Modern humans (Homo Sapiens) and Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) may have co-existed in Europe for as long as 5,000 to 6,000 years before Neanderthals became extinct, according to recently uncovered fossil evidence. However, there is currently little evidence for their co-existence at a regional level. Moreover, it is difficult to establish when the two species first appeared and disappeared in these areas. In the new study, Igor Djakovic and colleagues analyzed a dataset of 56 Neanderthal and modern human artifacts (28 for each group) from seventeen archaeological sites across France and northern Spain, as well as an additional ten Neanderthal specimens from the same region....

The researchers from the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute at the University of Cambridge discovered that blocking the NALCN protein’s activity in mice with cancer cells triggers metastasis. The study, which was recently published in the journal Nature Genetics, also found that this process is not just present in cancer. Unexpectedly, when NALCN was removed from mice that did not have cancer, the healthy cells in those animals began to migrate out from their original tissue and join with other organs....

With an economic value of $9 billion annually in the United States, alfalfa is the most valuable crop behind corn and soybeans. Because of its high nutritional content, alfalfa is a common feed source for farm animals like cattle, horses, sheep, and goats. So, understanding this relationship between alfalfa and potassium is a worthwhile goal. “Potassium plays a role in many processes within an alfalfa plant,” says Jacob Jungers, a researcher at the University of Minnesota....

Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen over 314 million infections and over 5.5 million deaths worldwide. Approximately 60% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But there is still a glaring and alarming gap in global access to these vaccines. As a virologist who has followed this pandemic closely, I contend that this vaccine inequity should be of grave concern to everyone....

A modeling study raises concerns about how far respiratory droplets may travel before becoming harmless, such as those that transmit the virus that causes COVID-19. Is it possible for virus-carrying airborne particles to stay infectious for more than 200 feet, or more than the length of a hockey rink? Experiments going back to the 1930s suggested that respiratory droplets, such as those produced by a sneeze or cough, have two paths....

A new project, Solar Protocol, developed by a team of researchers at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, aims both to spotlight how this transglobal trafficking of data through the web is a major consumer of energy and driver of climate change, and to offer a potential solution. On Tuesday, March 15, 2022, the project, initially supported by the Eyebeam Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future program, and the Code for Science & Society Digital Infrastructure Incubator, receives the Mozilla Creative Media Award from Mozilla, which supports internet health through development of open-source technologies in such areas as online privacy, inclusion and decentralization....

New research reveals that tinnitus, a common condition that causes the perception of noise in the ear and head, is being exacerbated by COVID-19 — as well as the measures helping to keep us safe. The study of 3,103 people with tinnitus was led by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), with support from the British Tinnitus Association and the American Tinnitus Association. The study involved participants from 48 countries, with the vast majority coming from the UK and the US....

Researchers at the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai conducted a new data analysis and found that deaths from heart attacks rose significantly during pandemic surges, including the COVID-19 Omicron surges, overall reversing a heart-healthier pre-pandemic trend. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, heart attacks were the leading cause of death worldwide but were steadily on the decline. However, the new study reveals that heart attack death rates took a sharp turn and increased for all age groups during the pandemic....

A new research published in ARRS’ American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) shows that axillary lymphadenopathy detected by breast ultrasonography following COVID-19 mRNA vaccination lasts longer than reported in initial vaccine clinical trials. “The prolonged resolution time supports a follow-up interval of at least 12 weeks for suspected vaccine-related lymphadenopathy and avoidance of delaying screening mammography after vaccination,” wrote corresponding author Michele B. Drotman, MD. Drotman and the Weill Cornell Medicine team extracted health record data from 111 patients (mean age, 52 years) with unilateral axillary lymphadenopathy ipsilateral to Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine administration—performed within 8 weeks prior and detected on breast ultrasound (January 1-October 1, 2021) who underwent follow-up ultrasound examinations at 4-12 weeks....

The subsequent cooling of the planet from this molten state, and the crystallization of these magma oceans into solid rock, was a defining stage in the assembly of our planet’s structure, the chemistry of its surface, and the formation of its early atmosphere. These primeval rocks, containing clues that might explain Earth’s habitability, were assumed to have been lost to the ravages of plate tectonics. But now, my team has discovered the chemical remnants of Earth’s magma oceans in 3....

