Timing of heart surgery crucial, research shows
Valve replacement heart surgery should be performed earlier than conventionally thought for people with aortic stenosis — according to new research from the University of East Anglia. The condition is one of the most common and serious valve disease problems, caused by a narrowing of the aortic valve opening. Once patients develop symptoms such as […]
Widespread brain receptor hides surprising mechanism of action
One of the most important molecules in the brain doesn’t work quite the way scientists thought it did, according to new work by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Carnegie Mellon University. The results, published April 20 in Nature, may aid the development of a new generation of more effective […]
Stonehenge served as an ancient solar calendar
It had long been thought that the famous site of Stonehenge served as an ancient calendar, given its alignment with the solstices. Now, research has identified how it may have worked. New finds about the stone circle’s history, along with analysis of other ancient calendar systems, prompted Professor Timothy Darvill to take a fresh look […]
New survey method proves Rhode Island’s rarest frog may not be so rare
The rarest frog in Rhode Island may not be as rare as scientists once thought after a study by University of Rhode Island researchers using a seldom-used methodology turned up many more of the endangered animals than they expected. Eastern spadefoots — often called spadefoot toads, though they are actually frogs — have long been […]
Boston Man Suffers Seizures Caused By Tapeworms In His Brain
A Boston man thought he was in good health found out otherwise when he started engaging in strange behavior early one morning. According to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine, the otherwise healthy man fell out of bed at approximately 4 a.m. and started shaking on the floor. Advertisement Even stranger: […]
‘Back to basics’ approach helps unravel new phase of matter
A new phase of matter, thought to be understandable only using quantum physics, can be studied with far simpler classical methods. Researchers from the University of Cambridge used computer modelling to study potential new phases of matter known as prethermal discrete time crystals (DTCs). It was thought that the properties of prethermal DTCs were reliant […]
River research reveals scale of macroplastic pollution
Plastic pollution clogs river systems for considerably longer than previously thought, new research from the University of Leicester shows. Macroplastics — or plastic litter more than 5mm in size — travel much slower through river systems than previously believed, at an average speed of less than 0.01 km per hour, and can remain in place […]
‘I Thought We’d Be Spending Less’: What We Heard This Week
“We knew it would be a lot of money, but I thought we’d be spending less.” — Heather Vallier, MD, of MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, on her team’s study that showed the total cost of care for treating gunshot victims at the trauma center over a 27-month period was over $18 million. “This is […]
This 2-Minute Strategy Can Get Your Patients Vaccinated Against COVID
I am a gastroenterologist. I do colonoscopies to remove polyps to prevent colon cancer. I never thought I would be speaking to patients about vaccinations. That has changed with COVID-19. Everything has changed with COVID-19. There is so much misinformation and everyone has seen this term: vaccine hesitancy. The vaccine-hesitant are people who are not […]