How mortal filaments' self-assemble and maintain order: Align or die

A previously unknown mechanism of active matter self-organization essential for bacterial cell division follows the motto 'dying to align': Misaligned filaments 'die' spontaneously to form a ring structure at the center of the dividing cell. The work could find applications in developing synthetic self-healing materials.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240812123256.htm

Drug protects against air pollution-related Alzheimer's signs in mice

A new study shows how feeding mice a drug called GSM-15606 provided protection against air pollution-related increases in proteins linked to Alzheimer's disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240812123246.htm

Treating radiation wounds with aspirin hydrogels

Radiation is a powerful tool for treating cancer, but prolonged exposure can damage the skin. Radiation-induced skin injuries are painful and increase a person's chances of infection and long-term inflammation. Now, researchers report an aspirin-containing hydrogel that mimics the nutrient-rich fluid between cells and accelerates healing of skin damaged by radiation in animals. With further development, the new salve could provide effective and rapid wound healing for humans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240812123241.htm

Possible explanation for link between diabetes and Alzheimer's

People with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive problems. A new study shows that the reason may be that people with type 2 diabetes have more difficulty getting rid of a protein that may cause the disease.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240812123233.htm

Babbling babies need timely responses to learn language, social norms

New research shows the timing of others' reactions to their babbling is key to how babies begin learning language and social norms -- a process evident in infants' interactions with a robot.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240812123214.htm

The threat of mpox has returned, but public knowledge about it has declined

As the threat of mpox returns, a survey finds that U.S. adults no longer know as much about the disease as they did during the outbreak of 2022.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240811233340.htm

Millions of years for plants to recover from global warming

Catastrophic volcanic eruptions that warmed the planet millions of years ago shed new light on how plants evolve and regulate climate. Researchers reveal the long-term effects of disturbed natural ecosystems on climate in geological history and its implications for today.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240809135943.htm

Potential new approach to enhancing stem-cell transplants

A discovery may boost the effectiveness of stem-cell transplants, commonly used for patients with cancer, blood disorders, or autoimmune diseases caused by defective stem cells, which produce all the body's different blood cells.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240809135941.htm

Largest protein yet discovered builds algal toxins

While seeking to unravel how marine algae create their chemically complex toxins, scientists have discovered the largest protein yet identified in biology. Uncovering the biological machinery the algae evolved to make its intricate toxin also revealed previously unknown strategies for assembling chemicals, which could unlock the development of new medicines and materials.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240809135939.htm

Study reveals ways in which 40Hz sensory stimulation may preserve brain's 'white matter'

Scientists report that gamma frequency light and sound stimulation preserves myelination in mouse models and reveal molecular mechanisms that may underlie the benefit.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240809135936.htm

Nature at risk in the hunt for the perfect selfie

The need for a dramatic selfie or the perfect landscape photo is proving detrimental to nature, a new research collaboration has found.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240809135856.htm

Detecting climate change using aerosols

Researchers analyzed long-term aerosol satellite observation big data focusing on the Pacific Ocean downwind of China. Using a newly developed metric that considered aerosols as tracers, they detected altered atmospheric transport patterns associated with climate change. They observed that the distance of transboundary air pollution moving east from China had shortened. Thus, long-term satellite-based Earth observations are crucial for early climate change detection and accurate evaluation of this trend.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240808115233.htm

3D-printed blood vessels bring artificial organs closer to reality

Lab-grown organs are a long-time 'holy grail' of organ engineering that has yet to be achieved, but new research has brought that goal a big step closer to reality using a new 3D-printing method called co-SWIFT. co-SWIFT prints branching networks of double-layered vessels that are infused with smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells into living human cardiac tissue, and can even replicate patient-specific vascular structures,indicating that it could one day be used for personalized medicine.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240807225648.htm

Drug bypasses suppressive immune cells to unleash immunotherapy

Immunobiologists found that a subset of immune cells that normally puts the brakes on the immune system to prevent it from attacking the body's healthy cells inadvertently also dampens cancer immunotherapy.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240806205712.htm

Elephants on the move: Mapping connections across African landscapes

Elephant conservation is a major priority in southern Africa, but habitat loss and urbanization mean the far-ranging pachyderms are increasingly restricted to protected areas like game reserves. The risk? Contained populations could become genetically isolated over time, making elephants more vulnerable to disease and environmental change.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240806163745.htm

Researchers create new treatment and vaccine for flu and various coronaviruses

Researchers have discovered new ways of preventing and treating respiratory viruses. In two new papers, the team reports the development and validation of NanoSTING, a nasal spray, as a broad-spectrum immune activator for controlling infection against multiple respiratory viruses; and the development of NanoSTING-SN, a pan-coronavirus nasal vaccine, that can protect against infection and disease by all members of the coronavirus family.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240806131347.htm

Horse miscarriages offer clues to causes of early human pregnancy loss

A study of horses -- which share many important similarities with humans in their chromosomes and pregnancies -- revealed that 42% of miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in the first two months of pregnancy were due to complications from an extra set of chromosomes, a condition called triploidy.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240805164431.htm

Horse miscarriages offer clues to causes of early human pregnancy loss

A study of horses -- which share many important similarities with humans in their chromosomes and pregnancies -- revealed that 42% of miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in the first two months of pregnancy were due to complications from an extra set of chromosomes, a condition called triploidy.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240805164431.htm

Horse miscarriages offer clues to causes of early human pregnancy loss

A study of horses -- which share many important similarities with humans in their chromosomes and pregnancies -- revealed that 42% of miscarriages and spontaneous abortions in the first two months of pregnancy were due to complications from an extra set of chromosomes, a condition called triploidy.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240805164431.htm

Greenland fossil discovery reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe

Seeds, twigs, and insect parts found under two miles of ice confirm Greenland's ice sheet melted in the recent past, the first direct evidence that the center -- not just the edges -- of the two-mile-deep ice melted away in the recent geological past. The new research indicates that the giant ice sheet is more fragile than scientists had realized until the last few years -- and reveals increased risk of sea-level catastrophe in a warmer future.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/08/240805164411.htm