Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a tiny robot which looks like a thread or a worm and is designed to crawl through the blood vessels inside the brain. The robot is magnetically controlled and it is made for gliding through the narrow, winding pathways, such as the labyrinthine vasculature of the brain.


The aim of this robotic thread is to create a tool by which the doctors can deliver clot reducing therapies to patients who have blockages and lesions, such as the ones that occur in aneurysms and stroke.

Sticky mucus may thwart alcohol-based hand sanitizers’ ability to fight the flu.

Flu viruses encased in mucus drops from infected people’s spit can withstand the alcohol in hand sanitizers for more than two minutes, researchers report September 18 in mSphere. Researchers dotted volunteers’ fingers with either mucus or saline solution containing the flu virus, then measured how long it took to inactivate the virus in both wet and dry samples.

A five-microliter drop — about the size of a pinhead — of mucus-coated flu virus took more than half an hour to dry, almost twice as long as saline. Drying time was important because previous studies tested sanitizers’ killing ability on dry viruses, and didn’t account for mucus’s moistening power.

A hand sanitizer containing 31 percent alcohol inactivated flu viruses in saline solution within 20 seconds. And in already dried mucus, that process took just under eight seconds. But moist mucus shielded flu viruses from alcohol, keeping the viruses viable for up to 2 minutes and 39 seconds, Ryohei Hirose, an infectious disease researcher at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan, and his colleagues found. That may be long enough for health care workers to unwittingly transfer virus-infected mucus from one person to another.

The team didn’t test whether rubbing the sanitizer over the skin causes the alcohol to penetrate the mucus and kill viruses faster, Hirose says. Rubbing might help, he acknowledged. But there’s already an easy way to kill flu viruses: Washing hands with plain water or with soap killed viruses within 30 seconds, even when the mucus was still wet.

R. Hirose et al. Situations leading to reduced effectiveness of current hand hygiene.... mSphere. Published online September 18, 2019. doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00474-19

Algae inside blood vessels could act as oxygen factories

An unconventional way to get O₂ to nerve cells might one day aid stroke patients

Using algae as local oxygen factories in the brain might one day lead to therapies for strokes or other damage from too little oxygen, researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich said October 21 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

The researchers injected either green algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) or cyanobacteria (Synechocystis) into tadpoles’ blood vessels, creating an eerie greenish animal. Both algae species make oxygen in response to light shining through the tadpoles’ translucent bodies.

When the researchers depleted the oxygen in the liquid surrounding a disembodied tadpole head, eye nerves fell silent and stopped firing signals. But a few minutes after a flash of algae-activating light, the nerves started firing signals again, the researchers found.

This work does “motivate further exploration of unconventional approaches to advance the treatments for brain hypoxia, including stroke.”

https://www.abstractsonline.com/pp8/index.html#!/7883/presentation/...

New light on how bacteria evolves resistance to drugs

Bacterial Evolution: The road to resistance

The way that bacteria grow – either floating in liquid or attached to a surface – affects their ability to evolve antimicrobial resistance and our ability to treat infections.

https://elifesciences.org/articles/52092?utm_source=content_alert&a...

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Why kids may be at risk from vinyl floors and fire-resistant couches

Chemicals called semivolatile organic compounds have been linked to health problems

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/chemicals-vinyl-floors-fire-res...

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How Exercise Reprograms the Brain.As researchers unravel the molecular machinery that links exercise and cognition, working out is emerging as a promising neurotherapy.

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/this-is-your-brain-on-exerci...

World scientists’ warning of a climate emergency

A new report by 11,258 scientists in 153 countries from a broad range of disciplines warns that the planet “clearly and unequivocally faces a climate emergency,” and provides six broad policy goals that must be met to address it.

Infectious bacteria communicate to avoid antibiotics

A bacterial infection is not just an unpleasant experience - it can also be a major health problem. Some bacteria develop resistance to otherwise effective treatment with antibiotics. Therefore, researchers are trying to develop new types of antibiotics that can fight the bacteria, and at the same time trying to make the current treatment with antibiotics more effective.

Researchers are now getting closer to this goal with a type of bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is notorious for infecting patients with the lung disease cystic fibrosis. In a new study, researchers found that the bacteria send out warning signals to their conspecifics when attacked by antibiotics or the viruses called bacteriophages which kill bacteria.

'We can see in the laboratory that the bacteria simply swim around the 'dangerous area' with antibiotics or bacteriophages. When they receive the warning signal from their conspecifics, you can see in the microscope that they are moving in a neat circle around. It is a smart survival mechanism for the bacteria. If it turns out that the bacteria use the same evasive manoeuvre when infecting humans, it may help explain why some bacterial infections cannot be effectively treated with antibiotics', says researcher Nina Molin Høyland-Kroghsbo, Assistant Professor at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences and part of the research talent programme UCPH-Forward.

One United Organism

In the study, which is a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and the University of California Irvine, researchers have studied the growth and distribution of bacteria in petri dishes. Here, they have created environments that resemble the surface of the mucous membranes where an infection can occur - as is the case with the lungs of a person with cystic fibrosis.

In this environment, researchers can see both how bacteria usually behave and how they behave when they are affected by antibiotics and bacteriophages.

Chinese scientists programme stem cells to ‘fight and destroy’ cancer

We heard the consequences of AGW ( human-caused change of global warming). Like wildfires, hurricanes and floods that forced thousands of people to evacuate, damage property, and erase tangible reminders of our past.

Like more ubiquitous, but less publicized, are the millions of people who are exposed to heat waves, long-term droughts, rising sea levels, and eroding coastlines, forcing them to move elsewhere or spend large sums of money building communities that are habitable.

Each of these responses represent a challenge to our mental health. For instance, people exposed to life-threatening extreme weather events are more likely to experience post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.

