New research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes [EASD]) finds that the consumption of healthy plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffee, and legumes, is associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D) in generally healthy people and support their role in diabetes prevention.…
The duration of floods can be determined by river flow, precipitation and atmospheric blocking. Now an international team of researchers led by Nasser Najibi and Naresh Devineni at The City College of New York is offering a novel physically based Bayesian network model for inference and prediction of flood duration. The model also accurately examines…
Some people are drawn to cologne; others are attracted to perfume. When it comes to sea lampreys, however, spermine smells like love. In new research led by Michigan State University and published in the current issue of PLoS Biology, spermine, an odorous compound found in male semen, proved to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Spermine isn’t…
Vegetated highway medians are a proverbial buffet for small mammals, according to new research by University of Alberta biologists. Animals such as weasels, mink, and chipmunks use the roadside bands of vegetation as habitat to find food. “We observed animals foraging for everything from other mammals, such as red squirrels looking for birds, to vegetation,…
Medical oncologists administer anticancer drug regorafenib to try to improve overall survival in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who have ceased to respond to standard therapy (known as refractory mCRC). However, some of the adverse events related to the use of this drug often limits its use in clinical practice. A study reported at the…
In a paper released today in Science Advances, UNSW researchers describe the first observation of a native ferroelectric metal. The study represents the first example of a native metal with bistable and electrically switchable spontaneous polarization states — the hallmark of ferroelectricity. “We found coexistence of native metallicity and ferroelectricity in bulk crystalline tungsten ditelluride…
Researchers at EPFL have developed a method that uses artificial intelligence to design next-generation heat-pump compressors. Their method can cut the pumps’ power requirement by around 25%. In Switzerland, 50 — 60% of new homes are equipped with heat pumps. These systems draw in thermal energy from the surrounding environment — such as from the…
Pain signals can travel as fast as touch signals, according to a new study from researchers at Linköping University in Sweden, Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US. The discovery of a rapid pain-signalling system challenges our current understanding of pain. The study is published…
A leading public health expert is calling for a strategic initiative to develop green burial corridors alongside major transport routes because British graveyards and cemeteries are rapidly running out of room. With 500,000 deaths annually in England and Wales, it is likely that there will be no burial space left within five years. Writing in…
Rearing its head in infancy, Christianson Syndrome is a rare disorder whose symptoms include intellectual disability, seizures and difficulty standing or walking. Although it is becoming increasingly diagnosed, with little being known about the neural mechanism behind the disease, therapeutic options for patients remain limited. Now, researchers at McGill University focusing on the intellectual disability…