Other Sciences News

A compound derived from beta-carotene was one of the building blocks in a fully degradable, biobased polymer. Image credit: Helen Tran.

Scientists Create Carotenoid-Based Degradable Polymer

Feb 21, 2023 by News Staff

Researchers at the University of Toronto have incorporated a compound derived from beta-carotene, or β-carotene — an organic, strongly colored red-orange...

The surface of Europa looms large in this newly-reprocessed color view; image scale is 1.6 km per pixel; north on Europa is at right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Planetary Scientists Create Two New Forms of Extraterrestrial Ice

Feb 21, 2023 by News Staff

University of Washington researcher Baptiste Journaux and colleagues believe the newly-created substances could form at the surface and bottom of deep...

The PEMFC domain generated by Wang et al.: (a) 2D and (b) 3D rendering of the segmented membrane electrode assembly with artificially overlayed flow channels; the gas channel and land contacting the microporous gas diffusion layer are labeled. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-35973-8.

Novel Algorithm Helps Produce High-Resolution Images of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Feb 20, 2023 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by University of New South Wales researchers Ryan Armstrong, Chuan Zhao and Quentin Meyer has developed a new algorithm to improve...

Daily consumption of strawberries at a dose of two-and-a-half cups per day significantly improved insulin resistance and moderately improved high-density lipoprotein particle size. Image credit: Roberto Barresi.

Dietary Strawberry Consumption May Help Heart Health

Feb 13, 2023 by News Staff

Dietary strawberries significantly improve cardiometabolic risks, mainly via improving insulin resistance and lipid particles, and improve vascular health,...

Oldowan tools from the site of Nyayanga in Kenya: a dorsal flake, a ventral flake, and a core. Image credit: Plummer et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abo7452.

3-Million-Year-Old Oldowan Tools and Cut-Marked Bones Unearthed in Kenya

Feb 10, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Oldowan tools, consisting of stones with one to a few flakes removed, are the oldest widespread and temporally persistent hominin tools. The oldest of...

People who drank 2 cups of coffee per day and people who drank over 3 cups per day had lower systolic blood pressure than non-coffee drinkers by 5.2 mmHg and 9.7, respectively; similar trends were also observed for peripheral pulse pressure, aortic blood pressure and aortic pulse pressure. Image credit: Sci.News.

Regular Coffee Drinking Associated with Lower Blood Pressure

Feb 9, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to new research from the University of Bologna and the Sant’Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital, self-reported regular coffee drinkers have...

Hua et al. discovered a previously unknown layer of partly molten rock in a key region just below the tectonic plates. Image credit: Leonello Calvetti / Dreamstime.

Partially Molten Layer Detected Beneath Earth’s Tectonic Plates

Feb 7, 2023 by News Staff

The newly-detected molten rock layer is located about 150 km (93 miles) from the surface of our planet and is part of the asthenosphere, which sits under...

Cantuaria et al. found positive associations between exposure to road traffic noise and risk of tinnitus; highest risk estimates were found for women, people without a hearing loss, people with high education and income, and people who had never been in a blue-collar job. Image credit: Pexels.

Residential Exposure to Road Traffic Noise Increases Risk of Tinnitus, New Study Suggests

Feb 6, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

In a nationwide cohort study, scientists in Denmark investigated the association between residential road traffic and railway noise exposure, measured...

A jar with the medium-density amorphous ice inside, with steel balls and liquid nitrogen. Image credit: Rosu-Finsen et al., doi: 10.1126/science.abq2105.

New Form of Ice Discovered: Medium-Density Amorphous Ice

Feb 3, 2023 by News Staff

Water ice has many crystalline phases, along with a few amorphous structures. The complex structural diagram is important to understand because of the...

Professor Gaudzinski-Windheuser standing next to a life-size reconstruction of an adult male European straight-tusked elephant (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) in the State Museum of Prehistory in Halle, Germany. Image credit: Lutz Kindler, LEIZA.

Neanderthals Hunted Straight-Tusked Elephants 125,000 Years Ago

Feb 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) were the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene epoch, present in Europe and western Asia between...

Prototypes designed and built by Kay et al. contain several layers of channels, each of which contain fluids with various optical properties; by pumping the fluids in and out of the channels, the system can optimize the type, quantity and distribution of light passing through. Image credit: Raphael Kay / Adrian So.

Researchers Create Squid-Inspired ‘Liquid Windows’

Feb 1, 2023 by News Staff

A team of researchers at the University of Toronto has developed a multilayered fluidic system that can reduce the energy costs of heating, cooling and...

$X-ray powder diffraction mapping at multiple length scales revealed the unusual presence of lead(II) formate in several areas of The Night Watch. Image credit: Gonzalez et al., doi: 10.1002/anie.202216478.$

Unusual Lead Compound Detected in Rembrandt’s Most Famous Painting

Jan 31, 2023 by News Staff

The Night Watch, painted in 1642 and on view in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, is considered Rembrandt’s most famous work. In new research, scientists...

Caffeic and chlorogenic acids are commonly found phenolic acids in plant-derived foods and beverages; their corresponding adducts with an amino acid called cysteine have been detected in coffee-containing beverages. Image credit: StockSnap.

Coffee With Milk Have Anti-Inflammatory Effect, New Study Says

Jan 30, 2023 by News Staff

A combination of proteins and antioxidants doubles the anti-inflammatory properties in immune cells, according to a new paper published in the Journal...

The dandelion-inspired, wind-dispersed robot. Image credit: Jianfeng Yang / Tampere University.

Researchers Create Dandelion-Inspired Robot Controlled by Power of Light and Wind

Jan 30, 2023 by News Staff

The robot’s design is inspired by the seed of dandelion, resembling several biomimetic features, i.e., high porosity, lightweight, and separated vortex...

Schematic and applications of the liquid-solid phase transition of MPTM. Image credit: Wang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.matt.2022.12.003.

Shape-Shifting Robot Can Turn into Liquid and Escape Cage

Jan 26, 2023 by News Staff

Researchers from the Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University, Carnegie Mellon University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Zhejiang University...

Drinking a beetroot juice before exercise makes the aging brain perform more efficiently. Image credit: Ken Bennett, Wake Forest University.

Study: Dietary Nitrate Supplementation Increases Muscle Force during Exercise

Jan 25, 2023 by News Staff

Supplementation of dietary nitrate — commonly found in beetroot juice — increases nitric oxide bioavailability and can enhance exercise performance....

Earth’s internal structure: dense solid metallic core, viscous metallic outer core, mantle and silicate based crust. Image credit: NASA.

Study: Changes in Rotation of Earth’s Inner Core Occur on Decadal Scale

Jan 24, 2023 by News Staff

The rotation of the Earth’s inner core may have recently paused and could be reversing, according to new research by geoscientists from Peking University. Yang...

La Pasiega Cave, section C, cave wall with paintings: the ladder shape composed of red horizontal and vertical lines (center left) dates to older than 64,000 years and was made by Neanderthals. Image credit: P. Saura.

World’s Oldest Art Was Created by Neanderthals, Researcher Says

Jan 24, 2023 by The Conversation

Neanderthal art was perhaps more abstract than the stereotypical figure and animal cave paintings Homo sapiens made after Neanderthals disappeared about...

Graphic showing how a cone slowly builds up in an elastomer film, then inverts to launch the film high into the air over the span of less than a second. Image credit: Hebner et al., doi: 10.1126/sciadv.ade1320.

Newly-Developed Material Can Leap High into Air Like Grasshopper

Jan 19, 2023 by News Staff

The novel rubber-like material developed by University of Colorado Boulder researchers responds a bit like how grasshoppers jump by storing and releasing...