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 Researchers develop coating for endotracheal tubes that releases antimicrobial peptides
In a proof-of-concept study, researchers have created a coating that can be applied to endotracheal tubes and release antimicrobial peptides that target infectious bacteria with specificity. The innovation could reduce upper-airway bacterial inflammation during intubation, a situation that can lead to chronic inflammation and a condition called subglottic stenosis, the narrowing of the airway by an accumulation of scar tissue.
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Flexible, wearable X-ray detector doesn't require heavy metals
X-ray imaging is a fast and painless way for doctors to see inside a person. But radiation detectors, which go under the body part being imaged, are rigid panels that contain harmful heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium. Now, researchers report a proof-of-concept wearable X-ray detector prepared from nontoxic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) layered between flexible plastic and gold electrodes for high-sensitivity sensing and imaging.
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Near-atomic look at three ways to thwart SARS-CoV-2 variants
A structural analysis of llama-derived nanobodies interacting with SARS-CoV-2 describes three mechanisms the microscopic molecules use to disarm the virus and its variants, pointing to new therapeutic possibilities -- including a universal coronavirus vaccine.
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Nanotech device can detect risk for serious complication during pregnancy
Researchers have developed a new way to detect a potentially life-threatening condition that can occur during pregnancy. The condition, placenta accreta spectrum disorder, occurs when the placenta grows too deeply into the uterine wall and fails to detach from the uterus after childbirth. It can lead to significant blood loss during pregnancy and delivery, requiring blood transfusions and intensive care, and it can result in serious illness and infection and can even be fatal for the mother. The
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Study reveals what triggers lung damage during COVID-19
Researchers found that a specific subtype of macrophages that originated from blood monocytes plays a key role in the hyper-inflammatory response in SARS-CoV-2 infected lungs, by performing single-cell RNA sequencing of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid cells. This study provides new insights for understanding dynamic changes in immune responses to COVID-19.
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ArtSea Ink: A colorful, seaweed-based ink for 3D printing
Some artists are embracing 3D printing as a new medium, allowing them to create intricate 3D compositions that are difficult to produce in any other way. But the rigid, plastic-based materials used in many 3D printers require high heat for workability. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Omega have developed a colorful new ink for 2D and 3D art made of mica pigments in alginate, a sugar from seaweed that forms a stable gel without heat.
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Promoting biodiversity-friendly landscapes - beyond organic farming
Is organic farming the only alternative to conventional agriculture to promote biodiversity in agricultural landscapes? An international research team questions this. According to the authors, a landscape mosaic of natural habitats and small-scale and diverse cultivated areas is the key to promoting biodiversity on a large scale in both conventional and organic agriculture. They state that political decision-makers will have to recognize this in order to achieve a corresponding paradigm shift in
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New genes linked to longer reproductive lifespan in women
Scientists have identified nearly 300 gene variations that influence reproductive lifespan in women. Additionally, in mice, they have successfully manipulated several key genes associated with these variants to extend their reproductive lifespan. Their findings substantially increase our knowledge of the reproductive ageing process, as well as providing ways to improve the prediction of which women might reach menopause earlier than others.
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Nearby star resembles ours in its youth
New research provides a closer look at a nearby star thought to resemble our young Sun. The work allows scientists to better understand what our Sun may have been like when it was young, and how it may have shaped the atmosphere of our planet and the development of life on Earth.
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Illuminating tissue formation
Researchers have developed a molecule that fluoresces where new tissue is forming in the body. Alongside helping to detect tumors, the molecule could play a significant role in research of wound healing disorders.
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Dissolvable smartwatch makes for easier electronics recycling
Small electronics, including smartwatches and fitness trackers, aren't easily dismantled and recycled. So when a new model comes out, most users send the old devices into hazardous waste streams. To simplify small electronics recycling, researchers have developed a two-metal nanocomposite for circuits that disintegrates when submerged in water. They demonstrated the circuits in a prototype transient device -- a functional smartwatch that dissolved within 40 hours.
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137 human genomes from the Middle East fill gaps in human history
Whole-genome sequencing efforts around the world have offered important insights into human diversity, historical migrations, and the relationships between people of different regions -- but scientists still don't have a complete picture because some regions and people remain understudied. A new study helps to fill one of these big gaps by generating more than 100 high-coverage genome sequences from eight Middle Eastern populations using linked-read sequencing.
