An external study of Twitter in 2022 estimated that between a third and two thirds of accounts on the social media site were bots. And many of these automatons flooding social media are dispatched to sow political polarization, hate, misinformation, propaganda and scams. The ability to sift them out of the online crowds is vital for a safer, more humane (or at least more human) internet. But the recent proliferation of large language models (known as "LLMs" for short), such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s Llama, ...

Rutgers University-New Brunswick scientists have discovered a virus that caused a nationwide die-off of superworms, a common food for birds, reptiles, other pets and, more and more so, even for humans as an alternative protein source. In doing so, they pioneered a different way to search for and identify emerging viruses and pathogens in humans, plants and animals. Using chopped up beetle carcasses forming a slurry and an electron microscope cooled by liquid nitrogen, the scientists reported today in Cell that they have discovered what they have titled Zophobas morio black wasting virus. The name is derived from ...

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) Dean Mark T. Gladwin, MD, announced today the appointment of Elana J. Fertig, PhD, FAIMBE, as the new Director of the School’s Institute for Genome Sciences (IGS). She is  internationally-recognized for her work in integrating spatial multi-omics technologies with mathematical models to develop a new predictive medicine paradigm in cancer. Spatial technologies allow researchers to learn about any cell type inside of natural tissue, including gene activity ...

A multi-university research team co-led by University of Virginia engineering professor Gustavo K. Rohde has developed a system that can spot genetic markers of autism in brain images with 89 to 95% accuracy. Their findings suggest doctors may one day see, classify and treat autism and related neurological conditions with this method, without having to rely on, or wait for, behavioral cues. And that means this truly personalized medicine could result in earlier interventions. “Autism is traditionally diagnosed behaviorally but has a strong genetic basis. A genetics-first approach could ...

Zhili Feng, a distinguished R&D staff member, and Jian Chen, a senior R&D staff member, in Materials Science and Technology Division at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will receive the Elmer L. Hann Award at the Society of Naval Architects and Maritime Engineers, or SNAME, Convention on Oct. 15 in Norfolk, Virginia. SNAME plays a crucial role in promoting excellence in marine engineering and naval architecture, supporting professionals through education, research and collaboration. The award is presented to authors of the best paper on ship production delivered at a SNAME event. In September 2023, Feng and Chen presented “Develop ...

Chemical engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new treatment that traps and treats PFAS substances—widely known as “forever chemicals”—in a single, integrated system. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely used in manufacturing consumer goods like waterproof clothing due to their resistance to heat, water and stains. However, they are also pollutants, often ending up in surface and groundwater worldwide, where they have been linked to cancer, liver damage and ...

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A researcher in Purdue University’s College of Science is developing a patent-pending platform technology that mimics the dual-layer structure of viruses to deliver nucleic acid (NA)-based therapies to targeted cancer cells. David Thompson leads a team developing the carrier system called LENN. He is a professor in the James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Department of Chemistry and on the faculty of the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research and the Purdue ...

With swing states playing a pivotal role in the 2024 presidential election, new reports from the Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID) at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy have found significant voter turnout disparities between white, non-Latino voters and voters of color in all nine battleground states. The reports highlight the persistent “voter representation gap,” where voters of color remain underrepresented at the polls, despite substantial population growth. If narrowed by November, the research concludes, this gap could significantly influence election results, particularly in swing states that had particularly close ...

August 28, 2024-- A new, easy-to-use, evidence-based career assessment, the Public Health Career Explorer, has just launched to help job-seekers who are interested specifically in public health careers. The Public Health Career Explorer career assessment tool, three years in the making, was developed at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Using the well-researched O*Net MyNextMove assessment, Columbia Mailman School’s Heather Krasna, PhD, EdM, MS, associate dean of career and professional development  painstakingly matched the Holland Codes (career interest codes) for each of the specific ...

Asian Americans comprise just 6% of the U.S. population, but they represent over 60% of Americans with hepatitis B. Hepatitis B (HBV) is a virus that infects the liver, and while some people may recover from the infection, others can go on to develop liver failure or cancer. HBV is transmitted through blood, semen or other bodily fluids, but it can also be passed from mother to child during birth, which is how the majority of Asian Americans acquire the disease. Up until 2010, laws in China allowed for discrimination against people with HBV, barring adults from employment and keeping ...

MINNEAPOLIS – When taken at the first signs of a migraine, before headache pain begins, a drug called ubrogepant may be effective in helping people with migraine go about their daily lives with little or no symptoms, according to a new study published in the August 28, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study focused on people with migraine who could tell when an attack was about to happen, due to early symptoms such as sensitivity to light and sound, fatigue, neck pain or stiffness, or dizziness.    Ubrogepant ...

WASHINGTON  –  U.S. Naval Research Laboratory researcher Mark Romanczyk, Ph.D., developed new analytical methods to rapidly analyze fuels and complex petroleum products by using high-resolution mass spectrometry.   The approaches Romanczyk utilizes enable highly detailed qualitative analysis of complex mixtures in minutes. One recent method facilitated the investigation of chemical changes that occurred in weathered crude oil in terrestrial environments. Several of the methods were recently published in the ...

