British researchers are developing a groundbreaking technology to monitor genetic changes in respiratory viruses as they circulate round the world. The system is to be used to pinpoint dangerous new variants as they emerge and act as an early warning system for new diseases and future pandemics. The team, which is based at the [...]
Just as a tight core is a component of good physical fitness for humans, helping to stabilize our bodies, mutations that tightened the core of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in new variants may have increased the virus's fitness. New research led by Penn State reveals that the stem region of the spike protein became progressively [...]
Have a cough, sore throat and congestion? Any number of respiratory viruses could be responsible. Conventional tests can identify certain likely culprits by relying on chemical reactions, but some researchers want to swap chemistry for electrical changes sensed by nanomaterials. Today, scientists report using a single-atom-thick nanomaterial to build a device that can simultaneously [...]
A new era of neurotechnology means we may need new protections to safeguard our brain and mental experiences. A last bastion of privacy, our brains have remained inviolate, even as sensors now record our heartbeats, breaths, steps and sleep. All that is about to change. An avalanche of brain-tracking devices—earbuds, headphones, headbands, watches and [...]
A research team led by Professor Kelvin Yeung Wai-kwok from the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) has invented a non-invasive and non-antibiotics technology to effectively reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in bony tissue. The novel antibacterial nano-sheets can release [...]
According to scientists, the Amundsen Sea Embayment, which is the fastest-changing region in Antarctica, has experienced a loss of more than 3,000 billion tons of ice in 25 years. If all this ice were to be stacked, it would tower over 2 km tall, which is equivalent to 7.4 times the height of the [...]
DNA may be the stuff of life, but if it isn't repaired in our bodies on a regular basis, it can lead to diseases that can cause some pretty unpleasant types of death. DNA damage has been linked to the formation of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, COPD and many other serious and often life-threatening conditions. It has [...]
Neuronal Molecule Makes Prostate Cancer More Aggressive Researchers discover a potential therapeutic avenue against an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among American men. Now, researchers have discovered key molecular players that drive prostate cancer to progress into a highly [...]
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines have played a large role in preventing deaths and severe infections from COVID-19. But researchers are still in the process of developing alternative approaches to vaccines to improve their effectiveness, including how they’re administered. Immunologist and microbiologist Michael W. Russell of the University at Buffalo explains how nasal vaccines work, and where [...]
NASA is actively monitoring a strange anomaly in Earth's magnetic field: a giant region of lower magnetic intensity in the skies above the planet, stretching out between South America and southwest Africa. This vast, developing phenomenon, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has intrigued and concerned scientists for years, and perhaps none more so than NASA [...]
