Over nearly half a billion years, Earth's global temperature has changed drastically, driven by carbon dioxide

A new study offers the most detailed glimpse yet into how Earth's surface temperature has changed over the past 485 million years. The data show that Earth has been and can be warmer than today -- but humans and animals cannot adapt fast enough to keep up with human-caused climate change.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240919174739.htm

Nonfatal opioid overdoses in youth spiked during pandemic

Drug overdose mortality has risen faster among adolescents than the general population in recent years, largely due to fentanyl, a potent opioid pain medication. A new study sheds light on trends in nonfatal opioid overdoses in youth -- an area that was not as well characterized, but key to formulating prevention strategies to save lives.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240919120804.htm

Genetic tracing at the Huanan Seafood market further supports COVID animal origins

A new study provides a list of the wildlife species present at the market from which SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, most likely arose in late 2019. The study is based on a new analysis of metatranscriptomic data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The data come from more than 800 samples collected in and around the Huanan Seafood Wholesale market beginning on January 1, 2020, and from viral genomes reported from early COVID-19 patients.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240919115136.htm

Clinical trial successfully repurposes cancer drug for hereditary bleeding disorder

A drug approved for treating the blood cancer multiple myeloma may offer a safe and effective way to reduce the risk of severe nosebleeds from a rare but devastating bleeding disorder. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), the world's second-most-common inherited bleeding disorder, affects approximately 1-in-5,000 people and can have life-threatening complications, but there are currently no U.S. FDA-approved drugs to treat HHT.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918214046.htm

Clinical trial successfully repurposes cancer drug for hereditary bleeding disorder

A drug approved for treating the blood cancer multiple myeloma may offer a safe and effective way to reduce the risk of severe nosebleeds from a rare but devastating bleeding disorder. Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), the world's second-most-common inherited bleeding disorder, affects approximately 1-in-5,000 people and can have life-threatening complications, but there are currently no U.S. FDA-approved drugs to treat HHT.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918214046.htm

Can the MIND diet lower the risk of memory problems later in life?

People whose diet more closely resembles the MIND diet may have a lower risk of cognitive impairment, according to a new study. Results were similar for Black and white participants. These results do not prove that the MIND diet prevents cognitive impairment, they only show an association.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918165742.htm

Higher levels of leptin indicate brain protection against late-life dementia

A study more closely links obesity to dementia, finding that leptin, a hormone that helps maintain normal body weight, is associated with better signal-transmitting brain white matter in middle-aged adults.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918142424.htm

South African rock art possibly inspired by long-extinct species

A mysterious tusked animal depicted in South African rock art might portray an ancient species preserved as fossils in the same region, according to a new study.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918142420.htm

Sea surface temperature record in the southwestern Pacific: Coral colony from Fiji reveals warmest temperatures in over 600 years

The sea surface temperature in the Fijian archipelago in the southwestern Pacific is now at its maximum for more than 600 years. This finding is the result of an international research team's evaluation of a new coral record providing further evidence for unprecedented warming in the western Pacific Ocean. According to this, the year 2022 was the warmest year in the region since 1370.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918135751.htm

Homemade 'play-putty' can read the body's electric signals

Researchers demonstrates the effectiveness of homemade play putty at reading brain, heart, muscle and eye activity. The research outlines the conductive properties of this material, so-named 'squishy circuits.'

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918125110.htm

Artificial intelligence grunt work can be outsourced using a new blockchain-based framework developed by Concordians

Researchers have developed a new framework to make complex AI tasks more accessible and transparent to users. The framework specializes in providing solutions to deep reinforcement learning (DRL) requests. The framework pairs developers, companies and individuals that have specific but out-of-reach AI needs with service providers who have the resources, expertise and models they require. The service is crowdsourced, built on a blockchain and uses a smart contract -- a contract with a pre-defined set of conditions built into the code -- to match the users with the appropriate service provider.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240918125100.htm

Slow-moving landslides a growing, but ignored, threat to mountain communities

As urban centers in mountainous regions grow, more people are driven to build on steeper slopes prone to slow-moving landslides, a new study finds. Slow-moving landslides are frequently excluded from estimates of landslide risk, but they could threaten hundreds of thousands of people globally, the researchers conclude.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917162351.htm

An OLED for compact, lightweight night vision

A new type of OLED (organic light emitting diode) could replace bulky night vision goggles with lightweight glasses, making them cheaper and more practical for prolonged use, according to researchers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917162342.htm

Fruit flies' visual navigation tactics differ by environment

Fruit flies use vision to head toward interesting things, but also to stay steady during flight. To accomplish this, the eyes need to fixate on the visual background while noticing objects that might indicate food or danger. Using a device that lets flies interact with a virtual environment, biologists have discovered that Mojave Desert fruit flies fixate on an object for balance and stability while also orienting toward it as an interesting resource, while common urban flies fixate on the background but move toward the object using rapid glances. Fruit flies are often used in experiments probing visual perception and processing. The finding that not all species of fruit fly navigate their environment the same way expands the possibilities for what scientists can learn.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917162328.htm

Paving the way for antivirals against Ebola virus and its deadly relatives

Scientists share detailed, complete images of a viral structure called the Ebola virus nucleocapsid. This breakthrough may accelerate the development of antivirals that target this viral structure to combat several filoviruses at once.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917130358.htm

One in eight is genetically protected against jaundice

One in eight newborn babies has a gene variant that almost completely protects against jaundice. The research provides the opportunity to develop a treatment that can prevent severe cases of jaundice.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917130345.htm

How plant communities change when conquering uninhabited ground

Some plants are able to take over uninhabited spaces like sand dunes, volcanic substrates and rockfall areas. The first colonizers have specific traits that allow them to grow in such hostile environments. Other plants lack such traits but will soon follow these pioneers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917130334.htm

Reducing smartphone use increases work satisfaction

On average, we spend three and a quarter hours a day looking at our phones. Cutting back this time by one hour a day is not only good for our mental health, but also helps us to feel happier and more motivated at work, new research suggests.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917125409.htm

A wobble from Mars could be sign of dark matter

Watching for changes in Mars' orbit over time could be new way to detect passing dark matter, according to researchers.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240917125338.htm

Lower neighborhood opportunity may increase risk for preterm birth

A new study has found that more than half of Black and Hispanic infants were born into very low-opportunity neighborhoods, and that babies born into these neighborhoods had a 16-percent greater risk of being born preterm. The study sheds new light on the health consequences of structural racism and historically discriminatory practices -- such as redlining and disproportionate exposures to pollutants -- that continue to shape modern-day neighborhood conditions and circumstances.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/09/240916194027.htm