new fellows selected from academia in Europe and the United States. ECGI, founded in 2002, is an international scientific nonprofit association that serves as a forum on corporate governance among academics, legislators, and practitioners. Starks is the George Kozmetsky Centennial University Distinguished Chair in the McCombs School of ...

PFAS have earned the name “forever chemicals” with good reason — the man-made compounds, which can take thousands of years to degrade and are found in everything from grease-resistant food packaging to water-repellent clothing, have made their way into nearly half the U.S. tap water supply. Now, in a study featured in Elsevier’s Journal of Hazardous Materials, New Jersey Institute of Technology chemists have demonstrated a new lab-based method to detect traces of PFAS from food packaging material, water and soil samples in just three minutes or less. Researchers say their approach could ...

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, ...