Culture
The gravitational wave (1) detectors LIGO and Virgo have just chalked up their biggest catch yet, a black hole 142 times the mass of the Sun, resulting from the merger of two black holes of 85 and 65 solar masses. The remnant black hole is the most massive ever observed with gravitational waves, and it could give us some clues about the formation of the supermassive black holes that sit at the centres of some galaxies.
The populations of common animals are just as likely to rise or fall in number in a time of accelerating global change as those of rare species, a study suggests.
A study of more than 2,000 species reveals animal populations around the world - from the very common to endangered species - are going up and down as global change alters land, sea and freshwater ecosystems.
The findings highlight a need to look beyond only rare species in order to improve efforts to conserve global biodiversity, scientists say.
A simple test such as the strength of your handgrip could be used as a quick, low-cost screening tool to help healthcare professionals identify patients at risk of type 2 diabetes. In new research, scientists at the universities of Bristol and Eastern Finland measured the muscular handgrip strength of 776 men and women without a history of diabetes over a 20-year period and demonstrated that the risk of type 2 diabetes was reduced by around 50 per cent for every unit increase in handgrip strength value. The findings are published today in Annals of Medicine.
The Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) has announced that a research team led by Dr. Joong-Kee Lee of the Center for Energy Storage Research had developed a next-generation secondary battery that uses zinc metal as an electrode without any risk of explosion or fire. This battery is safe enough to be worn on the body and can be manufactured in the form of fiber shape, which means it may potentially be applied as a power source for wearable devices in the future.
The most massive black hole collision ever detected has been directly observed by the LIGO and VIRGO Scientific Collaboration, which includes scientists from The Australian National University (ANU).
The short gravitational wave signal, GW190521, captured by the LIGO and Virgo gravitational wave observatories in the United States and Europe on 21 May last year, came from two highly spinning, mammoth black holes weighing in at a massive 85 times and 66 times the mass of the Sun, respectively.
Recent estimates indicate a prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the United States of 1 in 59 children with a well-established 4:1 male predominance. Individual costs for care are estimated at about $2.4 million, yielding a societal burden that is expected to exceed $400 billion by 2025. Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications that improve the core symptoms of ASD.
A blood test on hospital admission showing the presence or absence of SARS-CoV-2 can identify patients at a high risk of severe COVID-19. Admitted patients without virus in their blood have a good chance of rapid recovery. This according to researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Danderyd Hospital in a new study published in the scientific journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is linked to increased risk of stomach cancer, and is genetically highly variable. A new study by researchers of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich explores the role played by this diversity in the early phase of infection in adult humans.
Viruses are often thought of as a human problem, however they are the most abundant biological entities on the planet. There are millions of viruses in every teaspoon of river, lake or seawater, they are found everywhere there is life and probably infect all living organisms. Most are completely harmless to humans and infect microscopic animals, plants and bacteria, which they hijack and reprogram to produce new virus particles, most often destroying these cells in the process.
'Dead' coral rubble can support more animals than live coral, according to University of Queensland researchers trialling a high-tech sampling method.
UQ's Dr Kenny Wolfe said that reef rubble habitat was often overlooked as desolate, unattractive and 'dead', however reef rubble was very much alive.
"When people think of coral reefs they often think of larger invertebrates that are easily found, such as sea cucumbers, starfish and giant clams," Dr Wolfe said.
"But interestingly, dead coral rubble supports more of what we call 'cryptic' animals than live coral.
Researchers have developed electronic artificial skin that reacts to pain just like real skin, opening the way to better prosthetics, smarter robotics and non-invasive alternatives to skin grafts.
The prototype device developed by a team at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, can electronically replicate the way human skin senses pain.
The device mimics the body's near-instant feedback response and can react to painful sensations with the same lighting speed that nerve signals travel to the brain.
Sophia Antipolis, France - 1 Sept 2020: Fainting affects one in two people during their lifetime. Those with recurrent episodes are often afraid to socialise or go to work. Today researchers report the first effective therapy. The late breaking research is presented at ESC Congress 2020.1
SAN DIEGO AND WASHINGTON, DC -- As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to put lives and livelihoods at risk, 1 in 2 Americans say they fear a major health event could lead them to file for bankruptcy, marking a 5% increase since 2019. The new research comes from the West Health-Gallup U.S.
Immune cells called 'natural killer' (NK) cells could be a powerful weapon for fighting lung cancer, according to Australian researchers.
Studying preclinical and patient samples of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute team revealed that NK cells - but not T cells - are essential for slowing the aggressive spread of the cancer. 'Supercharging' the NK cells further boosted their cancer-fighting abilities.
Using the venom from 312 honeybees and bumblebees in Perth Western Australia, Ireland and England, Dr Ciara Duffy from the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia, tested the effect of the venom on the clinical subtypes of breast cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer, which has limited treatment options.
Results published in the prestigious international journal npj Precision Oncology revealed that honeybee venom rapidly destroyed triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-enriched breast cancer cells.