Scientific Inquirer

[thescientificinquirer]

To keep hypertension away min mid-life, start exercising early.

To keep hypertension away min mid-life, start exercising early.

Young adults must step up their exercise routines to reduce their chances of developing high blood pressure or hypertension – a condition that may lead to heart attack and stroke, as well as dementia in later life. Current guidelines indicate that adults should have a minimum of two-and-a-half hours of moderate intensity exercise each week, but a new study led by UCSF Benioff Children’s…

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Device pumps chemotherapy straight to the brain.

Device pumps chemotherapy straight to the brain.

Despite surgery and subsequent treatment with chemotherapy and radiation, the majority of patients experience recurrence of malignant brain tumours. Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, and the Medical University of Graz, Austria, have shown in cells in culture that an ion pump can deliver drugs more accurately, which gives less severe adverse effects in chemotherapy. The results have…

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Later school opening times benefit children most.

Later school opening times benefit children most.

A new study in SLEEP, published by Oxford University Press, demonstrates the significant benefits of later school start times for middle and high school students’ sleep schedules. Sleep is essential to a student’s overall health, social development, and academic achievement, yet lack of sleep is common among children and adolescents. Biological changes to sleep cycles during puberty make falling…

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Antibodies against Ebola neutralize in three ways.

Antibodies against Ebola neutralize in three ways.

Some survivors of ebolavirus outbreaks make antibodies that can broadly neutralize these viruses–and now, scientists at Scripps Research have illuminated how these antibodies can disable the viruses so effectively. The insights may be helpful for developing effective therapies. Ebolavirus is a family of often-deadly viruses that includes Ebola virus and many lesser-known viruses such as…

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NIH experts discuss realities of post-COVID-19 infections.

NIH experts discuss realities of post-COVID-19 infections.

Many people who have COVID-19 make a full recovery and return to their baseline state of health; however, some people have symptoms or other sequelae weeks or months after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection. These heterogeneous symptoms were the subject of the virtual “Workshop on Post-acute Sequelae of COVID-19” hosted on Dec. 2 and 4, 2020, by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases…

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Can digital ivory replace the real thing?

Can digital ivory replace the real thing?

For centuries, ivory was often used to make art objects. But to protect elephant populations, the ivory trade was banned internationally in 1989. To restore ivory parts of old art objects, one must therefore resort to substitute materials – such as bones, shells or plastic. However, there has not been a really satisfactory solution so far. TU Wien (Vienna) and the 3D printing company Cubicure…

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Researchers investigate properties of ultrasmall groups of atoms.

Researchers investigate properties of ultrasmall groups of atoms.

Our high-speed, high-bandwidth world constantly requires new ways to process and store information. Semiconductors and magnetic materials have made up the bulk of data storage devices for decades. In recent years, however, researchers and engineers have turned to ferroelectric materials, a type of crystal that can be manipulated with electricity. In 2016, the study of ferroelectrics got more…

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[thescientificinquirer]

Masks and Distancing, better together.

Masks and Distancing, better together.

Studies show wearing masks and social distancing can contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, but their combined effectiveness was not precisely known. Researchers at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and Politecnico di Torino in Italy developed a network model to study the effects of these two measures on the spread of airborne diseases like COVID-19. The model shows viral…

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Researchers show range of ocean temps for past 700,000 years.

Researchers show range of ocean temps for past 700,000 years.

Bern’s ice core researchers were already able to demonstrate in 2008 how the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has changed over the past 800,000 years. Now, using the same ice core from the Antarctic, the group led by Bernese climate researcher Hubertus Fischer shows the maximum and minimum values between which the mean ocean temperature has fluctuated over the past 700,000 years. The…

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The Daily Dose: Biden Administration to set up $1.7 billion network to track Coronavirus variants.

The Daily Dose: Biden Administration to set up $1.7 billion network to track Coronavirus variants.

The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome coronavirus mutations whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday. “White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up…

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[thescientificinquirer]

Wireless wearable medical sensors are on the horizon.

Wireless wearable medical sensors are on the horizon.

Current research on flexible electronics is paving the way for wireless sensors that can be worn on the body and collect a variety of medical data. But where do the data go? Without a similar flexible transmitting device, these sensors would require wired connections to transmit health data. Huanyu “Larry” Cheng, Dorothy Quiggle Career Development Assistant Professor of Engineering Science and…

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Removal of toxic gas in the brain may treat dementia.

Removal of toxic gas in the brain may treat dementia.

A potential treatment for dementia and epilepsy could look to reduce the amounts of a toxic gas in the brain has been revealed in a new study using rat brain cells. The research published in Scientific Reports today [Wednesday 14 April] shows that treatments to reduce levels of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in the brain may help to ward off damage caused by the gas. By testing rat brain cells, the team…

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When it comes to pig brain development, it's nature, not nurture.

When it comes to pig brain development, it’s nature, not nurture.

Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they’ve done for biomedical research, rodents aren’t always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain development and nutrition. That’s where pigs can play an important role. University of Illinois researchers say…

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This is how to build a public health city.

This is how to build a public health city.

Most people by now have memorized the public health guidelines meant to help minimize transmission of COVID-19: wash your hands, wear a mask, keep six feet apart from others. That part is easy. What some may not realize is that upholding these guidelines in certain urban areas can present new challenges. For example, how are you supposed to stay six feet apart from other people when the…

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Evidence of ancient honey hunting in West Africa.

Evidence of ancient honey hunting in West Africa.

A team of scientists, led by the University of Bristol, with colleagues from Goethe University, Frankfurt, has found the first evidence for ancient honey hunting, locked inside pottery fragments from prehistoric West Africa, dating back some 3,500 years ago. Honeybees are an iconic species, being the world’s most important pollinator of food crops. Honeybee hive products, including beeswax,…

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LiDAR creates a new map of the Amazon.

LiDAR creates a new map of the Amazon.

A group of researchers led by Brazilians has used an innovative model to map gaps in the Amazon rainforest and identify factors that contribute to tree mortality.  Water stress, soil fertility, and anthropic forest degradation have the most influence on gap dynamics in the world’s largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest, according to an article on the study published in Scientific…

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Cannabis may not be so good for schizophrenics.

Cannabis may not be so good for schizophrenics.

It has been long been known that cannabis users develop psychosis more often than non-users, but what is still not fully clear is whether cannabis actually causes psychosis and, if so, who is most at risk. A new study published in Translational Psychiatry by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and King’s College London helps shed light on both questions. The research…

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