A huge body of global COVID-19 literature was reviewed by experts at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the University of Melbourne and the University of Fribourg and published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood to unravel the reasons for age-related differences in COVID-19 severity and symptoms. MCRI and University of Melbourne Professor Nigel Curtis said that while a number of hypotheses provided potential explanations as to why adults were at higher risk and children protected from severe disease and death from COVID-19, most do not explain why COVID-19 severity rises steeply after the age of 60–70 years....

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is the transfer of lower intestinal fluids and microbes from one individual to another. It is sometimes used to treat inflammatory gut diseases, such as ulcerative colitis and bacterial infections. A form of it was first recorded all the way back in 4th century China. However, it was not introduced into Western medicine until the 1950s. It has steadily gained prominence in the last two decades....

The study explores the mechanisms behind the connection between shingles and strokes and was recently published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases. “Most people know about the painful rash associated with shingles, but they may not know that the risk of stroke is elevated for a year after infection,” said the study’s lead author Andrew Bubak, Ph.D., assistant research professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine....

But how the current transfers heat, particularly vertically from the top layer of the ocean to the bottom layers and vice versa, is still not fully understood. This current is very turbulent, producing eddies — swirling vortices of water similar to storms in the atmosphere — between 30 to 125 miles (50 to 200 kilometers) in diameter. It also spans some 13,000 miles (21,000 kilometers) through an especially remote and inhospitable part of the world, making it one of the most difficult currents for scientists — at least those of the human variety — to observe and measure....

When all previous activities of the physicists from the University of Tartu were related to designing, building, and commissioning the beamline, then by now, the first scientific experiments have been conducted, and as a significant milestone, the first research paper has been published based on results of these experiments. The research takes a look into the complex electronic structure of three ionic liquids, [EMIM][TFSI], [DEME][TFSI] and [PYR1,4][TFSI], which were studied in a gaseous phase using photoelectron spectroscopy....

Masers (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), the older, microwave frequency sibling of the laser, was invented in 1954. However, unlike lasers, which have become widespread, masers are much less widely used because in order to function they must be cooled to temperatures close to absolute zero (-273°C or -459°F). However, a new study from Imperial College London and UCL, published in Nature, reports for the first time a maser that can act continuously at room temperature....

The effect seems to be strongest during periods of high unemployment, the findings indicate. In 2017, there were more than 47,000 preventable suicide deaths in the USA, with suicides accounting for nearly one in five (19%) deaths among those aged 18-24. Between 1999 and 2017, suicide rates increased by more than 30% in half of US states. Suicide risk is often associated with financial stressors, but less is known about the potential impact of economic interventions, such as minimum wage policies, on suicide rates....

“We are not aware of a similar ability in almost any living creature,” said the researchers. “Nerves in the human nervous system, for example, can stretch only up to 30 percent without tearing or being permanently damaged. In the future, these findings may contribute to new developments in the field of regenerative medicine, as a basis for nerve restoration and the development of synthetic tissues.” A new study reveals that the female locust’s central nervous system has elastic properties, allowing her to stretch up to two or three times her original length when laying her eggs in the ground, without causing any irreparable damage....

NASA Astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley splashed down in the Dragon Endeavour capsule at 2:48 p.m. EDT on Sunday, August 2, off the coast of Pensacola, Florida. More Coverage: Watch NASA SpaceX Dragon Endeavour Splashdown in Stunning 4K HD Video“An Incredible Day”: Splashdown Successfully Concludes NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2“Welcome Home, Bob and Doug!” – First Splashdown of American Astronauts in 45 YearsTwo NASA Astronauts Aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon “Endeavour” Splashdown SafelyCrew Dragon Astronauts Target Splashdown off Coast of Pensacola, FloridaNASA Astronauts Wake Up, Prep SpaceX Crew Dragon For SplashdownSpaceX Crew Dragon Is on Its Way Home – Planned Splashdown in the Gulf of MexicoWatch Live Coverage of NASA Astronauts’ Return from Space Station on SpaceX Commercial Crew Test Flight

The common analogy for CRISPR gene editing is that it works like molecular scissors, cutting out select sections of DNA. Stanley Qi, assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, likes that analogy, but he thinks it’s time to reimagine CRISPR as a Swiss Army knife. “CRISPR can be as simple as a cutter, or more advanced as a regulator, an editor, a labeler, or imager. Many applications are emerging from this exciting field,” said Qi, who is also an assistant professor of chemical and systems biology in the Stanford School of Medicine and a Stanford ChEM-H institute scholar....

