Synthetic tissue can repair hearts, muscles, and vocal cords
Combining knowledge of chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering, scientists from McGill University develop a biomaterial tough enough to repair the heart, muscles, and vocal cords, representing a major advance in regenerative medicine. “People recovering from heart damage often face a long and tricky journey. Healing is challenging because of the constant movement tissues must withstand […]
Brief presence of water in Arabia Terra on Mars: Team studied thermal inertia to understand how rock layers were formed
As part of a team of collaborators from Northern Arizona University and Johns Hopkins University, NAU PhD candidate Ari Koeppel recently discovered that water was once present in a region of Mars called Arabia Terra. Arabia Terra is in the northern latitudes of Mars. Named in 1879 by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli, this ancient land […]
Largest comet ever observed was active at near-record distance
A new study by University of Maryland astronomers shows that comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein (BB), the largest comet ever discovered, was active long before previously thought, meaning the ice within it is vaporizing and forming an envelope of dust and vapor known as a coma. Only one active comet has been observed farther from the sun, and […]
Artificial intelligence successfully predicts protein interactions: Research could lead to a wealth of drug targets
UT Southwestern and University of Washington researchers led an international team that used artificial intelligence (AI) and evolutionary analysis to produce 3D models of eukaryotic protein interactions. The study, published in Science, identified more than 100 probable protein complexes for the first time and provided structural models for more than 700 previously uncharacterized ones. Insights […]
Why drug used to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients may only benefit males: Research into the way our immune systems respond to COVID-19 reveals the sex of a patient may affect how well drugs work
A new study from the University of Calgary shows how dexamethasone, the main treatment for severe COVID-19 lung infections, alters how immune cells work, which may help male patients, but has little to no benefit for females. These remarkable findings are the result of a multidisciplinary study published in Nature Medicine, led by Dr. Jeff […]
The evolution of good taste
Does evolution explain why we can’t resist a salty chip? Researchers at NC State University found that differences between the elemental composition of foods and the elemental needs of animals can explain the development of pleasing tastes like salty, umami and sweet. Taste tells us a lot about foods before they are swallowed and digested, […]
Landmark study points to source of rapid aging, chronic inflammation in people living with HIV
In a groundbreaking study of people living with HIV, University of Alberta researchers found that elusive white blood cells called neutrophils play a role in impaired T cell functions and counts, as well as the associated chronic inflammation that is common with the virus. Neutrophils are a foundational part of the body’s immune system and […]
Doctors Sue Hackensack Meridian for Age Discrimination
Three doctors terminated from Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, a part of Hackensack Meridian Health, are suing their former employer, claiming they were fired because of age discrimination. The emergency pediatric physicians — Usha Avva, MD, Nina Gold, MD, and Kathleen Reichard, MD — were 56, 55, and 53, respectively, at the time. […]
Physicists discover novel quantum effect in bilayer graphene
Theorists at The University of Texas at Dallas, along with colleagues in Germany, have for the first time observed a rare phenomenon called the quantum anomalous Hall effect in a very simple material. Previous experiments have detected it only in complex or delicate materials. Dr. Fan Zhang, associate professor of physics in the School of […]
Using microbes to make carbon-neutral fuel
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have discovered a new way to train microbes to make a readily usable biofuel. A team of biologists and engineers modified a microbe called Rhodopseudomonas palustris TIE-1 (TIE-1) so that it can produce a biofuel using only three renewable and naturally abundant source ingredients: carbon dioxide, solar panel-generated […]