Earth
Top male biathletes are more attractive to the opposite sex, according to a new study by scientists at the universities of Exeter and Bristol.
This result, say the team, fits with the theory that women have an evolved preference for more athletic men, who in past times were better able to provide for their families.
The scientists asked people to rate passport-style photos of 156 men and women who take part in the biathlon World Cup, a combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (July 10, 2019)--The number of women regularly having sex declines with age, and the number of women enjoying sex postmenopause is even lower. Although these facts are not surprising, the causes for these declines may be because previous research focused largely on biological causes only. However, a new UK study identifies psychosocial contributors. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).
The "zero waste" trend could have a friend in the form of biosolids. Biosolids are the materials produced after domestic waste is treated in urban wastewater systems. In the past, most of this solid material was transferred to landfills. But, processes developed over the past few decades can create "exceptional quality" biosolids.
Electrical stimulation of the brain through the vagus nerve increases the motivations to work for food, according to recent findings of a research group at the University of Tübingen. These findings, which were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior this week in Utrecht, Netherlands, demonstrate a novel method to alter motivation to obtain food.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - The most extensive and systematic insect monitoring program ever undertaken in North America shows that butterfly abundance in Ohio declined yearly by 2%, resulting in an overall 33% drop for the 21 years of the program.
A new protein called KHNYN has been identified as a missing piece in a natural antiviral system that kills viruses by targeting a specific pattern in viral genomes, according to new findings published today in eLife.
Studying the body's natural defenses to viruses and how viruses evolve to evade them is crucial to developing new vaccines, drugs and anticancer treatments.
In recent decades, treatment options for people with cystic fibrosis have improved dramatically. The newest drugs, known as potentiators, target a protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, which is mutated in people with the disease. Yet, while these medications can help some people with CF, they are far from perfect. Moreover, researchers haven't been able to figure out how the drugs actually work--until now.
November 8, 2018 was a dry day in Butte County, California. The state was in its sixth consecutive year of drought, and the county had not had a rainfall event producing more than a half inch of rain for seven months. The dry summer had parched the spring vegetation, and the strong northeasterly winds of autumn were gusting at 35 miles per hour and rising, creating red flag conditions: Any planned or unplanned fires could quickly get out of control.
Astrophysicists know that iron (chemical symbol: Fe) is one of the most abundant elements in the universe, after lightweight elements such as hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Iron is most commonly found in gaseous form in stars such as the Sun, and in more condensed form in planets such as Earth.
Iron in interstellar environments should also be common, but astrophysicists detect only low levels of the gaseous kind. This implies that the missing iron exists in some kind of solid form or molecular state, yet identifying its hiding place has remained elusive for decades.
Coral reefs are retreating from equatorial waters and establishing new reefs in more temperate regions, according to new research in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series. The researchers found that the number of young corals on tropical reefs has declined by 85 percent – and doubled on subtropical reefs – during the last four decades.
Drylands cover approximately 50% of the land surface in China, among which semi-arid regions are the main dryland type. However, these semi-arid regions have undergone continuous expansion and a significant drying trend in recent decades, which increases the risk of land degradation and deterioration in China. Fully understanding the characteristics and dynamics of semi-arid climate change in China is essential for delaying desertification, protecting renewable regional resources and developing reasonable policies, according to Prof.
Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found a way to regenerate hair cells in the inner ears of mice, allowing the animals to recover vestibular function. It's the first time such recovery has been observed in mature mammals.
Mathematicians' new modeling has identified major sources of interspecies and inter-individual variations in the clinical efficacy of a clock-modulating drug: photosensitivity and PER2 level. This enabled precision medicine for circadian disruption.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A new computer model incorporates how microscopic pores on leaves may open in response to light—an advance that could help scientists create virtual plants to predict how higher temperatures and rising levels of carbon dioxide will affect food crops, according to a study published in a special July 2019 issue of the journal Photosynthesis Research.
Scientists reveal close connections between the Northern Hemisphere mid-high latitudes and East Asia
Chinese scientists have made significant progress on the influence of the Northern Hemisphere mid-high latitudes on East Asian climate, according to Prof. Jianping Li, offrom the Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography-Institute for Advanced Ocean Studies, Ocean University of China and Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, and the lead/corresponding author of a study recently published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.