https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Harvard University Sea robins are ocean fish particularly suited to their bottom-dwelling lifestyle. Six leg-like appendages make them so adept at scurrying, digging, and finding prey that other fish tend to hang out with them and pilfer their spoils. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-sea-robins-leg-fins-seafloor.html Plants & Animals Evolution Thu, 26 Sep 2024 11:00:01 EDT news646559161 Researchers have discovered an exceptionally preserved fossil site in Massachusetts that provides a rare glimpse into terrestrial life from over 300 million years ago. The findings, published in Nature Communications, reveal a diverse ecosystem of early land-dwelling animals and plants from a time period that has been poorly understood. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-fossil-site-massachusetts-reveals-million.html Ecology Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 19 Sep 2024 12:37:03 EDT news645968221 A discovery six years ago took the condensed-matter physics world by storm: Ultra-thin carbon stacked in two slightly askew layers became a superconductor, and changing the twist angle between layers could toggle their electrical properties. The landmark 2018 paper describing "magic-angle graphene superlattices" launched a new field called "twistronics," and the first author was then-MIT graduate student and recent Harvard Junior Fellow Yuan Cao. https://techxplore.com/news/2024-09-device-2d-materials-twistronics.html Engineering Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 17 Sep 2024 15:50:16 EDT news645807008 Harvard stem cell biologists have pioneered a groundbreaking 3D organoid culture method for generating large numbers of adult skeletal muscle satellite cells, also known as muscle stem cells, in vitro. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-09-3d-organoid-culture-method-generate.html Medical research Biomedical technology Thu, 12 Sep 2024 10:29:40 EDT news645355775 Biosensors—devices that use biological molecules to detect the presence of a target substance—have enormous potential for detecting disease biomarkers, molecules-in-action in diverse biological processes, or toxins and other harmful substances in the environment. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-molecular-biosensors.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Thu, 05 Sep 2024 11:44:06 EDT news644755442 If you've ever seen a dolphin swim, you may have wondered why they undulate their bodies up and down when swimming, instead of side to side as fishes do. Though they have a fishlike body, cetaceans (a group comprised of whales, dolphins, and porpoises) are mammals that descended from land-dwelling ancestors—same as cats, dogs, mice, elephants, cows, and humans. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-unraveling-evolutionary-secrets-whales-dolphins.html Plants & Animals Evolution Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:35:04 EDT news644747701 The 1969 moon landing? Fake. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy? Cuba really did it. Thomas Jefferson's bitterly contested election in 1800? Choreographed by hidden hands. https://phys.org/news/2024-09-qa-author-explores-toll-qanon.html Social Sciences Political science Mon, 02 Sep 2024 13:20:01 EDT news644501203 Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University report that they were able to successfully put tadpoles of Xenopus laevis frogs into a hibernation-like torpor state using donepezil (DNP), a drug approved by the FDA to treat Alzheimer's. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-alzheimer-drug-state-animation.html Bio & Medicine Thu, 22 Aug 2024 12:24:05 EDT news643548242 In a groundbreaking exploration of cell surface biology, Ryan Flynn has uncovered a surprising role for RNA outside the confines of the cell. Flynn's research, which focuses on the biology of cell surface RNA, led to the discovery that certain RNAs are chemically linked to glycans—complex carbohydrate polymers found on the cell surface. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-unveiling-glycornas.html Cell & Microbiology Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 21 Aug 2024 16:26:04 EDT news643476362 They are said to be our best friends, and a new study suggests the possibility there may in fact be a mental health dividend for pet owners who feel a real bond with Fido. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-qa-dogs-depression-anxiety.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 15 Aug 2024 08:50:02 EDT news642930304 Growing functional human organs outside the body is a long-sought "holy grail" of organ transplantation medicine that remains elusive. New research from Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) brings that quest one big step closer to completion. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-3d-blood-vessels-artificial-closer.html Materials Science Wed, 07 Aug 2024 15:09:56 EDT news642262190 Economic prospects have improved in recent years for Black Americans born poor, according to new research from Opportunity Insights. At the same time, earnings have fallen for white Americans from low-income families. https://phys.org/news/2024-08-economic-prospects-brighten-children-income.html Economics & Business Political science Thu, 01 Aug 2024 09:50:01 EDT news641723785 Since the 1950s, researchers have used a famous method invented by Wallace Coulter known as "flow cytometry" to characterize different types of immune cells in research studies and in blood samples from human individuals. This has enabled a much deeper understanding of immune cell development as well as new ways to assess human health and diagnose various blood cancers. Later, flow cytometry was also applied to other cell types. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ace-ing-protein-cells.html Biotechnology Tue, 30 Jul 2024 09:57:07 EDT news641552219 A team of biologists from the University of Delhi and Zoological Survey of India, Harvard University, and the University of Minnesota has discovered a unique breeding behavior in a species of frog endemic to the Andaman Islands of India. In a new study published in the journal Breviora, scientists describe a combination of traits that makes reproduction in this frog unique. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-tree-holes-trash-behavior-frog.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 29 Jul 2024 09:50:01 EDT news641465011 The Cambrian fossil record indicates that most animal phyla had diversified and inhabited the Earth's oceans approximately 518 million years ago. But even though chordates—the group that includes vertebrates like humans—were part of this early animal diversification, they make up a relatively small portion of fossils from more than 50 Cambrian sites worldwide. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-soft-needle-oceanic-haystack-scientists.html Evolution Paleontology & Fossils Thu, 25 Jul 2024 12:22:03 EDT news641128921 While the COVID-19 vaccines introduced many people to RNA-based medicines, RNA oligonucleotides have already been on the market for years to treat diseases like Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and amyloidosis. RNA therapies offer many advantages over traditional small molecule drugs, including their ability to address almost any genetic component within cells and to guide gene editing tools like CRISPR to their targets. https://phys.org/news/2024-07-rna-drugs-enzymatic-synthesis-method.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 12 Jul 2024 05:00:01 EDT news639932341 Smoking continues to rank as the foremost preventable cause of premature death. In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Harvard researchers report findings that evoking feelings of gratitude in people who smoke helps reduce their urge to smoke, and increases their likelihood of enrollment in a smoking cessation program. They note that these findings could inform newer approaches to public health messaging campaigns that aim to reduce so-called "appetitive" risk behaviors like smoking, drinking, and drug use. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-gratitude-emotional-tool-desire.html Health Addiction Mon, 01 Jul 2024 15:00:01 EDT news639061501 In sciences, disruptive research that is breaking new ground often raises new and not-yet-explored ethical questions. Although new scientific breakthroughs can have the power to change how we understand and live in the world, the ethical implications of technologies that will emerge based on these new insights can affect an emerging field's public acceptance and have moral implications for society at large. They can also impact the process of translating discoveries into real-world products, sometimes requiring new regulations. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-collaborative-ethics-fundamental-discoveries-real.html Other Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:20:06 EDT news638536794 In the deep-sea environment of the East Pacific Rise, where sunlight does not penetrate and the surroundings are known for their extreme temperatures, skull-crushing pressures, and toxic compounds, lives Riftia pachyptila, a giant hydrothermal vent tubeworm. Growing up to 6 feet tall with a deep-red plume, Riftia does not have a digestive system but thrives off its symbiotic relationship with bacteria that live deep within its body. These billions of bacteria fix carbon dioxide to sugars to sustain themselves and the tubeworm. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-giant-deep-sea-vent-tubeworm.