Science News
The amazing flexibility of red blood cells
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:33
Red blood cells must be flexible to squeeze through tiny capillaries to deliver oxygen. Chemists have now discovered the secret of this flexibility: a 2-D triangular mesh, like a geodesic dome, underlies the membrane, ea...
Research gives optical switches the 'contrast' of electronic transistors
Phys.org - 31 Jan 2018 22:22
Current computer systems represent bits of information, the 1's and 0's of binary code, with electricity. Circuit elements, such as transistors, operate on these electric signals, producing outputs that are dependent on ...
Long-Lost Satellite Found by Amateur Astronomer
Live Science - 31 Jan 2018 14:28Body movements just need a 'puff' of dopamine to get started
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:32
A new study in mice suggests that a burst of dopamine levels at the beginning of a movement only, as opposed to all the time, is what gets us going. This may have important implications for treating Parkinson's disease.
How can students with autism be supported through college?
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 18:03
Thirty years ago it was rare for a student with ASD to enter college. But over the past decades, there has been much improvement in the detection and awareness of ASD in children. Now, with the provision of effective tre...
Playing billiards with a laser beam
Phys.org - 31 Jan 2018 16:33
A research team led by physicists at LMU Munich reports a significant advance in laser-driven particle acceleration. Using tiny plastic beads as targets, they have produced proton bunches that possess unique features, op...
Speed of light drops to zero at 'exceptional points'
Phys.org - 31 Jan 2018 16:30
Light, which travels at a speed of 300,000 km/sec in a vacuum, can be slowed down and even stopped completely by methods that involve trapping the light inside crystals or ultracold clouds of atoms. Now in a new study, r...
Maternal age over 40 is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 23:03
Pregnant mothers aged 40 and over may have an increased risk for preterm birth, regardless of confounding factors, according to a new study.
Chlorinated lipids predict lung injury and death in sepsis patients
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 23:03
Researchers studied blood samples taken from patients diagnosed with sepsis and found that elevated chlorinated lipids predicted whether a patient would go on to suffer acute respiratory distress symptom (ARDS) and die w...
HPV may lurk in your throat
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 21:44
Researchers found human papilloma virus (HPV), the culprit behind cervical and head and neck cancers, hiding in small pockets on the surface of tonsils. They believe HPV may evade the immune system in this hiding place, ...
Spinal cord injury research: Bonus benefit to activity-based training
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 21:44
Researchers have discovered that the training, designed to help individuals with SCI improve motor function, also leads to improved bladder and bowel function and increased sexual desire.
Brain's insular cortex mediates approach and avoidance responses to others in distress
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 21:44
Searching for clues to complex social behaviors, experiments found that laboratory rats - much like humans - will approach distressed juveniles but avoid distressed adults -- responses known as social affective behaviors...
Hardening of the arteries
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 21:39
A team of researchers has advanced the scientific understanding of abnormal mineral accumulation in arteries, a complication often seen in patients with chronic kidney disease and diabetes. Mineralized arteries may affec...
Depriving the brain of a sense may improve stroke recovery
New Scientist - 31 Jan 2018 21:00
Trimming the whiskers of mice suggests that blocking off some functions of the brain can help it rewire itself around stroke damage, speeding up recovery
Lone star ticks not guilty in spread of Lyme disease
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:34
The bacteria that cause Lyme disease are transmitted to humans primarily by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis). Often presumed guilty by association is the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). However, a new revi...
Who's still smoking: Report highlights populations still at risk
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:33
Although tobacco control measures have reduced overall smoking rates in the United States, a new report says several vulnerable subpopulations continue to smoke at high rates.
'Anxiety cells' identified in the brain's hippocampus
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:33
Researchers have identified cells in the brains of mice that indicate when the animal is anxious.
A mutational timer is built into the chemistry of DNA
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:33
Scientists have discovered that DNA contains a kind of built-in timer that clocks the frequency with which mutations occur. They show that DNA bases can shape-shift for a thousandth of a second, transiently morphing into...
ID'ing features of flu virus genome may help target surveillance for pandemic flu
Science Daily - 31 Jan 2018 20:33
Researchers have identified features of the influenza virus genome that affect how well the virus multiplies. These features are similar but not identical across viral strains. It's possible that the extent of similarity...
Trump's 90-day plan for opioids has failed - here's a better one
New Scientist - 31 Jan 2018 20:00
Deaths caused by accidental drug overdoses in the US now exceed those from motor vehicle incidents and guns. The government has been all talk and little action
Someone made advanced stone tools in India 172,000 years ago
New Scientist - 31 Jan 2018 20:00
A cache of stone tools found in south India reveals that the hominins living there over 170,000 years ago already had advanced tool-making skills
Pulling an All-Nighter Impairs Working Memory in Women
Neuroscience News - 31 Jan 2018 19:54
Sleep deprivation appears to be more detrimental to working memory in females, a new study reports.