Tech
Kyoto, Japan -- Why do we fish?
At some point eons ago, our primarily fruit-eating ancestors put their hands in the water to catch and eat aquatic life, inadvertently supplementing their diet with nutrients that initiated a brain development process that eventually led to us. But how did this begin?
Now, according to a research team from Kyoto University, one potential clue may have surfaced thanks to observations of our closest genetic relatives: chimpanzees. The scientists report the first ever evidence of wild chimps habitually catching and consuming freshwater crabs.
DNA assembled into nanostructures such as tubes and origami-inspired shapes could someday find applications ranging from DNA computers to nanomedicine. However, these intriguing structures don't persist long in biological environments because of enzymes called nucleases that degrade DNA. Now, researchers have designed DNA nanostructures that can heal themselves in serum. They report their results in ACS' journal Nano Letters.
Research has documented the widespread availability of graphic images of self-harm, such as cuttings, on the photo-sharing platform Instagram. After a British father said his 14-year-old daughter had viewed such explicit images on Instagram prior to her suicide, the platform announced that it would no longer allow such graphic images to appear.
But little is known about how often such graphic images reach Instagram's users and whether they have an effect on viewers.
Cancer researchers have discovered surprising new functions for a protein called MYC, a powerful oncogene that is estimated to drive the development of almost half a million new cancer cases in the US every year. The study, which will be published May 29 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, shows that MYC affects the efficiency and quality of protein production in lymphoma cells, fueling their rapid growth and altering their susceptibility to immunotherapy.
An analysis of over 3000 patients with cancer of the oesophagus and stomach suggests female patients are more likely to survive longer than male patients, but experience more nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea during therapy.
Oncologists from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust who led the research, in collaboration with the UK Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit (MRC CTU) at University College London, say the interesting findings could potentially help to tailor the management of patients and also highlight those more at risk from specific side effects.
A Neptunian planet has been found in what should be a 'Neptunian Desert' by telescopes run by the University of Warwick in an international collaboration of astronomers.
NGTS-4b is 20% smaller than Neptune, about 3 times the size of Earth, and has been nicknamed the 'Forbidden' planet by researchers
Discovered using the state-of-the-art Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) observing facility, designed to search for transiting planets on bright stars, but NGTS-4b is so small other ground surveys wouldn't have spotted it.
More than a trillion new measurements of Earth's height - blanketing everything from glaciers in Greenland, to mangrove forests in Florida, to sea ice surrounding Antarctica - are now available to the public. With millions more observations added each day, data from NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 is providing a precise global portrait of elevation and will allow scientists to track even the slightest changes in the planet's polar regions.
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Societal values and perceptions have shaped the energy landscape as much as the technologies that drive its production and consumption, a new paper from an Oregon State University researcher suggests.
The finding challenges the longstanding supposition that technology is the ruler of energy policy in the United States. Whether the issue is fossil fuels, nuclear power or renewable energy, discussions in both public forums and policy circles have centered on energy technologies as a primary source of opportunity and risk.
After years of making progress on an organic aqueous flow battery, Harvard University researchers ran into a problem: the organic anthraquinone molecules that powered their ground-breaking battery were slowly decomposing over time, reducing the long-term usefulness of the battery.
Oil palm is neither the devil's work, nor a godsend to humanity. Its effects on its surroundings largely depends on case-specific circumstances. Those who ask to boycott all palm oil due to its contribution to deforestation should also consider boycotting coffee, chocolate and coconut if they wish to be consistent.
Are you for or against palm oil?
Ask anyone who has kept half an eye on the news the last couple of years, and they will most likely say "Against, obviously. The plantations destroy orangutan habitats, right? We've all seen the videos."
A team of researchers from the University of Minnesota and University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered new technology that can speed up chemical reactions 10,000 times faster than the current reaction rate limit. These findings could increase the speed and lower the cost of thousands of chemical processes used in developing fertilizers, foods, fuels, plastics, and more.
The research is published online in ACS Catalysis, a leading journal of the American Chemical Society.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. (May 28, 2019) - In a research project for the U.S. Army, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley developed an agile robot, called Salto that looks like a Star Wars Imperial walker in miniature and may be able to aid in scouting and search-and-rescue operations.
Robots like this may one day be used to save lives of both warfighters and civilians, researchers said.
Toronto - Economists have noticed that people can behave inconsistently when making choices. According to economic theory, people should choose the same things every time, under the same circumstances, because they are recognized as holding the same value as before. But people don't always do that.
Through a systematic review of published studies going back 50 years, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they have identified a distinct subtype of primary central nervous system (PCNS) lymphoma that should be considered for surgical removal, suggesting a major shift in how this type of tumor is evaluated and managed.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that damages the insulating sheaths of nerve cells of the central nervous system. People with the disease can lose vision, suffer weak limbs, show degenerative symptoms and exhibit impaired cognition.