Researchers have developed a new method to deliver drugs into the inner ear. The discovery was possible by harnessing the natural flow of fluids in the brain and employing a little understood backdoor into the cochlea. When combined to deliver a gene therapy that repairs inner ear hair cells, the...
Turning old maps into 3D digital models of lost neighborhoods
Imagine strapping on a virtual reality headset and 'walking' through a long-gone neighborhood in your city -- seeing the streets and buildings as they appeared decades ago. That's a very real possibility now that researchers have developed a method to create 3D digital models of historic neighborhoods using machine learning...
Dolphin ages, pod health revealed with drone photographs
Using unoccupied aerial system, or drone, photographs, researchers are now able to determine the age-structure of free-ranging dolphin groups. This work will aid monitoring the health of dolphin populations and inform timely conservation efforts.
Study Revealed Rainforest Releases Oxidized Organic Molecules that Form Aerosol Particles in Tropical Free Troposphere
Oxidized organic molecules originating from the Amazon rainforest are crucial components contributing to the formation of aerosol particles in the tropical free troposphere, according to a new study led by the University of Helsinki.
New Tool Predicts Crop Yields in the Southeast
Researchers have developed a computer model that forecasts yield for four key crops in the southeastern United States: cotton, corn, sorghum, and soybeans.
Researchers Unearth the Mysteries of How Turkey’s East Anatolian Fault Formed
An international team led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has, for the first time, accurately determined the age and formation process of the East Anatolian fault, which runs from eastern to south-central Turkey and was involved in the creation of the Anatolian tectonic plate.
Octopus sleep is surprisingly similar to humans and contains a wake-like stage
Researchers have closely examined the brain activity and skin patterning in octopuses (Octopus laqueus) during active sleep and discovered that it closely resembles neural activity and skin patterning behavior seen when awake.
How urea may have been the gateway to life
Urea reacts extremely quickly under the conditions that existed when our planet was newly formed. This new insight furthers our understanding of how life on Earth might have begun.
Mountains vulnerable to extreme rain from climate change
A new study finds that as rising global temperatures shift snow to rain, mountains across the Northern Hemisphere will be hotspots for extreme rainfall events that could trigger floods and landslides -- potentially impacting a quarter of the world's population.
Specialization in sheep farming, a possible strategy for Neolithic communities in the Adriatic to expand throughout the Mediterranean
The specialization in sheep in the early Neolithic populations of Dalmatia, Croatia, may have been related to the rapid expansion of these communities and the spread of agriculture throughout the central and western Mediterranean.