Earth
Blue sharks use large, swirling ocean currents, known as eddies, to fast-track their way down to feed in the ocean twilight zone--a layer of the ocean between 200 and 1000 meters deep containing the largest fish biomass on Earth, according to new research by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington (UW). Their findings were published August 6, 2019, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tumor cells circulating in blood are markers for the early detection and prognosis of cancer. However, detection of these cells is challenging because of their scarcity. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, scientists have now introduced an ultrasensitive method for the direct detection of circulating tumor cells in blood samples. It is based on the amplified, time-resolved fluorescence measurement of luminescent lanthanide ions released from nanoparticles that bind specifically to tumor cells.
Novel approaches that have been tested to treat obesity include noninvasive neuromodulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Studies performed to date have suggested that this method does in fact help reduce appetite, food intake and body weight, but only in some subjects.
Scientists are increasingly warning that prescription drugs can affect wildlife and ecosystems when they find their way into the environment. In a new Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry study, investigators found that the anxiety and depression drug Escitalopram--at concentrations similar to those measured in the environment--can inhibit fish foraging and eating behavior.
The Journal of Clinical Oncology has published the results of the largest prospective multicenter trial conducted of FDG-PET/CT in head and neck cancer, providing rigorous data about its performance. The nonrandomized phase two trial, ACRIN 6685, followed 287 patients with newly diagnosed stage T2 to T4 disease, all being considered for surgery when at least one side of the neck had no evidence of lymph node involvement based on a physical exam, preoperative MRI and/or a CT evaluation (clinically node-negative or cN0).
A team of researchers, led by international conservation charity ZSL (Zoological Society of London), has discovered that sharks are much rarer in habitats nearer large human populations and fish markets. The team also found that the average body size of sharks and other marine predators fell dramatically in these areas, where sharks are caught and killed intensively for their meat and fins.
The Southwest has always faced periods of drought. Most recently, from late 2011 to 2017, California experienced years of lower-than-normal rainfall.
El Niño is known to influence rain in the Southwest, but it's not a perfect match. New research from the University of Washington and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explores what conditions in the ocean and in the atmosphere prolong droughts in the Southwestern U.S.
Former Hurricane Flossie was nothing more than a remnant low pressure area early on Tuesday, August 6. Infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite found just a few scattered areas of cold clouds in thunderstorms in the remnants, now northeast of the Hawaiian Islands.
NASA's Aqua satellite uses infrared light to analyze the strength of storms by providing temperature information about the system's clouds. The strongest thunderstorms that reach high into the atmosphere have the coldest cloud top temperatures.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Northwestern Pacific Ocean and captured a visible image of strengthening Tropical Storm Lekima.
On Aug. 6, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer or MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Lekima that showed a ring of strong thunderstorms around its center of circulation.
NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Korea Strait and found the center of Tropical Storm Francisco in the middle of it. The AIRS instrument aboard took the temperature of its cloud tops to estimate storm strength and found strong storms over two countries.
The Korea Strait is a located between South Korea and Japan. It connects the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean..
Part of the medial temporal lobe, the entorhinal cortex seems to play an important role. But how exactly does this part of our brain, located close to the amygdala and hippocampus, contribute to building a memory?
Corn starch, an abundant, cheap and biodegradable raw material, is the basis for a novel larvicide developed by researchers at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo State, Brazil. The material is used in microcapsules for storage and controlled release of active compounds to kill larvae of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits dengue, zika, yellow fever and chikungunya.
A dog in the grocery store; a cat in the cabin of an airplane; a bird in a coffee shop - companion creatures labelled as Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) are showing up more and more in places previously understood to be animal-free. It's part of a growing trend which includes "certifying" animals to provide emotional assistance to a person with a diagnosable mental condition or emotional disorder.
A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health examined independent charity prescription drug assistance programs in the U.S. and found that nearly all--97 percent--did not provide coverage for uninsured patients.
The researchers also found that these programs were more likely to cover high-cost, brand-name prescription drugs despite the availability of lower-priced generic options.
The findings will be published online August 6 in JAMA.
Ocean acidification is bad news for shellfish, as it makes it harder for them to form their calcium-based shells. But climate change could also have multiple other impacts that make California bays less hospitable to shelled organisms like oysters, which are a key part of the food web.
Changes to water temperature and chemistry resulting from human-caused climate change could shrink the prime habitat and farming locations for oysters in California bays, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis.