ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

Mixture and migration brought food production to sub-Saharan Africa

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT

A new interdisciplinary study reports on 20 newly sequenced ancient genomes from sub-Saharan Africa, including the first genomes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana, and Uganda. The study documents the coexistence, movements, interactions and admixture of diverse human groups during the spread of food production in sub-Saharan Africa.

Discovery of oldest bow and arrow technology in Eurasia

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT

The origins of human innovation have traditionally been sought in the grasslands and coasts of Africa or the temperate environments of Europe. More extreme environments, such as the tropical rainforests of Asia, have been largely overlooked, despite their deep history of human occupation. A new study provides the earliest evidence for bow-and-arrow use, and perhaps the making of clothes, outside of Africa ~48-45,000 years ago -in the tropics of Sri Lanka.

As rare animals disappear, scientist faces 'ecological grief'

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT

Five years before the novel coronavirus ran rampant around the world, saiga antelopes from the steppes of Eurasia experienced their own epidemic.

Protecting bays from ocean acidification

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT

As oceans absorb more human-made carbon dioxide from the air, a process of ocean acidification occurs that can have a negative impact on marine life. But coastal waterways, such as Chesapeake Bay, can also suffer from low oxygen and acidification. New research identifies one way to protect these waterways -- the presence of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).

New algorithm uses artificial intelligence to help manage type 1 diabetes

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT

Researchers and physicians have designed a method to help people with type 1 diabetes better manage their glucose levels. The method relies upon artificial intelligence and automated monitoring.

Parasites and the microbiome

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 02:22 PM PDT

In a study of ethnically diverse people from Cameroon, the presence of a parasite infection was closely linked to the make-up of the gastrointestinal microbiome, according to a research team.

Novel mechanism triggers a cellular immune response

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 09:01 AM PDT

Researchers present comprehensive evidence that supports a novel trigger for a cell-mediated response and propose a mechanism for its action.

Remixed mantle suggests early start of plate tectonics

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:14 AM PDT

New research on the remixing of Earth's stratified deep interior suggests that global plate tectonic processes, which played a pivotal role in the existence of life on Earth, started to operate at least 3.2 billion years ago.

New approach to DNA data storage makes system more dynamic, scalable

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:14 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a fundamentally new approach to DNA data storage systems, giving users the ability to read or modify data files without destroying them and making the systems easier to scale up for practical use.

New approach to turning on the heat in energy-burning fat cells

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:14 AM PDT

Researchers have discovered a new set of signals that cells send and receive to prompt one type of fat cell to convert fat into heat. The signaling pathway, discovered in mice, has potential implications for activating this same type of thermogenic fat in humans.

Plant cell gatekeepers' diversity could be key to better crops

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:14 AM PDT

Scientists have shed new light on how the network of gatekeepers that controls the traffic in and out of plant cells works, which they think is key to develop food crops with bigger yields and greater ability to cope with extreme environments.

Bird feeding helps females more than males

Posted: 12 Jun 2020 08:13 AM PDT

A new study shows that female birds benefit more from extra food in the winter. If females receive additional food, they do not need to reduce their body temperature as much as they would have otherwise, and the chances of surviving cold nights increase.

Simulations reveal interplay between scent marking and disease spread

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:24 PM PDT

In a new mathematical model that bridges animal movement and disease spread, territorial behaviors decreased the severity of potential disease outbreaks -- but at the cost of increased disease persistence.

Breastfeeding helps counteracts BMI gain in children at high risk for obesity

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:24 PM PDT

For people whose genes put them at risk of becoming obese, exclusive breastfeeding as a baby can help ward off weight gain later in life.

Ultrastable, selective catalyst for propane dehydrogenation developed

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:14 PM PDT

A group of Japanese scientists has developed an ultrastable, selective catalyst to dehydrogenate propane - an essential process to produce the key petrochemical substance of propylene - without deactivation, even at temperatures of more than 600°C.

Function of genetic pathway for reproductive fitness in flowering plants

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:14 PM PDT

A research collaboration has demonstrated the function of a genetic pathway for anther development, with this pathway proven in 2019 work to be present widely in the flowering plants that evolved over 200 million years ago.

Putting 'super' in natural killer cells

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 12:14 PM PDT

Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and deleting a key gene, researchers have created natural killer cells -- a type of immune cell -- with measurably stronger activity against a form of leukemia, both in vivo and in vitro.

Tiny pump builds polyrotaxanes with precision

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Researchers have developed the most precise way to build polyrotaxanes by using two artificial molecular pumps to install rings onto each end of a polymer string.

Clues to aging come to light in vivid snapshots of brain cell links

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 11:30 AM PDT

Striking images of some five billion brain cell connections have been created by scientists, mapping a lifetime's changes across the brain in minute detail.

