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Experimental drug reduces airway mucus that exacerbates common lung diseases. A multicenter research team co-led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center developed the first drug to treat the uncontrolled secretion of mucins in the airways, which causes potentially life-threatening symptoms in millions of Americans with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and cystic fibrosis (CF), as well as lung disease resulting from cancer and cancer treatment. The study was published today (March 23, 2022) in Nature....

Experts have outlined “compelling evidence” that suggests banning trophy hunting can negatively affect conservation – arguing that unregulated killings are far more prevalent in non-hunting zones. More than 130 international scientists – including two from the University of Stirling – say that certain species, such as lions, do not fare well in areas where bans are enforced. In a letter published in the journal Science, they say that, in African countries that do allow trophy hunting, “more land has been conserved than under National Parks;” and that regulated hunting has boosted wildlife populations globally, including those of rhinos, markhor, argali, bighorn sheep, and many African ungulates....

Two projects announced this week that they had won €17.3 million ($22.4 million) from the European Commission to study the exposome, the effects of environmental exposures on health. The four-year studies are supposed to help public research in ways that genome research hasn’t. Genomic studies, in which scientists search for genetic variants linked to disease, have failed to explain why some people are more susceptible than others to chronic disease, like type 2 diabetes....

‘Because the animals spend so little time at the surface, we needed calm seas and experienced observers to look for them’, says Quick, adding, ‘the average period they spend at the surface is about 2 min, so getting a tag on takes a dedicated crew and a manoeuvrable vessel’. The brief surfacing periods also limited the amount of time available to transfer the precious information to a satellite each time the animals returned from a dive....

Five billion years ago, a great disturbance rocked a region near the monster black hole at the center of galaxy 3C 279. On June 14, the pulse of high-energy light produced by this event finally arrived at Earth, setting off detectors aboard NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope and other satellites. Astronomers around the world turned instruments toward the galaxy to observe this brief but record-setting flare in greater detail. “One day 3C 279 was just one of many active galaxies we see, and the next day it was the brightest thing in the gamma-ray sky,” said Sara Cutini, a Fermi Large Area Telescope scientist at the Italian Space Agency’s Science Data Center in Rome....

In October this year, weather researchers in Utah measured the lowest temperature ever recorded in the month of October in the US (excluding Alaska): -37.1°C (-34.8°F). The previous low-​temperature record for October was -35°C (-31°F), and people wondered what had happened to climate change. Until now, climate researchers have responded that climate is not the same thing as weather. Climate is what we expect in the long term, whereas weather is what we get in the short term – and since local weather conditions are highly variable, it can be very cold in one location for a short time despite long-term global warming....

“In a sea of stars brimming with new worlds, TESS is casting a wide net and will haul in a bounty of promising planets for further study,” said Paul Hertz, astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “This first light science image shows the capabilities of TESS’ cameras, and shows that the mission will realize its incredible potential in our search for another Earth.” TESS acquired the image using all four cameras during a 30-minute period on Tuesday, August 7....

On November 26, NASA will try to safely set a new spacecraft on Mars. InSight is a lander dedicated to studying the deep interior of the planet – the first mission ever to do so. Here are a few things to know about InSight’s landing. Landing on Mars is hard Only about 40 percent of the missions ever sent to Mars – by any space agency – have been successful....

A new image from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, shows the candle-like Flame nebula lighting up a cavern of dust. The Flame nebula is part of the Orion complex, a turbulent star-forming area located near the constellation’s star-studded belt. The image is being released today along with a new batch of data from the mission. Last March, WISE released its all-sky catalog and atlas containing infrared images and data on more than a half billion objects, including everything from asteroids to stars and galaxies....

Scientists at Goethe University within the international consortium COVID19-NMR refine previous 2D models. For the first time, an international research alliance has observed the RNA folding structures of the SARS-CoV2 genome with which the virus controls the infection process. Since these structures are very similar among various beta corona viruses, the scientists not only laid the foundation for the targeted development of novel drugs for treating COVID-19, but also for future occurrences of infection with new corona viruses that may develop in the future....

The SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance with four crewmates is targeted to depart the space station at 2:05 a.m. EST on Saturday and return to Earth less than 24 hours later. NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada will command and pilot Endurance respectively flanked by Koichi Wakata of JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) and Anna Kikina of Roscosmos. The foursome is due to splashdown off the coast of Florida at 9:19 p....

Scientists presented evidence tying the disposal of wastewater from shale gas hydrofracking to an increased occurrence of earthquakes. The scientists presented their findings at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting. Some US states, like Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado have experienced a significant rise in seismic activity in the last few years, coinciding with a recent boom in fracking, a process that forces gas from harder to reach underground deposits by injecting water and chemicals into shale rock....

As an alternative to coal and oil, wood is increasingly one of the more promising sources of advanced biofuels. However, despite its potential, it is a difficult material to break down. Current wood biorefineries have to use pre-treatment processes, making the conversion of wood into fuels and products expensive and energy-consuming. In ecosystems fungi play a significant role in breaking down wood within the carbon cycle, releasing nutrients back into the soil....

The Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8, or M8) is among the most striking examples of a stellar nursery in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy. Visible in small telescopes and binoculars its fuzzy glow reveals the type of chaotic environment where new stars are born. Argentinean astronomers Julia Arias (Universidad de La Serena) and Rodolfo Barbá (Universidad de La Serena and ICATE-CONICET) have used the Gemini South telescope in Chile, to obtain a dramatic new image of the nursery that could be described as psychedelic....

The researchers focused on mustard cress which grows across Europe, Asia, and northwest Africa. Surprisingly, Scandinavian plants can cope with extreme drought as well as those from Mediterranean countries. This could be because the water in the Scandinavian soil is frozen for many months, making it inaccessible to plants and effectively creating drought conditions. The researchers planted mustard cress seeds collected from over two hundred locations as diverse as North Africa, Spain, central Europe, and northern Sweden....

In an interdisciplinary study funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, the international research team analyzed the ancient genomes of almost 40 early medieval people from southern Germany. While most of the ancient Bavarians looked genetically like Central and Northern Europeans, one group of individuals had a very different and diverse genetic profile. Members of this group were particularly notable in that they were women whose skulls had been artificially deformed at birth....

Kaiser Permanente members who were more physically active prior to being diagnosed with COVID-19 had a lower risk of severe outcomes, according to research published on December 15, 2022, in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study of nearly 200,000 adults showed an association between physical activity and improved COVID-19 outcomes across major demographic groups regardless of whether patients had chronic medical conditions. Black, Hispanic, and Asian patients had a greater risk of adverse outcomes compared with white patients, in line with prior research....

For most people, the task of identifying an object, picking it up, and placing it somewhere else is trivial. For robots, it requires the latest in machine intelligence and robotic manipulation. That’s what MIT spinoff RightHand Robotics has incorporated into its robotic piece-picking systems, which combine unique gripper designs with artificial intelligence and machine vision to help companies sort products and get orders out the door. “If you buy something at the store, you push the cart down the aisle and pick it yourself....

The scientists published their findings in the journal Science. This new research pushes back the date for the formation of the Grand Canyon in Arizona by more than 60 million years, states Rebecca Flowers, from the Colorado University at Boulder. The team used dating methods that exploited the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium atoms to helium atoms in apatite, a phosphate mineral. The helium atoms were locked in the mineral grains as they cooled, and moved closer to the surface during the Grand Canyon’s formation, Flowers continues....

Small shallow lakes dominate the world’s freshwater area, and the sediments within them already produce at least one-quarter of all carbon dioxide, and more than two-thirds of all methane released from lakes into our atmosphere. The new research, published today (November 18, 2019) in the journal PNAS, suggests that climate change may cause the levels of greenhouse gases emitted by freshwater northern lakes to increase by between 1.5 and 2....