Today's Top Science News

Opioid-based plant might not be best solution to curb habitual alcohol use
A Purdue University team published a paper in the British Journal of Pharmacology examining the effects of kratom and the potential impacts on people with alcohol use disorder.

Driver found for more deadly prostate cancer
A transcription factor that aids neuron function also appears to enable a cell conversion in the prostate gland that can make an already recurrent cancer even more deadly, scientists say.

Light at the end of the nanotunnel for future catalysts
Using a new type of nanoreactor, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have succeeded in mapping catalytic reactions on individual metallic nanoparticles. Their work could help improve chemical processes, and lead to better catalysts and more environmentally friendly chemical technology. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Training family doctors to better support domestic violence survivors
Women who are experiencing domestic violence feel better supported, more confident and less depressed when they are counselled by trained family doctors, according to new research.

Baseline predictors of LDL-cholesterol and systolic blood pressure goal attainment after one year in the ISCHEMIA trial
In this analysis of 3,984 participants from ISCHEMIA (78% of 5,179 randomized) with available data, predictors of reaching one-year goals are reported for low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and systolic blood pressure (SBP).

Talking with trained doctors can help abused women
Women who are experiencing intimate partner violence feel better supported, more confident, and less depressed when trained family doctors counsel them, according to new research in the journal Family Practice.

Visualizing heat flow in bamboo could help design more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings
Modified natural materials will be an essential component of a sustainable future, but first a detailed understanding of their properties is needed. The way heat flows across bamboo cell walls has been mapped using advanced scanning thermal microscopy, providing a new understanding of how variations in thermal conductivity are linked to the bamboo's elegant structure. The findings, published in the journal Scientific Reports, will guide the development of more energy-efficient and fire-safe buildings, made from natural materials, in the future.

Deep learning expands study of nuclear waste remediation
A research collaboration between Berkeley Lab, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Brown University, and NVIDIA has achieved exaflop performance with a deep learning application used to model subsurface flow in the study of nuclear waste remediation.

Etalumis 'reverses' simulations to reveal new science
A multinational collaboration using computing resources at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center has developed the first probabilistic programming framework capable of controlling existing simulators and running at large-scale on HPC platforms.

Ant expert discovers newly emergent species in his backyard
Jack Longino is a global ant expert and has traveled the world documenting and discovering ant species. But for his latest discovery, he didn't need to go any farther than his own backyard.

How artificial intelligence can transform psychiatry
Scientists have developed a new mobile app that categorizes mental health status based on speech patterns. It could be used as an adjunct for in-person therapy and to help monitor patients from afar. But, as the researchers note in a new paper, more must be done to earn public trust.

Scientists crack rabies virus weaponry
Researchers from Monash University and the University of Melbourne have found a way to stop the rabies virus shutting down the body's immune defence against it. In doing so they have solved a key scientific puzzle and have laid the foundation for the development of new anti-rabies vaccines.

Stalled weather patterns will get bigger due to climate change
Climate change will increase the size of stalled high-pressure systems that can cause heat waves, droughts and other extreme weather, according to a new study in Geophysical Research Letters.

Engineers help with water under the bridge and other tough environmental decisions
From energy to water to food, civil engineering projects greatly impact natural resources. One engineer hopes that other engineers can step up to the challenge to help make decisions clearer, if not easier. Using a sustainability-based optimization algorithm, a Michigan Tech team examines biofuels, sea level rise, and other challenges.

Deep neural networks speed up weather and climate models
A team of environmental and computation scientists at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are collaborating to use deep neural networks, a type of machine learning, to replace the parameterizations of certain physical schemes in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model, an extremely comprehensive model that simulates the evolution of many aspects of the physical world around us.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy benefits cancer survivors with heart failure
A pacemaker-like device restored heart function in a group of cancer survivors -- mostly women with breast cancer -- who had suffered from heart failure as a result of chemotherapy treatment, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports.

Individual climate models may not provide the complete picture
Equilibrium climate sensitivity -- how sensitive the Earth's climate is to changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide -- may be underestimated in individual climate models, according to a team of climate scientists.

Research points to possible target to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF
In a study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, recruited monocyte-derived macrophages with increased flux in their mevalonate pathway were able induce lung fibrosis in a mouse model without prior lung injury. Furthermore, study of humans with IPF showed that three hallmarks of the mechanism that leads to lung fibrosis in the absence of injury in mice are also found in bronchoalveolar, or BAL, cells from these patients.

