Eurekalert

Belief in conspiracies about the COVID-19 pandemic increased through the early months of the U.S. outbreak among people who reported being heavy users of conservative and social media, according to research from the Annenberg Public Policy Center.

New study led by the University of South Florida finds nearly 10,000 acres of lush seagrass vanished from Florida Bay over 20 years, leading to massive ecological changes in the region near the Florida Keys.

Tiny 3-D models that mimic vital aspects of the human nervous system have been developed in a step that could accelerate drug research for neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

The potential uses of human pluripotent stem cells in medicine are hampered by the stress of growing in a cell culture dish, which can damage their DNA and lead to cell death. NCATS researchers have devised a small-molecule cocktail that can protect stem cells from stress. They suggest that the cocktail could enhance the potential uses of stem cells, ranging from treating diseases and conditions like Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury to genome editing.

A research team led by CityU scientists recently developed a new generation of microneedles technology which allows the intradermal delivery of living cells in a minimally invasive manner. Their experiment showed that vaccination using therapeutic cells through this ground-breaking technology elicited robust immune responses against tumours in mice, paving the way for developing an easy-to-use cell therapy and other therapeutics against cancers and other diseases.

Researchers are now able to wirelessly record the directly measured brain activity of patients living with Parkinson's disease and to then use that information to adjust the stimulation delivered by an implanted device. Direct recording of deep and surface brain activity offers a unique look into the underlying causes of many brain disorders; however, technological challenges up to this point have limited direct human brain recordings to relatively short periods of time in controlled clinical settings.

A grass commonly used to fight soil erosion has been genetically modified to successfully remove toxic chemicals left in the ground from munitions that are dangerous to human health, new research shows.

Two of the most destructive forces of nature - earthquakes and tsunamis - might actually be more of a threat than current estimates according to new research conducted by scientists at The University of New Mexico and the Nanyang Technological University published today in Nature Geoscience.

A Wyss Institute-led collaboration spanning four research institutions has used the Institute's Organ Chip technology to identify the antimalarial drug amodiaquine as a potent inhibitor of infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This research contributed to the inclusion of amodiaquine in ongoing COVID-19 human clinical trials in Africa, where the drug is widely available, and can be used to address future pandemics.

The idea that animals should avoid mating with relatives has been the starting point for hundreds of scientific studies performed among many species. But new research performed at Stockholm University, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, shows that there is little support for this assumption. The study provides a synthesis of 139 experimental studies in 88 species and 40 years of research, settling the debate about if and when animals should avoid inbreeding.

What The Study Did: Researchers compared the likelihood of delayed childbearing among physicians and nonphysicians.

What The Study Did: Changes in adolescents' use of e-cigarettes, cannabis and alcohol and in physical activity behaviors following the COVID-19 stay-at-home order in California are examined in this study.

What The Study Did: Inquiries to a child abuse hotline during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with inquiries during the same period the previous year are assessed in this study.

Households and not schools were the major route of transmission among children and youths with COVID-19 in Hong Kong, these study results suggest.

Study results suggest underuse of coronavirus testing in patients with fever may contribute to community transmission.

What The Study Did: This study of registry patients evaluates whether any changes in the in-hospital COVID-19 mortality rates during the first nine months of the pandemic were associated with individual characteristics of patients with COVID-19.

What The Study Did: The findings of this study suggest an association between county-level income inequality and COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals 40 different cell types in Stylophora pistillata, a reef-building stony coral native to the Indo-Pacific oceans. The calcium carbonate skeleton of stony coral colonies are the main habitat for a huge diversity of marine species. The study is the first to detect the presence of specialized immune cells in corals or any cnidaria. The findings will aid present and future conservation efforts to protect coral reef ecosystems threatened by rising temperatures and ocean acidification.

For the first time, researchers at the University of Rochester and Delft University of Technology have used 3D printers and a novel bioprinting technique to print algae into living, photosynthetic materials that are tough and resilient.

Research compares effectiveness of seeking social support in real-life versus over social media.