People exposed to prolonged heat waves are more likely to make poor decisions that place them at risk for death or severe injury. People exposed to long-term drought are more likely to experience depression, interpersonal violence and thoughts of suicide. People exposed to sea level rise and coastal erosion are more likely to experience anxiety and interpersonal conflict with others in their community.

These mental health challenges are perhaps the most overlooked consequences of climate change and need a thorough understanding to deal with them.

Increasing temperatures and heatwaves, the spread of emerging infectious illnesses, and the widespread concerns about food security in drought-plagued regions of the world all threaten our physical health.

Environmental changes that threaten our livelihoods, access to food, and habitability of our communities lead to widespread unemployment and poverty, civil conflict, and dislocation.

Biomimicry - the process of mimicing nature for our benefit. Plants serve as the inspiration for new energy technologies — and more efficient agriculture. So scientists are now looking to hack photosynthesis for a greener planet.

Photosynthesis comes as naturally to plants as breathing does to people. This process converts the simple ingredients of carbon dioxide, water and sunlight into energy. Photosynthesis allows plants to grow. In turn, we rely on photosynthesis as the foundation for our life on Earth.  

When sunlight touches the leaves of a plant it does more. It powers a chemical reaction that converts one type of energy into another. Those plant leaves contain plenty of water. That water is made of oxygen atoms bonded to hydrogen atoms. The sun’s energy can excite electrons inside the water molecule enough that the bonds split.

This triggers a reaction “that takes the oxygen away from the water. And that becomes the oxygen in the air that we all breathe. Meanwhile, Hydrogen from the water gets smushed together with the carbon dioxide [in air], and that makes sugar. People and all other animals use this sugar — glucose — as an energy source from food. Plants become the food that our bodies can convert into energy. Essentially, photosynthesis is the reason we can exist.

Artificial photosynthesis: 

Scientists have already begun copying, or mimicking, photosynthesis. Their artificial processes also use light to split oxygen and hydrogen — for energy. The dream is to eventually replace fossil fuels. If people could make energy from sun, air and water — as plants do — it would cut down on planet-warming releases of carbon dioxide. It also could create a huge new source of renewable energy.

Many researchers look to solar fuels — fuels made from sunlight — as “green” replacements for today’s carbon-based fossil fuels. These include oil, gas and coal.

Scientists around the world are experimenting with devices — think of them as artificial leaves.

Scientists’ brains shrank a bit after an extended stay in Antarctica. The effects of isolation and a monotonous environment may be to blame

Socially isolated and faced with a persistently white polar landscape, a long-term crew of an Antarctic research station saw a portion of their brains shrink during their stay, a small study finds.

“It’s very exciting to see the white desert at the beginning,” says physiologist Alexander Stahn, who began the research while at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. “But then it’s always the same.”

The crew of eight scientists and researchers and a cook lived and worked at the German research station Neumayer III for 14 months. Although joined by other scientists during the summer, the crew alone endured the long darkness of the polar winter, when temperatures can plummet as low as –50° Celsius and evacuation is impossible. That social isolation and monotonous environment is the closest thing on Earth to what a space explorer on a long mission may experience, says Stahn, who is interested in researching what effect such travel would have on the brain.

Animal studies have revealed that similar conditions can harm the hippocampus, a brain area crucial for memory and navigation . For example, rats are better at learning when the animals are housed with companions or in an enriched environment than when alone or in a bare cage, Stahn says. But whether this is true for a person’s brain is unknown.

Stahn, now at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and his colleagues used magnetic resonance imaging to capture views of the team members’ brains before their polar stay and after their return. On average, an area of the hippocampus in the crew’s brains shrank by 7 percent over the course of the expedition, compared with healthy people matched for age and gender who didn’t stay at the station, the researchers report online December 4 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

But there are good reasons to believe that this change is reversible, Stahn says. While the hippocampus is highly vulnerable to stressors like isolation, he says, it is also very responsive to stimulation that comes from a life filled with social interactions and a variety of landscapes to explore.

A.C. Stahn et al. Brain changes in response to long Antarctic expeditions. New England Journal of Medicine. Published online December 4, 2019. doi:10.1056/NEJMc1904905.

Researchers find over 40 new species of fish in one lake

Salt Could Play a Role in Allergies

An Acoustic Password Enhances Auditory Learning in Juvenile Brood Parasitic Cowbirds

Most songbirds learn to sing by copying songs they hear around them. But young brown-headed cowbirds face a problem: they aren't raised by their own kind. Female cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of more than 100 different kinds of birds, foisting the work of chick-rearing onto unwitting foster-parents. a new paper describes how the cowbird chicks may learn to recognize and sing their own species’ songs. Researchers 

found that part of the answer appears to be a "password" -- a simple call that the birds know innately. This password activates learning mechanisms in young cowbirds' brains, prompting them to remember other vocalizations they hear at the same time.  Males raised in isolation will develop something that resembles a cowbird song, but with important differences. In the wild, young males change their developing songs to match the songs of other cowbirds in their vicinity, leading to regional differences or "accents."

Females don't sing, but they have a simple "chatter call" that develops normally regardless of what a female hears growing up. They use it in a variety of contexts, including immediately after hearing a song they like. Because the chatter call is innate and is often paired with songs, the researchers suspected it might function as a password to help young cowbirds learn.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)31237-0

Hyper-authorship where more than 1000 people contribute to a single research paper is increasing proving that research now reflects the increasingly global nature of research across several fields. Between 2009 and 2013, 573 manuscripts listing 1,000 co-authors or more were published, according to a report released on 4 December by the Institute for Scientific Information  (ISI).

Most People don't trust women with science. If I SAY MY NETWORK IS NOVEL AND UNIQUE DO YOU AGREE? Why don't people trust science with women?Because men are more likely than women to call their science ‘excellent’ and most people agree with them! Should women too do what men do? This network is my answer to all of them, whether anybody agree with em or not. 

