ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• A better alternative to phthalates?
• Comparing face coverings in controlling expired particles
• What new research reveals about rude workplace emails
• Research challenges conventional wisdom about key autism trait
• How earthquake swarms arise
• Color-coded biosensor illuminates in real time how viruses attack hosts
• Atom-billiards with x-rays: A new approach to look inside of molecules
• Age restrictions for handguns make little difference in homicides, study finds
• How do Americans view the virus? Anthropology professor examines attitudes, perceptions of COVID-19
• 3D-printed nasal swabs work as well as commercial swabs for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, study finds
• Ultrapotent antibody mix blocks COVID-19 virus attachment
• The surprising organization of avian brains
• Primate brain size does not predict their intelligence
• Marine heatwaves are human-made
• Spin clean-up method brings practical quantum computers closer to reality
• Switching up: Marine bacteria shift between lifestyles to get the best resources
• Major wind-driven ocean currents are shifting toward the poles
• Reusing tableware can reduce waste from online food deliveries
• Study shows Massachusetts response to COVID-19 in nursing homes helped stem infection rate
• Island-building in Southeast Asia created Earth's northern ice sheets
• Twinkling, star-shaped brain cells may hold the key to why, how we sleep
• Metal wires of carbon complete toolbox for carbon-based computers
• Genome of Alexander Fleming's original penicillin-producing mold sequenced
• Mystery of giant proton pump solved
• Unusual climate conditions influenced WWI mortality and subsequent influenza pandemic
• World first study links obesity with reduced brain plasticity

A better alternative to phthalates? Posted: 25 Sep 2020 10:47 AM PDT Researchers analyzed urine samples from pregnant women to look for the presence of DINCH, which is short for di(isononyl)cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate. They found concentrations of DINCH in most of the urine samples but no evidence of effects in lab assays on two hormones, progesterone and estrogen.

Comparing face coverings in controlling expired particles Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT Laboratory tests of surgical and N95 masks show that they do cut down the amount of aerosolized particles emitted during breathing, talking and coughing. Tests of homemade cloth face coverings, however, show that the fabric itself releases a large amount of fibers into the air, underscoring the importance of washing them.

What new research reveals about rude workplace emails Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT A new study finds that rude emails at work can lead to significant distress for employees. Researchers say that 'active' email rudeness is overloaded with strong negative emotions. By comparison, 'passive' email rudeness leaves people struggling with uncertainty. Passive email rudeness may create problems for employees' sleep, which further puts them in a negative emotional state the next morning, thus creating a vicious cycle.

Research challenges conventional wisdom about key autism trait Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT A new study into the causes of sensorimotor impairments prevalent among autistic people could pave the way for better treatment and management in the future, say psychologists.

How earthquake swarms arise Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT A new fault simulator maps out how interactions between pressure, friction and fluids rising through a fault zone can lead to slow-motion quakes and seismic swarms.

Color-coded biosensor illuminates in real time how viruses attack hosts Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT All viruses can only do damage by replicating inside the cells of another organism, their host. Researchers have now shown an important mechanism in this host-attacking process, at the single-molecule level in living cells.

Atom-billiards with x-rays: A new approach to look inside of molecules Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT Since these early days of quantum mechanics, it is known that photons also possess momentum. The photon's ability to transfer momentum was used in a novel approach by scientists to observe a fundamental process in the interaction of x-rays with atoms.

Age restrictions for handguns make little difference in homicides, study finds Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT In the United States, individual state laws barring 18- to 20-year-olds from buying or possessing a handgun make little difference in the rate of homicides involving a gun by people in that age group, a new study has found.

How do Americans view the virus? Anthropology professor examines attitudes, perceptions of COVID-19 Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:36 AM PDT A new study looks at how Americans' attitudes and responses have changed during the time of the pandemic and how to many people, the virus is not a biological agent but instead a malicious actor.

3D-printed nasal swabs work as well as commercial swabs for COVID-19 diagnostic testing, study finds Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:34 AM PDT A clinical trial provides evidence that 3D-printed alternative nasal swabs work as well for COVID-19 diagnostic testing as commercial synthetic flocked nasal swabs. Given the ongoing need for widespread COVID-19 testing, the researchers conclude that 3D printing technology offers a viable, cost-efficient option to address swab supply shortages.

Ultrapotent antibody mix blocks COVID-19 virus attachment Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:34 AM PDT A cocktail of powerful antibodies identified in recovered patients locks the coronavirus infection machinery, inhibits SARS-CoV-2 attachment to host cells, and protects animals challenged with the pandemic coronavirus.

The surprising organization of avian brains Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT Some birds can perform amazing cognitive feats - even though their forebrains seem to just consist of lumps of grey cells, while mammalian forebrains harbour a highly complex neocortex. A study reveals for the first time amazing similarities between the neocortex of mammals and sensory brain areas of birds: both are arranged in horizontal layers and vertical columns.

