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Drastically cutting back on calorie intake doesn’t seem to lengthen the lifespan in primates. This conclusion comes from a 25-year study in rhesus monkeys fed 30% less than control animals, and represents a setback for the notion that a simple, diet-triggered switch could slow aging. The study actually indicates that genetics and overall dietary composition matter much more for longevity than simply counting calories. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature....

This idea, that whales should be seen in cultural terms, rather than grouped genetically, is new but supported by science. The aquarium defends the capture as unthreatening to the survival of the belugas in the Russian Sea of Okhotsk, but it’s possible that a smaller, unique group was damaged. This could affect the aquarium’s request for federal endorsement of the plan, which is needed before it can go forward. “They may be risking whole matrilines,” said neurobiologist Lori Marino of Emory University, referring to the female-led family groups that are a basic beluga social unit....

The emergence and global spread of the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian influenza virus (AIV), a pathogen that has caused continuous and ongoing outbreaks with massive mortality in both wild and farmed birds across Eurasia and Africa throughout 2020, represents a considerable public health concern — particularly considering the first human cases of H5N8 infection were first reported last December. In a Perspective, Weifeng Shi and George Gao discuss the emergence and zoonotic potential of the H5 AIV lineages....

This new picture (above), along with a new image of the central region from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (below), provide the best view of this little-known cluster ever obtained. Globular clusters are mainly composed of tens of thousands of very ancient stars, but they also contain some stars that look suspiciously young. Globular star clusters are among the oldest objects in the Universe, and NGC 6362 cannot hide its age in this picture....

Graphite is a material widely used in various industries — for example in heat shields for spacecraft — so accurate data on its behavior at ultrahigh temperatures is of paramount importance. Graphite melting has been studied since the early 20th century. About 100 experiments have placed the graphite melting point at various temperatures between 3,000 and 7,000 kelvins. With a spread so large, it is unclear which number is true and can be considered the actual melting point of graphite....

Greenland is losing ice seven times faster than in the 1990s and is tracking the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s high-end climate warming scenario, which would see 40 million more people exposed to coastal flooding by 2100. A team of 96 polar scientists from 50 international organizations has produced the most complete picture of Greenland ice loss to date. The Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise (IMBIE) Team combined 26 separate surveys to compute changes in the mass of Greenland’s ice sheet between 1992 and 2018....

A vegan diet is more effective for weight loss than a Mediterranean diet, according to a groundbreaking new study that compared the diets head to head. The randomized crossover trial, which was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found that a low-fat vegan diet has better outcomes for weight, body composition, insulin sensitivity, and cholesterol levels, compared with a Mediterranean diet. The study randomly assigned participants–who were overweight and had no history of diabetes–to a vegan diet or a Mediterranean diet in a 1:1 ratio....

The dark, nearly invisible halo stretches about a million light-years from its host galaxy, halfway to our own Milky Way galaxy. This finding promises to tell astronomers more about the evolution and structure of majestic giant spirals, one of the most common types of galaxies in the universe. “Halos are the gaseous atmospheres of galaxies. The properties of these gaseous halos control the rate at which stars form in galaxies according to models of galaxy formation,” explained the lead investigator Nicolas Lehner of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana....

More than two-thirds of the public may now have hand dermatitis due to stringent hand washing and using alcohol-based rubs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dermatological impact of COVID-19 is a burning topic at EADV’s 2021 Spring Symposium. New research presented today highlights the effect that stringent hand hygiene during the pandemic has had on hand skin health. Researchers at Father Muller Medical College, India, analyzed transepidermal water loss (TEWL — an essential parameter for measuring skin barrier function) from 582 people (291 healthcare professionals (HCPs) and 291 healthy individuals from the general population)....

New research indicates that happier people actually earn more money. This comes as a result of a study of 10,000 Americans that showed that those who experienced more positive daily emotions and felt more satisfied with their lives while growing up, earned more income by age 29. The scientists published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers drew on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health between 1994 and 2008, which asked students whether statements like “You enjoyed your life” had been true during the last week....

Scientists have found that adding a common household cleaning agent – the mineral boron contained in such cleaners as Borax – can vastly improve the ability of some fusion energy devices to contain the heat required to produce fusion reactions on Earth the way the sun and stars do. Physicists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) working with Japanese researchers, made the observation on the Large Helical Device (LHD) in Japan, a twisty magnetic facility that the Japanese call a “heliotron....

