Bacteria's mucus maneuvers: Study reveals how snot facilitates infection

Sniffles, snorts and blows of runny noses are the hallmarks of cold and flu season -- and that increase in mucus is exactly what bacteria use to mount a coordinated attack on the immune system, according to a new study. The team found that the thicker the mucus, the better the bacteria are able to swarm. The findings could have implications for treatments that reduce the ability of bacteria to spread.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231205170648.htm

Chemists create organic molecules in a rainbow of colors

Chemists have now come up with a way to make molecules known as acenes more stable, allowing them to synthesize acenes of varying lengths. Using their new approach, they were able to build molecules that emit red, orange, yellow, green, or blue light, which could make acenes easier to deploy in a variety of applications.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231205144420.htm

Top 10 climate science insights unveiled

A new report equips policymakers with the latest and most pivotal climate science research from the previous 18 months, synthesized to help inform negotiations at COP28 and policy implementation through 2024 and beyond.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231205144414.htm

Harvesting water from air with solar power

Researchers have developed a promising new solar-powered atmospheric water harvesting technology that could help provide enough drinking water for people to survive in difficult, dryland areas: They synthesized a super hygroscopic gel capable of absorbing and retaining an unparalleled amount of water. One kilogram of dry gel could adsorb 1.18 kilograms of water in arid atmospheric environments and up to 6.4 kilograms in humid atmospheric environments. This hygroscopic gel was simple and inexpensive to prepare and would consequently be suitable for large-scale preparation.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231205114829.htm

Astronomers determine the age of three mysterious baby stars at the heart of the Milky Way

Through analysis of high-resolution data from a ten-meter telescope in Hawaii, researchers have succeeded in generating new knowledge about three stars at the very heart of the Milky Way. The stars proved to be unusually young with a puzzling chemical composition that surprised the researchers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231205114736.htm

Sugar permeation discovered in plant aquaporins

Aquaporins, which move water through membranes of plant cells, were not thought to be able to permeate sugar molecules, but researchers have observed sucrose transport in plant aquaporins for the first time, challenging this theory.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231204215918.htm

Boiled bubbles jump to carry more heat

The topic of water and the way it can move producing water droplets that leap -- propelled by surface tension -- and frost that jumps -- by way of electrostatics -- is a central focus of a group of scientists. Having incorporated the two phases of liquid and solid in the first two volumes of their research, their third volume investigates a third phase, with boiling water.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231204170257.htm

1.5°C pathways can still be achieved, combining fairness and global climate protection

Global warming can still be limited to 1.5°C by 2100 while ensuring that the poor are not hit hardest by climate policies and climate impacts. This is achieved by immediately introducing broad carbon pricing together with re-distributive policies using carbon pricing revenues and further measures to reduce energy consumption, accelerate technological transitions, and transform the land sector.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231204135302.htm

10 billion year, 50,000 light-year journey to black hole

A star near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy originated outside of the Galaxy according to a new study. This is the first time a star of extragalactic origin has been found in the vicinity of the super massive black hole.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231204135219.htm

Can preeclampsia be prevented?

Preeclampsia is a mysterious condition that occurs in about one of 10 pregnancies without any early warning signs. After 20 weeks or more of normal blood pressure during the pregnancy, patients with preeclampsia will begin to experience elevated blood pressure and may also have increased levels of protein in their urine due to hypertension reducing the filtering power of the kidneys. Prolonged hypertension due to preeclampsia can lead to organ damage and life-threatening complications for mothers and fetuses.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231201173218.htm

Researchers have taught an algorithm to 'taste'

Incorporating human tastes into artificial intelligence makes it easier for wine buyers thirsting for the right wine. Researchers have shown that AI can accurately predict individual wine preferences. The researchers expect that nourishing machines with human sensory experiences will continue to grow.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231201123725.htm

To help autonomous vehicles make moral decisions, researchers ditch the 'trolley problem'

Researchers have developed a new experiment to better understand what people view as moral and immoral decisions related to driving vehicles, with the goal of collecting data to train autonomous vehicles how to make 'good' decisions. The work is designed to capture a more realistic array of moral challenges in traffic than the widely discussed life-and-death scenario inspired by the so-called 'trolley problem.'

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231201123635.htm

Scientists build tiny biological robots from human cells

Scientists have created tiny moving biological robots from human tracheal cells that can encourage the growth of neurons across artificial 'wounds' in the lab. Using patients' own cells could permit growth of Anthrobots that assist healing and regeneration in the future with no nead for immune suppression.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231130184249.htm

Antarctica's ancient ice sheets foreshadow dynamic changes in Earth's future

Identifying how and why Antarctica's major ice sheets behaved the way they did in the early Miocene could help inform understanding of the sheets' behavior under a warming climate. Together, the ice sheets lock a volume of water equivalent to more than 50 meters of sea level rise and influence ocean currents that affect marine food webs and regional climates. Their fate has profound consequences for life nearly everywhere on Earth.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231130121938.htm

Children who play baseball risk elbow injury

Youth baseball players are prone to elbow pain and injuries, including repetitive overuse changes and fractures, based on the maturity of their bones, according to a new study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231130113247.htm

Scientists create framework to guide development and assessment of urban climate action plans

With the world projected to be highly urbanized by 2050, cities are encouraged to take urgent climate actions to mitigate and adapt to the threats of climate change. As climate change intensifies and urbanization increases rapidly, local governments are expected now more than ever to lead climate action planning. However, studies show the limitations of the existing climate action plans (CAPs). So scientists have created an Urban Climate Action Planning (UCAP) framework to guide the development of suitable urban CAPs and support the assessment of the level of suitability of these plans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231129234443.htm

Brittle stars can learn just fine -- even without a brain

We humans are fixated on big brains as a proxy for smarts. But headless animals called brittle stars have no brains at all and still manage to learn through experience, new research reveals. These shy marine creatures have no brain to speak of -- just nerve cords running down each of their five wiggly arms. But that seems to be enough to learn by association, researchers report.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231129174214.htm

Unknown animals were leaving bird-like footprints in Late Triassic Southern Africa

Ancient animals were walking around on bird-like feet over 210 million years ago, according to a new study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231129150127.htm

Slippery toilet bowl treatment causes bacteria to slide right off

When entering public restrooms, it's hard not to dwell on what germs previous users have left behind in the toilet bowl. Imagine, instead, a self-cleaning system that doesn't require a brightly colored gel. Researchers have developed a simple, transparent coating that makes surfaces, like porcelain, more water-repellent. They show how this surface treatment effectively prevents bacteria from sticking to the inside of a toilet bowl.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231129142343.htm

Tracing the evolution of the 'little brain'

The evolution of higher cognitive functions in humans has so far mostly been linked to the expansion of the neocortex. Researchers are increasingly realizing, however, that the 'little brain' or cerebellum also expanded during evolution and probably contributes to the capacities unique to humans. A research team has now generated comprehensive genetic maps of the development of cells in the cerebella of human, mouse and opossum. Comparisons of these maps reveal both ancestral and species-specific cellular and molecular characteristics of cerebellum development.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231129112348.htm