Immunity Isn’t the Body’s Only Defense System
Symbiotic bacteria, metabolism, and stress pathways can all help animals tolerate, rather than succumb, to disease.

https://www.the-scientist.com/infographics/infographic--immunity-is...

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/could-tolerating-disease-be-...

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We have vaccination problems where people try to cheat healthcare workers. So scientists now are trying invisible ink to know whether kids have been vaccinated or not. Technology to beat the cheaters!

“Keeping track of vaccinations remains a major challenge in the developing world, and even in many developed countries, paperwork gets lost, and parents forget whether their child is up to date. Now a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers has developed a novel way to address this problem: embedding the record directly into the skin.

Along with the vaccine, a child would be injected with a bit of dye that is invisible to the naked eye but easily seen with a special cell-phone filter, combined with an app that shines near-infrared light onto the skin. The dye would be expected to last up to five years, according to tests on pig and rat skin and human skin in a dish.” 

There may be other concerns that patients have about being ‘tattooed,’ carrying around personal medical information on their bodies or other aspects of this unfamiliar approach to storing medical records.  Different people and different cultures will probably feel differently about having an invisible medical tattoo.”

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How about using beauty to communicate science? Miss America 2020 not only won the beauty contest by conducting a science experiment on stage,  but also will spend a year advocating for Mind Your Meds, a drug safety and prevention programme. Ummm!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50862408

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Personalized Nutrition Companies’ Claims Overhyped: Scientists

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/personalized-nutrition-c...

Using sticky plastic models with differently painted surfaces, researchers showed that zebra stripes painted onto the body can protect against biting insects. 

Relative to a striped mannequin, a brown painted model attracted 10 times more horseflies, while a beige one lured in twice the number as the striped figure. 

The stripes likely make the skin less attractive to horseflies, the researchers reported January 16 in Royal Society Open Science. Some indigenous people paint their bodies, and those markings could provide some protection from the bloodsuckers and diseases they carry, according to the authors. 

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A sign that aliens could stink

A molecule that’s known for its smelly and poisonous nature on Earth may be a sure-fire sign of extraterrestrial life.

Phosphine is among the stinkiest, most toxic gases on Earth, found in some of the foulest of places, including penguin dung heaps, the depths of swamps and bogs, and even in the bowels of some badgers and fish. This putrid “swamp gas” is also highly flammable and reactive with particles in our atmosphere.

Most life on Earth, specifically all aerobic, oxygen-breathing life, wants nothing to do with phosphine, neither producing it nor relying on it for survival.

Now MIT researchers have found that phosphine is produced by another, less abundant life form: anaerobic organisms, such as bacteria and microbes, that don’t require oxygen to thrive. The team found that phosphine cannot be produced in any other way except by these extreme, oxygen-averse organisms, making phosphine a pure biosignature — a sign of life (at least of a certain kind).

In a paper recently published in the journal Astrobiology, the researchers report that if phosphine were produced in quantities similar to methane on Earth, the gas would generate a signature pattern of light in a planet’s atmosphere. This pattern would be clear enough to detect from as far as 16 light years away by a telescope such as the planned James Webb Space Telescope. If phosphine is detected from a rocky planet, it would be an unmistakable sign of extraterrestrial life.

http://news.mit.edu/2019/phosphine-aliens-stink-1218

Can you imagine your smart TV spying on you? And manufacturers selling your information for a fee?  It could be happening! How can you stop it? Find out ...

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-smart-tv-spying-step-by-step.ht...

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Breakthrough study on molecular interactions could improve development of new medicines and other therapies for diseases such as cancer, HIV and autoimmune diseases.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-breakthrough-molecular-interactions-m...

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A study suggests the way some chemicals displace natural fats in skin cells may explain how many common ingredients trigger allergic contact dermatitis, and encouragingly, suggests a new way to treat the condition.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-molecular-link-allergic-reac...

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HIV patients lose smallpox immunity despite childhood vaccine, AIDS drugs.
Called HIV-associated immune amnesia, the finding could explain why people living with HIV still tend to have shorter lives on average.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-hiv-patients-smallpox-immuni...

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Air pollution can worsen bone health

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-air-pollution-worsen-bone-he...

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Seeing without eyes? This marine creature can do this expanding boundaries of vision!

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-science-vision/no-eyes-no-proble...

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Government of India is trying to make the science outreach  mandatory and researchers have to include this as part of their outcome report! Good for science communication!

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-bats-for-science-outr...

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Robotic architecture inspired by pelican eel: Origami unfolding and skin stretching mechanisms

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-robotic-architecture-pelican-ee...

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Scientists have developed a new method for detecting oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres that may accelerate the search for life.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scientists-method-oxygen-exoplanets.h...

How medical breakthroughs help save lives:

1. Artificial intelligence and digital therapeutics will be employed at most levels of scientific inquiry and healthcare, from identifying predictors of risk, diagnosing and monitoring disease, and personalizing treatment options, to revolutionizing the management and delivery of health care.

2. New biomarkers -- a traceable substance that is introduced into the body in order to examine how a part of the body is functioning -- will permit more rapid and precise diagnosis and directed treatment of diseases.

3. An increase in the use of wearable devices that more accurately characterize and treat chronic illness will allow for rapid and customized intervention.

4. Gene therapy and tissue engineering, once the stuff of science fiction, will see expanded use to correct disease-causing genetic alterations and acquired cell, organ or body part dysfunction.

5. New technologies and therapies will improve or cure certain diseases or injuries of the nervous system. The quality of life of those afflicted will improve using sensors to restore sight and hearing, electrical activity to restore mobility to paralyzed limbs, and new drugs for disorders such as Alzheimer and Parkinson disease.

