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AMHERST, Mass. - Results of a new study by environmental health scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggest that inexpensive cloth masks worn by people who hope to reduce their exposure to air pollution vary widely in effectiveness and could be giving users a false sense of security, especially in highly polluted areas.

New Haven, Conn. - The search for habitable, alien worlds needs to make room for a second "Goldilocks," according to a Yale University researcher.

For decades, it has been thought that the key factor in determining whether a planet can support life was its distance from its sun. In our solar system, for instance, Venus is too close to the sun and Mars is too far, but Earth is just right. That distance is what scientists refer to as the "habitable zone," or the "Goldilocks zone."

COLUMBUS, Ohio - New research links specific inherited genetic differences (alterations) to an increased risk for eye (uveal) melanoma, a rare form of melanoma that arises from pigment cells that determine eye color.

Roughly 2,500 people are diagnosed with uveal melanoma in the United States annually. Previous clinical data suggests uveal melanoma is more common in Caucasians and individuals with light eye coloration; however, the genetic mechanisms underlying this cancer's development were largely unknown.

A new study led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego scientist Jane Willenbring challenges the long-held belief that asbestos fibers cannot move through soil. The findings have important implications for current remediation strategies aimed at capping asbestos-laden soils to prevent human exposure of the cancer-causing material.

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego have discovered the same enzyme used by "boneworms" to dissolve whale carcasses, and that helps promote photosynthesis in corals, also regulates blood pH in stingrays. The study could help scientists better understand the enzyme's function in human kidneys to regulate blood and urine functions.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine have found that a form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that non-invasively measures fat density in the liver corresponds with histological (microscopic tissue analyses) responses in patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

The finding, published in the journal Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology, suggests the imaging technique can be useful in future NASH clinical trials and in treatment.

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Being homeless puts people at greater risk of HIV infection than those with stable housing, but targeting services to reduce risk behaviors is often complicated by fuzzy definitions of homelessness.

You just received the promotion you have worked so hard for, but you overhear a co-worker say that you got it because the boss only gives the easy projects to you while the hard ones are dumped on everyone else. Some of your envious co-workers come to congratulate you with the aim of being seen with you for reputational benefits, but some others may be less kind in their response.

With an estimated 500,000 human infections and 50,000 deaths annually, visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the second most prevalent parasitic killer, behind malaria. Leishmania parasites are transmitted through the bite of phlebotomine sand flies. A study published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases makes the case that fighting the insects by treating cattle with the long-lasting insecticide, fipronil, could substantially reduce VL in areas where people and cattle live in close proximity.

Immune memory ensures a quick and specific response to previously encountered pathogens. However, for rapidly evolving pathogens like influenza virus, there is concern that recalled ('old') antibodies dominate and compromise the response against a changed ('new') infectious strain. A study in mice published on August 18th in PLOS Pathogens reports that while influenza exposure history does influence the antibody response to a circulating flu virus, this does not appear to compromise the defense against the new strain.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aggregates of the protein TDP-43 are almost always found in afflicted neurons and glial cells. Meanwhile, about 50 ALS-linked mutations are known to affect a particular region of TDP-43. Yet scientists have never understood how those two associations connect. A new study in the journal Structure shows how ALS mutations disrupt the protein at the atomic level, preventing it from executing its proper function and instead leading to those aggregates.

The term "healthy obesity" has gained traction over the past 15 years, but scientists have recently questioned its very existence. A study published August 18 in Cell Reports provides further evidence against the notion of a healthy obese state, revealing that white fat tissue samples from obese individuals classified as either metabolically healthy or unhealthy actually show nearly identical, abnormal changes in gene expression in response to insulin stimulation.

Heart muscle cells made from induced pluripotent stem cells faithfully mirror the expression patterns of key genes in the donor's native heart tissue, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. As a result, the cells can be used as a proxy to predict whether a patient is likely to experience drug-related heart damage.

A research team from the Georgia Institute of Technology and ExxonMobil has demonstrated a new carbon-based molecular sieve membrane that could dramatically reduce the energy required to separate a class of hydrocarbon molecules known as alkyl aromatics.

By calling to their eggs, zebra finch parents may be helping their young prepare for a hotter world brought on by climate change. Uncovering such a mechanism represents a significant advance in the effort to understand how species are adapting to a warming climate. "Incubation calling," paired with the ability of embryos to hear external sounds, is just one of an array of prenatal guidance tools shared by many animal groups. However, these behaviors' relation to evolutionary and survival capacities, especially in a rapidly changing environment, are understudied - a gap that Mylene M.