Is oxygen the cosmic key to alien technology?

Astrophysicists outline the links between atmospheric oxygen and the potential rise of advanced technology on distant planets.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240102174047.htm

New AI tool brings precision pathology for cancer and beyond into quicker, sharper focus

Researchers developed an artificial intelligence tool to quickly analyze gene activities in medical images and provide single-cell insight into diseases in tissues and tissue micro-environments.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240102174033.htm

Elusive cytonemes guide neural development, provide signaling 'express route'

Discover the first images of cytonemes during mammalian neural development, serving as express routes to establish morphogen gradients and tissue patterning.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240102142145.htm

Aptamers: lifesavers; ion shields: aptamer guardians

Aptamers, nucleic acids capable of selectively binding to viruses, proteins, ions, small molecules, and various other targets, are garnering attention in drug development as potential antibody substitutes for their thermal and chemical stability as well as ability to inhibit specific enzymes or target proteins through three-dimensional binding. They also hold promise for swift diagnoses of colon cancer and other challenging diseases by targeting elusive biomarkers. Despite their utility, these aptamers are susceptible to easy degradation by multiple enzymes, presenting a significant challenge.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240102142047.htm

'Nutritional quality must be at the heart of climate smart agriculture' -- researchers

Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa need to diversify away from growing maize and switch to crops that are resilient to climate change and supply enough key micronutrients for the population, according to a major research study. Maize is a staple crop across the region -- where it is grown and consumed in vast quantities.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/01/240102142030.htm

Global warming intensifies typhoon-induced extreme precipitation over East Asia

Scientists use a 3km high-resolution climate model to reveal expanded extreme rainfall from typhoons.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231229164738.htm

A carbon-lite atmosphere could be a sign of water and life on other terrestrial planets

Best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence of carbon dioxide in their atmospheres.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231228145810.htm

Strong connections found between vaccine hesitancy and support for vaccinating pets

Study findings raise the stakes for public health efforts to improve attitudes about vaccination rates across the board.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231222145456.htm

Reindeer sleep while chewing their cud

Researchers report that the more time reindeer spend ruminating, the less time they spend in non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep. EEG recordings revealed that reindeer's brainwaves during rumination resemble the brain waves present during non-REM sleep, and these brainwave patterns suggest that the reindeer are more 'rested' after ruminating. The researchers speculate that this multitasking might help reindeer get enough sleep during the summer months, when food is abundant and reindeer feed almost 24/7 in preparation for the long and food-sparse arctic winter.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231222145453.htm

How technology and economics can help save endangered species

A lot has changed in the world since the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was enacted 50 years ago in December 1973. Experts are now discuss how the ESA has evolved and what its future might hold.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231221162241.htm

New 1.5-billion-pixel image shows Running Chicken Nebula in unprecedented detail

While many holiday traditions involve feasts of turkey, soba noodles, latkes or Pan de Pascua, this year, the European Southern Observatory is bringing you a holiday chicken. The so-called Running Chicken Nebula, home to young stars in the making, is revealed in spectacular detail in this 1.5-billion-pixel image captured by the VLT Survey Telescope.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231221162224.htm

Ringing in the holidays with ringed planet Uranus

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope recently trained its sights on unusual and enigmatic Uranus, an ice giant that spins on its side. Webb captured this dynamic world with rings, moons, storms, and other atmospheric features -- including a seasonal polar cap. The image expands upon a two-color version released earlier this year, adding additional wavelength coverage for a more detailed look.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231219124536.htm

Mysterious fruit shown to be the oldest known fossils of the Frankincense and Myrrh family

Early in the 1970s, paleontologists discovered strange fossilized fruits between hardened rock from one of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history. The identity of these fossils remained elusive for the next several decades. Using CT scanning, scientists have now determined they are the oldest fossils from species in the Frankincense and Myrrh family.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231219124450.htm

AI's memory-forming mechanism found to be strikingly similar to that of the brain

An interdisciplinary team consisting of researchers has revealed a striking similarity between the memory processing of artificial intelligence (AI) models and the hippocampus of the human brain. This new finding provides a novel perspective on memory consolidation, which is a process that transforms short-term memories into long-term ones, in AI systems.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231218130031.htm

Exoplanets'climate -- it takes nothing to switch from habitable to hell

The Earth is a wonderful blue and green dot covered with oceans and life, while Venus is a yellowish sterile sphere that is not only inhospitable but also sterile. However, the difference between the two bears to only a few degrees in temperature. A team of astronomers has achieved a world's first by managing to simulate the entirety of the runaway greenhouse process which can transform the climate of a planet from idyllic and perfect for life, to a place more than harsh and hostile. The scientists have also demonstrated that from initial stages of the process, the atmospheric structure and cloud coverage undergo significant changes, leading to an almost-unstoppable and very complicated to reverse runaway greenhouse effect. On Earth, a global average temperature rise of just a few tens of degrees, subsequent to a slight rise of the Sun's luminosity, would be sufficient to initiate this phenomenon and to make our planet inhabitable.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231218130016.htm

Acid sensor and calcium store discovered in plants

Using optogenetics, researchers have detected a new acid sensor in plant cells that is addressing a cell-internal calcium store.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231215140312.htm

Scientists measure the distance to stars by their music

A team of astronomers has used asteroseismology, or the study of stellar oscillations, to accurately measure the distance of stars from the Earth. Their research examined thousands of stars and checked the measurements taken during the Gaia mission to study the near Universe.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231215140310.htm

'Long flu' has emerged as a consequence similar to long COVID

New research comparing the viruses that cause the flu and COVID-19 shows that people hospitalized with seasonal influenza also can suffer long-term, negative health effects, especially involving their lungs and airways. The study also found that in the 18 months after infection, patients hospitalized for either COVID-19 or seasonal influenza faced an increased risk of death, hospital readmission, and other health problems.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231215015511.htm

Seals stay warm and hydrated in the Arctic with larger, more convoluted nasal passages

Arctic seals have evolved many adaptations to cope with their frosty environment -- one that you might not immediately think of is the bones in their nasal cavity. Arctic seals have more convoluted nasal passages than seal species that live in milder environments, and researchers report that these structures help the seals more efficiently retain heat and moisture as they breathe in and out.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231214132652.htm

AI provides more accurate analysis of prehistoric and modern animals, painting picture of ancient world

A new study of the remains of prehistoric and modern African antelopes found that AI technology accurately identified animals more than 90% of the time compared to humans, who had much lower accuracy rates depending on the expert.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/12/231214132638.htm