6. Studies of the microbiome – the microorganisms that live within our bodies – will allow better understanding of how this ecosystem impacts our health and how its manipulation can be used to prevent and treat disease.

7. Major advances in surgery, with devices, non-invasive approaches and 3D printing technology becoming more widely adopted.

8. New vaccines and immunologic approaches will be developed to counter infectious diseases and certain cancers.

https://www.nj.com/opinion/2020/01/the-2020s-heres-how-medical-brea...

Researchers have developed a new kind of bandage that helps blood to clot and doesn't stick to the wound. This marks the first time that scientists have combined both properties in one material.

 they developed and tested various superhydrophobic materials—which are, like Teflon, extremely good at repelling liquids such as water and blood. The goal was to find coatings for devices that come into contact with blood, for example heart-lung machines or artificial heart devices.

One of the materials tested demonstrated some unexpected properties: not only did it repel blood, but it also aided the clotting process. Although this made the material unsuitable for use as a coating for blood pumps and related devices, the researchers quickly realized that it would work ideally as a bandage.

Repelling blood and achieving fast clotting are two different properties are both beneficial in bandages: blood-repellent bandages do not get soaked with blood and do not adhere to the wound, so they can be later removed easily, avoiding secondary bleeding. Substances and materials that promote clotting, on the other hand, are used in medicine to stop bleeding as quickly as possible. However, to date, no materials that simultaneously repel blood and also promote clotting have been available—this is the first time that scientists have managed to combine both these properties in one material.

The researchers took a conventional cotton gauze and coated it with their new material—a mix of silicone and carbon nanofibers. They were able to show in laboratory tests that blood in contact with the coated gauze clotted in only a few minutes. Exactly why the new material triggers blood clotting is still unclear and requires further research, but the team suspects that it is due to the interaction with the carbon nanofibers.

They were also able to show that the coated gauze has an antibacterial effect, as bacteria have trouble adhering to its surface. In addition, animal tests with rats demonstrated the effectiveness of the new bandage.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-bandage-material-adhering-wound.html?...

'Bilingual' molecule connects two basic codes for life

The nucleic acids of DNA encode genetic information, while the amino acids of proteins contain the code to turn that information into structures and functions. Together, they provide the two fundamental codes underlying all of life.

Now scientists have found a way to combine these two main coding languages into a single "bilingual" molecule.

The Journal of the American Chemical Society published the work

The synthesized molecule could become a powerful tool for applications such as diagnostics, gene therapy and drug delivery targeted to specific cells.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-bilingual-molecule-basic-codes-life.h...

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New ideas to consider: How bacteria self-destruct to fight viral infections - design that could be employed to improve treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections by refining phage therapy.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-team-bacteria-self-destruct-viral-inf...

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Plants learning a pest's language and using it to drive it away? Yes, researchers found this happening in nature!

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-roundworm-language.html?utm_source=nw...

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An 18-carat real gold nugget made of plastic! Researchers have created an incredibly lightweight 18-carat gold, using a matrix of plastic in place of metallic alloy elements.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-carat-gold-nugget-plastic.html?utm_so...

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Why prolonged protests and social unrest like we are now having in this part of the world are not good for your health? Because protest-hit Hong Kong sees surge in depression, PTSD: study

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-protest-hit-hong-kong-surge-...

Scientists develop 'Twitter' for cells to understand their communication mechanism.

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-01/vfi-sd011020.php

Sci-com through cartoons 

First 'living' robots. These "xenobots" can move toward a target, pick up a payload (like a medicine that needs to be carried to a specific place inside a patient)—and heal themselves after being cut: a living, programmable organism ...

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-team-robots.html?utm_source=nwl...

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The first translation of the methods -complex mathematical methods of hydrodynamic stability theory, a subfield of fluid mechanics- which combine physics and applied mathematics, into medicine to reduce blood clots in artificial heart valves.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-blood-clots-artificial-heart-valves.h...

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Device keeps human livers alive for one week outside of the body. This breakthrough may increase the number of available organs for transplantation, saving many lives of patients .

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-device-human-livers-alive-week.html?u...

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The neurobiology of suicide: The biochemical mechanisms in the brain underlying suicidal behavior are beginning to come to light, and researchers hope they could one day lead to better treatment and prevention strategies.

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/what-neurobiology-can-tell-u...

In a step toward practical quantum computing, researchers from MIT, Google, and elsewhere have designed a system that can verify when quantum chips have accurately performed complex computations that classical computers can't.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-quantum-chips-correctly.html?utm_sour...

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Exposure to toxic chemicals in flame retardants and pesticides, still resulted in more than a million cases of intellectual disability in the developed world alone

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-flame-retardants-pesticides-...

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Life's clockwork: Scientist shows how molecular engines keep us ticking

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-life-clockwork-scientist-molecular.ht...

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Controlled phage therapy can target drug-resistant bacteria while sidestepping potential unintended consequences

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-phage-therapy-drug-resistant-bacteria...

Researchers discover new strategy in the fight against antibiotic resistance that weakens bacteria by preventing them from cooperating.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-strategy-antibiotic-resistance.html?u...

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Nice strategy: scientists hope to create a solution for chronic infections that do not respond to antibiotic treatment, after having discovered mechanisms for listening in on sleeping bacteria.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scientists-defeat-infections-bacteria...

Metabolic syndrome predicts not only the risk of developing diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney disease, but also that of many degenerative diseases in later life.

Although both cross‐sectional and longitudinal studies have implicated abdominal obesity as the central feature of this complex condition, the pathogenesis of MetS is very complex in terms of the underlying mechanism, the sequence of development, and the interactions among individual components and with other metabolic disorders.