Adult stem cell study shows fish oil may help with depression

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 11:30 AM PDT

A new study shows that patient-derived adult stem cells can be used to model major depressive disorder and test how a patient may respond to medication and that fish oil, when tested in the model, created an antidepressant response.

Researchers model human stem cells to identify degeneration in glaucoma

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT

More than 3 million Americans have glaucoma, a serious eye condition causing vision loss. Using human stem cell models, researchers found they could analyze deficits within cells damaged by glaucoma, with the potential to use this information to develop new strategies to slow the disease process.

Turning fluorescent tags into cancer killers

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT

Fluorophores with one oxygen atom replaced by a sulfur atom can be triggered with light to create reactive oxygen species within cancer cells, killing them.

A vitamin A analog may help treat diabetic retinopathy

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT

Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes and a leading cause of blindness among the working-age population. A new study reports that visual function in diabetic mice was significantly improved after treatment with a single dose of visual chromophore 9-cis-retinal, a vitamin A analog that can form a visual pigment in the retina cells, thereby producing a light sensitive element of the retina.

Engineers offer smart, timely ideas for AI bottlenecks

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT

Researchers have demonstrated methods for both designing data-centric computing hardware and co-designing hardware with machine-learning algorithms that together can improve energy efficiency in artificial intelligence hardware by as much as two orders of magnitude.

Adding noise for completely secure communication

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT

How can we protect communications against 'eavesdropping' if we don't trust the devices used in the process? This is one of the main questions in quantum cryptography research. Researchers have now succeeded in laying the theoretical groundwork for a communication protocol that guarantees one hundred percent privacy.

Dopamine signaling allows neural circuits to generate coordinated behaviors

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 10:31 AM PDT

For a nematode worm, a big lawn of the bacteria that it eats is a great place for it to disperse its eggs so that each hatchling can emerge into a nutritive environment. That's why when a worm speedily roams about a food patch it methodically lays its eggs as it goes. A new study by neuroscientists investigates this example of action coordination - where egg-laying is coupled to the animal's roaming - to demonstrate how a nervous system coordinates distinct behavioral outputs. That's a challenge many organisms face, albeit in different ways, during daily life.

From bacteria to you: The biological reactions that sustain our rhythms

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 08:45 AM PDT

Methylation and the circadian clock are both conserved mechanisms found in all organisms. Researchers found that inhibiting methylation with a specific compound disrupts the circadian clock in most organisms except bacteria. The team transformed specific methylation genes from bacteria into animal cells to rescue said inhibition, opening potentially new treatments for methylation deficiencies.

Protecting eels protects freshwater biodiversity

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 07:48 AM PDT

An international research team has conducted a field survey on two species of eel native to Japan and other organisms that share the same habitat, revealing for the first time in the world that these eels can act as comprehensive surrogate species for biodiversity conservation in freshwater rivers. It is hoped that conducting activities to restore and protect eel populations will contribute greatly to the recovery and conservation of freshwater ecosystems.

Baboon model could aide in Alzheimer's disease interventions

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:41 AM PDT

Scientists recently published findings indicating the baboon could prove to be a relevant model to test therapeutics and interventions for neurodegenerative diseases, such as early stage Alzheimer's and related dementias.

Surface disturbance can limit mule deer migration

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:41 AM PDT

Researchers used 145 migrations from 56 individual deer to examine disturbance effects at various scales. Results consistently showed that mule deer use of migration corridors steeply declined when surface disturbance from roads and well pads surpassed 3%. Mule deer were able to migrate through areas where surface disturbance was lower.

What control the height of mountains? Surprisingly, it is not erosion

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:41 AM PDT

Which forces and mechanisms determine the height of mountains? A group of researchers has now found a surprising answer: It is not erosion and weathering of rocks that determine the upper limit of mountain massifs, but rather an equilibrium of forces in the Earth's crust. This finding is fundamentally new and important for the earth sciences.

Volunteerism: Doing good does you good

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:41 AM PDT

A new study takes a closer look at the benefits of volunteering to the health and well-being of volunteers, both validating and refuting findings from previous research. The results verify that adults over 50 who volunteer for at least 100 hours a year (about two hours per week) have a substantially reduced risk of mortality and developing physical limitations, higher levels of subsequent physical activity, and improved sense of well-being later on.

Could we run out of sand? Scientists adjust how grains are measured

Posted: 11 Jun 2020 06:41 AM PDT

How we account for sand is important for understanding how reefs, atolls and coastal regions will cope with the effects of climate change. Scientists have discovered models for measuring sand were giving incorrect information and have developed more accurate engineering models.