New material points toward highly efficient solar cells
A new type of material for next-generation solar cells eliminates the need to use lead, which has been a major roadblock for this technology.

Why only some post-stroke survivors can 'copy what I say'
Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) and elsewhere report in Brain that the left lateral temporal cortex must be intact in stroke patients with aphasia if they are to have their speech entrained. In speech entrainment, stroke survivors practice fluent speech production by following along with another speaker. The efficacy of this experimental approach for certain patients with non-fluent aphasia will be assessed by an MUSC-led multi-site trial.

Study: 'Pre-habilitation' by peer coaches before knee replacement may improve outcomes
HSS researchers launched a study to see if a 'pre-habilitation" program - counseling by a peer coach who has already had knee replacement - could empower and inform patients scheduled for the surgery and lead to better outcomes. The study found that such a program could be helpful to patients.

Flame-retardant exposure increases anxiety, affects social behaviors in prairie vole
New research shows that early life exposure to a commonly used flame-retardant mixture increases anxiety and affects socioemotional behaviors in prairie voles, particularly in females.

Half of Piedmont drinking wells may exceed NC's hexavalent chromium standards
A new study which combines measurements from nearly 1,400 drinking water wells across North Carolina estimates that more than half of the wells in the state's Piedmont region contain levels of cancer-causing hexavalent chromium in excess of state safety standards. The prediction is based on a model of geology and chemistry.

Some hoppy news: Hops don't need to go dormant in order to flower
In a study that wraps up three years and 13 growth cycles of several popular hop varieties, CSU's Bill Bauerle is upending conventional wisdom hop growers have followed for decades to coax their plants to flower. His results, published in Scientific Reports, open up new possibilities for indoor, sustainable, local production of hops.

NASA finds heavy rain in Tropical Storm Fengshen
The Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite provided a look at the rainfall occurring within the newly developed Tropical Storm Fengshen.

Prosthetic joint infections missed in patients with rheumatic diseases
Standard diagnostic methods are not adequate to identify prosthetic joint infections (PJIs) in patients with rheumatic diseases, according to findings from a new study by researchers from Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York City.

Drug discount cards could actually cost patients more
New research published this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reveals that brand-name drug discount cards are leading to higher health care spending in Canada--increased costs that are ultimately passed on to patients.

Drug dust
Researchers at Harvard University and the Drug Enforcement Administration have designed a promising new tool that can identify smaller concentrations of drug powders than any other device. Portable, simple to use, and cost effective, the technology could provide law enforcement officers and forensic chemists a quick and accurate way to identify unknown, potentially dangerous, substances.

WPI researchers discover vulnerabilities affecting billions of computer chips
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) security researchers Berk Sunar and Daniel Moghimi led an international team of researchers that discovered serious security vulnerabilities in computer chips made by Intel Corp. and STMicroelectronics. The flaws affect billions of laptop, server, tablet, and desktop users around the world. The proof-of-concept attack is dubbed TPM-Fail.

Army researcher promotes cooperation between humans, autonomous machines
The trust between humans and autonomous machines is a top priority for Army researchers -- as machines become integral to society, it is critical to understand the impact on human decision-making.

A milestone in ultrashort-pulse laser oscillators
With the demonstration of a sub-picosecond thin-disk laser oscillator delivering a record-high 350-W average output power, physicists at ETH Zurich set a new benchmark and pave the path towards even more powerful lasers.

An additional component can triple vaccine efficiency, and scientists explained how
A team of Russian scientists carried out a study on the cell immunity level and found out how an adjuvant called azoximer bromide increases the immunogenicity of the anti-flu vaccine. The results of the study were presented at the Russian-Chinese Symposium on Infectious Diseases in Saint-Petersburg (5-7 November, 2019).

Is virtual reality the next big thing in art therapy?
Researchers from Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions in the Creative Arts Therapies Department conducted a study to see if virtual reality can be used as an expressive tool in art therapy.

ICU survivors commonly experience job loss after critical illness, study confirms
National attention has been drawn to the plight of patients who have experienced the unintended side effects of prolonged ICU care such as memory loss and muscle weakness. Now, a research team led by UC San Diego have evaluated the employment impacts to ICU patients, with concerning findings.

Low-cost, portable system takes OCT beyond ophthalmology
Researchers have developed a way to perform optical coherence tomography (OCT) in hard-to-reach areas of the body such as joints. The advance could help bring this high-resolution biomedical imaging technique to new surgical and medical applications.

