The Earth’s forests perform a well-known service to the planet, absorbing a great deal of the carbon dioxide pollution emitted into the atmosphere from human activities. But when trees are killed by natural disturbances, such as fire, drought or wind, their decay also releases carbon back into the atmosphere, making it critical to quantify tree mortality in order to understand the role of forests in the global climate system. Tropical old-growth forests may play a large role in this absorption service, yet tree mortality patterns for these forests are not well understood....

Anti-inflammatory agents, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, statins, and antibiotics, can safely and effectively curb the symptoms of major depression, finds a pooled analysis of the available evidence, published online on October 28, 2019, in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. And the effects are even stronger when these agents are added on to standard antidepressant treatment, the results show. Around a third of people who are clinically depressed don’t respond well to the current drug and talking therapies, and drug side effects are relatively common....

The findings published this week in Nature Sustainability use the U.S. transition in recent years from coal to natural gas for electric power generation to study the local impacts of coal-fired unit shutdowns. While the shift from coal to natural gas has reduced carbon dioxide emissions overall, it has also changed local pollution levels in hundreds of areas around the country. In particular, the burning of coal creates particulate matter and ozone in the lower atmosphere—often experienced as “smog” — which can affect humans, plants, and regional climate....

Given the possibility single-use masks and gloves may be contaminated with COVID-19, we need clearer direction on how to dispose of them safely in public places. In Melbourne and Mitchell Shire, it is now mandatory for anyone leaving their homes to wear a mask. Many people have already been wearing masks for some time in a bid to protect themselves and others from COVID-19. Evidence has shown masks likely do reduce the spread of COVID-19, so wearing them is a good thing – particularly as Victoria continues to grapple with a second wave....

A protein that slows aging in mice and other animals also protects against the ravages of a high-fat diet, including diabetes, according to a new MIT study. MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente ’74 discovered SIRT1’s longevity-boosting properties more than a decade ago and has since explored its role in many different body tissues. In his latest study, appearing in the August 8 print edition of the journal Cell Metabolism, he looked at what happens when the SIRT1 protein is missing from adipose cells, which make up body fat....

During an average follow-up of 3.7 years, 97 individuals in a study of 1,982 older adults in China who were dementia-free at the beginning of the study developed dementia. The risk of dementia was 69% greater in those who slept for more than 8 hours (compared to 7-8 hours) and twice as high in those who went to bed before 9 p.m. (versus 10 PM or later). “This suggests that cognitive function should be monitored in older adults who report prolonged 102time in bed and advanced sleep timing,” the authors wrote....

Researchers at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (PME) have designed a chameleon-like building material that changes its infrared color—and how much heat it absorbs or emits—based on the outside temperature. On hot days, the material can emit up to 92 percent of the infrared heat it contains, helping cool the inside of a building. On colder days, however, the material emits just 7 percent of its infrared, helping keep a building warm....

You probably don’t notice them too much unless your doctor has you get into an MRI machine. Then you can see them. White spots on the brain. These are scars in your white matter. A bit unpleasant to think about, but is there really a problem if they’re so common? “Both yes and no,” says Asta Håberg, a neuroscience professor at NTNU. “White spots are the most common age-related finding, but they’re not good for the brain, because it makes it more vulnerable,” says Håberg....

Model developed by Brazilian researchers shows chaotic phase that placed objects in current orbits beginning within first 100 million years after formation of giant planets. The hypothesis that the Solar System was born from a gigantic cloud of gas and dust was first floated in the second half of the eighteenth century. It was proposed by German philosopher Immanuel Kant and developed by French mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace. It is now a consensus among astronomers....

Some coronaviruses can add to their genetic pool some genes belonging to the host they infected. In this way, they can blend in and be less detectable to the immune system. This discovery was published in the journal Viruses by an Italian research team from the IIS (Italian Healthcare Institute), ISPRA (Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), IZSLER (Italian health authority and research organization for animal health and food safety of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna) and the University of Bologna....