It is generally accepted that central obesity is a core component of metabolic syndrome (MetS). On the other hand, hyperuricemia, the predecessor of gout, has been found to cluster with multiple components of MetS. But it is unclear whether hyperuricemia is a downstream result of central obesity/MetS or may play an upstream role in MetS development.

Elevated serum uric acid (SUA) has been associated with increased blood pressure, body mass index and triglyceride, and reduced HDL-C. Hyperuricemia also predicts the development of MetS, insulin resistance, hypertension and diabetes.

Nonetheless, so far, hyperuricemia has not been included as a component of the syndrome MetS. A comprehensive map of such a complex syndrome will help to create strategies for prevention and management.

How about buildings healing their own cracks, sucking up dangerous toxins from the air or even glowing on command? Researchers are toying with these ideas to make such building materials with the help of live bacteria!

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-materials-alive-bacteria.html?utm_sou...

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What is soil photosynthesis? And how can it reduce environmental pollution? Find out ...

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-soil-photosynthesis-mitigate-environm...

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Gravitational lensing is helping in learning more about the properties of dark matter.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-temperature-dark.html?utm_source=nwle...

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We know what CRISPR is. But what are anti-CRISPER proteins? How can they make gene editing safer? Find out ...

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00053-0?utm_source=Natur...

Physicists design 'super-human' red blood cells to deliver drugs to specific targets within the body

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-physicists-super-human-red-blood-cell...

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How decisions unfold in a zebrafish brain Scientists Frame-by-frame view of a decision in the making was so detailed that 10 seconds before the fish responded, the researchers could predict what their next move will be and when they would execute it!

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-decisions-unfold-zebrafish-b...

Decision-making process becomes visible in the brain

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-12-decision-making-visible-brai...

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Researchers demonstrate how the brain assesses and predicts physiological states of the body

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-brain-physiological-states-b...

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A recent discovery shows that our dance style is almost always the same, regardless of the type of music, and a computer can identify the dancer with astounding accuracy.  Idea for dance-recognition software?

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200117104740.htm

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Researchers are aiming to stump counterfeiters with an edible "security tag" embedded into medicine to protect drugs from counterfeit

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-edible-tag-drugs-counterfeit.ht...

Interesting story on how evolution of acoustic communication occurred ...

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-evolution-acoustic.html?utm_source=nw...

Sci-com :

A good poster usually follows this format:

• A good poster must be structured with an entry point, visual balancer, and lots of empty space.
• A title should have text which is  > 90pt and be placed at the top of the poster

• The best posters have around three hundred and fifty words, and the maximum should be six hundred words

• The poster should have fifty five characters per line, for fast reading

• It should follow the area ratio of twenty percent text, thirty five percent visuals, and forty five percent empty space

• Dare to be creative.

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18854

Lead aprons role in shielding from X-rays is being questioned. Why out why ...

Lead shields are difficult to position accurately, so they often miss the target area they are supposed to protect. Even when in the right place, they can inadvertently obscure areas of the body a doctor needs to see—the location of a swallowed object, say—resulting in a need to repeat the imaging process, according to the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, which represents physicists who work in hospitals.

Shields can also cause automatic exposure controls on an X-ray machine to increase radiation to all parts of the body being examined in an effort to "see through" the lead.

Moreover, shielding doesn't protect against the greatest radiation effect: "scatter," which occurs when radiation ricochets inside the body, including under the shield, and eventually deposits its energy in tissues.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-shield-x-rays-science-rethin...

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“Birdbrain” Turns From Insult To Praise  

Some avian species use tools and can recognize themselves in the mirror. How do tiny brains pull off such big feats?

• Corvids, parrots and other bird groups demonstrate complex cognition, including causal reasoning, mental flexibility, planning, social cognition and imagination.
• These cognitive abilities were a surprise to many scientists. They were not expected to be found in birds because of their small brains and the absence of a cerebral cortex.
• Birds compensate for their small brains with a much higher density of neurons. Independently, both birds and mammals have evolved similar neural networks and brain areas that serve cognitive functions.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/birdbrain-turns-from-ins...

Chemists find fungal shrapnel in the air that can contribute to fungus-related allergic reactions and asthma among susceptible people.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-chemists-fungal-shrapnel-air.html?utm...

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Physics shows that imperfections make perfect

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-physics-imperfections.html?utm_source...

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Science to your rescue: Carbon dating reveals fake whisky
Carbon-14 dating has revealed that some expensive ‘antique’ Scotch is decades younger than claimed.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00121-5

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Researchers designed laser diode that emits deep UV light and could be used for disinfection in healthcare, for treating skin conditions such as psoriasis, and for analyzing gases and DNA.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-laser-diode-emits-deep-uv.html?utm_so...

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Researchers found that dozens of non-oncology drugs too can kill cancer cells! Drugs for diabetes, inflammation, alcoholism, arthritis could also kill cancer cells in the lab giving a hope for accelerating the development of new cancer drugs

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-dozens-non-oncology-drugs-ca...

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Even a few hours' exposure to air pollution's tiny particles may trigger nonfatal heart attacks, a study confirms

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-air-pollution-tiny-particles...

Vaginal tobacco- a risky cocktail for women. Women are applying tobacco powder to their genitals to increase sexual pleasure which carries multiple health risks including cancerous lesions experts warn against using it pending research on its effects.

The product is applied either to the skin or the vagina to treat infections or pains, or simply to give pleasure. But it is the aphrodisiac qualities attributed to this “vaginal tobacco” that seem to be the main attraction for consumers in Sédhiou.  the product is made from dried tobacco leaves and the roots of a tree called “tangora” or native plants such as “kankouran mano” or “koundinding”. 
Some manufacturers also add soda and shea butter to the product. But researchers, doctors and other experts in female reproductive systems with experience of treating patients engaged in the practice are clear that the women’s efforts are fruitless. On the therapeutic properties of “vaginal tobacco”, pulmonologist Omar Ba is unequivocal: “There are none.” Ba, who is responsible for Senegal’s tobacco control programme, says this form of tobacco use, well known within his services, has only a “placebo effect” on users.