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Common weight-loss drug successfully targets fat that can endanger heart health
Researchers have announced successful results of a clinical trial for a commonly prescribed weight-loss drug called liraglutide. In adults who are overweight or have obesity combined with high cardiovascular risk, once-daily liraglutide combined with lifestyle interventions significantly lowered two types of fat that have been associated with risk to heart health: visceral fat and ectopic fat.
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'Where does it hurt?' predicts chronic pain outcomes, study shows
Pain distribution as reported on a body map, on its own, can be used to assign patients to distinct subgroups that are associated with differences in pain intensity, pain quality, pain impact and clinically-relevant three-month outcomes, according to a new study.
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Toward a COVID-19 breathalyzer for kids
Adults infected with SARS-CoV-2 exhale different metabolites in their breath than uninfected people. Now, researchers have shown that children infected with SARS-CoV-2 also show breath metabolite changes, but they're largely different from the ones in adults. Someday, this information could be used to quickly and easily screen children for infection, the researchers say.
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Early molten moon's deep secrets
Recently, a pair of NASA studies identified the most likely locations to find pieces of the Moon's mantle on the surface, providing a map for future lunar sample return missions such as those under NASA's Artemis program. If collected and analyzed, these fragments from deep within the Moon can provide a better understanding of how the Moon, the Earth, and many other solar system worlds evolved.
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 Why Do People Love Getting Compliments?
Compliments have the ability to do more than just make your day. Research shows that receiving genuine compliments can boost your health and enhance performance.
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Insight into underlying causes of seizure disorder in babies
Researchers report that infantile spasms, a rare but serious seizure disorder in babies, appear to be the result of a molecular pathway gone awry. In their study of a mouse model of the disorder, the researchers discovered that genetic mutations associated with the disease impair a pathway that is involved in building new synapses in the hippocampus, a brain region essential to learning and memory.
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Does visual feedback of our tongues help in speech motor learning?
When we speak, we use our auditory and somatosensory systems to monitor the results of the movements of our tongue or lips. Since we cannot typically see our own faces and tongues while we speak, however, the potential role of visual feedback has remained less clear. Researchers explore how readily speakers will integrate visual information about their tongue movements during a speech motor learning task.
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New study details enzyme that allows coronavirus to resist antiviral medications
A new study details the structure of a critical enzyme present in SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. This enzyme removes nucleoside antiviral medications from the virus's RNA, rendering many treatments ineffective. Scientists could use data uncovered in the new study to find ways to inhibit the enzyme, possibly leading to more effective treatments.
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New tool enables mapping of protein interaction networks at scale
Bioengineers have developed a technology capable of revealing the protein-protein interactions (PPI) among thousands of proteins in a cell, in a single experiment. The tool, called PROPER-seq (protein-protein interaction sequencing), allows researchers to map the PPI network from their cells of interest within several weeks, without any specialized resources such as antibodies or pre-made gene libraries.
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Tracking circadian rhythms from your smartwatch
Smartwatches are handy devices for people to keep track of the number of steps they take per day or to track their mile time during a run. But they are also opportunities for scientists to understand people's physiological processes while they are going about their everyday lives.
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Productivity of kelp forests, sans the iconic kelp
A lush canopy is a defining feature of most of the planet's forests. But canopy-forming species can be particularly vulnerable to disturbances and environmental change. So the question is: What is a forest without its trees?
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Neanderthals indeed painted Andalusia's Cueva de Ardales
The origin and date of appearance of prehistoric cave art are the subjects of ongoing debate. Spain's Cueva de Ardales is one point of discussion. There a flowstone formation is stained red in places. This coloring is apparently almost 65,000 years old but until now, a part of the scientific community attributed it to a natural coating of iron oxide deposited by flowing water. However, that hypothesis has just been rejected.
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What's killing coral reefs in Florida is also killing them in Belize
Only 17 percent of live coral cover remains on fore-reefs in Belize. A study finds new evidence that nitrogen enrichment from land-based sources like agriculture run-off and sewage, are significantly driving macroalgal blooms to increase on the Belize Barrier Reef and causing massive decline in hard coral cover. With only 2 percent of hard coral cover remaining in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, it's too late to save that reef, but there's still hope for the Belize Barrier Reef.
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Running quantum software on a classical computer
Physicists have introduced an approach for simulating the quantum approximate optimization algorithm using a traditional computer. Instead of running the algorithm on advanced quantum processors, the new approach uses a classical machine-learning algorithm that closely mimics the behavior of near-term quantum computers.