Partial damming of Lake Moeris during the reign of Ptolemy II allowed large areas of fertile alluvial soil to be reclaimed for agriculture. Today saltwater Lake Qarun (Birket Qarun), located on the northern margin of the depression, is the remnant of Moeris. The salinity of Lake Qarun is caused by high evaporation rates in the arid climate. Farms and orchards fill the depression and line the western banks of the Nile....

Students conduct computational studies, explore inhibitor drugs to disrupt viral proteins that help infectious particles escape from cells. Detailed knowledge of how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, replicates and how the body responds can point to different strategies for stopping it. Many researchers have been working to block the interaction of the coronavirus “spike” protein with the human-cell receptors to which it binds—the first step of infection. In contrast, three High School Research Program students participating in research with scientists in the Computational Science Initiative at the U....

A transmissible cancer in the Tasmanian devil has evolved over the past two decades, with some lineages spreading and replacing others, according to a new study in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Young Mi Kwon, Kevin Gori, and Elizabeth Murchison of the University of Cambridge (UK) and colleagues. The evolutionary dynamics of the cancer help explain how this Australian marsupial has become so quickly endangered, and may shed light on the evolution of other forms of cancer....

What if scientists knew exactly what impact the SARS-CoV-2 virus had inside our lung cells, within the first few hours of being infected? Could they use that information to find drugs that would disrupt the virus’ replication process before it ever gets fully underway? The discovery that several existing FDA-approved drugs—including some originally designed to fight cancer—can stop coronavirus in its tracks indicates the answer is a resounding yes. A team of Boston University researchers—hailing from BU’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), the Center for Regenerative Medicine (CReM) at BU’s Medical Campus, and BU’s Center for Network Systems Biology (CNSB)—embarked on a months-long, collaborative and interdisciplinary quest, combining multiple areas of expertise in virology, stem cell–derived lung tissue engineering, and deep molecular sequencing to begin answering those questions....

Anesthesia is a modern miracle with a very long history. Aside from the convenience of not having to feel pain, it allows doctors to perform life-saving surgeries. If you’ve ever had surgery, you may recall being asked to count down from 10 and not being able to get past five or six. That unique mix of drugs administered by a doctor was anesthesia. It not only induces unconsciousness but also prevents movement....

Just outside of Earth’s magnetic field, the solar wind’s onslaught of electrons and ionized gases creates a turbulent maelstrom of magnetic energy known as the magnetosheath. While magnetic reconnection has been well documented closer to Earth, physicists have sought to determine whether reconnection also happens in this turbulent zone. A new research paper co-authored by University of Maryland Physics Professor James Drake suggests that the answer to this question is yes....

This Hubble image of the week is a composite image of Uranus by Voyager 2 and two different observations made by Hubble — one for the ring and one for the aurorae. Ever since Voyager 2 beamed home spectacular images of the planets in the 1980s, planet-lovers have been hooked on extra-terrestrial aurorae. Aurorae are caused by streams of charged particles like electrons, that come from various origins such as solar winds, the planetary ionosphere, and moon volcanism....

SNR 0454-67.2 is situated in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf spiral galaxy that lies close to the Milky Way. The remnant is likely the result of a Type Ia supernova explosion; this category of supernovae is formed from the death of a white dwarf star, which grows and grows by siphoning material from a stellar companion until it reaches a critical mass and then explodes. As they always form via a specific mechanism — when the white dwarf hits a particular mass — these explosions always have a well-known luminosity, and are thus used as markers (standard candles) for scientists to obtain and measure distances throughout the Universe....

Newly released NASA Hubble Space Telescope images of a vast debris disk encircling the nearby star Fomalhaut and a mysterious planet circling it may provide forensic evidence of a titanic planetary disruption in the system. Astronomers are surprised to find the debris belt is wider than previously known, spanning a section of space from 14 to nearly 20 billion miles from the star. Even more surprisingly, the latest Hubble images have allowed a team of astronomers to calculate the planet follows an unusual elliptical orbit that carries it on a potentially destructive path through the vast dust ring....