— NASA InSight (@NASAInSight) December 19, 2022 This was followed by a Tweet from the NASA JPL Twitter handle that reported that on December 18, the InSight Mars Lander “did not respond to communications from Earth.” — NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) December 20, 2022 NASA’s Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) mission launched on May 5, 2018, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. After a 300-million-mile journey to Mars, InSIght touched down on the Red Planet near the equator on the western side of a flat, smooth expanse of lava called Elysium Planitia on November 26....

In fact, research has suggested that potatoes may have a negative impact on health, including an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. However, new Edith Cowan University (ECU) research has shown while spuds may not have all the same benefits as some other vegetables — such as lowering the risk of Type 2 diabetes — health issues associated with potatoes may actually be due to how people are preparing them and what they’re eating them with....

A drop of food coloring slowly spreading in a glass of water is driven by a process known as diffusion. While the mathematics of diffusion have been known for many years, how this process works in living organisms is not as well understood. Now, a study published in Nature Communications provides new insights on the process of diffusion in complex systems. The result of a collaboration between physicists at Penn, the University of Chile, and Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, this new theoretical framework has broad implications for active surfaces, such as ones found in biofilms, active coatings, and even mechanisms for pathogen clearance....

The disinfection system is similar in size to a desktop computer and can be placed in any space, such as a room or car, to disinfect surfaces in the room using cold atmospheric plasma. “We’re developing systems based on our patented cold atmospheric plasma generating technology. Broadly speaking, we subject the surrounding air to a very strong electrical field, pulling electrons from the neutral particles in the air and forming ions....

Researchers at Duke University have discovered a way to enhance the effectiveness and safety of sonogenetics or ultrasonic modulation, emerging techniques that use sound waves to control the behavior of individual neurons or to promote tissue growth and wound healing in other cells. Ultrasonic therapy often uses targeted ultrasound waves to create cavitation bubbles—tiny balloons of rapidly oscillating air pockets that stretch nearby cell membranes when they burst. This stretching can activate calcium ion channels, causing a neuron to fire, or can signal the body’s repair mechanisms to crank into overdrive....

Whereas ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) can observe very faint astronomical objects in great detail, when astronomers want to understand how the huge variety of galaxies come into being they must turn to a different sort of telescope with a much bigger field of view. The VLT Survey Telescope (VST) is such a telescope. It was designed to explore vast swathes of the pristine Chilean night skies, offering astronomers detailed astronomical surveys of the southern hemisphere....

In addition to keeping tabs on products throughout a supply chain, RFID tags are used to trace everything from casino chips and cattle to amusement park visitors and marathon runners. The Auto-ID Lab at MIT has long been at the forefront of developing RFID technology. Now engineers in this group are flipping the technology toward a new function: sensing. They have developed a new ultra-high-frequency, or UHF, RFID tag-sensor configuration that senses spikes in glucose and wirelessly transmits this information....

This object, called AS 205, is notable for being a multiple star system, one of two such systems imaged by DSHARP (the other being HT Lup). While two discs are discernible here, the lower right disc is in fact shared by two stars in a binary system, so we are actually looking at a system of three fledgling stars. Although most high-resolution studies have so far focused on single stars, multiple systems are far from uncommon in the Universe....

Drinking a daily cup of tea could have potential benefits for your health as you age, but even if you’re not a tea drinker, you can still reap the benefits of flavonoids through other dietary options. Flavonoids are naturally occurring substances found in many common foods and drinks such as black and green tea, apples, nuts, citrus fruits, berries, and more. Flavonoids have long been recognized for their health benefits, but new research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) suggests they may be even more beneficial than previously believed....

A paper published by Paul Fidel, Jr., PhD, Professor and Director of the Center of Excellence in Oral and Craniofacial Biology and Associate Dean for Research at LSU Health New Orleans School of Dentistry, and Mairi Noverr, PhD, Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, suggests that live attenuated vaccines such as MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) may prevent the severe lung inflammation and sepsis associated with COVID-19 infection....