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Sleep is one of the most mysterious, yet ubiquitous components of our biology. It has been described in all major groups of animals, including worms, jellyfish, insects or cephalopods, and in all vertebrates, from fish to humans. Common characteristics of sleep include reduced movement, decreased muscle tone, and an increased need for sleep after periods of deprivation, for example after a night out.
Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and the world's fastest supercomputers, a research team led by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has developed an innovative computing framework to speed up the design of new proteins.
University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science professor Eric Loth, who led a multi-institutional team in designing one of the world's largest wind turbines, is mentoring the next generation of students who are exploring next-generation wind turbine designs.
Concerns about COVID-19 have significantly diminished, but researchers continue to analyze its high transmission rate, aiming to prepare for future infectious diseases. A research team has newly identified the mechanism behind the rapid proliferation of the COVID-19 virus.
A new Curtin University study has challenged the perception that heavy social media use has a significant impact on mental health, finding little to no relationship between the two.
A research team from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) is demonstrating that cancer outcome predictions can be improved by breaking down hospitals' traditional data silos and analyzing the information—including physicians' clinical notes—with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).
A trio of physicists, two with Coventry University, in the U.K., and the third with Laboratoire National des Champs Magnétiques Intenses, in France, has demonstrated how Earth's magnetic field may be influencing internal flow, using what they describe as a Little Earth Experiment.
An international group of researchers led by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have uncovered the earliest evidence of Ephedra use from the charred remains of the plant in a 15,000-year-old human burial site in northeastern Morocco.
NASA's Quesst mission marked a major milestone with the start of tests on the engine that will power the quiet supersonic X-59 experimental aircraft.
Attempts to discover a breakthrough dementia drug might be drawing attention these days, but traditional medicinal products can offer hints for preventive medicine.
A novel discovery in the field of pancreatic cancer treatment has been unveiled, revealing the epigenetic silencing of BEND4 as a potential synthetic lethal marker for enhancing the efficacy of ATM inhibitors in pancreatic cancer treatment.
Biologists at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered the origin of a curious duplication that gives plants multiple ways to override instructions that are coded into their DNA. This research could help scientists exploit a plant's existing systems to favor traits that make it more resilient to environmental changes, like heat or drought stress.
University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have discovered a new way to detect per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in water. This marks an important step forward in creating testing devices that are simpler, more cost-effective, faster and generally more accessible than existing methods.
For patients with symptomatic and severe tricuspid regurgitation (TR), tricuspid transcatheter edge-to-edge repair (T-TEER) yields significant improvements in primary end points, according to a study published online Oct. 27 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology to coincide with the annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference, held from Oct. 27 to 30 in Washington, D.C.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-based risk classification improves prognostication with localized prostate cancer, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in JCO Precision Oncology.
The ongoing transition to a digital economy has already had one observable consequence: a sharp rise in the need for connectivity enabling rapid data transmission. In a global market where connectivity offers are evolving quickly, satellites are now achieving technical and economic performances close to those of terrestrial solutions. The enormous advantage is their steady deployment cost, whatever the geographical area, and particularly in "white" zones not covered by terrestrial infrastructures.
Heat, dry spells and flooding—the whole of nature is under stress, and potatoes are no exception. As a food staple, there is particular interest in getting potatoes fit for the new climate reality. As part of the EU's four-year ADAPT project, an international team led by the University of Vienna and involving the University of Bonn has now investigated how this might be done.
As primary care for Koos grade I vestibular schwannomas, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is superior to observation with regard to tumor control and preservation of neurologic function, according to the results of an international, multicenter retrospective study.
The effectiveness of national voluntary programs asking companies to pledge to lower their pollution and greenhouse gas emissions depends on pressure from the public, according to a new study led by a Penn State researcher.
Astrocytes—named for their star-like shape—are a type of brain cell as abundant as neurons in the central nervous system, but little is known about their role in brain health and disease.
