Cleaned surfaces may be germ-free, but they're not bare

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, surfaces in public spaces are cleaned more often. While disinfectant solutions eliminate germs, they don't leave behind a truly bare surface. They deposit a thin film that doesn't get wiped up, even after giving the surface a good polish. In a new study, researchers show that residues left by commercial cleaning products contain a wider range of compounds that could impact indoor air quality than previously thought.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240214144929.htm

Is the Amazon forest approaching a tipping point?

Global warming may be interacting with regional rainfall and deforestation to accelerate forest loss in the Amazon, pushing it towards partial or total collapse. New research has identified the potential thresholds of these stressors, showing where their combined effects could produce a 'tipping point' -- in which the forest is so fragile that just a small disturbance could cause an abrupt shift in the state of the ecosystem.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240214122558.htm

Great apes playfully tease each other

Babies playfully tease others as young as eight months of age. Since language is not required for this behavior, similar kinds of playful teasing might be present in non-human animals. Now cognitive biologists and primatologists have documented playful teasing in four species of great apes. Like joking behavior in humans, ape teasing is provocative, persistent, and includes elements of surprise and play. Because all four great ape species used playful teasing, it is likely that the prerequisites for humor evolved in the human lineage at least 13 million years ago.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240213190509.htm

A century of reforestation helped keep the eastern US cool

Widespread 20th-century reforestation in the eastern United States helped counter rising temperatures due to climate change, according to new research. The authors highlight the potential of forests as regional climate adaptation tools, which are needed along with a decrease in carbon emissions.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240213174735.htm

New study reveals dynamic impact of nicotine on brain regions responsible for reward and aversion

A new study sheds light on the intricate interplay of brain regions involved in nicotine's effects on the human brain.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240213154433.htm

Desert ants: The magnetic field calibrates the navigation system

Desert ants find their way during an early learning phase with the help of the Earth's magnetic field. The associated learning process leaves clear traces in their nervous system.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240213130503.htm

Can hydrogels help mend a broken heart?

You can mend a broken heart this valentine s day now that researchers invented a new hydrogel that can be used to heal damaged heart tissue and improve cancer treatments.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240212171318.htm

Immune genes are altered in Alzheimer's patients' blood

A new study has found the immune system in the blood of Alzheimer's patients is epigenetically altered. That means the patients' behavior or environment has caused changes that affect the way their genes work. Many of these altered immune genes are the same ones that increase an individual's risk for Alzheimer's. Scientists now theorize the cause could be a previous viral infection, environmental pollutants or other lifestyle factors and behaviors.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240209163442.htm

Sensors made from 'frozen smoke' can detect toxic formaldehyde in homes and offices

Researchers have developed a sensor made from 'frozen smoke' that uses artificial intelligence techniques to detect formaldehyde in real time at concentrations as low as eight parts per billion, far beyond the sensitivity of most indoor air quality sensors.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240209163427.htm

From growing roots, clues to how stem cells decide their fate

Researchers have captured time-lapse videos of stem cells dividing in growing plant roots. By watching how the cells divide in response to certain chemical signals over time, the team is uncovering new clues to how stem cells choose one developmental path over another.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240209134434.htm

Technique could improve the sensitivity of quantum sensing devices

A new technique can control a larger number of microscopic defects in a diamond. These defects can be used as qubits for quantum sensing applications, and being able to control a greater number of qubits would improve the sensitivity of such devices.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240208182347.htm

Foul fumes pose pollinator problems

Scientists have discovered that nighttime air pollution -- coming primarily form car exhaust and power plant emissions -- is responsible for a major drop in nighttime pollinator activity. Nitrate radicals (NO3) in the air degrade the scent chemicals released by a common wildflower, drastically reducing the scent-based cues that its chief pollinators rely on to locate the flower. The findings show how nighttime pollution creates a chain of chemical reactions that degrades scent cues, leaving flowers undetectable by smell. The researchers also determined that pollution likely has worldwide impacts on pollination.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240208142453.htm

Why politics bring out the worst in us

In a survey involving a total of 2,472 respondents, researchers asked participants about nonpolitical and political moral behavior and nonpolitical and political moral tolerance. They found people more willing to behave badly in political contexts -- and more willing to tolerate bad behavior among potliticians they support.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240208142420.htm

Scientists develop artificial 'worm gut' to break down plastics

A team of scientists has developed an artificial 'worm gut' to break down plastics, offering hope for a nature-inspired method to tackle the global plastic pollution problem.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240208122029.htm

Faulty DNA disposal system causes inflammation

Scientists discovered a pathway from mitochondrial DNA replication stress to immune system activation and inflammation, finding that endosomes responsible for disposing of dysfunctional mitochondrial DNA were leaking mitochondrial DNA into the cell and prompting the inflammatory immune response. The pathway provides new targets for therapeutics that disrupt inflammation during aging and disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240208121733.htm

Pregnant women should avoid ultraprocessed, fast foods, experts urge

Research shows that phthalates, a class of chemicals associated with plastics, can shed from the wrapping, packaging and even from plastic gloves worn by food handlers into food. Once consumed during pregnancy, the chemicals can get into the bloodstream, through the placenta and then into the fetal bloodstream. The chemical can cause oxidative stress and an inflammatory cascade within the fetus, researchers noted. Previous literature has indicated that exposure to phthalates during pregnancy can increase the risk of low birth weight, preterm birth and child mental health conditions such as autism and ADHD.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240207195205.htm

How teachers make ethical judgments when using AI in the classroom

A teacher's gender and comfort with technology factor into whether artificial intelligence is adopted in the classroom, as shown in a new report.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240207120510.htm

EVs that go 1,000 km on a single charge: Gel makes it possible

Engineers apply electron beam technology to develop an integrated silicon-gel electrolyte system.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240207120459.htm

How kelp forests persisted through the large 2014-2016 Pacific marine heatwave

New research reveals that denser, and more sheltered, kelp forests can withstand serious stressors amid warming ocean temperatures.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240206224505.htm

Researchers discover key to molecular mystery of how plants respond to changing conditions

A team of researchers recently published a pioneering study that answers a central question in biology: how do organisms rally a wide range of cellular processes when they encounter a change -- either internally or in the external environment -- to thrive in good times or survive the bad times? The research, focused on plants, identifies the interactions between four compounds: pectin, receptor proteins FERONIA and LLG1 and the signal RALF peptide.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/02/240206161541.htm