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For the study, published on May 26, 2021, in the journal Cell, international investigators collected nearly 5,000 samples over a three-year period across 60 cities in 32 countries and six continents. The investigators analyzed the samples using a genomic sequencing technique called shotgun sequencing to detect the presence of various microbes, including bacteria, archaea (single-celled organisms that are distinct from bacteria), and viruses that use DNA as their genetic material....

A new study, published online today in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, reviewed 136 case studies to determine the underlying causes of why many populations have gone extinct due to changing climate. The article, entitled “How does climate change cause extinction?” describes research led by John J. Wiens, an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University and by PhD students Abigail E....

Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have determined the role of a key growth factor, found in skin cells of limited quantities in humans, which helps hair follicles form and regenerate during the wound healing process. When this growth factor, called Fgf9, was overexpressed in a mouse model, there was a two- to three-fold increase in the number of new hair follicles produced. Researchers believe that this growth factor could be used therapeutically for people with various hair and scalp disorders....

The study found that smokers who are willing to use e-cigarettes tend to smoke less and have increased quit attempts, said Matthew Carpenter, Ph.D., a tobacco control and addiction expert at the cancer center at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). “Combustible cigarettes are the most harmful form of nicotine delivery. Alternative delivery of nicotine, through e-cigarettes, could significantly reduce harm and the risks of cancer and other diseases to smokers,” he said....

Below is a gallery of images of the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour splashdown and recovery. Additionally, watch stunning 4K video of the splashdown as well as video of the NASA SpaceX Crew Dragon astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley talking about this milestone in human spaceflight.

Our Milky Way Galaxy is estimated to contain 100 million stellar black holes – cosmic bodies formed by the collapse of massive stars and so dense even light can’t escape. Until now, scientists had estimated the mass of an individual stellar black hole in our Galaxy at no more than 20 times that of the Sun. But the discovery of a huge black hole by a Chinese-led team of international scientists has toppled that assumption....

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-long cosmic explosions that each produce the energy equivalent to the sun’s annual output. Their perplexing nature continues to surprise scientists more than 15 years after the deep-space pulses of electromagnetic radio waves were first discovered. Now, newly published research only deepens the mystery surrounding them. Unexpected new observations from a series of cosmic radio bursts by an international team of scientists challenge the prevailing understanding of the physical nature and central engine of FRBs....

People making homemade masks might want to reach for a vacuum cleaner filter. It’s intuitive and scientifically shown that wearing a face covering can help reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. But not all masks are created equal, according to new University of Arizona-led research. Amanda Wilson, an environmental health sciences doctoral candidate in the Department of Community, Environment and Policy in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, is lead author on a recent study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection that assessed the ability of a variety of nontraditional mask materials to protect a person from infection after 30 seconds and after 20 minutes of exposure in a highly contaminated environment....

OpenAI’s ChatGPT can score at or around the approximately 60 percent passing threshold for the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), with responses that make coherent, internal sense and contain frequent insights. This is according to a study by Tiffany Kung, Victor Tseng, and colleagues at AnsibleHealth, which was published on February 9, 2023, in the open-access journal PLOS Digital Health. ChatGPT is a new artificial intelligence (AI) system, known as a large language model (LLM), designed to generate human-like writing by predicting upcoming word sequences....

A strobe light is hardly the most advanced technology found in an MIT lab, but as co-instructor and professor of anthropology Graham Jones comments, “In 10 years of teaching at MIT, I’ve never heard a whole classroom gasp like that.” However basic, Riskin’s deft manipulation of light produces a profound effect, one that the students experience collectively in a moment of surprise and wonder. That’s what a new anthropology class, 21A....

Both questions are easier asked than answered, but research is offering new clues. I’m an atmospheric scientist who studies severe convective storms like tornadoes and the influences of climate change. Here’s what scientific research shows so far. Climate models can’t see tornadoes yet – but they can recognize tornado conditions To understand how rising global temperatures will affect the climate in the future, scientists use complex computer models that characterize the whole Earth system, from the Sun’s energy streaming in to how the soil responds and everything in between, year to year and season to season....

