Earliest evidence yet of huge hippos in Britain

Palaeobiologists have unearthed the earliest evidence yet of hippos in the UK. Excavations at Westbury Cave in Somerset, led by University of Leicester PhD student Neil Adams, uncovered a million-year-old hippo tooth which shows the animal roamed Britain much earlier than previously thought. In a new study published in the Journal of Quaternary Science and co-authored with […]

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Depression rates tripled and symptoms intensified during first year of COVID-19

Depression among US adults persisted—and worsened—throughout the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study by Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). Published in the journal The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, the first-of-its-kind study found that 32.8% of US adults experienced elevated depressive symptoms in 2021, compared to 27.8% of adults […]

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A lot of plastic debris is currently floating in the Mediterranean Sea

A team of researchers has developed a model to track the pathways and fate of plastic debris from land-based sources in the Mediterranean Sea. They show that plastic debris can be observed across the Mediterranean, from beaches and surface waters to seafloors, and estimate that around 3,760 metric tons of plastics are currently floating in […]

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Glycerin is safe, effective in psoriasis model

Patients with psoriasis have reported that glycerin, an inexpensive, harmless, slightly sweet liquid high on the list of ingredients in many skin lotions, is effective at combatting their psoriasis and now scientists have objective evidence to support their reports. They found that whether applied topically or ingested in drinking water, glycerin, or glycerol, helps calm […]

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Intestinal drug shown to boost memory and cognition

The development of drugs to treat cognitive problems in patients with mental illness may be a step closer after a team of researchers discovered that an existing drug – used to treat constipation – may be able to boost our ability to think more clearly. Severe psychiatric disorders can have a devastating impact on a […]

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David Julius ’77 shares the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine

David Julius, a 1977 graduate of MIT, will share the 2021 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced this morning in Stockholm. Julius, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco, shares the prize with Ardem Patapoutian, a professor at the Scripps Research Institute, for their discoveries […]

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Science behind sense of touch and temperature wins medicine Nobel prize

The 2021 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine has been shared by two US-based researchers whose work helps to explain our sense of touch and ability to perceive temperature. David Julius from the University of California, San Francisco, and Ardem Patapoutian of the Scripps Research institute in La Jolla, California, have been recognised by the […]

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Record NMR shift in metal-bound phosphorus

A phosphorus nuclear magnetic resonance shift beyond –10,000ppm has been discovered, setting a record in solution NMR spectroscopy. The extreme resonance frequency comes from two phosphorus atoms directly bound to iron in a metal complex. It is, in fact, the same complex that was found to have a record proton NMR shift a few years […]

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Quenching the world’s thirst with off-grid water desalination

Desalination is the answer to long-term water security, but it’s also expensive and energy-intensive. The good news is that scientists are developing some viable solutions. The first desalination plant in Europe was built in Spain nearly a half century ago. Since then, facilities have sprung up in water-stressed regions throughout Europe. Just a few years […]

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For campus “porosity hunters,” climate resilience is the goal

At MIT, it’s not uncommon to see groups navigating campus with smartphones and measuring devices in hand, using the Institute as a test bed for research. During one week this summer more than a dozen students, researchers, and faculty, plus an altimeter, could be seen doing just that as they traveled across MIT to measure […]

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