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The human cell’s primary source of energy, the mitochondria plays an important role in the metabolism of cancer cells. In a study recently published in PLOS ONE, researchers from throughout the world, including Dario C. Altieri, M.D., president and chief executive officer, director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center, and Robert and Penny Fox Distinguished Professor at The Wistar Institute, have identified a particular gene signature indicative of mitochondrial reprogramming in tumors that is associated with a poor patient outcome....

Our bodies and behaviors often seem to have rhythms of their own. Why do we go to the bathroom at the same time every day? Why do we feel off if we can’t go to sleep at the right time? Circadian rhythms are a behind-the-scenes force that shape many of our behaviors and our health. Michihiro Mieda and his team at Kanazawa University in Japan are researching how the brain’s circadian rhythm control center regulates behavior....

The distant outskirts of the Milky Way harbor valuable clues for understanding the formation and evolution of our galaxy. Yet, due to overwhelming distances and an extremely sparse population of stars, many objects have not been identified beyond 400,000 light years, with only seven stars known to date beyond this limit. Recently a team of astronomers led by John Bochanski, a visiting assistant professor at Haverford College, began targeting stars in the Milky Way’s outer halo, which is a sparse shroud of stars that surrounds the disk of our Galaxy and stretches to at least 500,000 light years away....

A team of scientists from John Hopkins University and McNeese State University have determined that when 32 units of lead sulfide, PbS, molecules assemble together, you get the smallest nano-crystal (cluster) possible that still exhibits the same crystal structure as bulk lead sulfide. A team of scientists has determined the size of the smallest, cubic, lead sulfide cluster that exhibits the same crystal structure as bulk lead sulfide, (rock salt)....

Neutron stars are some of the most amazing astronomical objects as their density is second only to black holes. Inside neutron stars, there are no individual atoms and nuclei. Moreover, due to such a high density, neutron stars have tremendous gravity, which results in unique physical properties such as directed radio emission, which played a major part in neutron stars discovery. On Earth, the radiation from neutron stars was first observed in 1967 in the form of periodic signals, initially causing scientists to suggest that it may have come from an extraterrestrial civilization....

Current health issues in China could be dwarfed by the future impacts of severe and frequent heatwaves caused by climate change, scientists are warning. A study by the University of Reading, University of Edinburgh, the Met Office and several Chinese institutions, calculated that 30-day spells of deadly overnight heat, like the one that killed and hospitalized many people in north-east China in 2018, have already gone from being one-in-500-year events to one-in-60-year events since pre-industrial times....

An international research collaboration led by ETH Zurich and MIT has developed a mathematical method that can speed up search and rescue operations at sea. The new algorithm accurately predicts locations to which objects and people floating in water will drift. Hundreds of people die at sea every year due to vessel and airplane accidents. Emergency teams have little time to rescue those in the water because the probability of finding a person alive plummets after six hours....

Physical activity at different times of the day can affect the body in different ways since the biological processes depend on the circadian rhythms of the cells. To ascertain how the time of day at which exercise is done affects the burning of fat, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the University of Copenhagen studied the adipose tissue of mice after a session of high-intensity exercise performed at two points of the daily cycle, an early active phase and early rest phase (corresponding to a late morning and late evening session, respectively, in humans)....

Findings reveal how CBD and THC levels impact side effects of cannabis. High levels of cannabidiol (CBD) in cannabis can offset the neuropsychiatric effects of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) by preventing the activation of an emotional processing pathway, according to research recently published in JNeurosci. Previous research has shown that strains of cannabis with high levels of THC and low levels of CBD have increased neuropsychiatric effects, but the exact relationship between CBD and THC was not understood....

What are the keys to “successful” or optimal aging? A new study followed more than 7,000 middle-aged and older Canadians for approximately three years to identify the factors linked to well-being as we age. They found that those who were female, married, physically active, and not obese and those who had never smoked, had higher incomes, and who did not have insomnia, heart disease or arthritis, were more likely to maintain excellent health across the study period and less likely to develop disabling cognitive, physical, or emotional problems....

The scientists identified an important role of microRNAs, a special group of these small RNA molecules, known for their extensive control of gene expression in all human cells. Targeting of a gene by one of these microRNAs can lead to a significant restriction of its expression. “The main problem is the enormous variety of possible combinations,” says Sebastian Lobentanzer, lead author of the article published in the journal Cell Reports....

Increasing nut consumption by just half a serving (14 g or ½ oz) a day is linked to less weight gain and a lower risk of obesity, suggests a large, long-term observational study, published in the online journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health. Substituting unhealthy foods, such as processed meats, French fries, and crisps (potato chips) with half a serving of nuts may be a simple strategy to ward off the gradual weight gain that often accompanies the aging process, suggest the researchers....

On August 24, 2014, the sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 8:16 a.m. EDT. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory captured images of the flare, which erupted on the left side of the sun. Solar flares are powerful bursts of radiation. Harmful radiation from a flare cannot pass through Earth’s atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground, however – when intense enough – they can disturb the atmosphere in the layer where GPS and communications signals travel....

As of 2022, all new buildings in the state of Baden-Württemberg must be equipped with photovoltaic systems. From May, this will also apply to private households, whose share of solar installations still is very small. According to studies, this might not only be due to the high purchase costs, but also to the poor looks. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now developed colored solar cells from inexpensive perovskite semiconductor material....

A decades-old mystery: where are the most energetic particles coming from? A major open question in astrophysics for the past fifty years has been the origin of the most energetic particles known to us, the ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). These are electrically charged particles — protons and atomic nuclei — of extraterrestrial origin. Their energies are millions of times higher than those of the Large Hadron Collider. The most energetic UHECRs have energies of 1019 eV or more....

Ventilators become necessary when patients can’t breathe on their own, physically pumping oxygen into their lungs. They are in short supply. That’s why the researchers are building a “bridge ventilator” that can be replicated and mass-produced by others. “The problem is that when ICUs fill up, there are no more ventilators,” said Thomas Milner, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering, who is leading the project....

A duo of Earth-observing missions has enabled researchers to detect and track carbon dioxide (CO2) emission changes from a single facility, using the world’s fifth-largest coal-fired power plant as a test case. In the recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Remote Sensing, researchers used space-based measurements from NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) 2 and 3 missions to quantify the carbon dioxide discharged hundreds of miles below at Belchatów Power Station in Poland, the largest single emitter in Europe....

Published in The Lancet Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), this is the largest-ever placebo-controlled trial of an antidepressant, which has not been funded by the pharmaceutical industry. By involving a wide range of patients including people with mild to moderate symptoms, the researchers surveyed a much wider group of people than most previous clinical trial samples. Sertraline did not appear to improve depressive symptoms, which include low mood, loss of pleasure and poor concentration, within six weeks....

By shining a laser on a drop of blood, mucus, or wastewater, the reflection of the light can be analyzed to accurately identify the presence of bacteria in the sample. “We can find out not just that bacteria are present, but specifically which bacteria are in the sample – E. coli, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Salmonella, anthrax, and more,” said Jennifer Dionne, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and, by courtesy, of radiology at Stanford University....

The peer-reviewed study published in Environmental Health found that only two hours of exposure to diesel exhaust leads to a decrease in brain functional connectivity, which is a measure of how different areas of the brain interact and communicate with each other. This study is the first controlled experiment to provide evidence of air pollution altering brain connectivity in humans. “For many decades, scientists thought the brain may be protected from the harmful effects of air pollution,” said senior study author Dr....