Families purchased more school lunches and breakfasts the year after the federal government toughened nutritional standards for school meals. A new University of California, Davis, study suggests that families turned to school lunches after the Obama administration initiative was in effect to save time and money and take advantage of more nutritious options.
Nearly 12,000 cans packed into re-usable "crash boxes" could protect drivers and passengers on Thailand's roads. The innovation developed by Cranfield University focuses on addressing the devastating outcomes of high-speed collisions involving highway maintenance trucks, which each year kills around 70 people in the country.
Since their discovery in 2007, fast radio bursts—extremely energetic pulses of radio-frequency light—have lit up the sky repeatedly, leading astronomers on a chase to uncover their origins. Currently, confirmed fast radio bursts, or FRBs, number in the hundreds, and scientists have assembled mounting evidence for what triggers them: highly magnetized neutron stars known as magnetars (neutron stars are a type of dead star).
Capsaicin, the compound in chili peppers which gives them their spicy taste, may become a source of new, natural drugs for the hard-to-treat Mesothelioma type of cancer.
A team of Rice University bioengineers has developed a mathematical model that clarifies why interleukin-12 (IL-12)—a potent immune-boosting protein that holds promise for cancer treatment—loses effectiveness over time when used as an immunotherapeutic. The research challenges long-held assumptions about IL-12's behavior in the body and offers a path toward safer and more effective dosing regimens.
With online pornography just a click away for most young people, policy makers are turning to porn-blocking technology to prevent minors from accessing explicit content online.
High-dielectric-constant elastomers possess outstanding softness and stretchability. They allow a fast response and have a high reliability, and thus have been widely applied to wearable electronics.
Where once there were vast areas of forest and other natural habitats, farmland now covers much of Earth—including 70% of the UK. This transition has helped feed a growing number of people.
By scanning the brains of people while they watched movie clips, neuroscientists have created the most detailed functional map of the brain to date. The fMRI analysis, published November 6 in Neuron, shows how different brain networks light up when participants viewed short clips from a range of independent and Hollywood films, including Inception, The Social Network, and Home Alone.
A research team developed a transparent radiative cooling film featuring a perforated structure resembling an insect screen, designed to regulate solar heat and lower interior temperatures. This breakthrough was recently published in Advanced Functional Materials.
Tiny grains from a distant asteroid are revealing clues to the magnetic forces that shaped the far reaches of the solar system more than 4.6 billion years ago.
The Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS) has, for the first time in the world, generated and controlled skyrmions at room temperature in two-dimensional (2D) materials. This achievement reduces power consumption compared to traditional three-dimensional (3D) systems while maximizing quantum effects, making it a core technology for the development of room-temperature quantum computers and AI semiconductors.
Why do mice have tails? The answer to this is not as simple as you might think. New research from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) has shown that there's more to the humble mouse tail than previously assumed.
In the ambitious pursuit to tackle the harms from false content on social media and news websites, data scientists are getting creative.
When Nikola Tesla predicted we'd have handheld phones that could display videos, photographs, and more, his musings seemed like a distant dream. Nearly 100 years later, smartphones are like an extra appendage for many of us.
Exhaled breath contains chemical clues to what's going on inside the body, including diseases like lung cancer. And devising ways to sense these compounds could help doctors provide early diagnoses—and improve patients' prospects. In a study in ACS Sensors, researchers report developing ultrasensitive nanoscale sensors that in small-scale tests distinguished a key change in the chemistry of the breath of people with lung cancer. November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
A three-year research project on breast implant complications is continuing to build on the body of knowledge on breast implant illness, with the latest data showing ongoing physical and psychological benefits after removing the implants, Professor Anand Deva says.
Waterborne diseases affect more than 7 million people in the U.S. every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and cost our health care system over $3 billion. But they don't impact all people equally.
