A Perspective article published today in Nature Geoscience tackles the longstanding issue of gender representation in science, focusing on the field of ice core science. Prior work has shown that despite progress toward gender parity over the past fifty years1, women continue to be significantly underrepresented within the discipline of Earth sciences2 and receive disproportionately fewer opportunities for recognition, such as invited talks, awards, and nominations3. This lack of opportunity can have long-term negative impacts on women’s careers. To help address these persistent gender gaps, the study evaluates patterns related to women’s publication in ice core science over the ...

Ahab hunting down Moby Dick. Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner. Learning Latin. Walking over hot coals. Standing in a long line for boba tea or entrance to a small, overpriced clothing retail store. Forking up for luxury nonsense. What do these activities have in common? They’re all examples of the overvaluation of what economists call “sunk costs”: the price you’ve already irretrievably paid in time, money, effort, suffering or any combination of them for an item, an experience or a sense of self-esteem.   It’s a ...

An intense international effort to improve the resolution of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for studying the human brain has culminated in an ultra-high resolution 7 Tesla scanner that records up to 10 times more detail than current 7T scanners and over 50 times more detail than current 3T scanners, the mainstay of most hospitals. The dramatically improved resolution means that scientists can see functional MRI (fMRI) features 0.4 millimeters across, compared to the 2 or 3 millimeters typical of today's standard 3T fMRIs. "The NexGen 7T scanner is a new tool that allows us to look at the brain circuitry underlying different diseases of the brain with ...

During the nearly five decades of its operation, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Hamburg has developed many fruitful collaborations with other scientific institutions located in the Hamburg metropolitan area. One example is the long-lasting collaboration between researchers at EMBL Hamburg and the Center for Biobased Solutions (CBBS) at the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), which has recently yielded new insights into the structure and function of a lipid-degrading enzyme found in a microbe adapted to living in extreme conditions. The findings could help improve ...

The return of bluefin tuna to Northern European waters is a conservation success story, but rising sea temperatures in their Mediterranean nursery grounds mean this recovery may be short-lived, according to new research led by the University of Southampton. Temperatures expected in the Mediterranean within the next 50 years are expected to drive juvenile tuna out of the Mediterranean, where they may be accidentally caught in existing sardine and anchovy fisheries – requiring fishery managers to adapt their methods to allow tuna nurseries to establish. Outlining the research, published in Nature, lead author Clive Trueman, Professor of Geochemical Ecology ...

A new study published in the journal Gut has shed light on the complex relationship between serum lipids, lipid-modifying targets, and cholelithiasis, a common condition characterized by the formation of gallstones. The study, led by researchers at the First Hospital of Jilin University, employed a combination of observational and Mendelian randomization (MR) approaches to comprehensively assess these associations. Cholelithiasis is a prevalent hepatobiliary disorder that primarily affects Western populations. It is a significant risk factor for cholangiocarcinoma, ...

With images - the visual assets can be downloaded by clicking on this WeTransfer link:https://we.tl/t-mbRtSW5BzO *See further information at end of release for captions and required pic credits  A Leeds researcher is keen to help beekeepers shape their practices following his study which appears to disprove the widespread belief that honeybees naturally insulate their colonies against the cold. His findings suggest that the creatures are potentially being subjected to thermally-induced ...

A large amount of the heavy automobile pollution from Copenhagen’s Bispeengbuen thoroughfare goes straight into people's homes. This, according to a study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen. A sensor developed by one of the researchers can help fill in the blanks of our understanding about local air pollution. Air pollution cuts the lives of more than four thousand Danes short every year. Locally, we have a very limited understanding how many harmful substances waft in the air we breath. Indeed, air pollution is only monitored at fourteen locations across Denmark. This ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Despite the many challenges they face, slightly more than half of unmarried low-income couples with children have positive co-parenting relationships, a new study found.   And those supportive relationships were linked to their children showing more empathy, less emotional insecurity and fewer behavior problems.   Parents who are good co-parents work together as a team, provide support to each other and back up each other’s parenting decisions, said Susan Yoon, lead author of the study and associate professor of social work at The Ohio State University.   Those types of relationships may be particularly hard for the parents in this study, ...

A common concern about gender-affirming hormone therapy for transmasculine people is the risk of red blood cell volume changes and erythrocytosis, a high concentration of red blood cells, with the use of prescribed testosterone. However, Mount Sinai researchers have found that testosterone treatment may be safer than previously reported, with results published today in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Mount Sinai researchers from the Division of Endocrinology and Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery examined the relationship between the use of testosterone as part ...

AMES, Iowa — During Orange City’s three-day tulip festival each May, the northwest Iowa town attracts roughly 40,000 visitors, more than six times its population. People come for the blooms and parades, traditional Dutch food and musical theater. For the community, it’s an opportunity to celebrate its cultural heritage and give a boost to local businesses. Volunteers are essential to the festival’s success, as they are for many rural celebrations across the Midwest. But not a lot of research has examined their motivations. To help fill this gap, researchers surveyed hundreds of volunteers from 12 festivals — including ...

DANVERS, Mass. –  Nov. 27, 2023 – Abiomed, part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech[1], announces the first patient in the world has been enrolled in the landmark RECOVER IV randomized controlled trial (RCT). The on-label, two-arm trial will randomize 548 patients to assess whether Impella support prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is superior to PCI without Impella in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) cardiogenic shock. Impella is the only mechanical circulatory support device for the treatment of AMI cardiogenic ...