The product could be giving users the sensation that their genitals are shrinking, due to the reflex retraction of the vaginal muscles when in contact with its chemical components. “However, this feeling is transient and misleading, because the vaginal mucosa that is attacked will eventually develop changes that are the gateway to cancer.

These products often create ulcers which, by scarring, shrink the vagina, make it hard and can go so far as to close it completely. It can even make the normal flow of menstruation impossible.”

Many of the women who have used the product also say they felt burning sensations followed by severe dizziness, vomiting and even loss of consciousness. They also might face complications during deliveries.

https://www.scidev.net/global/health/feature/vaginal-tobacco-a-risk...

Scientists for the first time, manufactured 3-D printed parts that show resistance to common bacteria. This could stop the spread of infections such as MRSA in hospitals and care homes, saving the lives of vulnerable patients.

The research combined 3-D printing with a silver-based antibacterial compound in order to produce the parts.

Results from the research have shown that the anti-bacterial compound can be successfully incorporated into existing 3-D printing materials without any negative influence on processability or part strength, and that under the right conditions, the resultant parts demonstrate anti-bacterial properties without being toxic to human cells. 

The findings offer the potential for applications in a wide range of areas, including medical devices, general parts for hospitals which are subject to high levels of human contact, door handles or children's toys, oral health products (dentures) and consumer products, such as mobile phone cases.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scientists-d-bacteria.html?utm_source...

How stress causes grey hair puzzle solved: stress activates nerves that are part of the fight-or-flight response, which in turn cause permanent damage to pigment-regenerating stem cells in hair follicles.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-biological-puzzle-stress-gra...

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Researchers have developed a new type of smart contact lenses that can prevent dry eyes. The self-moisturizing system, maintains a layer of fluid between the contact lens and the eye using a novel mechanism.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-self-moisturizing-smart-contact-lense...

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Forensics: Residues in fingerprints hold clues to their age. By determining the age of fingerprints, police could get an idea of who might have been present around the time a crime was committed.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-residues-fingerprints-clues-age.html?...

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The color of your clothing can impact wildlife ... and research on them!

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-impact-wildlife.html?utm_source=nwlet...

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/btp.12744

Identifying how ecotourism affects wildlife can lower its environmental impact. Human presence is an inherent component of ecotourism, which can impact animal behavior because animals often perceive humans as predators and, consequently, spend more time on human‐directed antipredator behaviors and less on other fitness‐relevant activities. We tested whether human clothing color affects water anole (Anolis aquaticus) behavior at a popular ecotourism destination in Costa Rica, testing the hypothesis that animals are more tolerant of humans wearing their sexually selected signaling color. We examined whether clothing resembling the primary signaling color (orange) of water anoles increases number of anole sightings and ease of capture. Research teams mimicked an ecotourism group by searching for anoles wearing one of three shirt treatments: orange, green, or blue. We conducted surveys at three different sites: a primary forest, secondary forest, and abandoned pasture. Wearing orange clothing resulted in more sightings and greater capture rates compared with blue or green. A higher proportion of males were captured when wearing orange whereas sex ratios of captured anoles were more equally proportional in the surveys when observers wore green or blue. We also found that capture success was greater when more people were present during a capture attempt. We demonstrate that colors “displayed” by perceived predators (i.e., humans) alter antipredator behaviors in water anoles. Clothing choice could have unintended impacts on wildlife, and wearing colors resembling the sexually selected signaling color might enhance tolerance toward humans.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/btp.12744

Researchers have developed a highly sensitive and portable optical biosensor that stands to accelerate the diagnosis of fatal conditions like sepsis. It could be used by ambulances and hospitals to improve the triage process and save lives.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-portable-device-doctors-sepsis-faster...

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Researchers uncover the genomics of health

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-uncover-genomics-health.html...

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Researchers find evidence to explain behavior of slow earthquakes. Slow earthquakes are related to dynamic fluid processes at the boundary between tectonic plates.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-evidence-behavior-earthquakes.html?ut...

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Do you know your plane travel destroys polar bear habitat? Scientists are advising we should fly less as a way to reduce our individual and collective effect on the global climate.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-plane-polar-habitat.html?utm_source=n...

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Maturing sperm cells turn on most of their genes, not to follow their genetic instructions like normal, but instead to repair DNA before passing it to the next generation, a new study finds.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scanning-sperm-human-evolution.html?u...

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Snake stem cells used to create venom-producing organoids

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-snake-stem-cells-venom-producing-orga...

Nature's wonder found by scientists: Neuroplasticity allowed a rat live normally even when affected by a condition called hydrocephalus, with an almost compressed and collapsed brain as it filled with fluid.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-rat-basically-brainbut.html?...

How climate change is affecting our health ...

1. Heat waves

Extreme heat days have increased in number and severity worldwide, which brings health challenges like heat stroke and dehydration. While impacts vary by age, gender, location and socioeconomic factors, the elderly and those living in urban areas will experience the highest heat-related death rates in this century.

2. Wildfires

Rising temperatures mean drier forest conditions, resulting in more wildfires.  Wildfire smoke results in emergency room visits to treat respiratory and cardiovascular distress; environmental fallout like poor air, water quality and supply; and for people fleeing fires or fighting on the front lines, hazards like burns and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

3. Food quality

Extreme temperatures, flooding and rising carbon dioxide levels can affect food quality, safety and distribution and bump up the need for pesticides. Food-borne diseases pose a particular threat, because events like flooding and warming oceans can increase pathogen loads and lead to tainted shellfish.

4. Mental health

Catastrophes caused by climate change create anxiety "vicariously" through news coverage and images of destruction.

