A new cancer vaccine platform works by enhancing the ability of the immune system to recognize cancer by leveraging anti-viral memories it already has - due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the worst outbreak of the last 70 years.
Researchers are describing a long-awaited advance toward applying the marvels of nanotechnology in the battle against cancer. They have developed the first hollow gold nanospheres — smaller than the finest flecks of dust — that search out and "cook" cancer cells. The cancer-destroying nanospheres show particular promise as a minimally invasive future treatment for malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, the researchers say. Melanoma now causes more than 8,000 deaths annually in the United States alone and is on the increase globally.
Researchers in Canada are reporting that proteins found in a common garden pea show promise as a natural food additive or new dietary supplement for fighting high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Those potentially life-threatening conditions affect millions of people worldwide.The study was presented at the ACS meeting in Salt Lake City and says that peas can relieve symptoms of CKD naturally.Peas long have been recognized as nutritional superstars, with healthful amounts of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins wrapped in a low-fat, cholesterol-free package. The new research focuses on the yellow garden pea, a mainstay pea variety enjoyed as a veggie side-dish and used as an ingredient in dozens of recipes around the world.
Carbohydrates are tough molecules to build because of their complicated, branched structure. So instead of trying to build carbohydrates from scratch, scientists today use molecules isolated from nature, a painstaking process that could take months.Speaking at the ACS meeting in Salt Lake City, Peter H. Seeberger, Ph.D., described development of an automated carbohydrate synthesizer, a device that builds these intricate molecules in a few hours — rather than the months or years required with existing technology.
People have always been fascinated by bats, but mostly in their erratic flying and their bizarre habit of sleeping upside down. But landing with bad eyesight is not so easy either and a research team is the first to document the landing approaches of three species of bats — two that live in caves and one that roosts in trees. What they found was that bats landing are like people parallel parking their cars; we recognize it, but they don't all do it the same way.
Evolutionary theorist Alastair Clarke says eight patterns are the basis of all the humor that has ever been imagined or expressed, regardless of civilization, culture or personal taste. That's right, if you thought you heard that Seinfeld joke before, it's because it is part of your collective unconscious.Clarke has stated before that humor is based on the 'surprise' recognition of patterns but now he has gone further and identified the precise nature of the patterns involved, addressing the deceptively simple unit and context relationships at their foundation. His research goes on to demonstrate the universality of the theory by showing how these few basic patterns are recognized in more than a hundred different types of humor.
Researchers at the University of Florida have introduced 'Delicious', a new muscadine grape cultivar. 'Delicious' ripens early, produces high yields, and is disease-resistant. The black fruit features exceptional taste and texture with an edible skin, making it well-suited for fresh fruit consumption and the potential for wine production. The name 'Delicious' was selected based on the comments of vineyard visitors who sampled the fruit.
A new study published today in the journal Addiction shows that drinking alcohol is the greatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer. Heavy drinkers may be at increased risk due to exposure from multiple sources.
In the days of Columbus, dead men could tell no tales. Today, dead men can tell us a lot and science has just taken that forensic interrogation to new heights.A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison is extracting the details of the lives of crew members who remained on the island of Hispaniola after the second voyage of Christopher Columbus to America in 1493-94.
Scientists say they have detected giant twisting waves in the lower atmosphere of the Sun, shedding light on the mystery of the Sun's corona, the region around the Sun, extending more than one million kilometres from its surface, which has a vastly higher temperature than its surface. The findings of this investigation could help us understand more about the turbulent solar weather and its affect on our planet.The massive solar twists, known as Alfvén waves, were discovered in the lower atmosphere with the Swedish Solar Telescope in the Canary Islands by scientists from Queen's University Belfast, the University of Sheffield and California State University Northridge.
New research on the reporting of medical treatments in the Australian media showed slight improvements in accuracy but the overall quality of health reporting remained poor, says a study of more than 1,200 health news stories published by Australian media outlets. It found that over the past four years there was only small improvement in quality of coverage of the availability of new treatments, the potential harm of interventions and accurate analysis of any benefits.
If you're Scottish- or Irish-born, you are twice as likely as natives to die an alcohol-related death if you move to England or Wales; surprising because most people assume if they die in Wales it will be from a beer bottle smashed over their head at a Cardiff game rather than the alcohol itself.But it's not just a risk for natives of the British Isles; the research conducted by the University of Edinburgh and the Office for National Statistics also found that men born in India – but living in England and Wales – had similar rates of alcohol-related death as Scottish- and Irish-born people.
Tobacco isn't exactly famous for its health benefits, though the mental health effect of a Fonseca and a port after a nice steak is well-documented, but now scientists have succeeded in using genetically modified tobacco plants to produce medicines for several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, including diabetes.
