News Feeds

We are starting to understand how Greenland sharks can live for centuries without commonly developing tumours

After an absence, Tara Tanaka is back with a new wildlife video (nice title!) showing two female gobblers (Meleagris gallopavo).  Here are her notes:

We did a prescribed burn between our yard and the swamp last month, and for only the second time in 32 years we had a wild turkey in the yard – the other time was also right after a burn.  We had a single bird three days in a row, then we didn’t see her for two days and I thought she’d moved on, but last night she appeared and brought a friend.

Don’t miss the wood duck (Aix sponsa) at 1:42.

Tara’s Flickr page is here and her Vimeo page is here.

We can describe the quantum realm using straightforward mathematics – but once we try to translate these ideas into the real world, things get weird. Our quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan explains why

Colossal Biosciences has altered several genes in mice to make them look more mammoth-like, but the company is far from its goal of fully resurrecting woolly mammoths by 2028

Soil fungi can make a compound that disrupts how cow stomachs produce the potent greenhouse gas methane

Encryption would normally be expected to slow down computation, but applying the tools of cryptography to "trick" an algorithm can actually make it work faster

A look at recent studies finding leaded gasoline caused 151 million mental health illnesses in the United States.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

"RFK Jr. switching sides on vaccines now is like an arsonist urging people to put out the fire he started."

The post RFK Jr.: Vaccines Not Only Protect Individual Children From Measles, But Also Contribute To Community Immunity first appeared on Science-Based Medicine.

For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job with high speed and resolution -- using only light.

For decades, scientists have relied on electrodes and dyes to track the electrical activity of living cells. Now, engineers have discovered that quantum materials just a single atom thick can do the job with high speed and resolution -- using only light.

Researchers have developed an innovative tool that enhances surgeons' ability to detect and remove cancer cells during cryosurgery, a procedure that uses extreme cold to destroy tumors. This breakthrough technology involves a specialized nanoscale material that illuminates cancer cells under freezing conditions, making them easier to distinguish from healthy tissue and improving surgical precision.

A new study sheds light on ventilator-induced lung injury, a complication that gained increased attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a surge in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The study suggests that repeated collapse and reopening of tiny alveoli -- air sacs in the lungs essential for breathing -- during mechanical ventilation may cause microscopic tissue damage, playing a key role in ventilator-related injuries that contribute to thousands of deaths annually.

DARPA scientists are exploring ways to grow massive biological objects, such as telescope antennas or huge nets to snag debris, in space

Quantitative phase imaging (QPI) is a microscopy technique widely used to investigate cells and tissues. Even though first biomedical applications based on QPI have been developed, both acquisition speed and image quality need to improve to guarantee a widespread reception. Scientists suggest leveraging an optical phenomenon called chromatic aberration -- that usually degrades image quality -- to produce suitable images with standard microscopes.

A research team has developed a three-dimensional neural electrode that deforms smoothly using soft actuation technology. It is expected to be used in various next-generation soft bioelectronic devices, including electroceuticals for peripheral nerve treatment.

Glaucoma is called the 'silent thief of sight' as many don't notice until significant, irreversible vision loss has already occurred. A revolutionary early screening tool using AI may stop this thief dead in its tracks.

A team of scientists has developed a method to illuminate the dynamic behavior of nanoparticles, which are foundational components in the creation of pharmaceuticals, electronics, and industrial and energy-conversion materials.

A decade of studies from labs around the world provide a growing evidence base that increasing the power of the brain's gamma rhythms could help fight Alzheimer's, and perhaps other, neurological diseases.

Distressing news and traumatic stories can cause stress and anxiety -- not only in humans, but these stories can also affect AI language models, such as ChatGPT. Researchers have now shown that these models, like humans, respond to therapy: an elevated 'anxiety level' in GPT-4 can be 'calmed down' using mindfulness-based relaxation techniques.

Scientists discover how defects in the surface of two-dimensional sheets alter ripple effects, even freezing the sheet's motion altogether.