A new study in the Veterinary Record reveals that pets can be infected with the alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans), which was first detected in southeast England and is commonly known as the UK variant or B.1.1.7. This variant rapidly outcompeted pre-existing variants in England due to its increased transmissibility and infectivity. The study describes the first identification of the SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant in domestic pets; two cats and one dog were positive on PCR test, while two additional cats and one dog displayed antibodies two to six weeks after they developed signs of cardiac disease....

The emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants that can spread rapidly and undermine vaccine-induced immunity threatens the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The delta variant (B.1.617.2) emerged in India and subsequently spread globally within a short time period. Also in Germany, almost all recent infections are due to this variant. In addition to Delta, so-called Delta Plus sub-variants have been observed, which carry additional mutations that may make them more dangerous....

In cities, the presence of algae, lichens, and mosses is not considered desirable and they are often removed from roofs and walls. It is, however, totally unfair to consider these cryptogamic covers, as the flat growths are referred to in scientific terms, just a nuisance. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have discovered that these mostly inconspicuous looking growths take up huge amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide and nitrogen and fix it at the earth’s surface....

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year, scientists are still working to understand how the SARS-CoV-2 strain evolved, and how it became so much more dangerous than other coronaviruses, which humans have been living alongside for millennia. Virologists and epidemiologists worldwide have speculated for months that a protein called ORF8 likely holds the answer, and a recent study by Berkeley Lab scientists has helped confirm this hypothesis. In a paper published in mBio, lead author Russell Neches and his colleagues show that ORF8 evolved from another coronavirus protein called ORF7a, and that both proteins have folds similar to that of a human antibody....

A public health advisory issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2003, followed by drug label warnings, indicated that children and adolescents taking antidepressants were at increased risk of developing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Research has shown that these warnings reduced the diagnosis and treatment of depression among young people. Now, a new study suggests that the warnings may also have contributed to an increase in suicide deaths among youth....

The paradox of Schrödinger’s cat – the feline that is, famously, both alive and dead until its box is opened – is the most widely known example of a recurrent problem in quantum mechanics: its dynamics seems to predict that macroscopic objects (like cats) can, sometimes, exist simultaneously in more than one completely distinct state. Many physicists have tried to solve this paradox over the years, but no approach has been universally accepted....

A study found that the gut microbes in a group of Tibetan Buddhist monks were significantly different from those of their non-monastic counterparts, and were associated with a reduced risk of anxiety, depression, and cardiovascular disease. Research shows that the gut microbiome can affect mood and behavior through the gut–brain axis. This includes the body’s immune response, hormonal signaling, stress response, and the vagus nerve—the main component of the parasympathetic nervous system, which oversees an array of crucial bodily functions....

As reported in the journal Nature Materials, they discovered that as the size of the catalytic particles shrinks below 100 nanometers the collection of excited positive charges (holes) becomes much more efficient than the collection of excited negative charges (electrons). This phenomenon prevents the excited positive and negative charges from recombining and thus increases the system’s efficiency. The discoveries pave the way for improved systems that utilize light to produce chemicals and fuels, such as splitting water to produce hydrogen gas or mixing carbon dioxide and water to produce carbon-based fuels or chemicals, said Shannon W....

Findings suggest drug has potential to reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. In adults with obesity or overweight, weekly treatment with the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1) receptor agonist semaglutide leads to reduced excess body fat and increased lean body mass, according to an industry-sponsored study presented virtually at ENDO 2021, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting. “Our findings suggest that semaglutide, through body weight loss and improvement of body composition, has the potential to reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke in people with overweight or obesity,” said lead researcher John Wilding, D....

Scientists from the Department of Physiology of the University of Granada (UGR) have shown that caffeine (about 3 mg/kg, the equivalent of a strong coffee) ingested half an hour before aerobic exercise significantly increases the rate of fat-burning. They also found that if the exercise is performed in the afternoon, the effects of the caffeine are more marked than in the morning. In their study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, the researchers aimed to determine whether caffeine—one of the most commonly-consumed ergogenic substances in the world to improve sports performance—actually does increase oxidation or “burning” of fat during exercise....

