Someday, people might finally say goodbye to defrosting the freezer or scraping frost off slippery surfaces. Northwestern University engineers have developed a new strategy that prevents frost formation before it begins.  In a new study, the researchers discovered that tweaking the texture of any surface and adding a thin layer of graphene oxide prevents 100% of frost from forming on surfaces for one week or potentially even longer. This is 1,000 times longer than current, state-of-the-art anti-frosting surfaces. As an added bonus, ...

The development of primate brains is shaped by various inputs. However, these inputs differ between independent breeders, such as great apes, and cooperative breeders, such as the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) and humans. In these species, group members other than the parents contribute substantially to raising the infants from birth onwards.   A group of international researchers led by Paola Cerrito from the University of Zurich’s Department of Evolutionary Anthropology studied how such social interactions map onto brain development in common marmosets. The study provides new insights into the relationship between the timing of brain development ...

LEUVEN October 31st  - Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by a progressive loss of nerve cells leading to a decline in memory and cognition. A team of researchers at KU Leuven and VIB explored the molecular sequence of events in this cellular demise and identified specific inhibitors that could prevent the loss of nerve cells in different mouse models of the disease. The findings open up new research avenues in the search for therapies that could halt or prevent the accumulation of brain damage occurring in ...

Unlike oceans, lakes are significant emitters of CO₂. But why is this the case, and what mechanisms are at play? For the first time, UNIL scientists have successfully explained the complete carbon cycle in Lake Geneva, creating a model that can be applied to several of the world's largest lakes. Contrary to previous beliefs, it is the natural erosion of rocks that is responsible for the significant CO2 emissions from Lake Geneva and many of the world's large lakes. This study provides the missing piece for understanding the carbon cycle in lakes. The LéXPLORE lake platform in Switzerland played a major role in this discovery of international ...

Unseen and ongoing, thousands of times every second: to keep a complex organism like humans alive, an immense number of new cells must be continuously produced. Up close, each of these cell divisions is nothing short of a miracle. Within just a few hours, not only must the entire genome – billions of “letters” long – be replicated, but most other cellular structures must be doubled so that, in the end, two complete daughter cells can emerge. Just before division, two complex protein structures, known as centrosomes, emerge, forming two opposing poles in the mother cell. These centrosomes grow long protein filaments, the spindle apparatus, ...

As we age, it becomes more difficult to remember where things are—whether it’s recalling where we left the keys or where we parked the car. This spatial memory deteriorates further with the onset of dementia, a condition that someone in the world develops every three seconds, according to Alzheimer’s Disease International. Researchers at two EPFL labs have joined forces to give a boost to spatial memory by creating a unique experimental setup that combines non-invasive deep-brain stimulation,  virtual reality training, and fMRI imaging—all housed within Campus Biotech in Geneva. Published in Science Advances, the study demonstrates that targeted, ...

An international research team led by QuTech has demonstrated a network connection between quantum processors over metropolitan distances. Their result marks a key advance from early research networks in the lab towards a future quantum internet. The team developed fully independently operating nodes and integrated these with deployed optical internet fibre, enabling a 25 km quantum link. The researchers published their findings in Science Advances. The internet allows people to share information (bits) globally. A future quantum internet will enable sharing quantum information (qubits) over a new type of network. Such qubits ...

Black patients are less likely than white patients to receive medical tests that doctors use to diagnose severe disease, such as sepsis, researchers at the University of Michigan have shown.   Because of the bias, some sick Black patients are assumed to be healthy in data used to train AI, and the resulting models likely underestimate illness in Black patients. But that doesn't mean the data is unusable—the same group developed a way to correct for this bias in data sets used to train AI.   These new insights are reported in a pair of studies: one published ...

HOUSTON ― The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Research Highlights showcases the latest breakthroughs in cancer care, research and prevention. These advances are made possible through seamless collaboration between MD Anderson’s world-leading clinicians and scientists, bringing discoveries from the lab to the clinic and back. Epigenetic targets and genomic stem cell pathways drive adult hair regeneration Retrotransposons are interspersed repeating sequences that make up over 40% of the human genome. Proper tissue regeneration requires ...

Toronto, ON, October 30, 2024 – Three Baycrest leaders are among those named winners of Women Executive Network’s (WXN) prestigious 2024 Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards, celebrating exceptional leadership and groundbreaking achievements that have meaningfully transformed their industries, companies, communities and country. Dr. Allison Sekuler, President and Chief Scientist, Baycrest Academy for Research and Education and President and Chief Scientist, Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, powered by Baycrest (CABHI) Dr. ...

Cold damage is a major challenge in rice production, and identifying key gene modules in signaling pathways is a crucial means of addressing this issue. A Chinese research team has recently discovered a part of the plant’s cell membrane that helps plants sense when it's cold. This cell membrane component, known as the COLD6-OSM1 module, triggers the production of a special molecule, 2',3'-cAMP, which helps plants sense and respond to low temperatures. This secondary messenger is a key upstream component that mediates the signaling pathway by directly responding to signals ...

A new study in Nature finds that up to 215 million hectares of land (an area larger than Mexico) in humid tropical regions around the world has the potential to naturally regrow. That much forest could store 23.4 gigatons of carbon over 30 years and also have a significant impact on concerns like biodiversity loss and water quality. The study showed that more than half of the area with strong potential for regrowth was in five countries: Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, China, and Colombia.  “Tree planting in degraded landscapes can be costly. By leveraging natural regeneration techniques, nations can meet their ...

