Culture
COLUMBUS, Ohio--Humans can get by in the most basic of shelters, can scratch together a meal from the most humble of ingredients. But we can't survive without clean water. And in places where water is scarce--the world's deserts, for example--getting water to people requires feats of engineering and irrigation that can be cumbersome and expensive.
A pair of new studies from researchers at The Ohio State University offers a possible solution, inspired by nature.
Washington, DC - Immigrating to a new country brings many challenges, including figuring out how to be part of a new community. For some people, voluntarily adopting a name similar to where someone is living, rather than keeping an original name, is one part of trying to assimilate or fit in with the new community. According to a new study focused on the United States, where anglicized names are more typical, anglicizing ethnic names may reduce bias towards immigrants.
A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that don't require land or fresh water -- resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed on seaweed. It is biodegradable, produces zero toxic waste and recycles into organic waste.
The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and brain anatomy is mostly stable from childhood to early adulthood, according to a longitudinal neuroimaging study of more than 600 healthy young people published in JNeurosci. This finding draws attention to the importance of preschool life as a period when associations between SES and brain organization may first develop.
New York, NY (December 24, 2018) - Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and The Rockefeller University have discovered a new use for a long-standing computational concept known as "blacklisting," which is commonly employed as a form of access or spam control, blocking unwanted files and messages. Using blacklisting as a filter to single out genetic variations in patient genomes and exomes that do not cause illness, researchers have successfully streamlined the identification of genetic drivers of disease.
FINDINGS
Adaptations to environmental change are the most important asset for the persistence of any plant or animal species. This is usually achieved through genetic mutation and selection, a slow process driven by chance. Faster and more targeted are so called epigenetic modifications. They do not alter the genetic code but promote specialisations during cell maturation. A new study carried out by scientists from the Leibniz-IZW in Germany shows for wild guinea pigs that epigenetic modifications specific to individual environmental factors are passed on to the next generation.
The paper appeared in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.
Meteor burst communication is based on using meteors as cryptography assistants. Meteor trails reflect radio waves, which makes them suitable for radio transmissions at distances of up to 2,000 kilometers. Unpredictable nature of meteors makes pose a significant hindrance for signal interception.
Galanin-like peptide (GALP) is a short peptide made up of 60 amino acid residues. This sequence is homologous across several species. The hypothalamic arcuate nucleus is the place where GALP is produced. GALP has diverse physiological effects such as the regulation of feeding, energy metabolism, and reproductive behavior. Neurons that contain GALP also express leptin receptors; at the same time these neurons form a network in the hypothalamus and these contain various amounts of peptides that regulate their feeding behavior.
Does alcohol on greeting cards undermine public health messages about harmful drinking?
Themes of drunkenness on cards are popular, but sends the message that this is normal
Birthday and Christmas cards featuring alcohol or harmful drinking "reflect and reinforce a social attitude that excess alcohol consumption is acceptable and associated with celebration," warn experts in The BMJ today.
ANN ARBOR--A new University of Michigan study of interbreeding between two species of howler monkeys in Mexico is yielding insights into the forces that drive the evolution of new species.
How do new species emerge in nature? One common but overly simplified version of the story goes like this: A population of animals or plants becomes geographically isolated--by a river that changes course or a mountain range that rises up, for example--and the two separated groups accumulate genetic differences over time as they adapt to their environments in isolation.
Bats and dolphins emit sound waves to sense their surroundings; like a battery, electric fish generate electricity to help them detect motion while burrowed in their refuges; and humans use tiny movements of the eyes to perceive objects in their field of vision.
While examining a skull from an ancient burial ground in a pre-Columbian village in Panama, Nicole Smith-Guzmán, bioarchaeologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), was surprised to discover an example of surfers' ear: a small, bony bump in the ear canal common among surfers, kayakers and free divers in cold climates. After inspecting more skulls, she concluded that a select group of male divers--perhaps looking for pearls and oyster shells coveted for jewelry making, may have lived along Panama's Pacific coast long ago.
When stars collapse, they can create black holes, which are everywhere throughout the universe and therefore important to be studied. Black holes are mysterious objects with an outer edge called an event horizon, which traps everything including light. Einstein's theory of general relativity predicted that once an object falls inside an event horizon, it ends up at the center of the black hole called a singularity where it is completely crushed. At this point of singularity, gravitational attraction is infinite and all known laws of physics break down including Einstein's theory.
Seeing pictures of food with calorie information not only makes food less appetizing but it also appears to change the way your brain responds to the food, according to a Dartmouth-led study published in PLOS ONE. When food images appeared with the calorie content, the brain showed decreased activation of the reward system and increased activation in the control system.