Animals fake death for long periods to escape predators: Study

3Mar

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Animals fake death for long periods to escape predators: Study

A recent study by researchers from the University of Bristol has found that many animals fake death to try to escape their predators. with some individuals in prey species remaining motionless, if in danger, for extended lengths of time. The study was published today in the science journal Biology Letters. Charles Darwin recorded a beetle that remained stationary for 23 minutes - however, the University of Bristol has documented individual antlion larvae pretending to be dead for an astonishing 61 minutes. Of equal importance, the amount of time that an individual remains motionless is not only long but unpredictable. This means that a predator will be unable to predict when a potential prey item will move again, attract attention, and become a meal. Predators are hungry and cann...

Coronavirus antibodies are moved from pregnant ladies to their infants, study finds

1Mar

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Coronavirus antibodies are moved from pregnant ladies to their infants, study finds

A study drove by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology' discovered that the antibodies that help in guarding against the COVID-19 infection are transferred from mothers to their babies while in the womb. This discovery adds to growing evidence that suggests that pregnant women who generate protective antibodies after contracting the coronavirus often convey some of that natural immunity to their fetuses. The findings also lend support to the idea that vaccinating mothers-to-be may also have benefits for their newborns. "Since we can now say that the antibodies pregnant women make against COVID-19 have been shown to be passed down to their babies, we suspect that there's a good chance they could pass down the antibodies the body makes after being vaccinated as well," said D...

Scientists discover bioengineered hybrid muscle fiber for regenerative medicine

1Mar

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Scientists discover bioengineered hybrid muscle fiber for regenerative medicine

Researchers through their study published in the journal, 'Advanced Materials' claimed that regeneration of muscle tissue can be achieved by joining direct cell reprogramming with natural-synthetic hybrid scaffold as structural support for the medication. Muscle is the largest organ that accounts for 40% of body mass and plays an essential role in maintaining our lives. Muscle tissue is notable for its unique ability for spontaneous regeneration. However, in serious injuries such as those sustained in car accidents or tumour resection which results in a volumetric muscle loss (VML), the muscle's ability to recover is greatly diminished. Currently, VML treatments comprise surgical interventions with autologous muscle flaps or grafts accompanied by physical therapy. Surgical procedu...

SpaceX Delays Launch of Falcon 9 Carrier Rocket With Starlink Satellites by a Day

1Mar

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SpaceX Delays Launch of Falcon 9 Carrier Rocket With Starlink Satellites by a Day

SpaceX has cancelled the planned launch of a Falcon 9 carrier rocket with 60 Starlink satellites. "Auto-abort at T-1:24 ahead of tonight's Falcon 9 launch of Starlink; next launch opportunity is tomorrow, March 1 at 8:15 p.m. EST [03:15 GMT on Tuesday]," SpaceX said on Twitter on Sunday. The company did not specify the reasons behind the delay. The Falcon 9 rocket was supposed to lift off from the Cape Canaveral (Kennedy) Air Force Station in Florida at 01:37 GMT (7:07 am) on Monday. The mission aims to put 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. If successful at its next launch opportunity, it will expand SpaceX's fleet of broadband relay satellites to include over 1,200 (some of them are prototypes that are no longer in service). The Starlink project seeks to provide affordab...

ISRO to launch PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 tomorrow

27Feb

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ISRO to launch PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 tomorrow

Countdown for the launch of PSLV-C51/Amazonia-1 mission commenced on Saturday from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. "Countdown for the launch of #PSLVC51/Amazonia-1 mission commenced today at 08:54 am from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) SHAR, Sriharikota. The launch is scheduled tomorrow at 10:24 am," Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said. Primary satellite Amazonia-1 of Brazil and 18 co-passenger satellites onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C51) is scheduled to be launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) Sriharikota Range (SHAR) on February 28, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said here on Thursday. Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C51), which is the 53rd mission of PSLV, will launch Amazonia-1 of Braz...

Study: Human lung, brain organoids respond differently to SARS-CoV-2

25Feb

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Study: Human lung, brain organoids respond differently to SARS-CoV-2

A clinical study led by researchers of the University of California claims to help explain the wide variety of COVID-19 symptoms and aid search for therapies for the deadly infection. The findings published in Stem Cell Reports show that the human lung and brain organoids respond differently to SARS-CoV-2 infection in lab tests. COVID-19, the disease caused by the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is primarily regarded as a respiratory infection. Yet the virus has also become known for affecting other parts of the body in ways not as well understood, sometimes with longer-term consequences, such as heart arrhythmia, fatigue, and "brain fog." Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine are using stem cell-derived organoids -- small balls of human cells tha...

Sleep is vital to associating emotion with memory, finds study

23Feb

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Sleep is vital to associating emotion with memory, finds study

Research from the University of Michigan suggests that groups of neurons activated during prior learning keep humming and building memories into your brain during sleep. U-M researchers have been studying how memories associated with a specific sensory event are formed and stored in mice. In a study conducted prior to the coronavirus pandemic and recently published in Nature Communications, the researchers examined how a fearful memory formed in relation to a specific visual stimulus. They found that not only did the neurons activated by the visual stimulus keep more active during subsequent sleep, but sleep is also vital to their ability to connect the fear memory to the sensory event. Previous research has shown that regions of the brain that are highly active during intensive l...

