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An anti-cancer drug reverses memory deficits in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health researchers confirm in the journal Science. The research, funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer’s Association, reviewed previously published findings on the drug bexarotene, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in cutaneous T cell lymphoma. The Pitt Public Health researchers were able to verify that the drug does significantly improve cognitive deficits in mice expressing gene mutations linked to human Alzheimer’s disease, but could not confirm the effect on amyloid plaques....

Astronomers studying two classes of black-hole-powered galaxies monitored by NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found evidence that they represent different sides of the same cosmic coin. By unraveling how these objects, called blazars, are distributed throughout the universe, the scientists suggest that apparently distinctive properties defining each class more likely reflect a change in the way the galaxies extract energy from their central black holes. “We can think of one blazar class as a gas-guzzling car and the other as an energy-efficient electric vehicle,” said lead researcher Marco Ajello, an astrophysicist at Clemson University in South Carolina....

Radar data of asteroid 1998 QE2 obtained on May 29, 2013. The small moving white dot is the moon, or satellite, orbiting asteroid 1998 QE2. A sequence of radar images of asteroid 1998 QE2 was obtained on the evening of May 29, 2013, by NASA scientists using the 230-foot (70-meter) Deep Space Network antenna at Goldstone, California, when the asteroid was about 3.75 million miles (6 million kilometers) from Earth, which is 15....

1. NASA Satellites Help Track Marine Animals’ Movement NASA satellite data combined with field measurements help scientists construct a clearer picture of the travel routes of sharks and other marine animals. In 2019 with the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite (CALIPSO), a joint venture between NASA and the French space agency, the Centre National D’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), observed a massive animal migration that takes place on our planet. In this case, marine animals such as fish, krill and squid rise from the ocean depths to the surface to feast on microscopic plants called phytoplankton as well as smaller zooplankton and other animals on a daily basis....

Most X-ray detectors are integrated into big, immobile instruments, such as computerized tomography (known as CT) and mammography equipment, or are stiff, like the sharp-edged bitewing detectors used in dental offices. Detectors that could conform to rounded body parts or mold to the inside of confined spaces could be beneficial in some radiation monitoring and medical imaging applications. Previous researchers have used MOFs for flexible radiation detectors because they are semiconducting materials that respond to electromagnetic radiation by creating an electrical current....

A report on the new discoveries about the reptile, Vadasaurus herzogi, appears online in the November 8 issue of Royal Society Open Science, and suggests that some of the foot-long animal’s features, including its elongated, whip-like tail, and triangular-shaped head, are well suited to aquatic life, while its relatively large limbs link it to land-loving species. Vadasaurus, which is the Latin term for “wading lizard,” was discovered in limestone quarries near Solnhofen, Germany, part of a once-shallow sea long explored for its rich trove of fossil finds....

The scientists presented their findings at the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology’s annual meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina. Initially, paleontologists were looking at the dome of a Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis fossil, and noticed lesions that appeared to stem from injuries. They looked at 102 domes from fossil collections around the world. Of those, 23 had lesions. They produced a 3D model of P. wyomingensis‘ skull and mapped the injuries. The shape of the dome differed from fossil to fossil, and the placement of the injuries depended on the shape of the skull....

One of the oldest tools in computational physics — a 200-year-old mathematical technique known as Fourier analysis — can reveal crucial information about how a form of artificial intelligence called a deep neural network learns to perform tasks involving complex physics like climate and turbulence modeling, according to a new study. The discovery by mechanical engineering researchers at Rice University is described in an open-access study published in the journal PNAS Nexus, a sister publication of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences....

Zebra finches allowed to breed with their preferred partner achieved a 37 percent higher reproductive success compared to pairs that were forced to mate. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen observed a larger number of infertile eggs in such forced pairs. Moreover, pairs that resulted from free mate choice were more successful rearing their young from hatching to independence. An ideal mating partner may provide good genes for the offspring but may also enhance the number and quality of his offspring through being a good parent....

