Artificial light exposure and obesity
A study in mice suggests that brown adipose tissue may mediate the link between environmental light pollution and a number of obesity-related illnesses, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular...
View ArticleClimate and bird migration
Large-scale and irregular movements, or irruptions, of boreal seed-eating birds across North America may be driven by antecedent climate conditions and may be predictable, according to a study....
View ArticleAtmospheric record in Antarctic blue ice
Air bubbles, trapped in some of the oldest known ice on Earth, suggest that Antarctic temperatures 1 million years ago were linked to greenhouse gas concentrations, according to a study. Decades ago,...
View ArticleWheat yield and global warming
Wheat varieties may decrease yield to compensate for a warming climate, according to a study. Climate change is projected to decrease crop yields in many regions. To model the effect of rising global...
View ArticleOcean acidification and plankton mass extinctions
Ocean acidification likely did not cause the great extinctions of marine calcifying plankton at the end of the Cretaceous Period, a study suggests. The mass extinctions following the Chicxulub...
View ArticleAlso of interest from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
A study of stable isotopes and trace elements within a stalagmite from the southern Pyrenees finds that Greenland Stadial 1, a cool period that began around 12,800 years ago, was likely characterized...
View ArticleSmall RNAs quickly predict injury from radiation
Analyzing distinct molecular patterns in the blood can predict long-term injury from radiation within 24 hours of exposure, much faster than existing methods for estimating doses of absorbed...
View ArticlePolyU develops novel computer intelligence system for acute stroke detection
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has developed a novel computer-aided detection system for acute stroke using computer intelligence technology. The detection accuracy is 90%, which is as...
View ArticleProgram brings lasting progress for world’s poorest
A program that combines direct aid and training can help the world’s poorest households “graduate” from extreme poverty into sustainable standards of living, a new analysis shows. The program was...
View ArticleDeep-water fish has a warm heart
One thing that sets mammals and birds apart from animals like fish is the ability to internally warm their whole bodies above the outside temperature. Though some large predatory fish, like tuna, have...
View ArticleWhy modern hunter-gatherers live with so few kin
Allowing both males and females in hunter-gatherer groups to choose their living companions reduces the number of family members in individual hunter-gatherer camps, a new study shows. The results...
View ArticleBees follow separate but similar paths in social evolution
There’s more than one way to evolve the unique social structure that characterizes colony-living animals like bees, according to a detailed genome analysis conducted by Karen Kapheim and colleagues....
View ArticleAcoustic levitation made simple
A team of researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil has developed a new levitation device that can hover a tiny object with more control than any instrument that has come before.
View ArticleThe future of holographic video
Using surface acoustic waves to control light's angle and color composition, BYU and MIT researchers open door to inexpensive holographic video displays.
View ArticleFloats like a mosquito, stings like a...mosquito
By examining the forces that the segments of mosquito legs generate against a water surface, researchers at the China University of Petroleum (Huadong) and Liaoning University of Technology have...
View ArticleNew IVF device may improve fertility treatment
To make IVF more efficient, a team of researchers from National Tsing Hua University and the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan has developed a technique to more effectively grow and screen...
View ArticleMany children with asthma have reaction to peanuts, but do not know it
In recent years and months, peanut allergies in children have been in the news frequently, as scientists reveal new insights into why more and more children are developing them and what can be done to...
View ArticlePopulation benefits of sexual selection explain the existence of males
New research from the University of East Anglia shows that an evolutionary force known as ‘sexual selection’ can explain the persistence of sex as a dominant mechanism for reproducing offspring.
View ArticleBicycle kick in soccer – is the virtuosity systematically entrainable?
The great attraction of soccer for millions of fans may trace down to the basic idea of the game: the goal. Among all the techniques, the bicycle kick has especially provided viewers moments of...
View ArticleGene editing, phage therapy, and antibiotic resistance
A proof-of-concept study suggests that phage therapy might offer an approach to address the long-intractable problem of antibiotic resistance. Phage therapy, predicated on tailored viruses that target...
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