All posts tagged: Scientists

Scientists warn of link between watching too much TV and Alzheimer’s

Scientists warn of link between watching too much TV and Alzheimer’s

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Too much time in front of the TV during middle age may be harmful to brain health, with new research linking heavy viewing habits to changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, the study followed more than 1,700 adults for nearly 24 years to examine whether midlife TV habits were linked to brain health later in life. Participants reported their viewing habits in their early 50s, and decades later, researchers used MRI scans in their mid-70s to identify brain changes associated with aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that men who reported watching TV frequently had more brain changes linked to cognitive decline, including greater white matter damage, which has been associated with dementia, and …

More Scientists Are Talking About a Mind Behind the Universe?

More Scientists Are Talking About a Mind Behind the Universe?

Published by Jenni Sidey

At Britain’s Telegraph, Joel Kotkin noted yesterday morning that a growing number of scientists believe that there is indeed a mind behind the universe: “As they continue to untangle the complexities of the universe and molecular biology, they see a system that only a higher power could construct. Simple mechanical explanations simply fail to meet the explanatory test.” That is true, of course. But the big question is, has it really become respectable to admit it? Kotkin notes that the stereotype that scientists are not religious is mainly a Western one: But in the parts of the world that are poised to become leaders in science – Taiwan, Hong Kong, and India – they are often more religious than the general public. Many view science and religion as overlapping or complementary spheres, not enemies. These scientists offer a critical counterpoint to the view expounded by some of the best-known science figures of our times that God does not exist. Richard Dawkins, who famously insisted that the universe is driven by “blind, pitiless indifference”, is of …

Scientists Say: Fjord

Scientists Say: Fjord

Published by skeptic

aerial: Of or taking place in the air. fjord: A long, narrow inlet with steep sides, created in a valley carved by glacial activity. glacier: A slow-moving river of ice hundreds or thousands of meters deep. Glaciers are found in mountain valleys and also form parts of ice sheets. New Zealand: An island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean, roughly 1,500 kilometers (some 900 miles) east of Australia. Its “mainland” — consisting of a North and South Island — is quite volcanically active. In addition, the country includes many far smaller offshore islands. sea: An ocean (or region that is part of an ocean). Unlike lakes and streams, seawater — or ocean water — is salty. sea level: The overall level of the ocean over the entire globe when all tides and other short-term changes are averaged out. terrain: The land in a particular area and whatever covers it. The term might refer to anything from a smooth, flat and dry landscape to a mountainous region covered with boulders, bogs and forest cover. tsunami: One …

Scientists discover six types of nanoplastics polluting Antarctica’s soil for the first time

Scientists discover six types of nanoplastics polluting Antarctica’s soil for the first time

Published by Jenni Sidey

Nanoplastics appeared in more than half of the Antarctic topsoil sites tested, and some were also found deeper underground. The particles may come from nearby research activity, distant regions through the air, or plastics released from snow, ice and coastal areas. The results create a baseline for studying how plastic pollution could affect Antarctica’s slow-growing and vulnerable soil life. Plastic particles smaller than one micrometer are lodged in the barren soils of Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys, an isolated landscape once expected to sit beyond much of the world’s pollution. Their path there remains unresolved. An international team led by Lancaster University detected nanoplastics in both surface and deeper soils collected during January 2023. The particles measured between 20 nanometers and 1 micrometer, a range that standard plastic surveys often miss. The work marks the first detection of nanoplastics in mainland Antarctic soil. It also adds land to a growing list of contaminated Antarctic environments that already includes seawater, snow, glaciers, sea ice and freshwater systems. “This evidence shows that soils in one of Earth’s most …

