Culture
Galaxies like the Milky Way formed by the merging of smaller progenitor galaxies. An international team of astrophysicists led by Dr Diederik Kruijssen from the Centre for Astronomy at Heidelberg University has succeeded in reconstructing the merger history of our home galaxy, creating a complete family tree. To achieve this, the researchers analysed the properties of globular clusters orbiting the Milky Way with artificial intelligence. Their investigations revealed a previously unknown galaxy collision that must have permanently altered the appearance of the Milky Way.
ATHENS, Ohio (Nov. 23, 2020) - Dr. Jeff Russell, associate professor of athletic training within the College of Health Sciences and Professions at Ohio University, is shining a light on a segment of concussion patients who often go unnoticed in comparison to athletes: performing artists.
Russell's new paper highlights the risk of concussion for dance, circus, theater and film and television stunt performers, along with guidelines for treatment. It is the first-time concussion risk for film and television stunt performers that is being highlighted in scientific literature.
Cambridge, MA (November 23, 2020)--An international team of scientists led by the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, has identified a problem with the growing interest in extractable resources on the moon: there aren't enough of them to go around. With no international policies or agreements to decide "who gets what from where," scientists believe tensions, overcrowding, and quick exhaustion of resources to be one possible future for moon mining projects. The paper published today in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A.
Oversized, hairy tarantulas may be unsightly and venomous, but surprisingly their hunter toxin may hold answers to better control of chronic pain.
A bird-catching Chinese tarantula bite contains a stinger-like poison that plunges into a molecular target in the electrical signaling system of their prey's nerve cells.
Columbus, Ohio - A study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) described a potential therapeutic anticancer vaccine that frees suppressed cancer-killing immune cells, enabling them to attack and destroy a tumor.
Published in the journal Oncoimmunology, on October 1, 2020, the findings showed that the peptide called PD1-Vaxx, a first checkpoint inhibitor vaccine, was safe and effective in a colon cancer syngeneic animal model.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Since the coronavirus pandemic began in the spring, many people have only seen their close friends and loved ones during video calls, if at all. A new study from MIT finds that the longings we feel during this kind of social isolation share a neural basis with the food cravings we feel when hungry.
The researchers found that after one day of total isolation, the sight of people having fun together activates the same brain region that lights up when someone who hasn't eaten all day sees a picture of a plate of cheesy pasta.
CHAPEL HILL, NC - Strong emotions such as fear and anxiety tend to be accompanied and reinforced by measurable bodily changes including increased blood pressure, heart rate and respiration, and dilation of the eyes' pupils. These so-called "physiological arousal responses" are often abnormally high or low in psychiatric illnesses such as anxiety disorders and depression. Now scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have identified a population of brain cells whose activity appears to drive such arousal responses.
In the most comprehensive analysis to date of U.S. children tested and treated for COVID-19, an organization representing seven of the nation's largest pediatric medical centers reports that some groups of children are faring significantly worse than children in general during the pandemic.
The savanna tree frog Bokermannohyla ibitiguara is about 4 cm long and is found only in gallery forest along streams in the Serra da Canastra mountain range in the state of Minas Gerais, Southeast Brazil. In this watery forest environment, it can grow, feed, mate, and lay eggs without needing to range very far throughout its life cycle, according to a study published in Diversity and Distributions.
Deep neural networks, multilayered systems built to process images and other data through the use of mathematical modeling, are a cornerstone of artificial intelligence.
They are capable of seemingly sophisticated results, but they can also be fooled in ways that range from relatively harmless - misidentifying one animal as another - to potentially deadly if the network guiding a self-driving car misinterprets a stop sign as one indicating it is safe to proceed.
While respiratory issues continue to be the most common symptom of a COVID-19 infection, new research indicates the disease could also be associated with hypercoagulability, or increased tendency of the blood to clot. In a new study published November 20, 2020 in the journal EClinical Medicine by The Lancet, researchers from UC San Diego Health found that blood clots led to an increased risk of death by 74 percent.
The spiral-shaped disc of stars and planets is being pulled, twisted and deformed with extreme violence by the gravitational force of a smaller galaxy - the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).
Scientists believe the LMC crossed the Milky Way's boundary around 700 million years ago - recent by cosmological standards - and due to its large dark matter content it strongly upset our galaxy's fabric and motion as it fell in.
The effects are still being witnessed today and should force a revision of how our galaxy evolved, astronomers say.
Changes in climate can increase infectious disease risk in animals, researchers found -- with the possibility that these diseases could spread to humans, they warn.
The insulation around nerve cell components in our corneas have unique properties, and little is known about them. But UConn School of Medicine neuroscience professor Royce Mohan believes his lab is on the verge of uncovering a path to better understanding that ultimately could lead to several vision-preserving advances.
Physicians and scientists are constantly on the lookout for new disease genes that can help them understand why patients have undiagnosed medical problems. Often the first clues come from genetic testing that reveals a change or mutation in a gene that they see in a child but not their parents. This is exactly what led to a new study published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics.