People who adhere to a Mediterranean lifestyle -- which includes a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; healthy eating habits like limiting added salts and sugars; and habits promoting adequate rest, physical activity, and socialization -- have a lower risk of all-cause and cancer mortality, according to a...
The modern sea spider had started to diversify by the Jurassic, study finds
An extremely rare collection of 160-million-year-old sea spider fossils from Southern France are closely related to living species, unlike older fossils of their kind.
Medications for chronic diseases affect the body’s ability to regulate body temperature, keep cool
Medications to treat various chronic diseases may hinder the body's ability to lose heat and regulate its core temperature to optimal levels. The loss of effective thermoregulation has implications for elderly people receiving treatment for illnesses like cancer, cardiovascular, Parkinson's disease/dementia and diabetes, particularly during hot weather, according to a...
Greater excess mortality after hurricanes more recently and for most socially vulnerable in the U.S.
Over recent decades, there was a large variation in cyclone-related excess deaths by hurricane, state, county, year, and social vulnerability for counties in the United States, with 83 percent of hurricane-related deaths occurring more recently and 94 percent in more socially vulnerable counties.
Unveiling Japan’s ancient practice of cranial modification: The case of the Hirota people in Tanegashima
Cranial modification is a form of body alteration where the head is pressed or bound to permanently deform the skull. The practice has been reported across various cultures throughout history. Researchers report that the Hirota people -- who lived on the southern Japanese island of Tanegashima between the 3rd to...
Microplastic pollution: Plants could be the answer
Could plants be the answer to the looming threat of microplastic pollution? Scientists found that if you add tannins (natural plant compounds that make your mouth pucker if you bite into an unripe fruit) to a layer of wood dust, you can create a filter that can trap virtually all...
Pig kidney xenotransplantation performing optimally after 32 days in human body
Surgeons have transplanted a genetically engineered pig kidney that continues to function well after 32 days in a man declared dead by neurologic criteria and maintained with a beating heart on ventilator support. This represents the longest period that a gene-edited pig kidney has functioned in a human, and the...
how orangutans respond to novelty in the wild
Humans like to discover. Presented with something we’ve never seen before, most of us will be compelled to explore and learn more about it. The same can’t exactly be said for our closest living relatives—the great apes. Although decades of studies have shown that captive chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans will...
Researchers design efficient iridium catalyst for hydrogen generation
Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers converts surplus electric energy into transportable hydrogen energy as a clean energy solution. However, slow oxygen evolution reaction rates and high loading levels of expensive metal oxide catalysts limit its practical feasibility. Now, researchers have developed a new tantalum oxide-supported iridium catalyst that significantly boosts...
Weaker transcription factors are better when they work together
Bioengineers have developed a generalizable method to address 'off-target' binding, a significant problem in the field of synthetic biology. Taking a cue from nature, the researchers showed they could all but eliminate off-target gene activation by designing weak transcription factors that cooperatively assemble.