New research has shown the drug losartan, normally used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension), is not effective in slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in people with mild-to-moderate disease after 12 months of treatment. However, the drug could still be of benefit if prescribed for longer and if given to people with very early disease.
By mimicking photosynthesis, researchers have designed a new type of photocatalyst that can absorb light and use it to help catalyze a variety of chemical reactions that would otherwise be difficult to perform.
An undergraduate leads the discovery of a way to synthesize a rare molecule drawn from poppies. The molecule could become a building block for painkillers and other drugs.
Fat-free chocolate milk processed for the first time with high-pressure jet technology exhibits enhanced viscosity, stabilizing cocoa particles in the fluid and eliminating the need for adding a controversial emulsifier. That's the conclusion of a team of researchers, whose study suggests that the new technology can preclude the use of carrageenan in chocolate milk. The widely used food additive -- which helps keep the liquid smooth and well-mixed even after days sitting on a store shelf -- is not desired by many consumers, especially in organic chocolate milk.
In a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of babies ranging in age from two to nine months, researchers have found regions of the infant visual cortex that show strong preferences for either faces, bodies, or scenes, just as they do in adults.
Researchers have discovered a therapy that targets host cells rather than bacterial cells in treating bacterial pneumonia in rodents. The method involves white blood cells of the immune system called macrophages that eat bacteria, and a group of compounds that are naturally produced in mice and humans called epoxyeicosatrienoic acids or EETs.
A new genus and species of plateosaurid sauropodomorph dinosaur has been identified from two fossilized skulls found in Jameson Land, a peninsula in eastern Greenland. Issi saaneq lived in what is now Greenland about approximately 214 million years ago (Late Triassic epoch). This medium-sized, long-necked dinosaur was a predecessor of the sauropods, the biggest land [...]
The neutron is a bound system of three valence quarks and a neutral sea consisting of gluons and quark-antiquark pairs. Although the proton was discovered in 1919 and the neutron in 1932, their structure is still not fully understood. Physicists use electromagnetic form factors to describe the dynamic inner structure of the neutron and the [...]
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope shot this image of the supernova remnant DEM L249. “These cosmic ribbons of gas have been left behind by a titanic stellar explosion called a supernova,” the Hubble astronomers said. DEM L249 is located approximately 160,000 light-years away in the constellation of Mensa. The object resides in the Large Magellanic [...]
‘Slow and steady wins the race,’ according to a new study of lepidosaurs (lizards, snakes, amphisbaenians, and tuatara) published in the journal Palaeontology. The Lepidosauria is a subclass or superorder of reptiles, containing the orders Squamata (snakes, lizards, and amphisbaenians) and Rhynchocephalia (tuatara). Today, there are more than 10,000 lepidosaur species and much of their [...]
A team of experts from Wessex Archaeology has analyzed four ancient chalk plaques from the Stonehenge region in southern England. Their results place the plaques in the early part of the 3rd millennium BCE which, together with identification of individual motifs, allows the artifacts and the designs to be reconsidered within the corpus of Neolithic [...]
A large analysis of health records from 87 health care centers across the United States found that people taking a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), particularly fluoxetine, were significantly less likely to die of COVID-19 than a matched control group.
A simple surgical technique during cardiac surgery was associated with a 56 percent reduction in the incidence of an irregular heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation that can lead to stroke, with no added risks or side effects, according to a new study. The findings suggest that the method, called posterior left pericardiotomy, has significant potential for preventing prolonged hospital stays and the need for additional interventions and drugs to reduce the risk of strokes and heart failure associated with atrial fibrillation.
A new study using genetically engineered mice and human cell and tissue samples has added to evidence that higher levels of inflammatory chemicals involved in fat metabolism occur in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), the neuromuscular disorder, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
How are chemical elements produced in our Universe? Where do heavy elements like gold and uranium come from? Using computer simulations, a research team shows that the synthesis of heavy elements is typical for certain black holes with orbiting matter accumulations, so-called accretion disks. The predicted abundance of the formed elements provides insight into which heavy elements need to be studied in future laboratories to unravel the origin of heavy elements.
Experts have developed a unique method for retrieving high resolution images of fingermarks from curved objects like bullet casings that offers greater detail and accuracy than traditional forensic methods.
More than 70% of microplastics found in samples from oceans and rivers could come from the scientists collecting them. A new article investigates procedural contamination when sampling for microparticles in aquatic environments. The study shows that a significant amount of microplastics and microfibres from scientists' clothing and gear mixes with environmental pollution in the water samples.
A new analysis of the Hubble constant to show that the Gaussian Processes data reconstruction technique may not actually be independent of all cosmological models -- and that it may be time to question the validity of model independence itself.
A new electrocatalyst called a-CuTi@Cu converts carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid fuels. Active copper centered on an amorphous copper/titanium alloy produces ethanol, acetone, and n-butanol with high efficiency.