Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered how a dangerous parasite maintains a steady supply of nutrients while replicating inside of its host cell: it calls for delivery. Toxoplasma gondii is a single-celled parasite capable of infecting any animal, including humans. Up to one-third of infections in people happen through contact with cat…
Wetlands are an important part of the Earth’s natural water management system. The complex system of plants, soil, and aquatic life serves as a reservoir that captures and cleans water. However, as cities have expanded, many wetlands were drained for construction. In addition, many areas of land in the Midwest were drained to increase uses…
Feet from the raw bars and sherbet-colored condominiums of Florida’s Cedar Key, researchers discovered a new species of egg-sucking sea slug, a rare outlier in a group famous for being ultra-vegetarians. Named Olea hensoni in honor of Muppets creator Jim Henson, the slug belongs to the sacoglossans, a group of more than 300 species that…
People who receive opioids for the first time while hospitalized have double the risk of continuing to receive opioids for months after discharge compared with their hospitalized peers who are not given opioids, according to research led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The findings, published today in the…
Researchers at Duke University have isolated a cluster of neurons in a mouse’s brain that are crucial to making the squeaky, ultrasonic ‘songs’ a male mouse produces when courting a potential mate. In fact, they now understand these neurons well enough to be able to make a mouse sing on command or to silence it…
A new study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) clarifies what influence major currents in the North Atlantic have on sea level along the northeastern United States. The study, published June 13 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, examined both the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) — a conveyor belt of…
Across the United States and Canada, demand for local specialty cut flowers is increasing, and production has correspondingly jumped. To accurately assess the needs of the industry, John Dole, Cristian Loyola, and Rebecca Dunning electronically surveyed 1098 cut flower producers and handlers regarding their current cut flower production and postharvest problems and customer issues. The…
Women still face significant barriers in forging successful and influential careers in UK energy research, a new high-level report has revealed. A team of experts from the University of Exeter’s Energy Policy Group has analysed gender balance within the crucial field of energy research and spoken to female researchers about their experiences of academic life.…
National Institutes of Health scientists have used human skin cells to create what they believe is the first cerebral organoid system, or “mini-brain,” for studying sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). CJD is a fatal neurodegenerative brain disease of humans believed to be caused by infectious prion protein. It affects about 1 in 1 million people. The…
A new method of discovering materials using data analytics and electron microscopy has found a new class of extremely hard alloys. Such materials could potentially withstand severe impact from projectiles, thereby providing better protection of soldiers in combat. Researchers from Lehigh University describe the method and findings in an article, “Materials Informatics For the Screening…