Researchers find connections between neuroinflammation and Alzheimer's disease

Investigators revealed how genetic changes in certain types of brain cells may contribute to the inflammatory response seen in Alzheimer's disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231129003942.htm

How to stay on task

Our ability to pay attention to tasks—a key component of our everyday lives—is heavily influenced by factors like motivation, arousal and alertness. Maintaining focus can be especially challenging when the task is boring or repetitive.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231128160147.htm

What if Alexa or Siri sounded more like you? Study says you'll like it better

One voice does not fit all when it comes to virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, according to researchers who examined how customization and perceived similarity between user and voice assistant (VA) personalities affect user experience. They found a strong preference for extroverted VAs -- those that speak louder, faster and in a lower pitch. They also found that increasing personality similarity by automatically matching user and VA voice profiles encouraged users to resist persuasive information.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231128132336.htm

Macaque trials offer hope in pneumonia vaccine development

A research team has successfully developed a novel pneumococcal vaccine by combining the team's proprietary mucosal vaccine technology with pneumococcal surface proteins that can cover a wide range of serotypes. Experiments were conducted using mice and macaques and it was confirmed that pneumonia caused by pneumococcal infection was clearly suppressed in the target groups of animals inoculated with the vaccine.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231128001424.htm

Spike in premature births caused by COVID, halted by vaccines, study finds

COVID-19 caused an alarming surge in premature births, but vaccines were key to returning the early birth rate to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new analysis of California birth records.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127180700.htm

Mixing heat with hair styling products may be bad for your health

Hair products often contain ingredients that easily evaporate, so users may inhale some of these chemicals, potentially posing health repercussions. Now, researchers have studied emissions of these volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including siloxanes, which shine and smooth hair. The scientists report that using these hair care products can change indoor air composition quickly, and common heat styling techniques -- straightening and curling -- increase VOC levels even more.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132500.htm

How heat can be used in computing

Physicists have demonstrated that, combining specific materials, heat in technical devices can be used in computing. Their discovery is based on extensive calculations and simulations. The new approach demonstrates how heat signals can be steered and amplified for use in energy-efficient data processing.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132356.htm

New way of searching for dark matter

Wondering whether whether Dark Matter particles actually are produced inside a jet of standard model particles, led researchers to explore a new detector signature known as semi-visible jets, which scientists never looked at before.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132351.htm

Scientists devise new technique that can pinpoint the causes and treatments of autoimmune diseases

An international team of researchers has developed a method that combines advanced high-throughput microfluidics and gene editing technology to source new treatments that could potentially help people with autoimmune conditions and cancer. In validating the new technique, they discovered a molecule they believe could inhibit interferon gamma production in the gut which -- if proven in clinical trials -- could represent an ideal means to control inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132253.htm

Alien haze, cooked in a lab, clears view to distant water worlds

Scientists have simulated conditions that allow hazy skies to form in water-rich exoplanets, a crucial step in determining how haziness muddles important telescope observations for the search of habitable worlds beyond the solar system.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132250.htm

New platform solves key problems in targeted drug delivery

Cell and gene therapies hold promise for treating various diseases, but technology to deliver targeted medicines to specific cells is lacking. Engineered cells produce multifunctional particles, designed to carry cargo and target specific cell types. In experiments, the particles successfully delivered gene editing cargo to T cells.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132232.htm

Stem cell-based treatment controls blood sugar in people with Type 1 diabetes

An innovative stem cell-based treatment for Type 1 diabetes can meaningfully regulate blood glucose levels and reduce dependence on daily insulin injections, according to new clinical trial results. The therapy aims to replace the insulin-producing beta cells that people with Type 1 diabetes lack. Dubbed VC-02, the small medical implant contains millions of lab-grown pancreatic islet cells, including beta cells, that originate from a line of pluripotent stem cells.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231127132227.htm

The Fens of eastern England once held vast woodlands

The Fens of eastern England, a low-lying, extremely flat landscape dominated by agricultural fields, was once a vast woodland filled with huge yew trees, according to new research. Scientists have studied hundreds of tree trunks, dug up by Fenland farmers while ploughing their fields. The team found that most of the ancient wood came from yew trees that populated the area between four and five thousand years ago.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231126224848.htm

Decoding cell fate: Key mechanism in stem cell switch identified

Stem cells can differentiate to replace dead and damaged cells. But how do stem cells decide which type of cell to become in a given situation? Using intestinal organoids, scientists identified a new gene, Daam1, that plays an essential role, switching on the development of secretory cells in the intestine. This finding opens new perspectives in cancer research.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231124143620.htm

AI recognizes the tempo and stages of embryonic development

How can we reliably and objectively characterize the speed and various stages of embryonic development? With the help of artificial intelligence! Researchers present an automated method.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231123164731.htm

'Strange metal' is strangely quiet in noise experiment

Experiments have provided the first direct evidence that electricity seems to flow through 'strange metals' in an unusual liquid-like form.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231123164714.htm

New clues into the head-scratching mystery of itch

Scientists show for the first time that bacteria can cause itch by activating nerve cells in the skin. The findings can inform new therapies to treat itch that occurs in inflammatory skin conditions like eczema and dermatitis.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231122192405.htm

Neanderthals were the world's first artists, research reveals

Recent research has shown that engravings in a cave in La Roche-Cotard (France), which has been sealed for thousands of years, were actually made by Neanderthals. The findings reveal that the Neanderthals were the first humans with an appreciation of art.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231121224642.htm

NASA's Webb reveals new features in heart of Milky Way

The latest image from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope shows a portion of the dense center of our galaxy in unprecedented detail, including never-before-seen features astronomers have yet to explain. The star-forming region, named Sagittarius C (Sgr C), is about 300 light-years from the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231121175511.htm

AI finds formula on how to predict monster waves

Using 700 years' worth of wave data from more than a billion waves, scientists have used artificial intelligence to find a formula for how to predict the occurrence of these maritime monsters. Long considered myth, freakishly large rogue waves are very real and can split apart ships and even damage oil rigs.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231120170956.htm