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Accessed on 26 March 2019, 1645 UTC.
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Spotlight Science News
Scientists shine new light on how cells coordinate eye growth in fish
New insight on how cells work together to control growth in the eyes of fish has been published today in eLife.
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Widespread losses of pollinating insects in Britain
Many insect pollinator species are disappearing from areas of Great Britain, a new study has found.
Scientists uncover novel strategy to target common type of cancer
Researchers have identified a protein critical for the survival of a particular type of tumor cell, according to a study published today in eLife.
What happened before the Big Bang?
A team of scientists has proposed a powerful new test for inflation, the theory that the universe dramatically expanded in size in a fleeting fraction of a second right after the Big Bang. Their goal is to give insight into …
Probiotic bacteria evolve inside mice’s GI tracts
Probiotics—which are living bacteria taken to promote digestive health—can evolve once inside the body and have the potential to become less effective and sometimes even harmful, according to a new study from Washington …
Mouse study examines the underpinnings of hallucinations
Hallucinations result in dramatic disruptions in perception and cognition, but the changes in brain activity that underlie such alterations are not well understood. In a study publishing March 26 in the journal Cell Reports, …
Cellular microRNA detection with miRacles
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short noncoding regulatory RNAs that can repress gene expression post-transcriptionally and are therefore increasingly used as biomarkers of disease. Detecting miRNAs can be arduous and expensive as …
A CNN-based method to detect end-to-end multiplayer violence
Researchers at China University of Petroleum (CUP), in Beijing, have recently developed a new method for multiplayer violence detection based on deep 3-D convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Their method was presented in …
‘Aneurysm Number’ may help surgeons make treatment decisions
Aneurysms form as abnormal bulges or balloonings over an artery, and, if ruptured, can lead to serious health complications or even death. Some aneurysms can exist for a long time without rupturing, and the surgery involved …
Metal nanoclusters can be used as semiconductors: Key properties observed for first time
Tiny nanoclusters of metal atoms—such as gold and silver—have properties which mean they can be used as semiconductors, a joint Swansea-Hamburg research team has discovered.
Function decoded: Protein influences growth processes and hormonal signalling
The working group under Junior Professor Dr. Mathias Beller from the University of Düsseldorf has analyzed the function of a lipid droplet-associated protein. They used fruit flies to demonstrate that the protein has a major …
‘Scuba-diving’ lizard can stay underwater for 16 minutes
A Costa-Rican lizard species may have evolved scuba-diving qualities allowing it to stay underwater for 16 minutes, according to faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
Ancient trash mounds suggest climate change could have hastened fall of part of Byzantine Empire
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Israel has found evidence that suggests rapid climate change might have been a factor in the fall of part of the Byzantine Empire. In their paper published in …
Sweden leads the world in saving extremely preterm babies
The survival rate among extremely preterm babies has greatly improved in Sweden, a country that offers top-class neonatal care, a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the esteemed journal JAMA reports.
Contraceptive jewelry could offer a new family planning approach
Family planning for women might one day be as simple as putting on an earring.
Discovery of life-extension pathway in worms demonstrates new way to study aging
An enzyme-blocking molecule can extend the lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans roundworms by as much as 45 percent, largely by modulating a cannabinoid biological pathway, according to a study from scientists at Scripps Research.
European Parliament adopts copyright reform in blow to big tech
The European Parliament on Tuesday adopted copyright reforms championed by news publishers and the media business, in defiance of the tech giants that lobbied against it.
Mechanism of impaired wound healing in diabetes identified
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified a mechanism that can explain the impaired wound healing in diabetes which can lead to diabetic foot ulcers. The study is published in the scientific journal Proceedings …
Evidence found of neurogenesis in people up to age 87
A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Spain has found evidence of neurogenesis in the brains of people right up to old age. In their paper published in the journal Nature Medicine, the group describes …
New app can secure all your saved emails
While an empty email inbox is something many people strive for, most of us are not successful. And that means that we probably have stored away hundreds, even thousands, of emails that contain all kinds of personal information …
Blood cells the missing link in post–exercise boost
A discovery about how exercise improves brain function could be harnessed for research into ageing, and boosting learning and memory.
Sound sense: Brain ‘listens’ for distinctive features in sounds
For humans to achieve accurate speech recognition and communicate with one another, the auditory system must recognize distinct categories of sounds—such as words—from a continuous incoming stream of sounds. This task …
Study finds no causal link between smoking and dementia
It’s an irrefutable fact that smoking is bad for you. Study after study has proven that smoking increases your risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes—even blindness.
Trained musicians perform better—at paying attention
Musical training produces lasting improvements to a cognitive mechanism that helps individuals be more attentive and less likely to be distracted by irrelevant stimuli while performing demanding tasks. According to a new …
Race at the edge of the sun: Ions are faster than atoms
Scientists at the University of Göttingen, the Institut d’Astrophysique in Paris and the Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno have observed that ions move faster than atoms in the gas streams of a solar prominence. The results …
Antipsychotic meds found to be effective against bacteria that cause meningitis
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in France has found that a class of antipsychotic drugs known as phenothiazines was successful in treating a form of meningitis in mice when used with antibacterial …
Simulating nature’s cosmic laboratory, one helium droplet at a time
Two astronomers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and from the University of Jena have found an elegant new method to measure the energy of simple chemical reactions, under similar conditions as those encountered …
More children could mean higher risk of heart disease
Parents who have five or more children may face a higher risk of heart disease than those who have only one or two keiki, according to new findings by public health researchers in the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work …
Asteroids, hydrogen make great recipe for life on Mars
A new study reveals asteroid impacts on ancient Mars could have produced key ingredients for life if the Martian atmosphere was rich in hydrogen. An early hydrogen-rich atmosphere on Mars could also explain how the planet …
Gold soaks up boron, spits out borophene
In the heat of a furnace, boron atoms happily dive into a bath of gold. And when things get cool, they resurface as coveted borophene.
4 hours ago in Nanomaterials