Tech
Cryptocurrencies have been treated as a financial terra incognita - they enjoyed growing interest but also raised concerns due to their virtuality. The use of statistical methods utilizing correlation matrices to analyze the hundred most-traded virtual currencies shows that the cryptocurrency market in the last two years is less and less different from the mature global currency market (Forex) and becomes independent of it. It means cryptocurrencies can be considered a serious and full-fledged financial instrument.
The UK's plankton population - microscopic algae and animals which support the entire marine food web - has undergone sweeping changes in the past six decades, according to new research published in Global Change Biology.
Involving leading marine scientists from across the UK, led by the University of Plymouth, the research for the first time combines the findings of UK offshore surveys such as the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) and UK inshore long-term time-series.
Recycling trees onsite can sequester carbon, save water and increase crop yields, making it a climate-smart practice for California's irrigated almond orchards, finds a study from the University of California, Davis.
Whole orchard recycling is when old orchard trees are ground, chipped and turned back into the soil before new almond trees are planted.
A significant, sustained, global investment in treating children with cancer could save 11 million lives and yield a triple return on investment, according to a Lancet Oncology Commission report published by Lancet.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A study published in Science Advances on April 1 reveals a new hypothesis that may explain why European cave bears went extinct during past climate change periods. The research was motivated by controversy in the scientific literature as to what the animal (Ursus spelaeus) ate and how that affected their demise.
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- People who are at high risk of developing lung cancer, such as heavy smokers, are routinely screened with computed tomography (CT), which can detect tumors in the lungs. However, this test has an extremely high rate of false positives, as it also picks up benign nodules in the lungs.
WASHINGTON, DC--A major new study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers finds that it is possible--and critical--to bring industrial greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2070. Published Sunday in Applied Energy, the study assesses the range of technologies and policies interventions available to enable global industry decarbonization.
The causes of 40 percent of all cases of certain medulloblastoma - dangerous brain tumors affecting children - are hereditary. These are the findings of a recent genetic analysis carried out by scientists from the Hopp Children's Cancer Center (KiTZ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and numerous colleagues around the world, which have just been published in the scientific journal Nature. A genetic defect that occurs in 15 percent of these children plays a key role by destabilizing the production and breakdown of proteins.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- As novel coronavirus cases continue to increase across the nation, health professionals on the front lines face frightening realities, rising anxiety and the very real potential for burnout.
"Health care providers are under tremendous pressure right now," said Dr. Jud Brewer, director of research and innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. "Physician burnout was already reaching 'epidemic' proportions before this pandemic hit."
Tobacco smoking has been identified as a major risk factor for developing Coronavirus (COVID-19) and complications that may arise as a result.1 In addition, second-hand smoke increases the risk of acute respiratory infections.2 Therefore, official advice is for people to stop smoking tobacco to minimize the risks associated with the current Coronavirus pandemic1. This information may feel alarming and anxiety inducing for people who currently smoke. However, there are evidence-based ways to increase the chances of successfully quitting.
Washington, DC-- Carbon is essential for life as we know it and plays a vital role in many of our planet's geologic processes--not to mention the impact that carbon released by human activity has on the planet's atmosphere and oceans. Despite this, the total amount of carbon on Earth remains a mystery, because much of it remains inaccessible in the planet's depths.
The Common Nightingale, known for its beautiful song, breeds in Europe and parts of Asia and migrates to sub-Saharan Africa every winter. A new study published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances suggests that natural selection driven by climate change is causing these iconic birds to evolve shorter wings, which might make them less likely to survive their annual migration.
Horseshoe crabs are remarkable animals, beautiful in their weirdness. These "living fossils" evolved 450 million years ago and have lived through at least five mass extinctions fatal to the majority of multicellular lifeforms on Earth. Sea-dwelling relatives of spiders, horseshoe crabs can lay millions of eggs, have four pairs of eyes, and (importantly to us) have blue blood containing amoeba-like immune cells. These horseshoe crab immune cells are analogous to the white blood cells of in our bodies, which protect us against a wide range of pathogens.
Japan -- Researchers led by Kyoto University have reconstituted the human 'segmentation clock' -- a key focus of embryonic development research -- using induced pluripotent stem cells, iPSCs.
From the first division of a fertilized egg, a complex network of proteins and genes push-and-pull on each other to construct the pattern of cells that form our organs. Like the pendulum on a clock, each swing and pulse needs to carefully align, to maintain the rhythm that forms life.
This is a combined press release between EMBL, the Hopp Children's Cancer Center Heidelberg and the German Cancer Consortium.
Medulloblastomas are among the most common malignant brain tumours affecting children. They spread from the cerebellum to the surrounding tissue and can also spread to other parts of the central nervous system via the cerebrospinal fluid. Because these tumours grow rapidly, physicians do not have much time to find a suitable treatment.