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.
New research from the University of Rochester will enhance the accuracy of computer models used in simulations of laser-driven implosions, and may bring scientists one step closer to achieving fusion. In laser-driven fusion experiments, short, intense pulses of light lasting billionths of a second are used to compress and heat hydrogen fuel to a state … Read more
Humans are now closer to seeing through the eyes of animals, thanks to an innovative software framework developed by researchers from the University of Queensland and the University of Exeter. PhD candidate Cedric van den Berg from UQ’s School of Biological Sciences said that, until now, it has been difficult to understand how animals really … Read more
What makes the female breast attractive? The answer is subjective, of course. But studies using eye-tracking technology are providing a more objective basis for determining which breast areas are most attractive – which may help to improve the outcomes of surgery, reports the December issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the … Read more
Harbour porpoise calves around the UK are carrying a more neurotoxic cocktail of PCBs than their mothers, as females unknowingly detoxify themselves by transferring the chemicals while feeding their young, new research reveals today. Published in the Science of the Total Environment today (Tuesday 3 December 2019) and led by Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme (CSIP) scientists from … Read more
The world’s second-largest ice sheet, and the single largest contributor to global sea-level rise, is potentially becoming unstable because of fractures developing in response to faster ice flow and more meltwater forming on its surface. Using custom-built drones strong enough to withstand the extreme Arctic conditions, researchers led by the University of Cambridge made the … Read more
Led by researchers at the University of Maryland’s National-Socio Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), the international team of scholars found that the plague’s effects may have been exaggerated. They examined diverse datasets, but found no concrete effects they could conclusively attribute to the plague. Their paper appears in the December 2 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy … Read more
Rats susceptible to anhedonia, a core symptom of depression, possess more serotonin neurons after being exposed to chronic stress, but the effect can be reversed through amygdala activation, according to new research in JNeurosci. Some people are resistant to depression and anhedonia, or lack of pleasure, even when exposed to chronic stress. To measure susceptibility to … Read more
Soil erosion is a global problem that threatens food security and the functioning of ecosystems. It has an adverse effect on water and air and, of course, on the soil itself. It also produces a number of harmful knock-on effects; farmers, for example, have to compensate for the loss of natural soil productivity by increasing … Read more
A Queen’s University Belfast scientist has led an international team to the ground-breaking discovery of why the Sun’s magnetic waves strengthen and grow as they emerge from its surface, which could help to solve the mystery of how the corona of the Sun maintains its multi-million degree temperatures. For more than 60 years observations of … Read more
If a bone breaks or a tendon snaps, you know to seek treatment immediately. But your most fragile and precious cellular commodity, chromosomal DNA, breaks with astounding frequency–some estimate as many as 10,000 times a day per cell–usually without consequence. That’s because legions of DNA repair proteins prevent genomic catastrophe by repairing DNA damaged by … Read more