Preview blurb: Geisel’s new fully online 9-month MS in Implementation Science will give graduates the skills to identify and address gaps in moving evidence-based clinical practices into routine use in the real world. HANOVER, NH - “How can we more quickly and effectively move new, proven scientific evidence into routine healthcare practice? What obstacles must be overcome to embrace change and modify behavior? How can we scale a successful intervention so that more people will benefit?” These are some of the key questions future students will learn to tackle as enrollees ...

World-renowned physicians and scientists will gather at the Houston Methodist Research Institute September 17-18 to discuss pioneering research discoveries and technologies in neuroscience that have the potential to transform the field and evolve into innovative treatments for neurological disorders of all kinds. Hosted by the Houston Methodist and Rice University Center for Neural Systems Restoration, the symposium brings together experts in the field of neural circuits, neural technology and neuro-restoration. Twenty-four speakers will highlight the ...

More accurately predicting periods of increased hurricane activity weeks in advance may become possible due to new research published this month. The study, led by the U.S. National Science Foundation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NSF NCAR), shows that twice as many hurricanes form two days after the passing of large-scale atmospheric waves called Kelvin waves than in the days before. This finding may enable forecasters and emergency managers to anticipate clusters of hurricanes days to weeks in advance.  The research team used an innovative ...

Gender nonconformity in 7-year-olds — as measured by levels of gender-conforming play — may be associated with autistic traits and behavioral difficulties in girls, and with peer relationship problems in boys, according to a new study published August 28, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Marlene Stratmann of Karlstad University, Sweden, and colleagues. Gender nonconformity (GNC) refers to variations in gender expression from societal and cultural gender norms. In childhood, GNC can manifest itself in several ways, including play behavior, peer relationships, clothing, and body language. Childhood GNC does not directly indicate developing gender ...

A new study finds that, counter to expectations, geographic disparities in rates of homicides in the US have decreased in recent decades. Richard Boylan of Rice University in Houston, Texas, US, presents these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 28, 2024. Since the 1970s, gaps in economic and social wellbeing between Americans living in different regions have grown. Some researchers hypothesize that areas with reduced economic and social well-being would see higher rates of violent crime. For instance, impoverished areas with lower tax bases might receive less police protection, ...

Slow growth in health sector spending is projected in Sub-Saharan Africa as reported in a study published in the open access journal, PLOS Global Public Health. The decline is expected to continue to 2050, according to Angela E Apeagyei and researchers at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, and is driven by tepid growth in the share of government spending that is allocated to health and reductions in development assistance for health. The research analyses data from databases covering development assistance for health, global health spending and gross domestic spending (GDP) per capita ...

Diagnostic labels for people experiencing what some consider to be relatively milder forms of mental-ill health may affect how others perceive them for better and worse, according to a study published August 28, 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Nick Haslam from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues. In recent years, there’s been a general shift to increased diagnoses of mental ill-health. Here, Haslam and colleagues investigate the implications of diagnosing individuals presenting with ...

“Unhealthy commodities” such as tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, social media, and fossil fuels, as well as impacts of fossil fuel consumption such as climate change and air pollution are associated with depression, suicide, and self-harm, according to a study published August 28 by Kate Dun-Campbell from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and colleagues. Globally, around one out of every eight people currently live with a mental health disorder. These disorders—including depression, suicide, anxiety, and other diseases and disorders—can have many underlying causes. ...

Bacterial cells can “remember” brief, temporary changes to their bodies and immediate surroundings, a new Northwestern University and University of Texas-Southwestern study has found. And, although these changes are not encoded in the cell’s genetics, the cell still passes memories of them to its offspring — for multiple generations. Not only does this discovery challenge long-held assumptions of how the simplest organisms transmit and inherit physical traits, it also could be leveraged for new medical applications. For example, researchers could circumvent antibiotic resistance by subtly tweaking a pathogenic ...

If you’ve seen those viral social media videos of dogs using soundboard buttons to “talk,” you’re not alone. These buttons have taken the pet world by storm, leading to impressive and sometimes seemingly miraculous feats shared across platforms like TikTok and Instagram. But are these dogs truly communicating, or are they just responding to cues from their owners? Now, a new study published in PLOS ONE – by researchers from the University of California San Diego and other institutions – ...

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and UMass Chan Medical School have demonstrated in mice a new method to combat pancreatic cancer. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, outlines the synergistic effects of a novel nanoparticle drug-delivery system to activate an immune pathway in combination with tumor-targeting agents.    Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common form of pancreatic cancer. With a dismal,13% five-year survival rate, it is the third leading cause of cancer deaths.   One major ...

An archaeogenetic study sheds new light on the isolated medieval community Las Gobas in northern Spain. Besides isolation and endogamy, the researchers have also identified the variola virus which can offer a new explanation on how smallpox entered Iberia. Researchers from Sweden and Spain have conducted a comprehensive archaeogenetic study on a community that lived on the border between the northern Christian kingdoms and Al-Andalus during the early Medieval period. This dynamic era, especially ...

A new discovery by researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics (BDR) in Japan upends decades of assumptions regarding DNA replication. Led by Ichiro Hiratani and colleagues, the experiments published August 28 in Nature show that DNA replication in early embryos is different from what past research has taught, and includes a period of instability that is prone to chromosomal copying errors. As failed pregnancies and developmental disorders are often related to chromosomal abnormalities the findings could impact the field of reproductive medicine, perhaps leading to improved methods of in vitro fertilization (IVF). During embryogenesis, ...