Science News
Buildings-related CO2 emissions hit record high: UN
EurekAlert! - 16 Dec 2020 09:00
(Terry Collins Assoc) Emissions from the operation of buildings hit their highest-ever level in 2019, moving the sector further away from fulfilling its huge potential to slow climate change and contribute significantly ...
Water May be an Effective Treatment for Metabolic Syndrome
Neuroscience News - 16 Dec 2020 05:05
Drinking water can suppress the vasopressin hormone receptor, mitigating obesity and metabolic syndrome in mice.
Ancient shell beads may have been the first money used in the Americas
New Scientist - 16 Dec 2020 22:00
Shell beads created 2000 years ago by the Chumash, a Native American people, may be the first money used in the Americas
Coronavirus relief funds could easily pay to stop the worst of climate change (Op-Ed)
Live Science - 16 Dec 2020 16:28
As of late summer, governments around the world had pledged US$12.2 trillion of relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Two strange blobs of X-ray energy are swirling out of the galaxy's center
Live Science - 17 Dec 2020 01:26
The eROSITA X-ray telescope just revealed two strange bubbles of X-ray energy, sitting smack-dab inside the Fermi Bubbles.
How Does Ketamine Combat Depression?
Neuroscience News - 17 Dec 2020 01:08
4E-BPs proteins are key to unlocking ketamine's antidepressant effects. When 4E-BPs are absent in neurons, ketamine can not produce its antidepressant effect.
Deadly 'brain-eating amoeba' has expanded its range northward
Live Science - 17 Dec 2020 01:05
You can thank climate change for this too.
Holiday Instability
Physics Buzz - 17 Dec 2020 00:57
It's a typical December scenario: The family trip to the tree lot. The Fraser Fir tied to the roof of the car. Dad under the branches screwing the stand to the trunk. And the inevitable wobbling of the 7-foot holiday emb...
Many Americans reported economic hardships even early in the COVID-19 pandemic
Science Daily - 17 Dec 2020 00:52
Significant proportions of U.S. respondents were experiencing economic hardships even early in the COVID-19 pandemic, with Hispanic citizens being particularly affected, according to new research.
COVID-19 spread increases when UV levels decrease
Science Daily - 17 Dec 2020 00:52
Natural variations in ultraviolet radiation influence the spread of COVID-19, but the influence is modest compared to preventive measures such as physical distancing, mask wearing, and quarantine, according to new resear...
The 16 Facial Expressions Most Common to Emotional Situations Worldwide
Neuroscience News - 17 Dec 2020 00:42
Study reveals the universality of human facial expressions in response to emotion that spans geographical and cultural borders.
Stunningly preserved 'Cretaceous Pompeii' fossils may not be what they seem
Live Science - 16 Dec 2020 23:41
Two dinosaurs that died in China during the Cretaceous were fossilized in 3D -- but it probably wasn't a volcanic eruption that killed and preserved them.
China's Chang'e 5 mission has returned samples from the moon to Earth
New Scientist - 16 Dec 2020 23:31
The Chang'e 5 spacecraft, which spent just two days on the moon, has returned its lunar samples to Earth - the first moon rocks brought back in 44 years
New use for an old drug: How does ketamine combat depression?
Science Daily - 16 Dec 2020 22:47
A group of proteins called 4E-BPs, involved in memory formation, is the key to unlocking the antidepressant effect of ketamine in the brain, according to researchers. The discovery could lead to better and safer treatmen...
Some neurons target tiny cerebral blood vessel dilation
Science Daily - 16 Dec 2020 22:46
Neurons control blood flow in tiny vessels in the brain, but researchers know little about this relationship. Now a team of Penn State engineers has found a connection between nitric oxide expressing neurons and changes ...
The bull's eye: New modified stem cells can deliver drugs specifically to tumor cells
Science Daily - 16 Dec 2020 22:46
Targeting drugs to cancer tissues is a major challenge in cancer treatment. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known for their ability to find and target tumor cells in the body, but using MSCs for drug delivery has been ...
An atlas of S. pneumoniae and host gene expression during colonization and disease
Science Daily - 16 Dec 2020 22:46
The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes the nasopharynx and can cause pneumonia. Then, it can spread to the bloodstream and cause organ damage. To understand how this pathogen adapts to different locations in the...
Maternal diet during lactation shapes functional abilities of milk bacteria
Science Daily - 16 Dec 2020 22:46
The mother's diet while breastfeeding can shape the profile of human milk oligosaccharides (HMO), a type of complex carbohydrate in the mother's milk. Changing the HMOs, which are food and fodder for healthy microbes, in...
New guideline supports behavioral, psychological treatments for insomnia
Science Daily - 16 Dec 2020 22:46
A new clinical practice guideline establishing recommendations for the use of behavioral and psychological treatments for chronic insomnia disorder in adults has been published.
1st wild animal in US infected with SARS-CoV-2 found in Utah
Live Science - 16 Dec 2020 22:07
A wild mink just tested positive.
Information transport in antiferromagnets via pseudospin-magnons
Phys.org - 16 Dec 2020 22:06
A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich, the Walther-Meissner-Institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim has di...
Red Sea oil tanker 4 times as big as Exxon Valdez could spill any day now
Live Science - 16 Dec 2020 22:06
A mammoth oil tanker is decaying into the Red Sea, threatening to pollute the water supply of millions of people and the world's most resilient coral reef.