Culture

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an adverse impact on the global economy. Researchers around the globe have been working hard to find ways to stop the spread of the disease either in the form of drugs or SOP changes that revolve around guidelines given by the WHO for maintaining hygiene and social distancing norms. The challenge of stopping the spread is especially challenging as many individuals who are exposed to the novel SARS coronavirus do not show the symptoms of COVID-19 and risk exposing non-infected individuals.

Australian rodents skulls all correspond to one simple, size-dependent shape that is more than ten million years old but it turns out this lack of change is the secret behind their survivor reputation.

A new study, co-led by scientists from Flinders University and The University of Queensland, has revealed that the skulls of rodents resemble each other in any given size, meaning little adaptation seems to be necessary for a rodent to survive in a variety of habitats.

WASHINGTON, September 8, 2020 -- When looking at humanity from a macroscopic perspective, there are numerous examples of people cooperating to form societies, countries, religions, and other groupings.

Yet at the basic two-person level, people tend to betray each other, as found in social dilemma games like the prisoner's dilemma, even though people would receive a better payoff if they cooperated among themselves.

Scientists from Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago were the first to examine endothelial cells - one of the main sources of blood production - for clues as to why people with Down syndrome have higher prevalence of leukemia. They identified a new set of genes that are overexpressed in endothelial cells of patients with Down syndrome. This creates an environment conducive to leukemia, which is characterized by uncontrolled development and growth of blood cells.

As the fall approaches, pediatric hospitals will start seeing children with seasonal influenza A and B. At the same time, COVID-19 will be co-circulating in communities with the flu and other respiratory viruses, making it more difficult to identify and prevent the novel coronavirus.

Parents might be familiar with their toddlers gotten messy with flour. Feeling the soft texture of flour, kids can spend the whole time and create, explore and learn through the messy play. Such tactile sensory play is an effective stimulus for children's senses as the tactile system includes the entire network of skin. Thalamus in the brain is where general sensory inputs are filtered in and out, yet it has remained elusive as to what specific mechanism fine-tunes the sense of touch.

A global analysis reveals for the first time that across almost all tree species, fast growing trees have shorter lifespans. This international study further calls into question predictions that greater tree growth means greater carbon storage in forests in the long term.

Currently, forests absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. This is thought to be due to higher temperatures and abundant CO2 stimulating growth in trees, allowing them to absorb more CO2 as they grow.