Preview: New Scientist Magazine – Oct 15, 2022
Category Archives: Research
Science: New Research Into Diseases Of The Brain
Take an animated look inside the neuron, and learn how scientists are addressing brain disease. With approximately 86 billion neurons in the brain, humans contain the most complex communications network imaginable. To address diseases of brain development and degeneration, neuroscientists are investigating how and why this network breaks down, and what can be done to repair it.
One area of study is dendrites, which are the tree-like structures of neurons, that receive electrical impulses. Researchers are carefully mapping out brain circuits and uncovering how connectivity changes can result in defects of the visual system or behavioral problems. The core section of the neuron is the cell body. Genetic engineering tools are revealing how mutations impact brain development and contribute to autism spectrum disorder or rare, inherited forms of neurological disease.
The transmission of nerve impulses occurs along the axon, which is insulated, much like an electrical wire, by a fatty layer called the myelin sheath. Scientists have invented a medicine to stop the immune system from mistakenly attacking this layer, which occurs during multiple sclerosis. Other molecules currently in development instruct the body to regenerate the sheath and repair damage. The axon also transports valuable cellular cargo, such as neurotransmitters, along tracks from one end of the neuron to the other.
Researchers are testing drug candidates for their ability to remove molecular traffic jams when this transport system fails, as often occurs in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The axon terminals make connections called synapses with other cells, using neurotransmitters as signals. Some scientists are evaluating how finely tuning the receptors for these chemicals could ease depression and anxiety.
Others are finding ways to promote the regrowth of lost synapses, which could halt neurodegeneration. From genetics to behavior, neuroscience is accelerating new interventions for the most challenging disorders of the nervous system.
Learn more: https://www.scripps.edu/
Research Preview: Science Magazine – Oct 7, 2022
Entanglement snares prize
Trio helped launch new quantum revolution
Ancient DNA pioneer Svante Pääbo wins Nobel
By sequencing ancient hominins’ DNA, Pääbo explored “what makes us uniquely human”
NASA asteroid test strikes a blow for planetary defense
Observers study debris from DART’s crash into a space rock and wait to see how much the asteroid was deflected
Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Oct 6, 2022
Deflecting asteroids is not enough — we need to know when they approach
After NASA’s DART asteroid-deflection experiment, a fully funded telescope for detecting space rocks is an equally pressing priority.
The oceans store more carbon than thought — but not enough to save the planet
Although the marine ‘carbon sink’ is bigger than expected, it is still inadequate to keep global warming at bay.
Electric cars could break the grid if future drivers stick to today’s routines
The rise in electric-vehicle ownership could overload the electric grid unless charging becomes a daytime activity.
Medicine: Why Long Covid Is Still Not Understood
Even mild COVID-19 is at least correlated with a startlingly wide spectrum of seemingly every illness. We need a much better taxonomy to address people’s suffering.
From The Atlantic, October 5, 2022:
The cases of long covid that turn up in news reports, the medical literature, and in the offices of doctors like me fall into a few rough (and sometimes overlapping) categories. The first seems most readily explainable: the combination of organ damage, often profound physical debilitation, and poor mental health inflicted by severe pneumonia and resultant critical illness.
This serious long-term COVID-19 complication gets relatively little media attention despite its severity. The coronavirus can cause acute respiratory distress syndrome, the gravest form of pneumonia, which can in turn provoke a spiral of inflammation and injury that can end up taking down virtually every organ. I have seen many such complications in the ICU: failing hearts, collapsed lungs, failed kidneys, brain hemorrhages, limbs cut off from blood flow, and more. More than 7 million COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred in the United States before the Omicron wave, suggesting that millions could be left with damaged lungs or complications of critical illness. Whether these patients’ needs for care and rehabilitation are being adequately (and equitably) met is unclear: Ensuring that they are is an urgent priority.
Research Preview: Science Magazine – Sept 30, 2022
The genetics of a long life
Genetically diverse mice and cross-species comparison uncover links to longevity
New Omicron strains may portend big COVID-19 waves
Emerging subvariants are more immune evasive than ever
Room-temperature superconductor claim retracted
After doubts grew, blockbuster Nature paper is withdrawn over objections of study team
University pandemic policies raise equity worries
Tenure delays and pandemic impact statements could backfire, some fear
Signs of state meddling seen in Russian academy election
Leader of Russia’s largest chipmaker elected president after incumbent’s sudden withdrawal
Fraud charges crumble in China Initiative cases
Judges reject claims that defendants defrauded agencies by not disclosing China ties
Previews: New Scientist Magazine – October 1, 2022
New Scientist Magazine – October 1, 2022:
We are finally waking up to the causes of insomnia and how to treat it
Millions of people struggle with insomnia, but the sleep disorder is now a solvable problem – and the most effective therapy might involve your smartphone rather than sleeping pills
Rebecca Wragg Sykes on the objects that reveal the Neanderthal mind
A third of scientists working on AI say it could cause global disaster
What’s the best recipe for bubble mixture? Scientists have the answer
Research Preview: Nature Magazine – Sept 22, 2022
A gentle lick or nibble makes this brain circuit buzz
Scientists identify a neuronal pathway in rats that drives ‘social grooming’, a behaviour that helps to hold animal communities together.
Warming Arctic brings jet-stream waviness and extreme weather
As high-level winds shift, heat and heavy rain can persist.
A diamond sensor shines at ‘seeing’ voltages
Crystalline device could be used to visualize voltages with high resolution, speed and stability.
A chocoholic’s best friends are the birds and the bats
The trees that provide the raw material for chocolate have a higher yield when the groves are accessible to certain species.
How did the sea cow cross the Pacific? At a ponderous paddle
A family tree of sea cows suggests that the dugong traversed an ocean to reach its present habitat.
Builder drones
Ground-based robots have potential for helping in the construction industry, but they are limited by their height. In this week’s issue, Mirko Kovac, Robert Stuart-Smith and their colleagues introduce highly manoeuvrable aerial robots that can perform additive 3D construction tasks. Inspired by natural builders such as wasps and bees, the researchers created BuilDrones (as shown on the cover) that can work in an autonomous team to perform 3D printing tasks using foam- or cement-based materials. They also created ScanDrones to assess the quality of the structures
being built. The team hopes that this approach of ‘aerial additive manufacturing’ could help to build structures in difficult to access areas.
Aging: How Biomarkers Help Diagnose Dementia
Biomarkers are measurable indicators of what’s happening in your body. They can be found in blood, other body fluids, organs, and tissues, and can be used to track healthy processes, disease progression, or even responses to a medication. Biomarkers are an important part of dementia research.
Research Preview: Science Magazine – Sept 16, 2022
Seasonal monsoon rainfall replenishes groundwater reserves in the Bengal basin of Bangladesh thanks to the region’s seemingly counterintuitive intensive dry-season irrigation practices, a new Science study finds.
Europe’s energy crisis hits science hard
Supercomputing and accelerator centers struggle with surging gas and electricity prices
Private venture tackles Long Covid, aims to test drugs soon
Initiative to explore whether coronavirus lingers in patients
U.S. Antarctic Program has ignored sexual harassment
Decades of complaints have gone unheeded by NSF and contractors managing operations, employees say
Polio returns in rich countries, but big outbreaks are unlikely
As New York state declares an emergency, experts are far more worried about a resurgence in low-income countries
Read that and more in this week’s issue: https://fcld.ly/dt1xr77
