SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
Up to two decades before people develop the characteristic memory loss and confusion of Alzheimer’s disease, damaging clumps of protein start to build up in their brains. Now, a blood test to detect such early brain changes has moved one step closer to clinical use. Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis … Read more
A contagious canine cancer that conquered the world by spreading between dogs during mating likely arose around 6,000 years ago in Asia and spread around the globe through maritime activities, scientists say. A detailed genetic study, published today in Science, reveals some surprising – and even mysterious – findings about how this cancer, that has survived … Read more
A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University has published a paper in Science that details a new technique allowing anyone to 3D bioprint tissue scaffolds out of collagen, the major structural protein in the human body. This first-of-its-kind method brings the field of tissue engineering one step closer to being able to 3D print a full-sized, … Read more
The current reform proposals of the EU Commission on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are unlikely to improve environmental protection, say researchers led by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the University of Göttingen in the journal Science. While the EU has committed to greater … Read more
For people who inherited genes that increase their chance of becoming obese, there is hope for keeping the weight off. A study by Wan-Yu Lin of National Taiwan University and colleagues, published 1st August in PLOS Genetics, identified the types of exercise that are especially effective at combatting genetic effects that contribute to obesity. Worldwide, … Read more
On moonless nights in a tropical forest, bats slice through the inky darkness, snatching up insects resting silently on leaves – a seemingly impossible feat. New experiments at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) show that by changing their approach angle, the echolocating leaf-nosed bats can use this sixth sense to find acoustically camouflaged prey. … Read more
Researchers report a new imaging system that cancels the chromatic optical aberrations present in a specific person’s eye, allowing for a more accurate assessment of vision and eye health. By taking pictures of the eye’s smallest light-sensing cells with multiple wavelengths, the system also provides the first objective measurement of longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LCA), which … Read more
Japanese researchers were able to rapidly and accurately predict the microstructure of Nickel – Aluminum (Ni-Al) alloys that are commonly used in the design of jet engine turbine parts. Predictions of the microstructure of these alloys have so far been time-consuming and expensive. The findings have the potential to greatly advance the design of materials … Read more
The way barn owl brains use sound to locate prey may be a template for electronic directional navigation devices, according to a team of Penn State engineers who are recreating owl brain circuitry in electronics. “We were already studying this type of circuitry when we stumbled across the Jeffress model of sound localization,” said Saptarshi … Read more
Most of the times you see the eruption of a volcano on TV or the internet, the magma shoots right out of its top. However, it is not so uncommon that the magma erupts from the volcano’s flank rather than its summit. After leaving the underground magma chamber, the magma forces its way sideways by … Read more