If you've ever seen yourself through a thermal imaging camera, you'll know that your body produces lots of heat. This is in fact a waste product of our metabolism. Every square foot of the human body gives off heat equivalent to about 19 matches per hour.
The atoms of amorphous solids like glass have no ordered structure; they arrange themselves randomly, like scattered grains of sand on a beach. Normally, making materials amorphous—a process known as amorphization—requires considerable amounts of energy.
A Northwestern University-led team of engineers has developed a new type of wearable device that stimulates the skin to deliver various complex sensations.
After launching at 9:29 p.m. EST Nov. 4, the SpaceX Dragon capsule docked at the International Space Station at 9:52 a.m. EST Nov. 5. The spacecraft carried more than 6,000 pounds of scientific investigations and cargo to the orbiting laboratory on SpaceX's 31st commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Materials scientists can now use insight from a very common mineral and well-established earthquake and avalanche statistics to quantify how hostile environmental interactions may impact the degradation and failure of materials used for advanced solar panels, geological carbon sequestration and infrastructure such as buildings, roads and bridges.
In recent years, roboticists have introduced robotic systems that can complete missions in various environments, ranging from the ground to underground, aboveground and underwater settings. While several of these robots can grasp and move objects on the ground, the handling of objects by robotic systems underwater has so far proved more challenging.
Japanese video game maker Nintendo's chief said Wednesday that Switch console sales were still going strong, while he promised its successor is coming.
Data is power. According to Dinesh Bharadia, an associate professor at UC San Diego in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and the Qualcomm Institute (QI), "data will be the next decade's 'silicon.'"
In the dark ocean depths, seals hunt prey with their highly sensitive whiskers, which detect vibrations.
Scientists at TU Delft have developed a new model that better describes human behavior when merging into motorway traffic. Current models often assume that drivers are constantly trying to optimize their behavior to reach their destination as quickly and safely as possible, but this is not always the case, says postdoctoral researcher Olger Siebinga. The new model gives more insight into human interactions on the motorway and can be used to improve autonomous cars.
Wind turbines and photovoltaics (PVs) are becoming increasingly widespread worldwide, which could contribute to reducing air pollution caused by fossil fuel emissions. To produce energy, however, these renewable energy solutions rely on specific weather conditions (e.g., the presence of wind and sufficient hours of sunlight).
On the quiet streets of an Oslo suburb, electric vehicles are parked in nearly every other driveway as Norway speeds towards its goal of becoming the first country free of fossil fuel-powered cars.
Researchers from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a high-tech drowning prevention and rescue system and introduced it to a scenic water area in Central China's Henan Province on Oct. 25.
Journalists have long used newspapers, radio, television, magazines and, more recently, the internet to entertain and inform the public on the stories that matter most. But what if there's a richer, more compelling and interactive way to share and address real world issues?
A research team led by Prof. Xie Chengjun and Zhang Jie from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed a frequency domain-independent feature learning framework that allows for better representation and fusion of different types of remote sensing images.
Hydrogen gas is a promising energy source with several advantages—it is lightweight, storable, energy-dense, and environmentally friendly compared to fossil fuels, producing no pollutants or greenhouse gas emissions. As such, it has extensive applications across different fields, including transportation, architecture, power generation, and industries.
Energy storage is an essential part of many rapidly growing sustainable technologies, including electric cars and renewable energy generation. Although lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) dominate the current market, lithium is a relatively scarce and expensive element, creating both economic and supply stability challenges. Accordingly, researchers all over the world are experimenting with new types of batteries made from more abundant materials.
A team of computer scientists and AI researchers at the University of California, San Diego, working with a colleague from Tsinghua University, has developed a tactic that helps LLM models more easily determine when they need help from an external source to provide an accurate answer.
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science developed an AI-powered system that mimics the human sense of smell to detect and track toxic gases in real time. Using advanced artificial neural networks combined with a network of sensors, the system quickly identifies the source of harmful gases like nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) that poses severe respiratory health risks.