"It causes uncertainty—what does it mean for my life and my future? And for the people experiencing it directly, there are serious implications. Having to be evacuated, dealing with property damage and other trauma—all of this impacts mental health." Post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, aggression, survivor guilt and thoughts of suicide can also result.

Human adaptation to the impacts of climate change is possible but only if greenhouse gas emissions are contained. Scientific data is consistently showing that we only have the ability to prevent these health impacts under a low-emission scenario. But if we continue with the status quo and increase our emissions, the health impacts outstrip our ability to manage them.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-ways-climate-affecting-healthand.html

People plan their movements, anticipate force of gravity by 'seeing it' through visual cues rather than 'feeling it' through changes in weight and balance!

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-01-people-movements-gravity-vis...

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Scientists capture molecular maps of animal tissue with unprecedented detail using a refined technique called mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) that translates reams of data into detailed visuals of the molecular makeup of biological samples.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scientists-capture-molecular-animal-t...

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Evidence before your eyes: Four graphs that suggest we can't blame climate change on solar activity. There has not been enough of a long-term difference in solar activity since industrialization to fully explain our current global warming trend.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-graphs-blame-climate-solar.html?utm_s...

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Meet the robot that grips and lifts small fragile things without touching them using the phenomenon of acoustic levitation so that they don't get damaged while handling them!

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-robot.html?utm_source=nwletter&...

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Ladies are you using a menstrual tracker app? Your health data might get misused in ways you don't intend or anticipate such as determining interest rates on loans or how much they will be charged for life insurance or if they're eligible for it at all

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-menstrual-tracker-app-health.ht...

Scientists have invented a nanoparticle that eats away—from the inside out—portions of plaques that cause heart attacks.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-nanoparticle-chomps-plaques-heart.htm...

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A combination of climate change, extreme weather and pressure from local human activity is causing a collapse in global biodiversity and ecosystems across the tropics, new research shows.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-earth-biodiverse-ecosystems-storm.htm...

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Small magnetic objects, which have been used successfully in technological applications such as data storage, are showing promise in the biomedical field. Magnetic nanostructures have interesting properties that enhance novel applications in medical diagnosis and allow the exploration of new therapeutic techniques.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-tiny-magnetic-medical-science.html?ut...

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'Scrambled' cells fix themselves

When microbes enter our body, they liberate toxins that can damage cells by poking holes in the external cell layer. To defend themselves from the intrusion, cells scramble their membrane fat (lipid) into a more liquid form that allows them to fix the holes

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scrambled-cells.html?utm_source=nwlet...

While human impacts are the leading cause of genetic diversity loss in many cases, scientists studying the lions found that diversity loss across the population was instead caused by the lions' need to adapt to differing habitats.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-humans-blame-genetic-diversity-loss.h...

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What you need to know before clicking 'I agree' on that terms of service agreement

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-clicking-terms-agreement.html?u...

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Using modified sugar molecules the outer shell of a virus can be disrupted, thereby destroying the infectious particles on contact, as oppose to simply restricting its growth. This new approach has also been shown to defend against drug resistance

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-unique-antiviral-treatment-sugar.html

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Physical virology: How physics can be used to understand viruses

https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/how-physics-can-be-used-to-unde...

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wnan.1613

Evolution and Immune systems not prepared for rapid climate change may not be able to keep up with it. There is a risk that many animals will not be able to cope with changes in the number and type of pathogens that they will be exposed to.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-immune-climate.html?utm_source=nwlett...

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Haptic helmet for firefighters to improve the safety and efficiency: A haptic interface is a system that enables people to interact with a computer through their body movements.

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-01-haptic-helmet-firefighters.html...

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Sci-com's best strategy: Vaccine for climate disinformation!

https://theconversation.com/we-have-the-vaccine-for-climate-disinfo...

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Theoretical physicists have found a deep link between one of the most striking features of quantum mechanics—quantum entanglement—and thermalisation, the process in which something comes into thermal equilibrium with its surroundings.

https://phys.org/news/2020-01-supercomputers-link-quantum-entanglem...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-01-mountains-impact-earthquakes.html?utm...

Mountains influence the impact of earthquakes

Stem cell clinics’ much-hyped treatments lack scientific support
Patients are getting injections to relieve knee pain and more, with too little research on safety and effectiveness

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/stem-cell-clinics-hyped-treatme...

WHO recommends that the interim name of the disease causing the current
outbreak should be “2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease” (where ‘n’ is for novel
and ‘CoV’ is for coronavirus). This name complies with the WHO Best Practices for
Naming of New Human Infectious Diseases, which were developed through a
consultative process among partner agencies. Endorsement for the interim name
is being sought from WHO’s partner agencies, World Organization for Animal
Health (OIE) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The final name of the
disease will be provided by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). WHO
is also proposing ‘2019-nCoV’ as an interim name of the virus. The final decision
on the official name of the virus will be made by the International Committee on
Taxonomy of Viruses.

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-repo...

Corona virus in simple words ...

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/7P7Z4yD8FDtgeLhrz-AeIQ?utm_source=Nature...

Answering the big questions: How the tiniest particles in our Universe might have saved us from complete annihilation ...

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-tiniest-particles-universe-annihilati...

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How nature tells us its formulas ...

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-nature-formulas.html?utm_source=nwlet...

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Agricultural area residents are in danger of inhaling toxic aerosols like excess selenium from fertilizers & other natural sources can create air pollution that could lead to lung cancer, asthma, and Type 2 diabetes, according to new research.

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-agricultural-area-residents-danger-in...

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There may be a way to make airplanes less prone to lightning strikes, according to new research exploring the role of the aircraft in the electrical events. The trick, surprisingly, might be to give airplanes a bit of an electrical charge when they are in the air, say scientists reporting their experimental work in AGU's Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-small-electrical-airplanes-lightning....

