Culture
People with gambling problems are less likely to consider important information that could prevent them from losing, according to new research published today from the UBC's Centre for Gambling Research.
Instead, people with gambling disorder pay more attention to irrelevant information from the previous gamble to inform their next choice.
When Terrie Williams began hearing about the wide range of symptoms experienced by patients with COVID-19, she saw a connection between the various ways the disease is affecting people and the many physiological adaptations that have enabled marine mammals to tolerate low oxygen levels during dives.
Williams, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Santa Cruz, has spent decades studying the physiology of marine mammals and their extraordinary ability to perform strenuous activities while holding their breath for long periods under water.
"Super-spreader" events and extensive person-to-person contact propelled an outbreak of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome in a small village in Argentina from 2018-2019, according to research published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Although separated by millions of years of evolution, plants and animals have independently alighted upon similar innate immune strategies to protect themselves against microbial infection. In both kingdoms of life, immune receptors called nucleotide-binding/leucine-rich-repeat (NLR) proteins form an important layer of defence inside cells against pathogen attack. NLRs are complex devices made up of several modules that recognize molecules from invading microbes termed effectors, and then locally activate resistance and cell death pathways to limit infection.
A new paper in Science Advances describes for the first time how minerals come together at the molecular level to form bones and other hard tissues, like teeth and enamel.
The University of Illinois Chicago researchers who published the paper described their experiments -- which captured high-resolution, real-time images of the mineralization process in an artificial saliva model -- and their discovery of distinct pathways that support bone and teeth formation, or biomineralization.
A new study has found that a novel T cell genetically engineered by University of Arizona Health Sciences researchers is able to target and attack pathogenic T cells that cause Type 1 diabetes, which could lead to new immunotherapy treatments.
Accelerating tree growth in recent years has been accompanied by a reduction in tree lifespan, which could eventually neutralize part of the increase in net uptake of carbon dioxide (CO2). This trade-off between tree growth and life expectancy applies to forests worldwide, including in the Amazon and other tropical regions, as well as temperate regions and the Arctic.
Stars are rather patient. They can live for billions of years, and they typically make slow transitions -- sometimes over many millions of years -- between the different stages of their lives.
So when a previously typical star's behavior rapidly changes in a few decades, astronomers take note and get to work.
A recent study examining perceptions of power suggests that individuals with lower socioeconomic statuses are more likely to have a negative view of policy or decision-makers.
Leanne ten Brinke, an assistant professor of psychology in the Irving K. Barber Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and study co-author, says the study was inspired by her time living in the United States during the 2016 presidential election.
Forest leaves are teeming with bacterial life - but despite the vast extent of bacteria-covered foliage across the world, this habitat, known as the phyllosphere, remains full of mysteries. How do bacteria spread from tree to tree? Do certain types of bacteria only live on certain types of trees?
It is already possible to produce food with a 3D printer, potentially delivering products that suit consumer preferences regarding taste, texture, cost, convenience, and nutrition. In the near future, it will be possible to produce food with personalized shapes, textures, flavors, and colors considered attractive and healthy for children and the elderly, for example.
HOUSTON - (Dec. 3, 2020) - That carbon nanotubes fluoresce is no longer a surprise. Finding a second level of fluorescence is surprising and potentially useful.
How does it work? Wait for it.
The Rice University lab of Bruce Weisman, a professor of chemistry who led the pioneering discovery of nanotube fluorescence in 2002, found that single-walled nanotubes emit a delayed secondary fluorescence when triggered by a multistep process in a solution with dye molecules and dissolved oxygen.
Organisms excrete DNA in their surroundings through metabolic waste, sloughed skin cells or gametes, and this genetic material is referred to as environmental DNA (eDNA).
More than 40 years since they launched, the Voyager spacecraft are still making discoveries.
In a new study, a team of physicists led by the University of Iowa report the first detection of bursts of cosmic ray electrons accelerated by shock waves originating from major eruptions on the sun. The detection, made by instruments onboard both the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft, occurred as the Voyagers continue their journey outward through interstellar space, thus making them the first craft to record this unique physics in the realm between stars.
Scientists have created an evolutionary model to predict how animals should react in stressful situations.
Almost all organisms have fast-acting stress responses, which help them respond to threats - but being stressed uses energy, and chronic stress can be damaging.
The new study - by an international team including the University of Exeter - suggests most animals remain stressed for longer than is optimal after a stress-inducing incident.