Getting cancer drugs to the brain is difficult -- but a new 'road map' might make it easier
Purdue University scientists have provided the first comprehensive characterization of both the blood-brain and blood-tumor barriers in brain metastases of lung cancer, which will serve as a road map for treatment development. The work was recently published in Oncotarget.

Practice characteristics and job satisfaction among GPs in 11 countries
Organizational and functional features of general practitioner practices in 11 countries were studied in search of underlying reasons for job dissatisfaction.

New Pitt research finds carbon nanotubes show a love/hate relationship with water
New research in the journal Carbon reveals that carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a coating can both repel and hold water in place, a useful property for applications like printing, spectroscopy, water transport, or harvesting surfaces. When water is dropped on a CNT forest, the CNTs repel the water, and it forms a sphere. However, when flipped over, the drop does not fall to the ground but rather clings to the surface.

Study reveals breach of 'dancing' barrier governs crystal growth
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago used computer-based simulations to analyze how atoms and molecules move in a solution and identified a general mechanism governing crystal growth that scientists can manipulate when developing new materials.

Listening to music while driving reduces cardiac stress
A study by Brazilian researchers suggests that cardiac overload due to the stress of driving in heavy traffic can be attenuated by listening to instrumental music.

AI-driven single blood cell classification
For the first time, researchers from Helmholtz Zentrum München and the University Hospital of LMU Munich show that deep learning algorithms perform similar to human experts when classifying blood samples from patients suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Their proof of concept study paves the way for an automated, standardized and on-hand sample analysis in the near future. The paper was published in Nature Machine Intelligence.

Associations between burnout and practice organization in family physicians
With the rate of burnout as high as 63% among family physicians, it is important to identify risk factors for physician burnout. The relationship between burnout and personal environmental and organizational risk factors was examined in a study of family physicians.

More Americans struggle to fall asleep, stay asleep
If you have trouble sleeping, you're not alone. New research from Iowa State University finds more Americans have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. The difficulties were most prevalent in people with healthy sleep length.

Program linking patients to community resources shows no significant impact on well-being
A social prescribing initiative, designed to improve patients' well-being and quality of life by connecting them to non-medical resources, did not prove effective overall.

University of Florida scientists advance citrus greening research efforts
To facilitate the scientific community's ability to use L. crescens in citrus greening research, University of Florida Department of Plant Pathology scientists have published an article in Phytopathology that outlines, step-by-step, highly reproducible and detailed protocols that they have standardized for culturing L. crescens.

What future do emperor penguins face?
Emperor penguins establish their colonies on sea ice under extremely specific conditions. Yet, this ice will gradually melt as the climate warms, depriving these birds of their habitat, food sources, and the capacity to raise their young. To predict what will happen to emperor penguin colonies, a team of scientists led by the Chizé Centre for Biological Studies (CNRS / University of La Rochelle) applied a combination of climate and population models to three different scenarios.

Delivering large genes to the retina is problematic
A new study has shown that a commonly used vector for large gene transfer can success-fully deliver genes to retinal cells in the laboratory, but when injected subretinally into rats it provokes a robust and acute inflammatory response.

New SLAS Technology auto-commentary released
November's SLAS Technology Auto-Commentary, "On the Way to Efficient Analytical Measurements: The Future of Robot-Based Measurements," highlights potentially suitable replacement measurement systems and processes as outlined in the book, Automation Solutions for Analytical Measurements: Concepts and Applications.

Capacity to address patient social needs affects primary care clinician burnout
Clinicians noted the importance of social needs interventions being timely, accessible and tailored to each individual patient, while being responsive to patient feedback. Yet, they were skeptical that referral-based interventions based solely on referrals would adequately address patients' social needs.

At the heart of regeneration: Scientists reveal a new frontier in cardiac research
Researchers at CHLA uncover mechanisms in zebrafish heart regeneration that could lead to better treatments for babies in need of heart repair.

A national decline in primary care visits associated with more comprehensive visits and electronic follow-up
The number of primary care visits may be declining nationally, but analysis reveals that in-person visits have become more comprehensive and follow-up care has moved online.

Does blue light therapy help acne? Efficacy and evidence is lacking
Conclusions about the effectiveness of blue light therapy for acne are limited. A new systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 randomized controlled trials of blue light therapy for acne shows methodological and reporting limitations -- including small sample sizes, short intervention periods, and variation in reporting quality for acne outcomes.