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The art of scientific deception: How corporations use "mercenary science" to evade regulation ...

https://www.salon.com/2020/02/02/the-art-of-scientific-deception-ho...

New handheld bioprinter holds promise for treating serious burns: A team of researchers have successfully trialled a new handheld 3-D skin printer, which treats severe burns by 'printing' new skins cells directly onto a wound.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-handheld-bioprinter.html?utm...

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Using bone's natural electricity to promote regeneration

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-bone-natural-electricity-regeneration...

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Aneuploidy Could Explain Variability in Female Fertility: Study
Eggs from girls and from older women show higher rates of errors in chromosome number.

https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/aneuploidy-could-expla...

A pan-cancer analysis of whole genome consortium published in journal Nature, provide an almost complete picture of all 2658 cancers. They could allow treatment to be tailored to each patient's unique tumour, or develop ways of finding cancer earlier

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-1969-6

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Overlapping multiple eco-crises could trigger global 'systemic collapse': scientists warn

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-multiple-eco-crises-trigger-collapse-...

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Personal energy choices can be contagious: New insights into peer influence research shows peers have a significant influence on an individual's energy-related decisions, whether it's choosing to install solar panels or to purchase a hybrid vehicle

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-02-energy-choices-contagious-insig...

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Charging your phone using a public USB port? Beware of 'juice jacking' - a cyber attack in which criminals use publicly accessible USB charging ports or cables to install malicious software on your mobile device and/or steal personal data from it.

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-02-usb-port-beware-juicejacking.ht...

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Experimental fingerprint test can distinguish between those who have taken or handled cocaine

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-experimental-fingerprint-distinguish-...

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Smartphone lab delivers test results in 'spit' second -The patient simply puts a single-use plastic lab chip into his mouth then plugs that into a slot in the box to test the saliva. The device automatically transmits results to the patient's doctor

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-smartphone-lab-results.html?utm_sourc...

Scientists discover how rogue communications between cells lead to leukemia

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-scientists-rogue-cells-leuke...

New research has deciphered how rogue communications in blood stem cells can cause leukaemia.

The discovery could pave the way for new, targeted medical treatments that block this process.

Blood cancers like leukaemia occur when mutations in stem cells cause them to produce too many blood cells.

An international team of scientists, including researchers at the University of York, have discovered how these mutations allow cells to deviate from their normal method of communicating with each other, prompting the development of blood cells to spiral out of control.

The scientists used super-resolution fluorescent microscopy to study the way blood stem cells talk to each other in real time.

They observed how cells receive instructions from 'signalling proteins', which bind to a receptor on the surface of another cell before transmitting a signal telling the cell how to behave.

Blood stem cells communicate via cytokines, which are one of the largest and most diverse families of signalling proteins and are critical for the development of blood cells and the immune system.

Understanding this process led researchers to the discovery that mutations associated with certain types of blood cancers can cause blood stem cells to 'go rogue' and communicate without cytokines.

New Generation of Dark Matter Experiments Gear Up to Search for Elusive Particle

Deep underground, in abandoned gold and nickel mines, vats of liquid xenon and silicon germanium crystals will be tuned to detect invisible matter

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-generation-dark-m...

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New light on how females shut off their second X chromosome ...

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-explore-females-chromosome...

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Enabled by decades of basic research, the rise of inexpensive computing, and the genomics revolution in reading and writing DNA, Scientists can now design new proteins from scratch with specific functions

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-scientists-proteins-specific-function...

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https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.01.28.923185v1

Scientists discover virus with genes that have never been described before

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/scientists-discover-virus-n...

the discovery of Yaravirus, a new lineage of amoebal virus with a puzzling origin and phylogeny. Yaravirus presents 80 nm-sized particles and a 44,924 bp dsDNA genome encoding for 74 predicted proteins. More than 90% (68) of Yaravirus predicted genes have never been described before, representing ORFans. Only six genes had distant homologs in public databases: an exonuclease/recombinase, a packaging-ATPase, a bifunctional DNA primase/polymerase and three hypothetical proteins. Furthermore, we were not able to retrieve viral genomes closely related to Yaravirus in 8,535 publicly available metagenomes spanning diverse habitats around the globe. The Yaravirus genome also contained six types of tRNAs that did not match commonly used codons. Proteomics revealed that Yaravirus particles contain 26 viral proteins, one of which potentially representing a novel capsid protein with no significant homology with NCLDV major capsid proteins but with a predicted double-jelly roll domain. Yaravirus expands our knowledge of the diversity of DNA viruses. The phylogenetic distance between Yaravirus and all other viruses highlights our still preliminary assessment of the genomic diversity of eukaryotic viruses, reinforcing the need for the isolation of new viruses of protists.

Researchers Find Cell-Free Mitochondria Floating in Human Blood

The functional, respiring organelles appear to be present in the blood of healthy people, but their function is yet unclear.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/researchers-find-cell-fr...

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Medical advice: Ibuprofen may provide some relief from 'heavy bleeding' during periods, but it’s generally not recommended as a long-term treatment as side effects outweigh the benefits.

https://theconversation.com/ibuprofen-might-make-your-periods-light...

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High rise buildings kill millions of birds. Here’s how to reduce the toll ...

https://theconversation.com/buildings-kill-millions-of-birds-heres-...

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Half of the one million animal and plant species on Earth facing extinction are insects, and their disappearance could be catastrophic for humankind, scientists have said in a "warning to humanity".

https://phys.org/news/2020-02-half-a-million-insect-species-extinct...

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How cancer-exploding viruses (oncolytic virus) are changing the game: Oncolytic viruses are remarkable multi-faceted anti-cancer agents: they can kill cancer cells directly through the process of lysis.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-cancer-exploding-viruses-gam...