Nasa releases first audio from Mars, video of landing

23Feb

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Nasa releases first audio from Mars, video of landing

The US space agency Nasa yesterday released the first audio from Mars, a faint wind sound captured by the Perseverance rover. Nasa also released the first video of the landing of the rover on the Red Planet. A microphone did not work during the descent but the rover was able to capture audio once it landed on Mars. Nasa engineers played a short audio clip of what they said was a wind gust on the surface. The video clip, lasting three minutes and 25 seconds, showed the deployment of the parachute and the rover's touchdown on the surface of Mars in a cloud of dust. “These are really amazing videos,” Michael Watkins, director of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said at a briefing for reporters. “This is the first time we've ever been able to capture an event like the landing o...

Scientists discover prototype test to help in fighting deadly melanoma

22Feb

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Scientists discover prototype test to help in fighting deadly melanoma

A team of scientists from Australia published a study in the journal Clinical Cancer Research that shows their new discovery of a prototype test that can help identify if patients with deadly metastasised melanoma are likely to benefit from immunotherapy. Australian researchers from QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute conducted the study. Details about the test and the research have been published on Monday (local time) in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. The prototype test detects levels of the protein LC3B on cancer cells. High levels of LC3B are associated with better patient responses to a form of treatment known as checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. Metastatic melanoma is a very aggressive disease and according to the...

Study reveals potential mechanism underlying loss of muscle mass during menopause

19Feb

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Study reveals potential mechanism underlying loss of muscle mass during menopause

A new study conducted in collaboration between the universities of Minnesota (USA) and Jyvaskyla (Finland) revealed that estrogen deficiency alters the microRNA signalling in skeletal muscle, which may activate signalling cascades leading to loss of muscle mass. Menopause is associated with several physiological changes, including loss of skeletal muscle mass. However, the mechanisms underlying muscle wasting are not clear. The new study revealed that estrogen deficiency alters the microRNA signalling in skeletal muscle. Menopause leads to an estrogen deficiency that is associated with decreases in skeletal muscle mass and strength. This is likely due to changes in both muscle function and the size of muscle cells commonly referred to as fibers. "The mechanistic role of estrogen ...

Gut microbiome implicated in healthy aging, longevity

19Feb

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Gut microbiome implicated in healthy aging, longevity

The gut microbiome is an integral component of the body, but its importance in the human aging process is unclear. A team of researchers and their collaborators have identified distinct signatures in the gut microbiome that are associated with either healthy or unhealthy aging trajectories, which in turn predict survival in a population of older individuals. The work is set to be published in the journal 'Nature Metabolism'. The research team analysed gut microbiome, phenotypic and clinical data from over 9,000 people -- between the ages of 18 and 101 years old -- across three independent cohorts. The team focused, in particular, on longitudinal data from a cohort of over 900 community-dwelling older individuals (78-98 years old), allowing them to track health and survival outcomes. ...

Protection against severe Covid-19 inherited from Neandertals

17Feb

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Protection against severe Covid-19 inherited from Neandertals

A new study has suggested that a genetic variant associated with reduced coronavirus severity was inherited from Neandertals. According to researches, previously, a genetic factor associated with an increased risk of contracting severe COVID-19 was shown to be inherited from Neandertals. Researchers Hugo Zeberg and Svante Paabo analyzed new data from the Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care consortium, which includes more than 2,200 critically ill COVID-19 patients, and identified several additional genomic regions associated with COVID-19 hospitalization. Using genomic data from published databases, the authors found that the sequence variations associated with COVID-19 hospitalisation in one of these regions, located on chromosome 12, tended to be inherited together in Europeans...

Code for cellular communication now broken by researchers

13Feb

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Code for cellular communication now broken by researchers

A research team led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg has used a unique combination of methods to map the mechanism behind cellular communication. Knowledge of how cells communicate is an important key to understanding many biological systems and diseases. The findings published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences can potentially improve understanding of the underlying mechanism behind type 2 diabetes. We know that human communication is important, but communication between the cells in our bodies is just as vital. The processes where cells synchronize and coordinate their behaviour is required for an organism to function and for human organs to be able to perform their functions. "How do cells go from monologues to dialogues? How do cells t...

Nanoparticle gel creation may unite oil, water in manufacturing-friendly approach

12Feb

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Nanoparticle gel creation may unite oil, water in manufacturing-friendly approach

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Delaware have claimed a gel made with the addition of the right nanoparticles can mix oil and water to create immiscible fluids with uses ranging from batteries to water filters and tint-changing smart windows. As described in a new Nature Communications paper, the new approach to creating this unusual class of soft materials could carry them out of the laboratory and into the marketplace. Researchers have found that what appears to be a better way to create these gels, which have been an area of intense research focus for more than a decade. Part of their potentially broad utility is the complex set of interconnected microscopic channels that form within them, creating a spongelike structur...

NASA offers opportunity to engage with Mars Perseverance Rover landing

12Feb

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NASA offers opportunity to engage with Mars Perseverance Rover landing

American independent space agency, NASA has announced on Thursday that to discuss events surrounding the landing of its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, it will host virtual news briefings, live shows, and activities in the week of February 15. NASA announced the viewing guide for the landing of its Mars 2020 Perseverance rover on its Twitter handles on Thursday. As per the tweet by the space agency, 'Engineering & Tech Overview' and 'Science Overview' would be on February 16, 'Landing Update' and 'Search For Life & Sample Return Chat' on February 17 and the final touchdown on February 18. Bookmark your #CountdownToMars viewing guide today! Feb. 16: 🔴 Engineering & Tech Overview 🔴 Science Overview Feb. 17: 🔴 Landing Update 🔴 Search For Life & Sample Return Chat ...