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Non-invasive method for diagnosing celiac disease
Researchers have now developed a non-invasive method to help diagnose celiac disease and which uses saliva. This research has shown that it is possible to considerably reduce the number of endoscopies, which are currently carried out via a non-invasive method of diagnosis.
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New viable means of storing information for quantum technologies?
Quantum information could be behind the next technological revolution. By analogy with the bit in classical computing, the qubit is the basic element of quantum computing. However, demonstrating the existence of this information storage unit and using it remains complex, and hence limited. An international research team used theoretical calculations to show that it is possible to realize a new type of qubit, in which information is stored in the oscillation amplitude of a carbon nanotube.
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Hunting for TB's most vulnerable genes
Not every gene that's essential in tuberculosis is also vulnerable to attack. A new study ranks essential genes by vulnerability, allowing researchers to better prioritize future drug targets.
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State of the science on western wildfires, forests and climate change
Seeing the urgent need for change, a team of scientists from leading research universities, conservation organizations and government laboratories across the West has produced a synthesis of the scientific literature that clearly lays out the established science and strength of evidence on climate change, wildfire and forest management for seasonally dry forests. The goal is to give land managers and others across the West access to a unified resource that summarizes the best-available science s
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New method to detect impact of sea level rise
Scientists have developed a new simple, inexpensive and fast method to analyze sulfur isotopes, which can be used to help investigate chemical changes in environments such as oceans, and freshwater rivers and lakes.
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Bird and mammal diversity is declining with biological invasions
The introduction of invasive species leads to a decline in certain native species: a team of researchers has managed to show that 11% of the global phylogenetic diversity of birds and mammals, in other words their accumulated evolutionary history, is threatened by biological invasions. Their ability to adapt to environmental changes could thus be largely lost due to biological invasions.
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 Future Space Travel Might Require Mushrooms
The mycologist Paul Stamets discusses the potential extraterrestrial uses of fungi, including terraforming planets, building human habitats—and providing psilocybin therapy to astronauts
-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
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Experimental model of ovarian cancer shows effect of healthy cell arrangement in metastasis
A key element to slowing metastasis in ovarian cancer is understanding the mechanisms of how tumor cells invade tissues. Biophysics researchers explain how microscopic defects in how healthy cells line up can alter how easily ovarian cancer cells invade tissue. Using an experimental model, the group found that disruptions in the normal cellular layout, called topological defects, affect the rate of tumor cell invasion.
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An overactive sweet tooth may spell trouble for our cellular powerplants
The average American eats roughly 22 teaspoons of added sugar a day -- more than three times the recommended amount for women and more than double the recommended amount for men. Although this overconsumption is known to contribute to diabetes and other disorders, the exact ways in which eating too much sugar sets the stage for metabolic diseases on a cellular level has been less clear. Now, a team has found that surplus sugar may cause our cellular powerplants -- called mitochondria -- to becom
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Artificial stomach reveals fluid dynamics of food digestion
Scientists have extensively studied how gastric juices in the stomach break down ingested food and other substances. However, less is known about how complex flow patterns and mechanical stresses in the stomach contribute to digestion. Researchers built a prototype of an artificial antrum to present a deeper understanding of how physical forces influence food digestion based on fluid dynamics. They reveal a classifying effect based on the breakup of liquid drops combined with transport phenomena
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Statins may improve survival for triple-negative breast cancer patients
A new study found a significant association between cholesterol-lowering drugs commonly known as statins and survival rates of triple-negative breast cancer patients. Since statins are low in cost, easy to access and produce minimal side effects, this could have an important impact on outcomes for this aggressive disease.
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Exercise improves health through changes on DNA
Six weeks of physical exercise led to changes in the epigenetic information of skeletal muscle cells in young men. These changes took place in areas of the genome that have been linked to disease. Scientists say their research shows how exercise remodels DNA in skeletal muscle, so that new signals are established to keep the body healthy.
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Finding the cause of a fatal problem in rocket engine combustors
A vital piece of gas engines, combustors -- the chambers in which the combustion powering the engine occurs -- have the problem of breaking down due to fatal high-frequency oscillations during the combustion process. Now, through advanced time-series analyses based on complex systems, researchers have found what causes them, opening up novel paths to solving the problem.
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