Primate brain size does not predict their intelligence Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT A research team has systematically investigated the cognitive abilities of lemurs, which have relatively small brains compared to other primates. Conducting systematic tests with identical methods revealed that cognitive abilities of lemurs hardly differ from those of monkeys and great apes. Instead, this study revealed that the relationship between brain size and cognitive abilities cannot be generalized and it provides new insights into the evolution of primates.

Marine heatwaves are human-made Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT Heatwaves in the world's oceans have become over 20 times more frequent due to human influence. This is what researchers are now able to demonstrate. Marine heatwaves destroy ecosystems and damage fisheries.

Spin clean-up method brings practical quantum computers closer to reality Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT Researchers create a quantum algorithm that removes spin contaminants while making chemical calculations on quantum computers. This allows for predictions of electronic and molecular behavior with degrees of precision not achievable with classical computers and paves the way for practical quantum computers to become a reality.

Switching up: Marine bacteria shift between lifestyles to get the best resources Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT Researchers have found that marine bacteria exploit resource patches efficiently by switching between attached and planktonic lifestyles, and fine-tuning the time spent on patches depending on their quality. Bacteria stayed longer on higher-quality patches, as predicted by patch use theory. Future studies in this area could help to predict the role of marine bacteria in the global carbon cycle.

Major wind-driven ocean currents are shifting toward the poles Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT The severe droughts in the USA and Australia are the first sign that the tropics, and their warm temperatures, are apparently expanding in the wake of climate change.

Reusing tableware can reduce waste from online food deliveries Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT In China, approximately 10 billion online food orders were served to over 400 million customers in 2018. All of these orders came in single-use plastic packaging, with single-use plastic tableware. Environmental scientists found that reusable tableware can substantially reduce packaging waste and life cycle environmental emissions.

Study shows Massachusetts response to COVID-19 in nursing homes helped stem infection rate Posted: 25 Sep 2020 08:33 AM PDT A new paper found that adherence to infection control processes, especially proper wearing of personal protective equipment (PPE) and cohorting strategies, such as grouping residents based on their risk of infection or whether they tested positive for COVID-19, was significantly associated with declines in weekly infection and mortality rates.

Island-building in Southeast Asia created Earth's northern ice sheets Posted: 24 Sep 2020 11:16 AM PDT Tectonic processes are thought to have triggered past ice ages, but how? A new analysis of mountain building in the maritime tropics of Southeast Asia attributes the last ice age, which reached a maximum 15,000 years ago, to increasing rock weathering in the rising island arc from Sumatra to New Guinea over the past 15 million years, with the first ice sheets in the Northern Hemisphere appearing about 3 million years ago.

Twinkling, star-shaped brain cells may hold the key to why, how we sleep Posted: 24 Sep 2020 11:15 AM PDT A new study suggests that star-shaped brain cells known as astrocytes could be as important to the regulation of sleep as neurons. The study builds new momentum toward ultimately solving the mystery of why we sleep and how sleep works in the brain. The discovery may also set the stage for potential future treatment strategies for sleep disorders and neurological diseases and other conditions associated with troubled sleep.

Metal wires of carbon complete toolbox for carbon-based computers Posted: 24 Sep 2020 11:15 AM PDT Carbon-based computers have the potential to be a lot faster and much more energy efficient than silicon-based computers, but 2D graphene and carbon nanotubes have proved challenging to turn into the elements needed to construct transistor circuits. Graphene nanoribbons can overcome these limitations, but to date scientists have been made only semiconductors and insulators, not the metallic wires to connect them. UC Berkeley scientists have now achieved the goal of a metallic graphene nanoribbon.

Genome of Alexander Fleming's original penicillin-producing mold sequenced Posted: 24 Sep 2020 11:15 AM PDT Researchers have sequenced the genome of Alexander Fleming's penicillin mould for the first time and compared it to later versions.

Mystery of giant proton pump solved Posted: 24 Sep 2020 11:15 AM PDT Mitochondria are the powerhouses of our cells, generating energy that supports life. A giant molecular proton pump, called complex I, is crucial: It sets in motion a chain of reactions, creating a proton gradient that powers the generation of ATP, the cell's fuel. Scientists have solved the mystery of how complex I works: Conformational changes in the protein combined with electrostatic waves move protons into the mitochondrial matrix.

Unusual climate conditions influenced WWI mortality and subsequent influenza pandemic Posted: 24 Sep 2020 10:53 AM PDT Scientists have spotted a once-in-a-century climate anomaly during World War I that likely increased mortality during the war and the influenza pandemic in the years that followed.

World first study links obesity with reduced brain plasticity Posted: 24 Sep 2020 07:19 AM PDT A world-first study has found that severely overweight people are less likely to be able to re-wire their brains and find new neural pathways, a discovery that has significant implications for people recovering from a stroke or brain injury.

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