Chronic adversity dampens dopamine production
People exposed to a lifetime of psychosocial adversity may have an impaired ability to produce the dopamine levels needed for coping with acutely stressful situations.

Ancient rain gauge: New evidence links groundwater, climate changes in deep time
Changes in groundwater millions of years ago created alternating layers of vivid yellow and brown in the mineral sphalerite, and those variations align with movements in Earth's orbit that impacted climate in the deep past, Penn State scientists found.

Perspectives and suggestions in caring for high-need, complex patients
High-need high-cost patients, many of whom are experiencing poverty, use a large portion of health care resources. Despite receiving more care, such patients often experience poor health outcomes.

Higher education holds key to more age-friendly society, publication says
The age-friendly movement is an ideal means of embracing demographic shifts in higher education and society at large, according to the latest issue in the What's Hot newsletter series from The Gerontological Society of America (GSA), titled 'Higher Education and Aging: The Age-Friendly Movement -- Building a Case for Age Inclusivity.' Support for the publication was provided by AARP.

Study reveals 'bug wars' that take place in cystic fibrosis
Scientists have revealed how common respiratory bugs that cause serious infections in people with cystic fibrosis interact together, according to a new study in eLife.

Good noise, bad noise: White noise improves hearing
Noise is not the same as noise -- and even a quiet environment does not have the same effect as white noise. With a background of continuous white noise, hearing pure sounds becomes even more precise, as researchers from the University of Basel have shown in a study in Cell Reports. Their findings could be applied to the further development of cochlear implants.

With Mars methane mystery unsolved, Curiosity serves scientists a new one: Oxygen
For the first time in the history of space exploration, scientists have measured the seasonal changes in the gases that fill the air directly above the surface of Gale Crater on Mars.

Contacts with primary care physicians did not increase after the Affordable Care Act
At the same time the Affordable Care Act increased the number of insured Americans, analysis of health care industry data shows a continued decline in contact with primary care physician services.

UTSA researchers discover new pathways in brain's amygdala
The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) researchers are pioneering an innovative brain study that sheds light on how the amygdala portion of the brain functions and could contribute to a better understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and Alzheimer's disease.

Innovations in treatment of traumatic injuries with severe bleeding are saving lives
Deaths from severe bleeding after major trauma have been reduced by 40% over the last decade through a programme of research and innovation led by Queen Mary University of London, Barts Health NHS Trust and NHS Blood and Transplant.

Scientists shed new light on neural processes behind learning and motor behaviours
Researchers have provided new insight into the neural processes behind movement and learning behaviours, according to a study published today in eLife.

New exploration method for geothermal energy
Where to drill? This is the basic question in the exploration of underground energy resources, such as geothermal energy. A research team with participation of GFZ Potsdam presents a new method for locating potential drilling sites that are covered by water. The new approach combines bathymetry measurements with geochemical profiles.

Protein could offer therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer
A protein that drives growth of pancreatic cancer, and which could be a target for new treatments, has been identified by researchers at the Crick.

Last Arctic ice refuge is disappearing
The oldest and thickest Arctic sea ice is disappearing twice as fast as ice in the rest of the Arctic Ocean, according to new research.

Complementary and alternative therapies to treat colic
A review of the evidence on the use of complementary and alternative (CAM) therapies to treat babies with colic has shown some that some treatments -- including probiotics, fennel extract and spinal manipulation -- do appear to help, but that overall the evidence on the use of these therapies is limited so should be treated with caution.

Knowledge of the origin of the food makes it taste better
Food we are familiar with tastes the best, but if we know where the food comes from and how it is made, it actually gets better, even if we don't think the taste is spot on. New research from the Future Consumer Lab at the Department of Food Science at the University of Copenhagen demonstrates this.

Boosting host immune defenses to treat tuberculosis
A study in iScience suggests a new approach that might help treat Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis: making people's cells better at killing Mtb by harnessing RNA sensors in our cells, which detect the RNA of invading pathogens. For the first time, researchers led by Anne Goldfeld, MD, of Boston Children's Hospital's Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine, showed that RNA sensing is important in inhibiting Mtb's growth once it gets inside cells.

Scientists identify immune cells linked to malaria-induced anaemia through autoantibody production
An autoimmune attack on uninfected red blood cells likely contributes to anaemia -- a shortage of red blood cells -- in people with malaria, according to a new study published in eLife.