Bone marrow failure due to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a significant factor behind the disease’s high rate of morbidity and mortality. Previous studies in mice suggest that AML cells inhibit healthy hematopoietic (blood) stem and progenitor cells (HSPC). A study released in STEM CELLS adds to this extent of knowledge by showing how secreted cell factors, in particular a protein called transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1), leads to a breakdown in the production of healthy blood cells (a process called hematopoiesis) in humans....

BCG vaccine is safe and does not lead to an increased risk of COVID-19 symptoms. More studies need to confirm whether this generic vaccine could have a positive effect as well. The BCG vaccine, a vaccine originally made against tuberculosis, has a general stimulating effect on the immune system and is therefore effective against multiple infectious diseases – possibly also against COVID-19. This study compared groups of volunteers who have received a BCG vaccine (or not) in the past five years (before the corona pandemic), showing that the vaccine is safe and possibly influences COVID-19 symptoms....

More than two-thirds of the worlds’ major cities are located in coastal deltas. How they change over time can impact the communities that live around them. “Geologists can use ancient deltas to understand how modern river systems should be behaving,” says Dr. Sara Morón from the University of Sydney who led the research. Discovering where it once flowed is of a lot more than historical interest. “With no more mountains to erode, the river eventually dried up, leaving behind its ‘delta’ – a thick deposit of sediments where it met the ancient ocean....

A layer of ice up to 4 km (2.5 m) thick, fierce winds, and temperatures that can reach –60°C (-76°F) make Antarctica one of the harshest environments on Earth. This, coupled with the remoteness of this vast icy continent, means that it is difficult and expensive to carry out scientific research, particularly into what lies beneath deep below. Thankfully, data collected from space can offer information that field experiments alone cannot....

Researchers have found the halogen levels in the meteorites that formed the Earth billions of years ago are much lower than previously thought. The research was carried out by an international team of researchers, led by the Universities of Manchester and Oxford, and has been published in Nature. Halogens such as Chlorine, Bromine, and Iodine, form naturally occurring salts which are essential for most life forms – but too much can prohibit life....

Research Highlights: In a small study, 82% of the college athletes with COVID-19 had symptoms, of which the majority were mild and did not require treatment.Further screening via cardiac MRI of the 4% of athletes identified with heart abnormalities found no heart damage or inflammation.All athletes resumed regular training and competition without difficulty after recovering from COVID-19. In a small study, researchers found college athletes who contracted COVID-19 rarely had cardiac complications....

A new clinical trial found daily consumption of cranberries for one month improved cardiovascular function in healthy men. The new study, published on March 22, 2022, in Food & Function, included 45 healthy men who consumed whole cranberry powder equivalent to 100g of fresh cranberries per day (9 g powder) or a placebo for one month. Those consuming cranberry had a significant improvement in flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which signals improvement of heart and blood vessel function....

Physicists at the California Institute of Technology have set a new record for data network data transfer speeds. The international team of high-energy physicists, computer scientists, and network engineers achieved a rate of 339 gigabits per second (Gbps), which is equivalent to four million gigabytes per day, roughly doubling last year’s record. The scientists presented their findings at the Supercomputing SC12 conference last week, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The team also set a new record for two-way transfer on a single link by sending data at 187 Gbps between Victoria, Canada, and Salt Lake City....

It is generally known that coronaviruses are primarily transmitted via the air. However, several studies have now also identified transmission through contaminated surfaces as an important factor. There is increasing evidence that they can play a key role in the spread of viral infections. So far, however, little is known about the physical-chemical mechanisms of the interactions and how these interactions influence the viability and infectivity of the viruses,” explains physicist Dr....

A group of Skoltech researchers led by Professor Anatoly Dymarsky studied the emergence of generalized thermal ensembles in quantum systems with additional symmetries. As a result, they found that black holes thermalize the same way ordinary matter does. The results of their study were published in Physical Review Letters. The physics of black holes remains an elusive chapter of modern physics. It is the sharpest point of tension between quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity....

“The T. rex had a skull that’s 6 feet (1.8 m) long, 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, and 4 feet (1.2 m) high, and bites with the force of about 6 tons,” said Kaleb Sellers, a graduate student in the MU School of Medicine. “Previous researchers looked at this from a bone-only perspective without taking into account all of the connections — ligaments and cartilage — that really mediate the interactions between the bones....