A heart attack can trigger a desire to get more sleep, allowing the heart to heal and reduce inflammation—and this happens because the heart sends special signals to the brain, according to a new Mount Sinai study. This research is the first to demonstrate how the heart and brain communicate with each other through the immune system to promote sleep and recovery after a major cardiovascular event. The novel findings, published October 30 in Nature, emphasize the importance of increased sleep after a heart attack, and suggest that sufficient sleep should be a focus of post-heart-attack clinical management ...

A new analysis led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has revealed detailed 3D maps of the internal structures of multiple tumor types. These cancer atlases reveal how different tumor cells — and the cells of a tumor’s surrounding environment — are organized, in 3D, and how that organization changes when a tumor spreads to other organs. The detailed findings offer scientists valuable blueprints of tumors that could lead to new approaches to therapy and spark a new era in the field of cancer biology, according to the researchers. The study is part of a group of 12 papers published Oct. 30 in the Nature suite of journals by members ...

The wider Caucasus region, between the Black and the Caspian Seas, connects Europe, the Near East and Asia. It displays a huge geographic, ecological, economic, cultural, and linguistic range today, from the steppe zone in the north, the Caucasus mountains in the center, to the highlands of today’s Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Iran in the south. This diversity was no different in the past, where the archaeological record attests to many different influences from many surrounding regions. “It is precisely this interface of different eco-geographic features ...

Cancers are diseases of abnormal cellular growth, and although many are treatable or even curable, their origins are not necessarily clear. Understanding the precise timing of cellular events—as cells transition from normal to cancerous conditions—is key to uncovering new treatments or diagnostic opportunities. Scientists from Vanderbilt University, led by Mirazul Islam, a graduate student mentored by Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology Ken Lau and Professor of Medicine Robert Coffey, have laid the groundwork for understanding and predicting the natural transition between precancers and cancer.  They showed that colorectal cancer is likely to ...

The brain constantly engages in dialogue with the body’s immune system. Such communication appears aimed at ensuring a delicate balance between defending against injury and infection and guarding healthy tissue. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have revealed how the two strike a healthy balance. The study, in mice, found that fragments of immune-stimulating proteins – dubbed guardian peptides – are produced by the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system to maintain ...

A new study published in Nature unveils a surprising discovery: a substantial amount of meltwater is temporarily stored within the Greenland Ice Sheet during summer months. For the first time, an international group of researchers was able to quantify meltwater with positioning data. The finding challenges current models of how ice sheets contribute to global sea level rise. The Greenland Ice Sheet is currently the largest single contributor to global sea-level rise, with the potential to raise the mean sea level by up to seven meters if it fully melts. While ...

Geneticists from Trinity College Dublin, together with an international team of researchers, have deciphered the prehistory of aurochs – the animals that were the focus of some of the most iconic early human art – by analysing 38 genomes harvested from bones dating across 50 millennia and stretching from Siberia to Britain.  The aurochs roamed in Europe, Asia and Africa for hundreds of thousands of years. Adorned as paintings on many a cave wall, their domestication to create cattle gave us a harnessed source of muscle, meat and milk. Such ...

In rural Africa, where livelihoods are often tied directly to the land, environmental degradation poses a critical threat to both ecosystems and people’s well-being. New research reveals ways to tackle the dual challenges of land degradation and poverty. In rural Africa, where livelihoods are often tied directly to the land, environmental degradation poses a critical threat to both ecosystems and people’s well-being. A new study co-authored by researchers at Stanford University and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD) analyzes how ...

For the first time, scientists have tracked what happens to stem cells decades after a transplant, lifting the lid on the procedure that has been a medical mystery for over 50 years. Insights could pave the way for new strategies in donor selection and transplant success, potentially leading to safer, more effective transplants.  Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and their collaborators at the University of Zurich were able to map the behaviour of stem cells in recipients’ bodies up to three decades post-transplant, ...

A gene called COLD6 contributes to cold tolerance in rice, potentially offering a pathway to use molecular design to breed a rice variety with higher resistance to cold stress. This work appears October 30 in the Cell Press journal Molecular Cell. “Cold damage is a major challenge in rice production, and identifying key gene modules in signalling pathways is a crucial step in addressing this issue,” says senior study author Kang Chong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “Our research focused on uncovering the molecular mechanism behind crops’ response to cold stress. We hope to ...

New York, NY [October 30, 2024]—Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered a way that ovarian cancer tumors manipulate their environment to resist immunotherapy and identified a drug target that could overcome that resistance. The study, published in the October 30 online issue of Cell [DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.10.006], used a cutting-edge spatial genomics technology and preclinical animal models, with tumor specimens from ovarian cancer patients further validating the findings. The researchers found that ovarian cancer cells produce a molecule called Interleukin-4 (IL-4), which is typically ...

About The Study: This study found that testosterone prescription data through prescription drug monitoring programs was accessible to law enforcement without basic safeguards (such as a warrant or subpoena) in nearly half of states. The ease of access to this sensitive medical information raises privacy, care quality, and civil liberties concerns, especially amid the proliferation of gender-affirming care bans. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Katie McCreedy, MPH, email mccreedy.k@northeastern.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2024.20035) Editor’s ...

About The Study: In this cohort study, the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) had strong psychometric properties in patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation, including reliability, responsiveness, and validity. These data support use of the KCCQ in patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation as a measure of their symptoms, function, and quality of life and also for assessing the impact of interventions, such as transcatheter tricuspid valve intervention, in rigorously controlled trials.  Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding ...