Brain
When scientists discovered the gene that causes cystic fibrosis in 1989, they were optimistic that a cure was on the horizon. As the years rolled by, hundreds of mutations were identified in the gene, but new treatments were slow to emerge and a cure has yet to materialize. One major reason for the delay is that scientists have had trouble figuring out precisely where the gene is active. Now they know.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Seismic waves are helping researchers uncover the mysterious subsurface history of the Tibetan Plateau, possibly lending insight to future earthquake activity in the region.
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have found a better way to identify atomic structures, an essential step in improving materials selection in the aviation, construction and automotive industries.
The findings of the study could result in greater confidence when determining the integrity of metals.
Chemical engineers testing methods to improve efficiency of diesel engines while maintaining performance are getting help from a summer staple: Tiki torches.
A team of engineers at the University of Notre Dame is using the backyard torches as part of an effort to mimic the soot oxidation process in a diesel engine -- when soot in diesel exhaust collects in the walls of a particulate filter and has to be burned off -- according to a study recently published in Catalysts.
New-generation lung cancer drugs have been effective in a large number of patients, but within about a year, the patients tend to develop resistance to the therapy. Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science, in collaboration with physicians, have conducted a study in mice, in which they used existing drugs in a new combination to help crush potential resistance to the treatment. Their findings were published recently in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.
UPTON, NY--Theoretical physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Brookhaven National Laboratory and their collaborators have just released the most precise prediction of how subatomic particles called muons--heavy cousins of electrons--"wobble" off their path in a powerful magnetic field. The calculations take into account how muons interact with all other known particles through three of nature's four fundamental forces (the strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, and electromagnetism) while reducing the greatest source of uncertainty in the prediction.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN- July 13, 2018- The behavior of people who remain committed to a choice, even when it is clear that an alternate choice would be a better option, has been a perplexing phenomenon to psychologists and economists. For example, people will continue to wait in the slow line at a grocery store, stick out an unhealthy relationship, or refuse to abandon an expensive, wasteful project - all because such individuals have already invested time, effort, or money. This well-known cognitive phenomenon termed the "sunk cost fallacy" has long been considered a problem unique to humans.
Think of it like a geological mystery story: For decades, scientists have known that some 25,000 years ago, a massive ice sheet stretched to cover most of Canada and a large section of the northeastern United States, but what's been trickier to pin down is how - and especially how quickly - did it reach its ultimate size.
One clue to finding the answer to that mystery, Tamara Pico said, may be the Hudson River.
Army ant (Eciton) soldiers are bigger but do not have larger brains than other workers within the same colony that fulfill more complex tasks, according to a study published in the open access journal BMC Zoology. A collaborative team of researchers led by Drexel University in Philadelphia, US and German colleagues suggests that because the very specific and limited tasks soldiers fulfill place limited cognitive demands on them, investment in the development of brain tissue is also limited.
BIDMC Research Briefs showcase groundbreaking scientific advances that are transforming medical care.
Study underlines importance of physical activity within learning
Awareness of how objects move over time underpins mathematical thinking
School is already acting on the findings of the research
Young children with better eye-to-hand co-ordination were more likely to achieve higher scores for reading, writing and maths according to new research - raising the possibility schools could provide extra support to children who are clumsy.
All liars have classic tells: the lack of eye contact, the fidgeting, the overly elaborate stories. Except when they don't.
In fact, researchers say, the most adept deceivers often don't present any of those signs and, further, the average observer's tendency to rely on such visual cues impedes their ability to tell when someone is lying. But those detection skills can be improved markedly with as little as one hour of training.
Cellular functions rely on several communications networks that allow cells to rapidly respond to signals affecting the organism. A new study published in the prestigious journal Molecular Cell has revealed a mechanism that shuts down a major cell-to-cell communications pathway implicated in a number of diseases. INRS professor Nicolas Doucet and his research team contributed to the discovery of this new molecular switch, shedding new light on the role of receptor tyrosine kinases, a well-known protein family whose function is still being explored.
A new study finds that severe childhood trauma and stresses early in parents' lives are linked to higher rates of behavioral health problems in their own children.
The types of childhood hardships included divorce or separation of parents, death of or estrangement from a parent, emotional, physical or sexual abuse, witnessing violence in the home, exposure to substance abuse in the household or parental mental illness.
People from smaller cities are more likely to migrate than people from larger cities, according to a new study by UCL academics.
The study, published today in the open access journal PLOS ONE, looked at internal migration patterns across the USA, finding that the size of origin and destination cities play a crucial role in the behaviour of people who move from one place to another.