Pacific coast gray whales have gotten 13% shorter in the past 20-30 years, Oregon State study finds

Gray whales that spend their summers feeding in the shallow waters off the Pacific Northwest coast have undergone a significant decline in body length since around the year 2000, a new study found.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612173127.htm

Does having a child with low birth weight increase a person's risk of dementia?

People who give birth to infants less than 5.5 pounds may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems later in life than people who give birth to infants who do not have a low birth weight, according to a new study. The effect on memory and thinking skills was equivalent to one to two years of aging for those with low-birth-weight deliveries.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612173116.htm

Exposure to heat and cold in early life may affect development of white matter in the brain

Brain scans of more than 2,000 preadolescents suggests that early life exposure to heat and cold may have lasting effects on the microstructure of white matter in the brain, especially when living in poorer neighborhoods. The study highlights the vulnerability of fetuses and children to extreme temperatures.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612173110.htm

What the geologic record reveals about how oceans were oxygenated 2.3 billion years ago

Geochemists used thallium isotopes to track the rise and fall of free oxygen on Earth between 2.5 and 2.2 billion years ago, the process that enabled life as we know it.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612140903.htm

Ritual sacrifice at Chichén Itzá

Rising to power in the wake of the Classic Maya collapse, Chich n Itz was among the largest and most influential cities of the ancient Maya, but much about its political connections and ritual life remain poorly understood. Close kin relationships, including two pairs of identical twins, suggests a connection to the Maya origin myths of the Popol Vuh. Further comparison to Maya populations today reveals the genetic impact of colonial-era epidemics.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240612113249.htm

Painful truth about knee osteoarthritis: Why inactivity may be more complex than we think

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a common cause of pain and joint stiffness. And while physical activity is known to ease symptoms, only one in 10 people regularly exercise.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611194717.htm

Wind from black holes may influence development of surrounding galaxies

Clouds of gas in a distant galaxy are being pushed faster and faster -- at more than 10,000 miles per second -- out among neighboring stars by blasts of radiation from the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center. It's a discovery that helps illuminate the way active black holes can continuously shape their galaxies by spurring on or snuffing out the development of new stars.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611171516.htm

How do supermassive black holes get super massive?

By combining forefront X-ray observations with state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations of the buildup of galaxies over cosmic history, researchers have provided the best modeling to date of the growth of the supermassive black holes found in the centers of galaxies.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611171513.htm

3D-printed mini-actuators can move small soft robots, lock them into new shapes

Researchers have demonstrated miniature soft hydraulic actuators that can be used to control the deformation and motion of soft robots that are less than a millimeter thick. The researchers have also demonstrated that this technique works with shape memory materials, allowing users to repeatedly lock the soft robots into a desired shape and return to the original shape as needed.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611171459.htm

Origins of fast radio bursts come into focus through polarized light

What scientists previously thought about where Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) come from is just the tip of the iceberg. A new study details the properties of polarized light from 128 non-repeating FRBs and reveals mysterious cosmic explosions that originated in far-away galaxies, similar to our own Milky Way.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611130435.htm

Would astronauts' kidneys survive a roundtrip to Mars?

The structure and function of the kidneys is altered by space flight, with galactic radiation causing permanent damage that would jeopardise any mission to Mars, according to a new study led by researchers from UCL.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611130413.htm

Trash-sorting robot mimics complex human sense of touch

Researchers are breaking through the difficulties of robotic recognition of various common, yet complex, items. Their layered sensor is equipped with material detection at the surface and pressure sensitivity at the bottom, with a porous middle layer sensitive to thermal changes. An efficient cascade classification algorithm rules out object types in order, from easy to hard, starting with simple categories like empty cartons before moving on to orange peels or scraps of cloth.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240611130406.htm

Feeling rough after your COVID shot? Congrats, it's working!

One of the most common reasons for bypassing the COVID vaccine is concern about side effects like tiredness, muscle and joint pain, chills, headache, fever, nausea and feeling generally unwell. But a new study has found that the symptoms indicate a robust immune response that is likely to lessen the chances of infection.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610171023.htm

Lone Star State: Tracking a low-mass star as it speeds across the Milky Way

Astronomers have discovered a rare hypervelocity L subdwarf star racing through the Milky Way. More remarkably, this star may be on a trajectory that causes it to leave the Milky Way altogether.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610171015.htm

NASA's Webb opens new window on supernova science

Peering deeply into the cosmos, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is giving scientists their first detailed glimpse of supernovae from a time when our universe was just a small fraction of its current age. A team using Webb data has identified 10 times more supernovae in the early universe than were previously known. A few of the newfound exploding stars are the most distant examples of their type, including those used to measure the universe's expansion rate.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610171010.htm

Two can play that game: juvenile dolphins who play together are more successful as adults

Juvenile social play predicts adult reproductive success in male bottlenose dolphins, a new study has found.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610170927.htm

Webb telescope reveals asteroid collision in neighboring star system

Astronomers have captured what appears to be a snapshot of a massive collision of giant asteroids in Beta Pictoris, a neighboring star system known for its early age and tumultuous planet-forming activity.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610140338.htm

Optimism wards off procrastination

People with an optimistic outlook on the future are less likely to be severe procrastinators, according to new research. While procrastinators often admonish themselves for their 'bad habit,' it turns out that their worries for the future are more to blame. Through a survey of nearly 300 young people, researchers found that those who had a positive view about their stress levels decreasing in the future, compared to the past or present, were less likely to experience severe procrastination. Views on personal well-being didn't appear to have an effect. Improving people's outlook and readiness for the future could help them overcome procrastination and achieve a less stressful lifestyle.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610140256.htm

Benefits of failure are overrated

The platitude that failure leads to success may be both inaccurate and damaging to society, according to new research.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240610140218.htm

Sky's the limit for biofuels

The United States has enough biomass potential to produce 35 billion gallons per year of aviation biofuel by 2050, a new report confirms.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240607151736.htm