When cells are exposed to ionizing radiation, more destructive chain reactions may occur than previously thought. An international team led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg has for the first time observed intermolecular Coulombic decay in organic molecules. This is triggered by ionizing radiation such as from radioactivity or […]

The Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infects the kidneys and contributes to tissue scarring, as shown by researchers from the RWTH Uniklinik Aachen, Germany, and Radboudumc, The Netherlands. The developed scar tissue in the infected kidneys may suggest a possible impact on kidney outcomes in the long term. The fact that the Coronavirus can result in severe damage […]

Americans 65 years and older have much better hearing than their counterparts nearly a decade ago, according to a recent study published in Aging and Health Research. In 2008, 16.3% of older adults in the United States reported serious hearing loss. In 2017, the prevalence had declined to 14.8%. While this decline appears small, if the […]

Roughly one-third of Finns carry the APOE4 allele, a genetic variant that predisposes carriers to Alzheimer’s disease. Globally, researchers have reported observations that show a link between APOE4 and COVID-19, both in terms of increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 mortality. Now, a research group at the University of Helsinki and the Helsinki University […]

Life is teeming nearly everywhere in the oceans, except in certain pockets where oxygen naturally plummets and waters become unlivable for most aerobic organisms. These desolate pools are “oxygen-deficient zones,” or ODZs. And though they make up less than 1 percent of the ocean’s total volume, they are a significant source of nitrous oxide, a […]

Cambridge scientists have identified a key signal that the fetus uses to control its supply of nutrients from the placenta, revealing a tug-of-war between genes inherited from the father and from the mother. The study, carried out in mice, could help explain why some babies grow poorly in the womb. As the fetus grows, it […]

While fighting food waste is a year-round mission, it’s more important than ever around the holidays. This is something to consider during this year’s festivities, typically known for an abundance of food. Across Europe, holidays have become synonymous with overeating and food waste. While celebrations are marked with a glut of festive fare, latest reports […]

Christmas Trilogy 2021 Part 3: Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater  From the beginning of European astronomy, sometime during the third millennium BCE in the Fertile Crescent, all the way down to the middle of the seventeenth century CE, nearly all active astronomers were practicing astrologers. In the Early Modern Period almost without […]

The acolytes of Ada Lovelace are big fans of Sydney Padua’s comic book, The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage (Penguin, 2015). One can not deny Padua’s talent as a graphic artist, but her largely warped (she claims mostly true) account of their relationship is based on heavy quote mining and even distortion of quotes to make Lovelace […]

Some time back, it seemed that several times a year someone would post an article or a blog post on the Internet along the lines of, “Shock! Horror! Outrage! did you know that Isaac Newton was a practicing alchemist?” All the historians of science, who know their Newton, would shrug their shoulders, and quietly repeat, […]