Tuesday 4 June 2019

Zebrafish capture a 'window' on the cancer process

Cancer-related inflammation impacts significantly on cancer development and progression. New research has observed in zebrafish, for the first time, that inflammatory cells use weak spots or micro-perforations in the extracellular matrix barrier layer to access skin cancer cells.

* This article was originally published here

Apple's new Photos app for iOS 13 may just be the tool you've been waiting for

We take more and more photos every year on our new and improved smartphones, but finding them is probably the greatest pain point consumers face.

* This article was originally published here

Children's brains reorganize after epilepsy surgery to retain visual perception

Children can keep full visual perception—the ability to process and understand visual information—after brain surgery for severe epilepsy, according to a study funded by the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health. While brain surgery can halt seizures, it carries significant risks, including an impairment in visual perception. However, a new report by Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, researchers from a study of children who had undergone epilepsy surgery suggests that the lasting effects on visual perception can be minimal, even among children who lost tissue in the brain's visual centers.

* This article was originally published here

Nitric oxide-scavenging hydrogel developed for rheumatoid arthritis treatment

Nitric oxide (NO) prevents high blood pressure and artery plaque build-up in our body. However, its duplicity is revealed when it causes serious inflammatory disease such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Crohn's disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

* This article was originally published here

Can computers make decisions like humans? A new study may have the answer

A team of British researchers has developed a method that enables computers to make decisions in a way that is more similar to humans. Specifically, the method mimics the complex process of how humans make decisions by enabling the computers to render several acceptable decisions to one specific problem. The research was published in the May issue of IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica (JAS).

* This article was originally published here

Marine life is disappearing, imperiling San Diego's future

Just as scientists are starting to understand the life forms and landscape of the ocean, they are also coming to grips with the threat of mass extinctions, speakers said at a marine biodiversity forum last week.

* This article was originally published here

Early lives of Alaska sockeye salmon accelerating with climate change

An ample buffet of freshwater food, brought on by climate change, is altering the life history of one of the world's most important salmon species.

* This article was originally published here

A combination of insecticides and mites weakens honeybees

Today, scientists at the Institute of Bee Health of the University of Bern and the honeybee research association COLOSS have published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports that shows a synergistic time-lag interaction between the parasitic mite Varroa destructor and neonicotinoid insecticides reducing survival of winter honeybees, Apis mellifera. This article emphasizes the need to develop sustainable agricultural and apicultural schemes.

* This article was originally published here

New organic flow battery brings decomposing molecules back to life

After years of making progress on an organic aqueous flow battery, Harvard University researchers ran into a problem: the organic anthraquinone molecules that powered their ground-breaking battery were slowly decomposing over time, reducing the long-term usefulness of the battery.

* This article was originally published here

Big tech surveillance could damage democracy

Data is often called the oil of the 21st century.

* This article was originally published here

PULP Dronet: A 27-gram nano-UAV inspired by insects

Researchers at ETH Zürich and the University of Bologna have recently created PULP Dronet, a 27-gram nano-size unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with a deep learning-based visual navigation engine. Their mini-drone, presented in a paper pre-published on arXiv, can run aboard an end-to-end, closed-loop visual pipeline for autonomous navigation powered by a state-of-the-art deep learning algorithm.

* This article was originally published here

Eyes in the sky: How satellites can monitor infrastructure health

Increasing global population growth and resource exploitation is creating a huge demand for civil infrastructure, including buildings, subways and train lines, bridges, dams, highways and airports.

* This article was originally published here

Could boosting the gut microbiome be the secret to healthier older age?

Faecal transplants from young to aged mice can stimulate the gut microbiome and revive the gut immune system, a study by immunologists at the Babraham Institute, Cambridge, has shown. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications today.

* This article was originally published here

Your gut bacteria could affect your response to meds

Ever wonder why a drug that works for someone else doesn't seem to work for you? You might want to check your gut for the answer.

* This article was originally published here

An AI taught itself to play a video game and now it's beating humans

Since the earliest days of virtual chess and solitaire, video games have been a playing field for developing artificial intelligence (AI). Each victory of machine against human has helped make algorithms smarter and more efficient. But in order to tackle real world problems—such as automating complex tasks including driving and negotiation—these algorithms must navigate more complex environments than board games, and learn teamwork. Teaching AI how to work and interact with other players to succeed had been an insurmountable task—until now.

* This article was originally published here

Diets of Latinos and blacks have greatest environmental impact per dollar spent on food

Despite spending less than white households on food overall, black and Latino households have more impact on the environment per dollar spent on food than white households, according to a new study published in Environmental Engineering Science.

* This article was originally published here