Deaths involving alcohol use disorder increased dramatically during the pandemic, according to a new study by Cedars-Sinai investigators. The study also found that young adults 25 to 44 years old experienced the steepest upward trend in alcohol use disorder mortality. In the study, published this month in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network Open, investigators used predictive modeling […]

Ultra-powerful 7T MRI scanners could be used to help identify those patients with Parkinson’s disease and similar conditions most likely to benefit from new treatments for previously-untreatable symptoms, say scientists. Both Parkinson’s disease and a related disorder, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), are progressive brain diseases that not only affect movement but also damage motivation and cognition. These […]

Once upon a time, all life on Earth was alien. But eventually, strange single-celled organisms thriving on a harsh planet gave way to complex, multicellular organisms made up of the basic building blocks we associate with life today, including carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. Announced by NASA today, a new collaboration of astrobiology researchers across the […]

A mathematical model that describes how cells change their shape during movement suggests that the movement is mainly driven by the contraction of the skeletal proteins, called “myosin.” The new model developed at Penn State can help researchers to better understand the various biological processes where cellular movement plays a key role and also could […]

In June 2021, the EU’s Group of chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA) published the Scientific Opinion entitled “A systemic approach to the energy transition in Europe”, arguing that the clean energy transition in the European Green Deal must keep people at its centre. In light of tomorrow’s RePowerEU announcement that is critical to the future of […]

No one likes sitting at a red light. But signalized intersections aren’t just a minor nuisance for drivers; vehicles consume fuel and emit greenhouse gases while waiting for the light to change. What if motorists could time their trips so they arrive at the intersection when the light is green? While that might be just […]

Irwin Schrödinger described his Cat Paradox in 1935. You’ve heard the gist described in many ways. In quantum mechanics, if something is possible and something else is possible, it is always possible for the something and something else to exist in superposition. An object can be in two places at once. A proton can be spinning clockwise […]

Exercise increases levels of a chemical involved in brain cell growth, which bolsters the release of the “feel good” hormone dopamine, a new study shows. Dopamine is known to play a key role in movement, motivation, and learning. Experts have long understood that regular running raises dopamine activity in the brain and may protect nerve […]

In deeply decarbonized energy systems utilizing high penetrations of variable renewable energy (VRE), energy storage is needed to keep the lights on and the electricity flowing when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing — when generation from these VRE resources is low or demand is high. The MIT Energy Initiative’s Future of […]

You may be familiar with direct air capture, or DAC, in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere in an effort to slow the effects of climate change. Now a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has proposed a scheme for direct ocean capture. Removing CO2 from the oceans will enable them to […]