Beware probiotics in ICU patients
A collaborative study published in Nature Medicine sounds a note of caution in using probiotics in the ICU. In a small percentage of cases, the live bacteria in the probiotic formulations can cause bloodstream infections. An investigation began when the Infection Prevention and Control group at Boston Children's Hospital began noticing cases of bacteremia in the ICU caused by Lactobacillus, a genus of bacteria commonly found in probiotics.

Using cardiac-specific biomarkers to predict cardiovascular disease risk early
A new review article provides valuable insights into how traditional and emerging cardiac-specific biomarkers and their associated cardiovascular disease risk factors may help point to effective preventive interventions in high-risk obese populations starting at an early stage of disease development.

New research shows the more women on a company's board, the more market value is lost
A company with a gender-diverse board of directors is interpreted as revealing a preference for diversity and a weaker commitment to shareholder value, according to new research in the INFORMS journal Organization Science.

At future Mars landing spot, scientists spy mineral that could preserve signs of past life
Using orbital instruments to peer into Jezero crater, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 rover, researchers found deposits of hydrated silica, a mineral that's great at preserving microfossils and other signs of life.

Magnetic tuning at the nanoscale
Physicists from the German research center Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) are working to produce engineered magnetic nanostructures and to tailor material properties at the nanoscale. The scientists use a special microscope at the HZDR Ion Beam Center to achieve this goal. This microscope's ultrathin ion beam is capable of producing stable, periodically arranged nanomagnets in a sample material. The device can also be used to optimize the magnetic properties of carbon nanotubes.

Wildlife in Catalonia carry bacteria resistant to antimicrobials used in human health
A study performed in Catalonia by IRTA-CReSA, UAB and Torreferrussa Wildlife Center demonstrates that the enteric bacteria of wildlife origin in Catalonia exhibits a high prevalence and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes. The study, published in the PLoS ONE journal, emphasizes that these antibiotics are classified by the World Health Organization as critically important for human health.

Researchers develop a new home-based app to better monitor Parkinson's disease
In order to optimally treat motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), it is necessary to have a good understanding of their severity and daily fluctuations. A report in the Journal of Parkinson's Disease describes how a new app, SleepFit, could be a useful tool in routine clinical practice to monitor motor symptoms and facilitate specific symptom-oriented follow-up.

A runaway star ejected from the galactic heart of darkness
Astronomers have spotted an ultrafast star, traveling at a blistering 6 million km/h, that was ejected by the supermassive black hole at the heart at the Milky Way five million years ago. The discovery of the star, known as S5-HVS1, was made by Carnegie Mellon's Sergey Koposov as part of the Southern Stellar Stream Spectroscopic Survey (S5). Located in the constellation of Grus - the Crane - S5-HVS1 was found to be moving ten times faster than most stars in the Milky Way.

Finding out the factors that most influence the steel corrosion in reinforced concrete
This process causes structures to deteriorate internally and can even cause buildings to collapse.

Defining a new approach to treating Parkinson's disease
Scientists from the University of Cologne have contributed to identifying Cav2.3 as a new target for a promising specific therapy.

Superconducting wind turbine chalks up first test success
A superconducting rotor has been successfully tested on an active wind turbine for the first time.The EcoSwing consortium designed, developed, manufactured a full-size superconducting generator for a 3.6 megawatt wind turbine, and field-tested it in Thyborøn, Denmark.

Universal guideline for treating mucormycosis developed
'One World -- One Guideline': Researchers at the University of Cologne and Cologne University Hospital have launched an initiative to significantly reduce the mortality rate of the rare fungal disease mucormycosis, which afflicts 7,000 people worldwide every year.

Massive photons in an artificial magnetic field
An international research collaboration from Poland, the UK and Russia has created a two-dimensional system -- a thin optical cavity filled with liquid crystal -- in which they trapped photons. As the properties of the cavity were modified by an external voltage, the photons behaved like massive quasiparticles endowed with a magnetic moment, called 'spin', under the influence of an artificial magnetic field. The research has been published in Science on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019.

First evidence of feathered polar dinosaurs found in Australia
A cache of 118 million-year-old fossilized dinosaur and bird feathers has been recovered from an ancient lake deposit that once lay beyond the southern polar circle.

Nitrous oxide emissions set to rise in the Pacific Ocean
The acidification of the Pacific Ocean in northern Japan is increasing the natural production rate of N2O, an ozone-depleting greenhouse gas. That's the finding of a study carried out jointly by scientists at EPFL, Tokyo Institute of Technology and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology and appearing recently in Nature Climate Change.

Applying biodiversity conservation research in practice
One million species are threatened with extinction, many of them already in the coming decades. This unprecedented loss of biodiversity threatens valuable ecosystems and human well-being. But what is holding us back from putting conservation research into practice? The journal Biological Conservation has published a collection of 14 articles on this topic. In their editorial, Bea Maas from the University of Vienna and her co-authors show why interdisciplinary cooperation is crucial for the conservation of global biodiversity.

This is what the monsoon might look like in a warmer world
In the last interglacial period on Earth about 125,000 years ago, the Indian monsoon was longer, more extreme and less reliable than it is today. This is the conclusion drawn after analyses of a dripstone from a cave in north-eastern India, combining various methods that provide information about supra-regional and local weather phenomena and the climate dynamics of the past.

Iron-based solar cells on track to becoming more efficient
An international study led from Lund University in Sweden shows that 30% of the energy in a certain type of light-absorbing iron molecule disappears in a previously unknown manner. By closing this loophole, the researchers hope to contribute to the development of more efficient solar cells using this iron-based solar cell.

Severity of earthquake impact may change with the seasons, study shows
The devastating impact caused by earthquakes on the local communities and environment could differ in severity depending on the season a pioneering new study on two historic earthquakes in Kazakhstan has suggested.

Trauma and kids: The role of the early childhood teacher
New research from the University of South Australia, has explored the growing uncertainty faced by children aged 0-8 years in disaster zones, such as bushfires, finding that early childhood teachers hold a vital role in supporting children dealing with trauma.

Gender quotas in business -- how do Europeans feel?
Despite years trying to bring more women to the top boards of business, the proportion of women on the committees of companies is tiny. Yet quotas, such as the 2016 statutory gender quota for supervisory board members in Germany, remain controversial. Now, researchers at the Universities of Göttingen and Mannheim have examined the attitudes of the European population to the gender quota in boards. The results were published in the journal Comparative European Politics.

Preterm children have similar temperament to children who were institutionally deprived
A child's temperament is affected by the early stages of their life. Researchers from the University of Warwick, the University of Tennessee, University of Southampton and Kings College London have found children who were born very preterm (under 32 weeks gestation) or very low birthweight (under 1500g) had similar temperamental difficulties in controlling their impulses, to children who experienced institutional deprivation.

Bacteria may contribute more to climate change as planet heats up
As bacteria adapt to hotter temperatures, they speed up their respiration rate and release more carbon, potentially accelerating climate change.

Small RNAs link immune system and brain cells
A collaborative study carried out by the Institute of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy at Goethe University (Professor Jochen Klein) and the Institute of Neurosciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Professor Hermona Soreq) shows sex-specific biases in disease-specific changes in brain cells, as well as in cellular control mechanisms based on endogenous short ribonucleic acid (RNA) chains.

Esports gamers face same level of psychological pressure as pro-athletes, study finds
Videogamers competing in major esports tournaments are under as much pressure and stress as professional athletes. In the first study of its kind, scientists examined the psychological challengers encountered by elite esports competitors and found players exhibited 51 different stress factors.

Depression linked to nutrition in middle-aged and older Canadians
Your diet can put you at risk of depression, according to a new study. The study also found that the likelihood of depression is higher among middle-aged and older women who were immigrants to Canada when compared to Canadian-born women.

Researchers strengthen weakest link in manufacturing strong materials
Industrial and automotive machinery, such as automotive engine parts, contain materials that are, heat-, wear-, and corrosion-resistant. They are known as 'super engineering plastics,' and they continue to revolutionize manufacturing processes. While they are actually plastic, they are much stronger than the typical plastics we encounter in everyday life. These materials, however, create a corrosive environment during manufacturing.

Cells control their dance of death
La Trobe University researchers have revealed for the first time how white blood cells control the final moments of their death, helping their own removal from the human body.

Maritime continent weakens Asian Tropical Monsoon rainfall through Australian cross-equatorial flows
A new study reveals how maritime continent weakens Asian tropical monsoon rainfall through Australian Cross-equatorial Flows.

Satellite and reanalysis data can substitute field observations over Asian water tower
Satellite data sets are found reliable to reproduce the total column water vapor characteristics over the Tibetan Plateau.