HOUSTON – (Nov. 27, 2023) – An international team of scientists led by Rice University’s Matteo Pasquali has won a $4.1 million grant to optimize carbon nanotube synthesis, a process that could help drive the green energy transition by providing more sustainable alternatives to materials dependent on heavy industry. The award is a joint effort by The Kavli Foundation, with a $1.9 million Kavli Exploration Award in Nanoscience for Sustainability, and Rice’s Carbon Hub, which contributed an additional $2.2 million. “The energy transition is primarily a material transition,” Pasquali said. “Renewable energy ...

​​​​​​Hair products often contain ingredients that easily evaporate, so users may inhale some of these chemicals, potentially posing health repercussions. Now, researchers have studied emissions of these volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including siloxanes, which shine and smooth hair. The scientists report in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology that using these hair care products can change indoor air composition quickly, and common heat styling techniques — straightening and curling — increase VOC levels even more. Some ...

CHICAGO – Stronger quadriceps muscles, relative to the hamstrings, may lower the risk of total knee replacement, according to research being presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Researchers said the findings could inform strength-training programs for people with advanced arthritis in the knee. Advanced knee osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and disability worldwide. In the U.S. alone, 14 million adults have symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, and more than half of those diagnosed are projected to eventually undergo total knee replacement surgery. While stronger muscle groups are generally understood ...

CHICAGO – Black patients underwent medical imaging for cognitive impairment years later than white and Hispanic patients and were less frequently tested with MRI, according to research being presented this week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). Previous studies have shown that Black patients are at increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia. They are less likely to have a diagnosis and are diagnosed at a more advanced stage of disease compared to white patients. Medical ...

About 1 in 10 prescription drugs — mainly brand-name and expensive drugs and those for rare diseases — has a manufacturer-sponsored patient support program, which usually includes financial, nursing and educational supports. "In an era where policy-makers are grappling with escalating drug prices and budgetary impacts globally, the pharmaceutical industry promotes patient support programs as adding complementary value to a drug through supporting medication adherence and enhancing clinical outcomes, patient experience or quality of life," ...

Health Canada increased maximum residue limits for glyphosate in some crops, such as oats and beans, in 2021 despite concerns about the health impact of glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). The World Health Organization's (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer regards these pesticides as genotoxic, meaning they can damage DNA and are likely carcinogenic. "Health Canada's PMRA considers pesticide sales and risk evaluation data in Canada to be confidential business information, and independent researchers cannot access these data, even through the Access to Information Act. Such ...

Stem cells can differentiate to replace dead and damaged cells. But how do stem cells decide which type of cell to become in a given situation? Using intestinal organoids, the group of Bon-Kyoung Koo at IMBA and the Institute for Basic Science identified a new gene, Daam1, that plays an essential role, switching on the development of secretory cells in the intestine. This finding, published on November 24 in Science Advances, opens new perspectives in cancer research.   Our bodies are, in some ways, like cars – to keep functioning, they need to be checked and repaired regularly. In the case of our bodies, ...

The Fens of eastern England, a low-lying, extremely flat landscape dominated by agricultural fields, was once a vast woodland filled with huge yew trees, according to new research. Scientists from the University of Cambridge studied hundreds of tree trunks, dug up by Fenland farmers while ploughing their fields. The team found that most of the ancient wood came from yew trees that populated the area between four and five thousand years ago. These trees, which are a nuisance when they jam farming equipment during ploughing, contain a treasure trove of perfectly preserved ...

A new study led by UCL researchers confirms that autistic people experience a reduced life expectancy, however the number of years of life lost may not be as high as previously claimed. The research, published in The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, is the first to estimate the life expectancy and years of life lost by autistic people living in the UK. The team used anonymised data from GP practices throughout the UK to study people who received an autism diagnosis between 1989 to 2019. They ...

Plants have no visual organs, so how do they know where light comes from? In an original study combining expertise in biology and engineering, the team led by Prof Christian Fankhauser at UNIL, in collaboration with colleagues at EPFL, has uncovered that a light-sensitive plant tissue uses the optical properties of the interface between air and water to generate a light gradient that is 'visible' to the plant. These results have been published in the journal Science. The majority of living organisms (micro-organisms, plants and animals) have the ability to determine the origin of a light source, even in the absence of a sight organ comparable to the eye. This information is invaluable ...

E. coli bacteria may be far more capable at evolving antibiotic resistance than scientists previously thought, according to a new study published in Science on November 24. Led by SFI External Professor Andreas Wagner, the researchers experimentally mapped more than 260,000 possible mutations of an E. coli protein that is essential for the bacteria’s survival when exposed to the antibiotic trimethoprim. Over the course of thousands of highly realistic digital simulations, the researchers then found that 75% of all possible evolutionary paths of the E. coli protein ultimately ...

Blame it on plate tectonics. The deep ocean is never preserved, but instead is lost to time as the seafloor is subducted. Geologists are mostly left with shallower rocks from closer to the shoreline to inform their studies of Earth history. “We have only a good record of the deep ocean for the last ~180 million years,” said David Fike, the Glassberg/Greensfelder Distinguished University Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. “Everything else is just shallow-water deposits. So it’s really important to understand the bias that might be present when we look ...

Addressing the long-standing “dolomite problem,” an oddity that has vexed scientists for nearly 200 years, researchers report that dolomite crystals require cycling of saturation conditions to grow. The findings provide new insights into how dolomite is formed and why modern dolomite is primarily found in natural environments with pH or salinity fluctuations. Dolomite – a calcium magnesium carbonate – is one of the major minerals in carbonate rocks, accounting for nearly 30% of the sedimentary carbonate minerality in Earth’s crust. However, despite its geological abundance, dolomite does not readily grow under laboratory conditions, ...