Following NASA, European Space Agency (ESA), and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) spacecraft observations of the close flyby of Mars by comet Siding Spring in October, and the successful November landing of ESA’s Philae lander on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) successfully launched its Hayabusa2 mission on December 3 to rendezvous with an asteroid, land a small probe plus three mini rovers on its surface, and then return samples to Earth....

Researchers, for the first time, have observed the accelerated rate at which eight quasars consume interstellar fuel to feed their black holes. They published their results on September 4th, 2019, in Nature. “As the most luminous steady beacons in the Universe, quasars are believed to be powered by an accretion disk around the central black hole,” said Hongyan Zhou, paper author and faculty member at the University of Science and Technology of China....

The Dragon launched on SpaceX’s 26th contracted commercial resupply mission for NASA at 2:20 p.m. EST, Saturday, November 26, from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Dragon spacecraft will return to Earth with cargo and research after spending about one month attached to the space station. SpaceX’s 26th commercial resupply mission (CRS) launched to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 26....

McClain had an unparalleled view from orbit of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft as it approached the International Space Station on Sunday, March 3, 2019. The Crew Dragon docked autonomously to the orbiting laboratory, a historic first for a commercially built and operated American crew spacecraft. This uncrewed test flight is providing valuable information to help verify that Crew Dragon will provide astronauts a safe, comfortable and enjoyable ride to space....

The bubbles are estimated to be 10 to 30 light-years across, based on what astronomers know about them and other cosmic bubbles. However, determining the exact sizes of individual bubbles can be difficult, because their distance from Earth is challenging to measure and objects appear smaller the farther away they are. Flows of particles emitted by the stars, called stellar winds, as well as the pressure of the light the stars produce, can push the surrounding material outward, sometimes creating a distinct perimeter....

If you have a dog, hopefully you’re lucky enough to know that they are highly attuned to their owners and can readily understand a wide range of commands and gestures. But are these abilities innate or are they exclusively learned through training? To find out, a new study in Frontiers in Psychology investigated whether untrained stray dogs could understand human pointing gestures. The study revealed that about 80% of participating dogs successfully followed pointing gestures to a specific location despite having never received prior training....

Imagine a velvety, soft material that is extremely light, but also strong enough to stop a bullet. This is close to a description of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), a super-plastic material commercially known as Dyneema or Spectra, which is already taking over from the para-aramid fibrous material, Kevlar, in, for example, bullet-proof jackets. There is also much need for the super material in many other applications than body armor, and therefore researchers have now set up guidelines and failure maps for use of the material in joints with steel bolts....

An insect with a tiny brain and minimal computing power has become the first animal proven to use the Milky Way for orientation. Scientists from South Africa and Sweden have published findings in the journal Current Biology showing the link between dung beetles and the spray of stars that comprises our galaxy. Although their eyes are too weak to distinguish individual constellations, dung beetles use the gradient of light to dark provided by the Milky Way to ensure they keep rolling their balls in a straight line and don’t circle back to competitors at the dung pile....

Astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have imaged a ‘space butterfly,’ a planetary nebula known as NGC 2899. This video offers stunning views of this object and the science behind it. Credit: ESO NGC 2899’s vast swathes of gas extend up to a maximum of two light-years from its center, glowing brightly in front of the stars of the Milky Way as the gas reaches temperatures upwards of ten thousand degrees....

Sometimes referred to as “the Methuselah of freshwater fish,” sturgeons and their close relatives are very old from an evolutionary point of view. Fossils indicate that sturgeons date back 250 million years and have changed very little during this period, at least as far as their external appearance is concerned. So it is not surprising that already Charles Darwin coined the term “living fossils” for them. Scientists from the University of Würzburg and the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) with colleagues in Constance, France, and Russia have now successfully sequenced the genome of the sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), a relatively small species of sturgeon....