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated that an array of novel gold, pillar-bowtie nanoantennas (pBNAs) can be used like traditional photographic film to record light for distances that are much smaller than the wavelength of light (for example, distances less than ~600 nm for red light). A standard optical microscope acts as a “nanocamera” whereas the pBNAs are the analogous film. “Unlike conventional photographic film, the effect (writing and curing) is seen in real time,” explained Kimani Toussaint, an associate professor of mechanical science and engineering, who led the research....

Microorganisms found in our guts can worsen dangerous C. difficile infections according to new research from the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine and collaborators. The discovery could help doctors identify patients at risk for severe illness and open the door to new treatments. C. difficile is a bacterium that can cause potentially deadly infections, especially among the elderly and people on long-term antibiotics. These infections are characterized by fever, diarrhea, and nausea....

Astronomers dub it “The Unicorn,” call it something special. Scientists have discovered one of the smallest black holes on record – and the closest one to Earth found to date. Researchers have dubbed it “The Unicorn,” in part because it is, so far, one of a kind, and in part because it was found in the constellation Monoceros – “The Unicorn.” The findings were published on April 21, 2021, in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society....

I’m an epidemiologist and an internationally recognized science communicator, and I’ve often found myself running between COVID-19 meetings asking “how did we get here?” Figuring out the “how” is essential to preparing for the future. In trying to make sense of these past 18 months, I’ve found it helpful to broadly categorize the U.S. pandemic journey thus far into five phases: Scramble, Learn, Respond, Test and Hope. Scramble: What’s going on?...

Wasted in 2019: 931 million tonnes of food sold to households, retailers, restaurants and other food services; Study finds food waste is a global, not just developed world, problem; Food Waste Index report helps countries track progress on UN SDG. An estimated 931 million tonnes of food, or 17% of total food available to consumers in 2019, went into the waste bins of households, retailers, restaurants, and other food services, according to new UN research conducted to support global efforts to halve food waste by 2030....

Nitrogen makes up 77% of the air we breathe, and so, in theory, it is virtually infinitely available for ammonia synthesis. However, in practice, it only reacts extremely slowly with other elements. In the Haber–Bosch process, which was developed over 100 years ago, metal catalysts accelerate this sluggish reaction. They activate the nitrogen which is then reacted with hydrogen under high pressure and temperature, giving ammonia. Ammonia is used industrially for producing nitrate fertilizers....

The DNA pairs, upon attaching to the miRNA, unraveled and combined, forming longer chains of DNA that activated an immune response. This response not only eliminated the cancer cells but also prevented the continuation of cancerous growth. This innovative approach stands apart from traditional cancer drug treatments and is hoped to usher in a new era in drug development. Cancer is a sadly familiar global health concern and current methods of treatment have their limitations....

This tick, which was originally found in eastern Russia and the Australasian region, was discovered in the United States for the first time in 2017 in New Jersey. Since then, it has spread throughout the Mid-Atlantic, New England, and Midwestern regions of the United States. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri have made the first discovery of it in northern Missouri. Last year, the Longhorned tick was found in the southern part of the state....

The gold standard test for COVID-19 diagnosis remains the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Although this test is highly sensitive and specific, it generally takes 1-2 days to get a result, is expensive and requires special lab equipment and trained personnel. In contrast, rapid antigen tests are fast (15-30 minutes), and people can take them at home with no training. However, they lack sensitivity, which sometimes results in false negatives....

The rapid rise of facial recognition systems has placed the technology into many facets of our daily lives, whether we know it or not. What might seem innocuous when Facebook identifies a friend in an uploaded photo grows more ominous in enterprises such as Clearview AI, a private company that trained its facial recognition system on billions of images scraped without consent from social media and the internet. But thus far, people have had few protections against this use of their images—apart from not sharing photos publicly at all....