Other Sciences News

Representative confocal images of whole mounts organ of Corti from the medial region of the cochlea stained for filipin to label cholesterol (green) and phalloidin for visualizing actin in stereocilia (blue) from young (top) and old (bottom) C57BL/J mice. Scale bar - 30 μm. Rectangles indicate the region of the zoomed-in areas shown on the right using a 63x objective. Scale bar - 8 μm. Pink dotted lines represent the diameter of individual inner hair cells and outer hair cells. Image credit: Sodero et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002257.

Phytosterols May Help Reduce Age-Related Hearing Loss, Animal Study Suggests

Aug 30, 2023 by News Staff

Dietary supplementation with phytosterols — plant sterols with structure and function similar to cholesterol — prevented sensory dysfunction...

Petersen et al. suggest that using herbs/spices to create flavor-enhanced recipes lower in overconsumed dietary components has the potential to reduce intake and is acceptable to consumers. Image credit: Congerdesign.

Researchers Figure Out How to Remove Salt and Saturated Fat from Popular Foods

Aug 30, 2023 by News Staff

New proof-of-concept research involving 10 recipes demonstrates that using herbs/spices to create flavor enhanced, healthier versions of commonly consumed...

Graecopithecus freybergi lived 7.2 million years ago in the dust-laden savannah of the Athens Basin. This view from Graecopithecus freybergi’s place of discovery, Pyrgos Vassilissis, to the southeast over the plain of Athens and under a reddish cloud of Sahara dust; in the background: Mount Hymettos and Mount Lykabettos. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

8.7-Million-Year-Old Fossil Suggests Ancestors of Humans and African Apes Evolved in Europe

Aug 24, 2023 by News Staff

The fossilized remains of the Miocene-period ape species Anadoluvius turkae have been unearthed at the paleotological site of Çorakyerler in central Anatolia,...

The Swift Ray 1 imaging device is a pocket-sized hyperspectral camera that is designed to sit over a smartphone’s camera lens and wirelessly connect to Swift Medical’s Skin and Wound app. Image credit: Ramirez-GarciaLuna et al., doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1165281.

Real-Life ‘Tricorder’ Can Spot Infected Wounds

Aug 24, 2023 by News Staff

Named the Swift Ray 1, the real-life Star Trek ‘tricorder’ is a novel point-of-care hyperspectral imaging device that allows the acquisition of medical-grade...

The battery charging system developed by University of West Florida students. Image credit: University of West Florida.

Researchers Create Battery Charging System for Soldiers Operating in Jungle Environments

Aug 23, 2023 by News Staff

An innovative battery charging system developed by electrical engineering students at the University of West Florida uses soldiers’ motion as they walk...

Roychand et al. show that the leaching of organic compounds from waste coffee grounds hinders the hydration reaction of cement particles, thereby significantly hampering the compressive strength of waste coffee ground-blended concrete; however, pyrolyzing waste coffee grounds at 350 degrees Celsius led to a significant improvement in its material properties, which resulted in a 29.3% enhancement in the compressive strength of the composite concrete blended with coffee biochar. Image credit: Roychand et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138205.

Researchers Turn Waste Coffee Grounds into Valuable Resource for Enhancement of Concrete Strength

Aug 22, 2023 by News Staff

A new study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production is the first to prove that waste coffee grounds can be used to improve concrete. Roychand et...

Archaic human peptides display in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activities with low host toxicity. Image credit: Ella Marushchenko.

Scientists ‘Resurrect’ Extinct Antimicrobial Peptides of Neanderthals and Denisovans

Aug 16, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Molecular de-extinction could offer avenues for drug discovery by reintroducing bioactive molecules that are no longer encoded by living organisms. Archaic...

Complex sugar molecules control the formation of perineuronal nets (shown here in green) that surround neurons to help stabilize connections in the brain. Image credit: Hsieh-Wilson et al.

Sulfate Groups on Complex Sugar Molecules Affect Brain Plasticity, Animal Study Suggests

Aug 16, 2023 by News Staff

Sulfate groups on complex sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans affect ‘plasticity’ in the brains of mice, according to a team of researchers led...

Tracking changes among Environmental and Politics Twitter users: (A) the proportion of users that were active in each 15-day window; (B) the rate of change in the proportion of active users for both samples. In both plots, the points depict the observed data while the color band with a broken line shows the 99% confidence interval based on a bootstrap sample of the data. The broken vertical line corresponds to April 25, 2022, when the Twitter board accepted Musk’s initial purchase offer, and the heavier broken line corresponds to October 28, 2022, when Musk’s takeover was finalized. Image credit: Chang et al., doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.07.002.