The Big Bang created both the matter in the universe and the antimatter – at least according to the established theory. Since the two mutually annihilate each other, however, there must have been a surplus of matter, which has remained to this day. The cause of this excess of matter is one of the great mysteries of physics and astronomy. Researchers hope to find a clue to the underlying phenomenon with the help of neutrons, the electrically uncharged elementary building blocks of atoms....

People who achieve weight loss of 10% or more in the first five years following diagnosis with type 2 diabetes have the greatest chance of seeing their disease go into remission, according to a study led by the University of Cambridge. The findings suggest that it is possible to recover from the disease without intensive lifestyle interventions or extreme calorie restrictions. Type 2 diabetes affects 400 million people worldwide and increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, blindness, and amputations....

By analyzing data on over 43,000 children between the ages 10 and 17, new research from UCLA shows that obese children are at nearly twice the risk of having three or more reported medical, mental or developmental conditions as compared to kids who are not overweight. While a great deal of research on childhood obesity has spotlighted the long-term health problems that emerge in adulthood, a new UCLA study focuses on the condition’s immediate consequences and shows that obese youngsters are at far greater risk than had been supposed....

An innovative nanoparticle vaccine candidate for the pandemic coronavirus produces virus-neutralizing antibodies in mice at levels 10 times greater than is seen in people who have recovered from COVID-19 infections. Designed by scientists at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, the vaccine candidate has been transferred to two companies for clinical development. Compared to vaccination with the soluble SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein, on which many leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates are based, the new nanoparticle vaccine produced 10 times more neutralizing antibodies in mice, even at a sixfold lower dose....

Rice University materials scientist Boris Yakobson and his team have uncovered a property of ferroelectric 2D materials that has the potential to be exploited as a feature in future devices. According to a study published in ACS Nano, single-layer ferroelectric materials, due to their ability to bend in response to an electrical stimulus, can be controlled to act as a nano-scale switch or even a motor. Single-layer or 2D materials are typically made up of a single layer of atoms, meaning they are only a few nanometers thick....

The western United States is a region with scarce water resources. In this case, water management techniques make up a larger piece of a sustainability plan. There is mounting concern around the globe about water scarcity. This is due to urban sprawl, depleting water supplies in some areas, and predicted water shortages in the future with less snowpack. Water management techniques that lead to the optimal use of limited resources are not well-identified....

The double-layered nanoparticle vaccine contains the influenza virus proteins matrix protein 2 ectodomain (M2e) and neuraminidase (NA). Mice were immunized with the nanoparticle vaccine before being exposed to influenza virus, and they were protected against six different strains of the virus. The findings, which suggest this unique vaccine combination has potential as a universal influenza vaccine or component of such vaccines, are published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials. “This nanoparticle antigen combination conferred mice with strong cross protection,” said Ye Wang, first author of the study and a biology Ph....

The Chang’e-5 mission touched down in the Mons Rümker region of the northern Oceanus Procellarum of the Moon and returned 3,816 pounds (1,731 kg) of lunar regolith. Recognizing exotic clasts (i.e., non-Chang’e-5 locally derived materials) in the Chang’e-5 regolith could provide critical information about the lithological diversity and regolith gardening process in the young mare region of the Moon. Recently, Dr. Xiaojia Zeng, Prof. Xiongyao Li, and Prof. Jianzhong Liu from the Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGCAS) have identified seven exotic igneous clasts in Chang’e-5 samples from more than 3,000 Chang’e-5 regolith particles....

U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Hayashi Yoshimasa signed the agreement on behalf of the United States and Japan, respectively. “The future of space is collaborative,” said Blinken. “Through this agreement, our nations have strengthened our partnership in space and here on Earth. We will go farther and learn even more together.” The signing is a highlight of Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s visit to Washington, his first since taking office in 2021....