Scientists find evidence of a rare double supernova in the Jellyfish Nebula

Scientists find evidence of a rare double supernova in the Jellyfish Nebula

Published by Jenni Sidey

Astronomers found evidence that the Jellyfish Nebula, or IC 443, and the fainter remnant G189.6+3.3 may have formed from two massive stars that once belonged to the same binary system. Data from NASA’s Fermi telescope, eROSITA and other observatories show that both remnants lie about 6,000 light-years away, overlap in the sky and appear to interact with the same interstellar cloud system. Gamma-ray observations revealed distinct particle-acceleration zones in G189.6+3.3: high-speed protons dominate the northern region, while energetic electrons likely produce most of the southern emission. Simulations suggest the first star exploded and propelled its companion through space before the second star detonated 20,000 to 100,000 years later, creating a rare laboratory for studying binary evolution, supernova shocks and cosmic rays. Two enormous stars may have lived and died as partners, leaving behind overlapping shells of wreckage about 6,000 light-years from Earth. One exploded first. Its companion traveled through space for thousands of years before detonating too. The proposed pairing links the Jellyfish Nebula, also called IC 443, with the fainter supernova remnant G189.6+3.3 in …

How AI helps scientists design the next generation of medicines

How AI helps scientists design the next generation of medicines

Published by skeptic

AI-assisted design is a growing part of how biologic drug candidates are developed, and companies like AstraZeneca are actively building its engineering teams to push this further. “Everything we do, whether it’s design, make, test, or analyze, is now computationally enhanced,” says Puja Sapra, senior vice president and head of R&D biologics engineering and oncology targeted discovery at AstraZeneca. “The cycle times are getting shorter while productivity and innovation increase.” Sapra explains that AstraZeneca’s approach follows a build-measure-learn loop. AI generates or prioritizes candidate molecules computationally, predicting which designs are most likely to succeed. Scientists then focus lab resources only on the top-ranked candidates. This leads to a tighter feedback cycle with fewer dead ends, faster iteration, and the ability to go after disease targets that were previously considered untreatable by medicine. Because the number of possible molecular combinations far exceeds what any human team can systematically explore, using AI to narrow and refine the options for testing has become a major focus in biologics drug design. Navigating complex drug design problems Beyond accelerating timelines, …

Trump administration to shift R&D funding from academia to individual scientists

Trump administration to shift R&D funding from academia to individual scientists

Published by Sam Flores

The Trump administration announced it plans to shift some of the $200 billion in annual funding for research and development away from academic institutions to focus on individual scientists. In a memo released Tuesday, Michael Kratisos, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, argued the framework put forth following World… Source link

Sleep Scientists Favor Year-Round Standard Time

Sleep Scientists Favor Year-Round Standard Time

Published by Jenni Sidey

For years, sleep scientists have documented many problems with daylight saving time (DST), which requires changing clocks twice a year. After time changes, incidences of adverse cardiovascular events and mood disorders increase, and the frequency of vehicular crashes rises. Our bodies are entrained by daily light and dark periods, and even the one-hour shift in timing of sunrise and sunset can disrupt the circadian system. Schools and businesses do not adjust start or end times on transitions. Changing the clocks on Sunday is meant to ease the time transition, but one day is not enough time to be effective. After reviewing years of study, a panel of 23 scientists published a paper that laid out the evidence for permanent standard time (Rishi et al. 2020). Both the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the American Medical Association favor permanent standard time. The problem with DST is that it is inconsistent with circadian physiology. Late evening light, along with early morning darkness, causes a phase delay in the endogenous system. Chronic misalignment has been associated with …

NASA Warns Scientists Understating Worst-Case Solar-Storm Scenario

NASA Warns Scientists Understating Worst-Case Solar-Storm Scenario

Published by Jenni Sidey

As if the growing risk of a global economic disaster springing from the US-Israeli war on Iran weren’t enough to worry about, researchers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are warning that miscalculations and false assumptions may have resulted in an enormous underestimation of the worst-case effects of a solar storm.  Solar storms are events in which the sun experiences a massive explosion of energy, charged particles and magnetic fields. From solar flares to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), these explosions pose a danger to all kinds of electronics, from your cell phone, computer and car to gas pumps, airplanes, power stations and everything in between. The worst such event in recorded history was the Carrington Event of 1859. Estimated to have been as powerful as 10 billion atomic bombs, it caused telegraphs to fail across Europe. A far more modest event in 2003 disrupted the FAA’s navigation computers for more than 24 hours, and the FAA was prompted to warn that high-altitude flights might receive dangerous doses of radiation.  Critically, the prevailing theory about “solar weather” …