Research

In an update on the matter this week, officials with the CDC stated that China's current coronavirus outbreak has been linked to the illegal sale of wildlife at a market in Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of the virus is currently taking place. A new study published in the Journal of Medical Virology has shed light on the potential origins of this virus, revealing that it may have been transmitted to humans from snakes.

Continue Reading

A total of four new species of tropical walking sharks were reported this week off northern Australia. These sharks aren't new - they've been in the murky depths for a while now - but they've not been uniquely identified to the public until now. Through this research, it's become apparent that new species of shark are appearing thanks to their ancestors moving away from their original home, then finding future generations evolving to fit their new, unique environment.

Continue Reading

Scientists say that the Earth has about 190 major meteor craters on its surface. Despite having so many impact craters, scientists only know the age of a few of them. A team of scientists recently studied the Yarrabubba meteor crater in Australia and were able to determine that the crater was 2.229 billion years old.

Continue Reading

Researchers from Flinders University have discovered what they call a long-hidden metabolic system in cells. The team says that the discovery could lead to new strategies for cancer treatments in the future. The metabolic system they have discovered is from more than 350 million years ago.

Continue Reading

When it comes to diagnosing medical issues in the GI tract, there are a variety of devices that can be inserted into the GI tract. Many of those devices require endoscopic surgery when they need to be removed. Engineers at MIT have come up with a way to trigger this sort of device to break down inside the body when exposed to light from an ingestible LED.

Continue Reading

Another study investigating the effects of dairy on human health and aging has found that swapping typical 2-percent milk for the lower-fat 1-percent milk has a noticeable positive impact on one's rate of aging. The study joins an existing body of research on dairy and its potential impact on everything from acne to aging and the development of cancer.

Continue Reading

One of the significant challenges for putting humans for long durations on the Moon or other planets is in getting enough breathable air. ESA scientists have begun to produce oxygen out of simulated moondust. A prototype oxygen plant has been set up in the Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory of the European Space Research and Technology Center in the Netherlands.

Continue Reading

Caltech scientists have invented an ultrafast camera that is capable of taking 1 trillion frames per second of transparent objects. The invention comes after the university created a camera so fast that it could capture light in slow motion about a decade ago. The camera is called phase-sensitive compressed ultrafast photography or pCUP.

Continue Reading

Though you may not purchase the oil directly, soybean oil is likely a common element in your diet. This oil is popularly used in processed and premade foods, by restaurants and fast food companies, and more. This same oil has been linked to a large number of health issues in a new study from the University of California, Riverside, beyond insulin resistance and diabetes.

Continue Reading

Researchers from Penn State University, along with researchers from Northeastern University, have announced that they have developed a highly sensitive, wearable gas sensor for environmental and human health monitoring. The researchers believe that the wearable sensor may soon become commercially available. The new sensor is an improvement on existing wearable sensors thanks to its self-heating mechanism that enhances sensitivity.

Continue Reading

Researchers at Stanford University have been looking into exactly how birds can maintain controlled flight by changing the shape of their wings. For their study, they invented a robot called PigeonBot that has a pair of "biohybrid morphing wings." The robot is being used to test out new control principles. One of the most interesting aspects of the PigeonBot is that the scientists fitted the flying robot with real bird feathers.

Continue Reading

Astronomers from the UCLA Galactic Center Orbits Initiative have discovered a new class of objects that are orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. That black hole is called Sagittarius A, and the team says that the bizarre objects look like gas and behave like stars.

Continue Reading