A new study, published in the journal Eating Behaviors, has found that over 1 in 5 adolescent boys and young adult men have engaged in “dry scooping,” a novel dietary phenomenon described as ingesting pre-workout powders without a liquid (i.e., the entire scoop in one shot without mixing with water as intended). “Dry scooping can have serious health effects, including issues with inhalation, cardiac abnormalities, and digestive issues,” says lead author Kyle T....

A massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia about 74,000 years ago likely caused severe climate disruption in many areas of the globe, but early human populations were sheltered from the worst effects, suggests a new study published in the journal PNAS. The eruption of the Toba volcano was the largest volcanic eruption in the past two million years, but its impacts on climate and human evolution have been unclear. Resolving this debate is important for understanding environmental changes during a key interval in human evolution....

Using thermal imaging, the researchers were able to non-invasively measure temperature changes in the faces of marmoset monkeys to quantify subtle emotional responses. “We were able to use this technique to show that the marmosets did not perceive the vocal interactions between conspecifics as the mere sum of the single call elements but rather perceived them holistically, as a conversation,” says first author Rahel Brügger, PhD candidate at the Department of Anthropology of the University of Zurich....

A new vaccine to protect against deadly cholera has been made by grinding up genetically modified grains of rice. The first human trial has shown no obvious side effects and a good immune response. Researchers based at the University of Tokyo and Chiba University have published the peer-reviewed results of the Phase 1 clinical trial of the vaccine, named MucoRice-CTB, in The Lancet Microbe. Vaccine manufacturing has made enormous strides in 2020, spurred on by COVID-19....

Put to the test, impact from rotational deceleration causes tremendous egg yolk deformation. What causes brain concussions? Is it direct translational or rotational impact? This is one of the research areas currently being explored by Qianhong Wu’s lab at Villanova University. Our brains consist of soft matter bathed in watery cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inside a hard skull. An impact on the hard skull is transmitted through the thin layer of CSF within the subarachnoid space to the soft brain matter....

This newly released image from the CRIRES instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope shows a giant cold spot on Jupiter, which is believed to be caused by the planet’s powerful aurorae. Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is a gigantic storm (so big it could engulf several Earths) that has been raging for centuries with winds blasting at over 600 kilometers per hour. But it has a rival: astronomers have discovered that Jupiter has a second Great Spot, this time a cold one....

ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured a remarkably detailed image of the Toby Jug Nebula, a cloud of gas and dust surrounding a red giant star. This view shows the characteristic arcing structure of the nebula, which, true to its name, does indeed look a little like a jug with a handle. Located about 1200 light-years from Earth in the southern constellation of Carina (The Ship’s Keel), the Toby Jug Nebula, more formally known as IC 2220, is an example of a reflection nebula....

The review, published online ahead of print in Schizophrenia Research, found an increase in the prevalence of psychosis as a result of COVID-19 would likely be associated with viral exposure, pre-existing vulnerability, and psychosocial stress. The review also suggested that people with psychosis may present a major challenge and potential infection control risk to clinical teams working with them. Orygen research fellow and co-lead author on the study, Dr. Ellie Brown looked at published research on viruses such as MERS, SARS, swine influenza and other influenzas that have occurred in the past 20 years, to examine if there was any connection to how these viruses might impact people with psychosis....

The results were recently published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science. “The more a liquid is stable, the more promising it is for habitability,” said co-corresponding author Baptiste Journaux, an acting assistant professor of Earth and space sciences at the UW. “Our results show that the cold, salty, high-pressure liquids found in the deep ocean of other planets’ moons can remain liquid to much cooler temperature than they would at lower pressures....

“Despite their youth, these far-flung blazars host some of the most massive black holes known,” said Roopesh Ojha, an astronomer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “That they developed so early in cosmic history challenges current ideas of how supermassive black holes form and grow, and we want to find more of these objects to help us better understand the process.” NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has discovered the five most distant gamma-ray blazars yet known....