Earth
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Northern Indian Ocean and took the temperature of Tropical Cyclone Vayu as it moved northward in the Arabian Sea. NASA found the storm intensifying/ Warnings are now in effect for India's Gujarat coast.
Infrared light enables NASA to take the temperatures of clouds and thunderstorms that make up tropical cyclones. The stronger the storms are indicate that they extend high into the troposphere and have cold cloud top temperatures.
Physical activity in early childhood may have an impact on cardiovascular health later in life, according to new research from McMaster University, where scientists followed the activity levels of hundreds of preschoolers over a period of years.
They found that physical activity in children as young as three years old benefits blood vessel health, cardiovascular fitness and is key to the prevention of early risk indicators that can lead to adult heart disease.
University of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed nanobio-hybrid organisms capable of using airborne carbon dioxide and nitrogen to produce a variety of plastics and fuels, a promising first step toward low-cost carbon sequestration and eco-friendly manufacturing for chemicals.
By using light-activated quantum dots to fire particular enzymes within microbial cells, the researchers were able to create "living factories" that eat harmful CO2 and convert it into useful products such as biodegradable plastic, gasoline, ammonia and biodiesel.
In an unexpected discovery from the South Island (New Zealand), two species of narrowly distributed macro-moths were described as new species. Interestingly, both Arctesthes titanica and Arctesthes avatar were named after mythological deities and top-grossing blockbusters by famous filmmaker James Cameron: Titanic and Avatar, respectively.
Osaka, Japan - Polypropylene (PP) is everywhere, being one of the most widely used plastics in human life. A versatile material, its naturally inert surface can be modified for specific applications. Researchers at Osaka University have now developed a convenient light-driven process for oxidizing PP without harmful waste.
Circadian rhythms are 24 hour cycles that are guided by exposure to alternating periods of day and night. These cycles affect biological activities in a variety of living organisms which are attuned to the circadian clock. A disturbance in circadian patterns is known to affect many biomolecular processes linked with metabolism and other physiological functions. Dr. Tobias Eckle and his team at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have studied circadian rhythms in detail.
Osaka, Japan - Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) are an emerging type of cancer immunotherapy that uses the immune system to attack cancer cells. However, in some patients they cause the immune system to attack healthy cells, leading to autoimmune diseases. When pancreatic beta cells are attacked, this can lead to type 1 diabetes. In a case report published in Diabetes Care, researchers from Osaka University provide insight into this unintended consequence of ICIs.
Global environmental change and discussions about the drivers of international migration has led to renewed interest in population growth and global demographic change. The notion of a demographic dividend - defined by the UN Population Fund as, "the economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population's age structure when the share of the working-age population is larger than the non-working-age share of the population" - was introduced to highlight the benefits of fertility decline.
The cooling of the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica, which began approximately 35 million years ago and gave rise to its present icy state, has for decades been considered a classic example of climate change triggering rapid adaptation.
Using tens of thousands of genes mapped from across the genomes of a group of Antarctic fishes called notothenioids, a team of researchers is now challenging this paradigm, revealing that the massive amount of genetic change required for life in the Antarctic occurred long before the Antarctic cooled.
HOUSTON -- A common genetic deficiency empowers glioblastoma to broadcast a molecular message to the wrong type of immune cell, summoning macrophages that protect and nurture the brain tumor instead of attacking it, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in Cancer Cell.
Pictures of the earth's water cycle used in education and research throughout the world are in urgent need of updating to show the effects of human interference, according to new analysis by an international team of hydrology experts.
Leaving humans out of the picture, the researchers argue, contributes to a basic lack of awareness of how humans relate to water on Earth - and a false sense of security about future availability of this essential and scarce resource.
The winter ice on the surface of Antarctica's Weddell Sea occasionally forms an enormous hole. A hole that appeared in 2016 and 2017 drew intense curiosity from scientists and reporters. Though even bigger gaps had formed decades before, this was the first time oceanographers had a chance to truly monitor the unexpected gap in Antarctic winter sea ice.
SAN FRANCISCO (June 10, 2019) - A study co-led by Dr. Nelly Mauras at Nemours Children's Health System in Jacksonville, Florida found that children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) have slower growth in brain areas associated with mild cognitive deficits compared to children without T1D. The study, presented today at the American Diabetes Association's® (ADA's) 79th Scientific Sessions®, found significant differences in total brain and regional gray and white matter growth based on a series of three structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.
There's no doubt that climate change is affecting ecosystems as well as the lifestyles of plants and animals around the globe. As temperatures rise, so do the complexity of the issues. Scientists, both in the United States and around the world, are actively pursuing mitigation solutions while providing governments with the understanding of natural hazards to help stem the effects of climate change.
The sea water, beaches and sediments on the Tarragona coast contain quantities of plastic similar to those in a big city like Barcelona. And more than half are clothing fibres from washing machines. This is one of the main findings of a study carried out by researchers from the URV's research group Tecnatox and presented last week at a congress in Helsinki. They are not referring exclusively to the plastic waste that can be seen floating on the water or being washed up by the waves.