Study: Twitter May Have Lost Half of Environmentally-Oriented Users Since Elon Musk Took Over

Aug 16, 2023 by Sergio Prostak

In a study sample of 380,000 environmentally oriented users, nearly 47.5% became inactive on Twitter (recently renamed X) after it was sold in October...

Ruan et al. demonstrate how glacial cycle variability synchronized hominin habitat overlap, Denisovan-Neanderthal interbreeding, and early human gene flow. Image credit: Axel Timmermann.

Climate Shifts Orchestrated Interbreeding between Neanderthals and Denisovans, New Study Says

Aug 15, 2023 by News Staff

Looking at habitat overlap for Neanderthals and Denisovans, Pusan National University researcher Jiaoyang Ruan and colleagues found patterns of interbreeding...

Delgadillo-Puga et al. show cardamom could be a healthy dietary choice, and that its consumption can help maintain lean body weight and reduce fat. Image credit: PDPics.

Cardamom Seed Consumption Increases Appetite and Reduces Fat, New Research Suggests

Aug 14, 2023 by Natali Anderson

Cardamom seed (Elettaria cardamomum) is consumed in several countries worldwide and is considered a nutraceutical spice since it exerts antioxidant, anti-inflammatory,...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Extreme Glacial Cooling Caused Extinction of Early Pleistocene Hominins in Europe, Study Says

Aug 10, 2023 by News Staff

New paleoclimate evidence shows that around 1.1 million years ago, the southern European climate cooled significantly and caused an extinction of archaic...

Mallotus peltatus. Image credit: Abu Hamas / CC BY-SA 4.0.

Tropical Plant Extract May Help Prevent Obesity

Aug 8, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Obesity is a major risk factor for various chronic diseases, especially lifestyle-related diseases. Therefore, finding a protective substance against obesity...

The fructose survival hypothesis proposes that obesity and metabolic disorders may have developed from over-stimulation of an evolutionary-based biologic response (survival switch) that aims to protect animals in advance of crisis. Image credit: Günther.

Excessive Fructose Metabolism Explains Obesity and Epidemics of Obesity-Associated Diseases: Study

Aug 7, 2023 by News Staff

Obesity and its associated metabolic diseases have had devastating health consequences on modern society. New research from the University of Colorado...

Pecans (Carya illinoinensis) are considered a functional food due to the high content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber and polyphenols. Image credit: Tseiu.

Pecans May Help Prevent Obesity and Reduce Inflammation, Study Shows

Aug 2, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

Researchers from Texas A&M University and elsewhere have assessed the biochemical, histological and molecular effects of whole pecans (Carya illinoinensis)...

The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus). Image credit: University of Melbourne.

Study: Brain of Tasmanian Tiger Was Typical of Carnivorous/Scavenger Marsupials

Aug 1, 2023 by News Staff

The thylacine (Thylacinus cynocephalus) is the largest of modern-day carnivorous marsupials and was hunted to extinction by European settlers in Australia....

Mangoes are one of the most popular fruits in the world, grown in more than 100 countries globally and consumed by an extremely diverse population. Image credit: Daniel Dan.

Mango Consumption Improves Antioxidant Enzyme Activities and Vascular Health, Scientists Say

Aug 1, 2023 by News Staff

With only 70 calories and over 20 different vitamins and minerals, a 3/4-cup serving of mango is nutrient-dense, making it a superfood. Mangoes are one...

Various exercise training modes improve resting blood pressure, particularly isometric exercise. Image credit: Viktor Ristic.

Planks and Wall Sits are Best for Lowering Blood Pressure, New Review Says

Jul 30, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

According to a large-scale systematic review and meta-analysis of 270 previous studies, aerobic exercise training, dynamic resistance training, combined...

Daily strawberry consumption was linked to improved cognitive function, lower blood pressure and higher antioxidant capacity. Image credit: Pasja1000.

Study: Strawberry Consumption Improves Cognitive Function and Cardiovascular Health in Older Adults

Jul 28, 2023 by News Staff

Daily consumption of 26 grams of freeze-dried strawberry powder moderately improves cognitive processing speed, lowers systolic blood pressure, and increases...