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Will COVID-19 eventually become just a seasonal nuisance?
Within the next decade, the novel coronavirus responsible for COVID-19 could become little more than a nuisance, causing no more than common cold-like coughs and sniffles. That possible future is predicted by mathematical models that incorporate lessons learned from the current pandemic on how our body's immunity changes over time. Scientists at the University of Utah carried out the research, now published in the journal Viruses.
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Novel immune checkpoints have applications for cancer, autoimmune disease treatment
Dr. Laijun Lai, a research professor in the Department of Allied Health Sciences in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, has used bioinformatics and gene engineering techniques to develop a series of recombinant proteins and antibodies for a novel set of checkpoint molecules for potential cancer and autoimmune disease treatment.
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Research suggests fly brains make predictions, possibly using universal design principles
New research in flies indicates that prediction may be a universal principle among animal nervous systems to enable rapid behavioral changes.
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Study: Culture influences mask wearing
Countries and US states more predisposed to collectivist behavior have more people following mask guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study co-authored by MIT Sloan Assistant Professor Jackson Lu.
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Researchers use environmental data to assess prostate cancer diagnosis factors
Environmental quality is associated with advanced-stage prostate cancer at diagnosis, according to a new study by University of Illinois Chicago researchers.
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Survey measures health care delays during pandemic's beginning
At the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, a University of Illinois Chicago researcher conducted a survey asking respondents if they experienced health care delays because of the pandemic. In addition to learning about the types of delays, the study also presented a unique opportunity to capture a historic moment at the pandemic's beginning.
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Thin is now in to turn terahertz polarization
Rice University physicists make unique broadband polarization rotators with ultrathin carbon nanotube films. The rotators extend to the terahertz, which could simplify devices for use in telecommunications, security and manufacturing.
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An updated understanding of how to synthesize value-added chemicals
New research published in Science provides an updated understanding of how to add functional groups onto simple hydrocarbons like methane. This new and highly detailed mechanism is a crucial step towards designing the next generation of catalysts and finding scalable approaches for turning greenhouse gases into value-added chemicals.
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The doctor will see you (on the computer) now: telehealth's time has come
New research from Syracuse University's Falk College and published in JMIR Human Factors indicates telehealth is here to stay, with a large number (more than 40%) of physicians surveyed indicating they plan to continue telehealth practices post-pandemic. However, concerns linger over the impact of technology market concentration on achieving the iron triangle of health care.
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AI-enabled EKGs find difference between numerical age and biological age significantly affects health
You might be older - or younger - than you think. A new study found that differences between a person's age in years and his or her biological age, as predicted by an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled EKG, can provide measurable insights into health and longevity.
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What makes some oysters more resilient than others?
Louisiana oysters from the Gulf of Mexico may experience some of the lowest salinity in the world due to the influx of fresh water from the Mississippi River. In addition, increased rainfall and large-scale river diversions for coastal protection will bring more fresh water that does not bode well for the eastern oyster. New research published this week reveals new information on why some oysters may be more resilient to freshwater than others.
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The impact of real-time feedback in employee reviews
To deliver real-time feedback to support employee development and rapid innovation, many companies are replacing formal, review-based performance management with systems that enable frequent and continuous employee evaluation. New research in the INFORMS journal Information Systems Research examines the role of these applications to understand the effects on employee performance appraisals.
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New smartphone app predicts vineyard yields earlier, more accurately
Cornell University engineers and plant scientists have teamed up to develop a low-cost system that allows grape growers to predict their yields much earlier in the season and more accurately than costly traditional methods.
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Once we're past the fear stage, where do we place the blame for the COVID-19 pandemic?
In a recent study, conducted in Poland in 2020 and published in the peer-reviewed journal Social Psychological Bulletin, scientists concluded it was the government and the system that most of the participants attributed responsibility to for the COVID-19 incidence rates. Furthermore, political views and party preferences are reported to play an incomparably more significant role in their responses than factors such as anxiety, stress and depression levels or overall self-reported well-being.
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Total deaths due to COVID-19 underestimated by 20% in US counties
More than 15 months into the pandemic, the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 is nearing 600,000. But COVID-19 deaths may be underestimated by 20%, according to a new, first-of-its-kind study from Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH), the University of Pennsylvania, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
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Accounting for finance is key for climate mitigation pathways
A new study published in the journal Science highlights the opportunity to complement current climate mitigation scenarios with scenarios that capture the interdependence among investors' perception of future climate risk, the credibility of climate policies, and the allocation of investments across low- and high-carbon assets in the economy.
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ALMA discovers the most ancient galaxy with spiral morphology
Analyzing data obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers found a galaxy with a spiral morphology by only 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. This is the most ancient galaxy of its kind ever observed. The discovery of a galaxy with a spiral structure at such an early stage is an important clue to solving the classic questions of astronomy: "How and when did spiral galaxies form?"
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A new form of carbon
A new allotrope of carbon has been produced by a European team. Like graphene, it is only one atom thick, but unlike graphene it behaves like a metal even at small scales, ideal for nanosized wires. This result is exciting for engineers trying to develop new carbon-based electronics and the new method demonstrates a novel way to produce other theoretically-designed but not-yet-created forms of nanoscale carbon materials
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Global acceleration in rates of vegetation change
Wherever ecologists look, from tropical forests to tundra, ecosystems are being transformed by human land use and climate change. A hallmark of human impacts is that the rates of change in ecosystems are accelerating worldwide. Surprisingly, a new study, published today in Science, found that these rates of ecological change began to speed up many thousands of years ago.
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Compound commonly found in candles lights the way to grid-scale energy storage
A compound used widely in candles offers promise for a much more modern energy challenge--storing massive amounts of energy to be fed into the electric grid as the need arises. In a paper in Science, researchers show that low-cost organic compounds hold promise for storing energy that would kick in when the grid goes offline due to severe weather, and for storing renewable energy.
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