Culture
Liberia was the epicenter of a high-profile Ebola outbreak in 2014-15, which led to more than 10,000 deaths in West Africa. But for all the devastation the illness caused, it could have been worse without an innovative, volunteer-based outreach program Liberia's government deployed in late 2014.
A study of tax incentives aimed at attracting and retaining businesses finds that the vast majority of these incentives ultimately leave states worse off than if they had done nothing.
WASHINGTON -- For the first time, researchers have used an advanced analytical technique known as dual-comb spectroscopy to rapidly acquire extremely detailed hyperspectral images. By acquiring a full spectrum of information for each pixel in a scene with high sensitivity and speed, the new approach could greatly advance a wide range of scientific and industrial applications such as chemical analysis and biomedical sensing.
Different learning difficulties do not correspond to specific regions of the brain, as previously thought, say researchers at the University of Cambridge. Instead poor connectivity between 'hubs' within the brain is much more strongly related to children's difficulties.
Cancer mutations can be caused by common gut bacteria carried by many people. This was demonstrated by researchers from the Hubrecht Institute (KNAW) and Princess Máxima Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands. By exposing cultured human mini-guts to a particular strain of Escherichia coli bacteria, they uncovered that these bacteria induce a unique pattern of mutations in the DNA of human cells.
Our skin protects us from physical injury, radiation and microbes, and at the same time produces hair and facilitates perspiration. Details of how skin cells manage such disparate tasks have so far remained elusive. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have systematically mapped skin cells and their genetic programs, creating a detailed molecular atlas of the skin in its complexity. The study is published today in the scientific journal Cell Stem Cell.
Scientists studying a distant galaxy cluster have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the Universe since the Big Bang.
The blast came from a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy hundreds of millions of light-years away.
It released five times more energy than the previous record holder.
Professor Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research, said the event was extraordinarily energetic.
Scientists have solved a puzzle that has long baffled botanists - why some plants on high mountainsides are hairy while their low-lying cousins are bald.
Alpine species of snapdragon have evolved to disable a gene that prevents those living at low altitudes from growing hairs on their stalks and leaves, researchers say.
The small hairs may act like UV sunscreen to protect alpine plants growing in full sun on lofty, exposed cliffs, the team says. Low-lying plants might not need to make the hairs because of the relative abundance of shade in valleys.
How high altitudes affect people's breathing and its coordination with the heart beat is due to genetic differences say researchers.
Clear physiological differences have already been demonstrated between people living in the Himalayas and Andes compared with people living at sea level, revealing an evolutionary adaptation in the control of blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain and the rest of the body.
The sights and sounds of winning on a slot machine may increase your desire to play--and your memories of winning big, according to new research by University of Alberta scientists.
The study, led by Professor Marcia Spetch in the Department of Psychology, shows that people prefer to play on virtual slot machines that provide casino-related cues, such as the sound of coins dropping or symbols of dollar signs.
Biomedical engineers at the UConn School of Dental Medicine recently developed a handheld 3D bioprinter that could revolutionize the way musculoskeletal surgical procedures are performed.
The bioprinter, developed by Dr. Ali Tamayol, associate professor in the School of Dental Medicine biomedical engineering department, enables surgeons to deposit scaffolds--or materials to help support cellular and tissue growth--directly into the defect sites within weakened skeletal muscles.
Tamayol's research was recently published in the American Chemical Society journal.
Irvine, Calif. - February 27, 2020 - New study reveals potential for developing novel antibody-based antitoxins against botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), including the most commonly used, yet most toxic one, Botox.
Compounds containing metals could hold the key to the next generation of antibiotics to combat the growing threat of global antibiotic resistance.
University of Queensland researchers, working with a network of international collaborators, have discovered 23 previously unexplored compounds containing metals such as silver, manganese, zinc, ruthenium and iridium that have antibacterial and antifungal activity.
Osaka, Japan - How does a developing embryo, which is initially round, tell left from right? This basic process is still poorly understood. However, investigating unusual cases can help shed light on how this process occurs in animals. More than a century ago, German biologist Dr. H. C. Delsman described unusual left-right (L-R) patterning in the tadpole-like tunicate Oikopleura dioica. Now, researchers at Osaka University have uncovered the details of this process in O. dioica, reported in a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
New research reveals the unseen environmental damage being done to coral reefs in the hotly contested South China Sea, as China and other nations jostle for control of the disputed sea lanes.
Professor Eric Wolanski and Dr Severine Chokroun from James Cook University in Australia are physical oceanographers, researching the distribution, circulation, and physical properties of water.
In a new scientific paper, they argue that the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea are in even more serious trouble than first believed.