Wednesday 19 June 2019

Delayed Kentucky internet project faces new squirrel setback

A project that would bring high-speed internet across Kentucky will be delayed because company representatives say an "abundance" of squirrels have chewed through wiring.

* This article was originally published here

Toward artificial intelligence that learns to write code

Learning to code involves recognizing how to structure a program, and how to fill in every last detail correctly. No wonder it can be so frustrating.

* This article was originally published here

Stabilizing nations' food production through crop diversity

With increasing demand for food from the planet's growing population and climate change threatening the stability of food systems across the world, University of Minnesota research examined how the diversity of crops at the national level could increase the harvest stability of all crops in a nation.

* This article was originally published here

Frog protein may mitigate dangers posed by toxic marine microbes

A new study from UC San Francisco suggests that a protein found in the common bullfrog may one day be used to detect and neutralize a poisonous compound produced by red tides and other harmful algal blooms. The discovery comes as these waterborne toxic events are becoming increasingly common, a consequence of climate change making the world's oceans more hospitable to the microbes responsible for these formerly infrequent flare-ups.

* This article was originally published here

Overcoming PTSD: Study reveals memory disruption drug target

Fight or flight, panic, trembling: Our brains are wired to ensure we respond instantly to fear. While that fear response may save our lives in the dangerous moment, at times people stay on high alert long after the threat has passed, and develop post-traumatic stress disorder.

* This article was originally published here

Patients of surgeons with unprofessional behavior more likely to suffer complications

Patients of surgeons with higher numbers of reports from co-workers about unprofessional behavior are significantly more likely to experience complications during or after their operations, researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) reported today in JAMA Surgery.

* This article was originally published here

Synthetic joint lubricant holds promise for osteoarthritis

A new type of treatment for osteoarthritis, currently in canine clinical trials, shows promise for eventual use in humans.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers see around corners to detect object shapes

Computer vision researchers have demonstrated they can use special light sources and sensors to see around corners or through gauzy filters, enabling them to reconstruct the shapes of unseen objects.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers develop new method to evaluate artificial heart valves

Researchers at Concordia have devised a technique to detect obstructions in a type of mechanical heart valve they believe will contribute to safer follow-up methods for cardiologists and their patients.

* This article was originally published here

How much work brings happiness? Not much, study shows

Having a job can be a boon to mental well-being, but for many of us, it only takes one day of work per week, a new study suggests.

* This article was originally published here

Motherhood can deliver body image boost—new study

New research indicates that perfectionism is related to breast size dissatisfaction, but only in non-mothers—suggesting that mothers are more comfortable with their bodies.

* This article was originally published here

Study: How arousal impacts physiological synchrony in relationships

A team of researchers led by a member of the Colorado School of Public Health faculty at the Anschutz Medical Campus examined what type of social interaction is required for people to display physiological synchrony—mutual changes in autonomic nervous system activity. The study also looked at whether the levels of autonomic arousal people share predicts affiliation and friendship interest between people.

* This article was originally published here

Brain anatomy links cognitive and perceptual symptoms in autism

Neuroscientists at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science (CBS) and University College London have found an anatomical link between cognitive and perceptual symptoms in autism. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study identified a posterior region of the brain whose amount of gray matter is related to both cognitive rigidity and overly stable visual perception, two symptoms of autism that until now were only conceptually related.

* This article was originally published here

Research demonstrating the importance of exercise in cancer care

Research at Northumbria University, Newcastle is investigating the important role that structured exercise programmes can play in living with and beyond cancer.

* This article was originally published here

US preschoolers less pudgy in latest sign of falling obesity

Preschoolers on government food aid have grown a little less pudgy, a U.S. study found, offering fresh evidence that previous signs of declining obesity rates weren't a fluke.

* This article was originally published here

Skinflow: A soft robotic skin based on liquid transmission

Researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and the University of Bristol have recently developed a new soft robotic skin-like sensor that is based on fluidic transmission. This sensor, presented at the second IEEE International Conference on Soft Robotics (RoboSoft), could have interesting applications in a variety of fields, ranging from robotics to virtual reality (VR).

* This article was originally published here

Size matters: New data reveals cell size sparks genome awakening in embryos

Transitions are a hallmark of life. When dormant plants flower in the spring or when a young adult strikes out on their own, there is a shift in control. Similarly, there is a transition during early development when an embryo undergoes biochemical changes, switching from being controlled by maternal molecules to being governed by its own genome. For the first time, a team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found in an embryo that activation of its genome does not happen all at once, instead it follows a specific pattern controlled primarily by the various sizes of its cells. The researchers published their results this week as the cover story in Developmental Cell.

* This article was originally published here