Earth
Bristle worms are found almost everywhere in seawater, they have populated the oceans for hundreds of millions of years. Nevertheless, some of their special features have only now been deciphered: Their jaws are made of remarkably stable material, and the secret of this stability can now be explained by experiments at TU Wien in cooperation with Max Perutz Labs.
The fairy circles of the Namib are one of nature's greatest mysteries. Millions of these circular barren patches extend over vast areas along the margins of the desert in Namibia. In 1979, G.K. Theron published the first research about their origin. His hypothesis was that poisonous substances from Euphorbia damarana leaves induced fairy circles. As part of a new study, scientists from the University of Göttingen and the Gobabeb Namib Research Institute located the original euphorbia plants that were part of Theron's study.
Early in her career neuroscientist Allyson Mackey began thinking about molars. As a researcher who studies brain development, she wanted to know whether when these teeth arrived might indicate early maturation in children.
Even the best face masks work only as well as their fit.
And poorly fitting face masks greatly increase the risk of infection from airborne pathogens compared to custom-fitted masks, according to a new study by the University of Cincinnati.
Researchers in UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science used computerized tomography or CT scans of three different-sized face masks attached to three different-sized dummy heads to measure the gaps between the face and the fabric. Then they calculated the leaks from these gaps to determine the infection risk.
DARIEN, IL - A study of NCAA Division I college football games found a significant association between the performance of away teams and both their direction of travel and the time of day when games were played.
DARIEN, IL - A study shows that a deep neural network model can accurately predict the brain age of healthy patients based on electroencephalogram data recorded during an overnight sleep study, and EEG-predicted brain age indices display unique characteristics within populations with different diseases.
DURHAM, N.C. - Engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a prototype X-ray scanning machine that reveals not just the shape of an object but its molecular composition. With unprecedented resolution and accuracy, the technology could revolutionize a wide range of fields such as cancer surgery, pathology, drug inspection and geology.
Watching honeybees buzz among flowers, it's easy to see how the expression "busy as a bee" arose. One of many movements a bee's body makes is the repetitive curving and straightening of its abdomen. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have found that tiny hairs reduce friction from these motions, saving energy for the industrious insects' daily activities while reducing wear and tear. This knowledge could help researchers design longer-lasting moving parts.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University engineers have developed a method to transform existing cloth items into battery-free wearables resistant to laundry. These smart clothes are powered wirelessly through a flexible, silk-based coil sewn on the textile.
WASHINGTON--After their initial blast, space rockets shoot away from the Earth with rumbles in infrasound, soundwaves too low to be heard by human ears that can travel thousands of miles.
New research used a system for monitoring nuclear tests to track the infrasound from 1,001 rocket launches. The research identified the distinctive sounds from seven different types of rockets, including the Space Shuttles, Falcon 9 rockets, various Soyuz rockets, the European Space Agency's Ariane 5, Russian Protons and several types of Chinese Long March rockets.
University of Illinois Chicago researchers studying birth outcomes in marmoset monkeys found there were no adult maternal characteristics like age or weight gain during pregnancy to predict stillbirth or early neonatal death, but that a mother's birth weight or litter size were associated with early neonatal death.
"Our findings of early life contributions to adult pregnancy outcomes in the common marmoset disrupt mother-blaming narratives of pregnancy outcomes in humans," the paper states.
For older adults, participating in social activities can protect against physical and mental signs of aging, but it may also pose risks, especially for women.
A new analysis of national data led by UC San Francisco found that older women who were broadly engaged in social activities before the COVID pandemic had 76 percent higher odds of experiencing emotional abuse or mistreatment than women who were less engaged.
The paper is published June 9, 2021 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Research from the University of Washington shows that endangered blue whales are present and singing off the southwest coast of India. The results suggest that conservation measures should include this region, which is considering expanding tourism.
Analysis of recordings from late 2018 to early 2020 in Lakshadweep, an archipelago of 36 low-lying islands west of the Indian state of Kerala, detected whales with a peak activity in April and May.
The study was published in May in the journal Marine Mammal Science.
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL (06/08/2021) -- New research from the University of Minnesota Medical School and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic reveals a possible new approach to preventing death and severe disease in elderly people infected with SARS-CoV-2.
The Late Triassic Tianqiaoling flora is well-known in China, and its discovery has changed our understanding of Chinese Late Triassic phytogeographical divisions. More broadly, this flora has great significance for the study of phytogeography in East Asia during this time. However, the previous dating of this flora was only evidenced by plant fossils and stratigraphic correlation, and the accurate dating has still not been achieved. Recently, the team of Dr.