Tech
Speculative memory side-channel attacks are security vulnerabilities in computers for which no efficient solutions have been found. Existing solutions only address specific security threats without solving the underlying issue.
Speculative side-channel attacks exploit a fundamental functionality in microprocessors to expose security vulnerabilities. The first such security threats, Meltdown and Spectre, were announced last year, but many more have been discovered since. Previous security solutions have been limited and often incurred a high performance penalty.
Interdisciplinarity is becoming increasingly important in research. Yet there are structures in place that make careers in science more difficult for interdisciplinary researchers, according to Ruth Müller, Professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Technical University of Munich (TUM). In this interview, she talks about her study on a research center in Sweden and about how existing hurdles could be overcome and interdisciplinary research could be promoted in more sustainable ways.
The so-called "silent" or "synonymous" genetic alterations do not result in altered proteins. But they can nevertheless influence numerous functions of the cell and thus also disease processes. Scientists from the German Cancer Consortium, German Cancer Research Center, and the University of Freiburg have now created a comprehensive database of all synonymous mutations ever found in cancer. This is a "reference book" that provides cancer researchers with all available information on each of these supposedly "silent" mutations at a glance.
Superconductors are quantum materials that are perfect transmitters of electricity and electronic information. Although they form the technological basis of solid-state quantum computing, they are also its key limiting factor because conventional superconductors only work at temperatures near -270 °C. This has motivated a worldwide race to try to discover higher temperature superconductors. Materials containing CuO2 crystal layers (cuprates) are, at present, the best candidate for highest temperature superconductivity, operating at approximately -120 °C.
Scientists in the United States, Europe and South America are reporting how a new cloud-computing web platform allows scientists to track data and analyses on the brain, potentially reducing delays in discovery.
When a male or female white-browed sparrow-weaver begins its song, its partner joins in at a certain time. They duet with each other by singing in turn and precisely in tune. A team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen used mobile transmitters to simultaneously record neural and acoustic signals from pairs of birds singing duets in their natural habitat. They found that the nerve cell activity in the brain of the singing bird changes and synchronizes with its partner when the partner begins to sing.
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Overdoses and suicides were among the most common reasons for mothers dying within a year of giving birth in California, according to a new study from Michigan State University and the University of California, Merced.
Lead author Sidra Goldman-Mellor, a psychiatric epidemiologist at UC Merced, and co-author Claire Margerison, a perinatal epidemiologist at MSU, studied more than 1 million California hospital records from 2010 to 2012 to investigate the most common causes of postpartum death.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Biological control of the brown marmorated stink bug, an invasive pest that devastates gardens and crops, would be more effective in natural areas bordering crops or at times when certain insecticides aren't being applied, according to a new Oregon State University study.
BEER-SHEVA, Israel...June 12 - Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles have, for the first time, duplicated a patient's blood-brain barrier (BBB), creating a human BBB chip with stem cells, which can be used to develop personalized medicine and new techniques to research brain disorders.
UPTON, NY--To absorb incoming sunlight, plants and certain kinds of bacteria rely on a light-harvesting protein complex containing molecules called chromophores. This complex funnels solar energy to the photosynthetic reaction center, where it is converted into chemical energy for metabolic processes.
To control pest outbreaks, airplanes sprayed more than 6,280 tons of dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) onto forests in New Brunswick, Canada, between 1952 and 1968, according to Environment Canada. By 1970, growing awareness of the harmful effects of DDT on wildlife led to curtailed use of the insecticide in the area. However, researchers reporting in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology have shown that DDT lingers in sediments from New Brunswick lakes, where it could alter zooplankton communities.
Opioids remain a mainstay of treatment for chronic and surgical pain, despite their side effects and risk for addiction and overdose. While conventional local anesthetics block pain very effectively, they wear off quickly and can affect the heart and brain. Now, a study in rats offers up a possible alternative, involving an otherwise lethal pufferfish toxin.
Madrid, Spain, 12 June 2019: The results of the low-dose prednisolone in patients with hand osteoarthritis (HOPE) study presented today at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2019) show that low-dose prednisolone significantly improves pain and function in patients with painful hand osteoarthritis.
Hand osteoarthritis is a common joint disease. It is characterised by stiff and painful joints. Given the burden of disease, there is a need for effective therapeutic options.
Annual European Congress of Rheumatology
(EULAR 2019)
Madrid, Spain, 12-15 June 2019
Madrid, Spain, 12 June 2019: The results of a study presented today at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR 2019) demonstrate that occupational exposure to inorganic dust is a previously unknown risk factor for gout and also confirm known risk factors, such as alcoholism and obesity.1
Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the group of Eating Disorders, of the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB), led by Dr. Fernando Fernández-Aranda, published in Scientific Reports (Nature) a study that negatively correlates the concentration of orexin A (a neuropeptide) with the executive functions in anorexic patients. The study is part of the research program "Neurocognition and extreme weight conditions: from anorexia to obesity", carried out at the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN).