217 articles from THURSDAY 3.10.2019

Northern forests have lost crucial cold, snowy conditions

Winter conditions are changing more rapidly than any other season and researchers have found clear signs of a decline in frost days, snow covered days and other indicators of winter that could have lasting impacts on ecosystems, water supplies, the economy, tourism and human health.

Exposure to air pollution increases violent crime rates

Breathing dirty air can make you sick. But according to new research, it can also make you more aggressive. That's the conclusion from a set of studies recently authored by Colorado State University researchers. The team found strong links between short-term exposure to air pollution and aggressive behavior, in the form of aggravated assaults and other violent crimes across the continental United...

Bumble bee workers sleep less while caring for young

All animals, including insects, need their sleep. Or do they? That's the question researchers are exploring in sleep studies of a surprising group of subjects: brood-tending bumble bee workers. Their studies show that worker bees tending pupae sleep much less than other bees do, even when caring for offspring that aren't their own.

Heart failure and the obesity paradox

While obesity significantly increases your chances of developing heart failure, for those with established heart failure it may confer a survival benefit compared with normal weight or underweight individuals.

Pesticides likely caused 'Havana syndrome' that affected Cuba-based diplomats

The study details the nature of the injury, specifies the brain regions involved, including the blood-brain barrier and suggests a possible cause in the form of 'cholinesterase inhibitors,' with 'organophosphorus insecticides' being a likely source. Cholinesterase (ChE) is one of the key enzymes required for the proper functioning of the nervous systems of humans, invertebrates and insects.

New method to purify cell types to high purity

Current biology research relies on the ability to purify cell types using antibodies or transgenic constructs. However, antibody availability is often limited, and genetic manipulation is labor intensive or sometimes impossible. To date, no universal method exists to enrich for cell types without a priori knowledge of cell type markers. Here, we propose GateID, a computational method that combines...

Parkinson's disease is also present in the blood

The behavior of immune cells in the blood is so different in patients with Parkinson's disease that it advocate for a new type of supplementary medicine, which can regulate the immune system and thus inhibit the deterioration of the brain.

UK particle accelerator to reveal secrets of 2,000-year-old papyrus

A leading science facility in the English countryside is helping in a bid to decipher Roman-era scrolls carbonised in the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago. Researchers led by antiquities decoder Professor Brent Seales have turned to Diamond, Britain's national synchrotron in Didcot, Oxfordshire, to examine the papyri, which are described as "fragile like butterfly wings"....

New Australian pterosaur may have survived the longest

The discovery of a previously unknown species of pterosaur, which may have persisted as late as the Turonian period (90-93 million years ago), is reported in Scientific Reports this week. The fossil, which includes parts of the skull and five vertebrae, is the most complete pterosaur specimen ever found in Australia. The findings suggest it may be a late-surviving member of the Anhanguera genus of...

New method to purify cell types to high purity

Researchers from the group of Alexander van Oudenaarden at the Hubrecht Institute (KNAW) have developed GateID, a new method that can purify a cell type of interest from a tissue without the use of antibodies or a genetic reporter. GateID allows researchers to isolate a variety of cell types, such as stem cells, in order to study them in more detail. The researchers have published their results in...

Cause of rare but deadly neurological disease identified

A deadly neurological disease that primarily affects infant boys is caused by increased sensitivity to iron in the brain, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of California-San Francisco and the University of Cambridge.

Genomes of parasitic mites harming the world's bees sequenced

Researchers sequenced the genomes of the two Varroa mite species that parasitize the honey bee. They found that each species of mite used its own distinct strategy to survive in its bee host, potentially overwhelming the bees' defenses. In addition to pointing to how scientists might vanquish these deadly intruders, the findings also shed light on how parasites and hosts evolve in response to one...