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 13 Jun 2024 11:50:05 EDT news637498202 CAR-T cell therapies are transforming the treatment of previously incurable blood cancers. Six approved CAR-T products have been administered to more than 20,000 people, and more than 500 clinical trials are underway. However, according to a recent study out of the Massachusetts General Hospital, among 100 patients suffering from lymphomas, myelomas or B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias that were treated with CAR-T cell therapies, 24% only had partial responses, and 20% were not responsive at all—and these are typical success rates for patients treated with CAR-T therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-boosting-car-cell-therapies-skin.html Immunology Biomedical technology Wed, 12 Jun 2024 11:32:05 EDT news637410721 The agility with which humans and animals move is an evolutionary marvel that no robot has yet been able to closely emulate. To help probe the mystery of how brains control movement, Harvard neuroscientists have created a virtual rat with an artificial brain that can move around just like a real rodent. https://phys.org/news/2024-06-ai-powered-virtual-rat-insights.html Molecular & Computational biology Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:17:35 EDT news637323450 Bacterial vaginosis (BV) has been identified as one of the many unmet needs in women's health and affects more than 25% of reproductive-aged women. It is caused by pathogenic bacteria that push the healthy microbiomes in the female vagina and cervix—the small gatekeeper canal that connects the uterus and vagina—into a state of imbalance known as dysbiosis. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-microfluidic-chip-human-cervix-key.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Biomedical technology Thu, 30 May 2024 15:34:05 EDT news636302041 If you zoom in on a chemical reaction to the quantum level, you'll notice that particles behave like waves that can ripple and collide. Scientists have long sought to understand quantum coherence, the ability of particles to maintain phase relationships and exist in multiple states simultaneously; this is akin to all parts of a wave being synchronized. It has been an open question whether quantum coherence can persist through a chemical reaction where bonds dynamically break and form. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-scientists-survival-quantum-coherence-chemical.html Quantum Physics Thu, 16 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news635068899 It's one thing to dream up a quantum internet that could send hacker-proof information around the world via photons superimposed in different quantum states. It's quite another to physically show it's possible. https://phys.org/news/2024-05-physicists-metro-area-quantum-network.html Optics & Photonics Quantum Physics Wed, 15 May 2024 11:00:01 EDT news634982992 A cubic millimeter of brain tissue may not sound like much. But considering that tiny square contains 57,000 cells, 230 millimeters of blood vessels, and 150 million synapses, all amounting to 1,400 terabytes of data, Harvard and Google researchers have just accomplished something enormous. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-human-brain.html Neuroscience Health informatics Thu, 09 May 2024 14:00:01 EDT news634462766 Each one of us has around 600 lymph nodes (LNs)—small, bean-shaped organs that house various types of blood cells and filter lymph fluid—scattered throughout our bodies. Many of us have also experienced some of our LNs to temporarily swelling during infections with viruses or other pathogens. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-biomaterial-vaccine-lymph-node-expansion.html Vaccination Biomedical technology Mon, 06 May 2024 09:52:06 EDT news634207921 If evolution was originally depicted as a tree, with different species branching off as new blooms, then new research shows how the branches may actually be more entangled. In "Hybrid speciation driven by multilocus introgression of ecological traits," published in Nature, Harvard researchers show that hybrids between species of butterflies can produce new species that are genetically distinct from both parent species and their earlier forebears. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-amazon-butterflies-species-evolve-hybridization.html Evolution Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 17 Apr 2024 11:00:01 EDT news632561641 Artificial intelligence (AI) systems like ChatGPT have taken the world by storm. There isn't much in which they're not involved, from recommending the next binge-worthy TV show to helping navigate through traffic. But can AI systems learn the language of life and help biologists reveal exciting breakthroughs in science? https://phys.org/news/2024-04-deciphering-genomic-language-ai-biology.html Molecular & Computational biology Wed, 03 Apr 2024 14:36:04 EDT news631373761 In the battle against cancer and other diseases, scientists are developing molecular weapons that can be used to stop uncontrollable cell growth. https://phys.org/news/2024-04-scientists-class-molecules-protein-degradation.html Biochemistry Wed, 03 Apr 2024 11:15:11 EDT news631361707 In early March, after years of deliberations, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new reporting requirement for U.S.-based public companies. Beginning in 2025, companies that meet a certain threshold of market value will be required by law to report carbon emissions data, as well other information related to climate risk and progress toward decarbonization pledges. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-road-net-qa.html Environment Thu, 28 Mar 2024 14:40:01 EDT news630852506