‘Dancing molecules’ successfully repair severe spinal cord injuries

Northwestern University researchers have developed a new injectable therapy that harnesses “dancing molecules” to reverse paralysis and repair tissue after severe spinal cord injuries. In a new study, researchers administered a single injection to tissues surrounding the spinal cords of paralyzed mice. Just four weeks later, the animals regained the ability to walk. By sending […]

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Orbital harmony limits late arrival of water on TRAPPIST-1 planets

Seven Earth-sized planets orbit the star TRAPPIST-1 in near-perfect harmony, and U.S. and European researchers have used that harmony to determine how much physical abuse the planets could have withstood in their infancy. “After rocky planets form, things bash into them,” said astrophysicist Sean Raymond of the University of Bordeaux in France. “It’s called bombardment, […]

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Carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon are confirmed for the first time

After decades of uncertainty, researchers have confirmed the existence of lunar carbon dioxide cold traps that could potentially contain solid carbon dioxide. The discovery will likely have a major influence in shaping future lunar missions and could impact the feasibility of a sustained robot or human presence on the moon. In the permanently shadowed regions […]

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Using mechanical tools improves our language skills, study finds

Our ability to understand the syntax of complex sentences is one of the most difficult language skills to acquire. In 2019, research had revealed a correlation between being particularly proficient in tool use and having good syntactic ability. A new study, by researchers from Inserm, CNRS, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and Université Lumière Lyon […]

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Xi grants top science award to aircraft designer, nuclear expert

Beijing: President Xi Jinping this week presented China’s top science award to aircraft designer Gu Songfen and nuclear expert Wang Dazhong for their outstanding contributions to scientific and technological innovation. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, awarded the medals and certificates at […]

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Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions

Cutting 20% of sugar from packaged foods and 40% from beverages could prevent 2.48 million cardiovascular disease events (such as strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrests), 490,000 cardiovascular deaths, and 750,000 diabetes cases in the U.S. over the lifetime of the adult population, according to micro-simulation study published in Circulation. A team of researchers from Massachusetts […]

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Infant planet discovered

One of the youngest planets ever found around a distant infant star has been discovered by an international team of scientists led by University of Hawaii at Manoa faculty, students, and alumni. Thousands of planets have been discovered around other stars, but what sets this one apart is that it is newly-formed and can be […]

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Species of gut bacteria linked to enhanced cognition and language skills in infant boys

Infant boys with a higher composition of a particular gut microbiota show enhanced neurodevelopment, according to a new study. The University of Alberta-led research followed more than 400 infants from the CHILD Cohort Study (CHILD) at its Edmonton site. Boys with a gut bacterial composition that was high in the bacteria Bacteroidetes at one year […]

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Did Venus ever have oceans?

The planet Venus can be seen as the Earth’s evil twin. At first sight, it is of comparable mass and size as our home planet, similarly consists mostly of rocky material, holds some water and has an atmosphere. Yet, a closer look reveals striking differences between them: Venus’ thick CO2 atmosphere, extreme surface temperature and […]

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Chinese pride built on national strength as Shenzhou-13 mission reshapes world’s view on China

Hu Xijin The three taikonauts onboard the Shenzhou-13 spaceship entered China’s space station core module Tianhe on Saturday. The entire nation was watching and felt a shared sense of national pride. One after another, the country’s major achievements are reshaping the feeling of being a Chinese. The latest off-world success is another showcase of China’s […]

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‘Mini psyches’ give insights into mysterious metal-rich near-earth asteroids

Metal-rich near-Earth asteroids, or NEAs, are rare, but their presence provides the intriguing possibility that iron, nickel and cobalt could someday be mined for use on Earth or in Space. New research, published in the Planetary Science Journal, investigated two metal-rich asteroids in our own cosmic backyard to learn more about their origins, compositions and […]

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Russia far ahead of competitors in development of nuclear space energy: Putin

Sochi: Russia is 6-7 years ahead of its competitors in development of unique nuclear power energy technologies for space, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting on development of the space industry. “We have made a significant progress in development of unique space nuclear energy technologies. According to specialists, Russia is 6-7 years ahead […]

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Have we detected dark energy? Scientists say it’s a possibility

Dark energy, the mysterious force that causes the universe to accelerate, may have been responsible for unexpected results from the XENON1T experiment, deep below Italy’s Apennine Mountains. A new study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge and reported in the journal Physical Review D, suggests that some unexplained results from the XENON1T experiment […]

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Australian wildfires triggered massive algal blooms in Southern Ocean

Clouds of smoke and ash from wildfires that ravaged Australia in 2019 and 2020 triggered widespread algal blooms in the Southern Ocean thousands of miles downwind to the east, a new Duke University-led study by an international team of scientists finds. The peer-reviewed study, published September 15 in Nature, is the first to conclusively link […]

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Reforestation could help save coral reefs from catastrophe

Increasing reforestation efforts in coastal regions could substantially reduce the amount of sediment run-off reaching coral reefs and improve their resilience, a University of Queensland-led study has found. The study analysed more than 5,500 coastal areas from around the world and found that nearly 85 per cent of them leached sediment to coral reefs, the […]

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A possible new pathway for treating epileptic seizures in patients with autism

Autism affects about 2% of children in the United States, and about 30% of these children have seizures. Recent large-scale genetic studies revealed that genetic variants in a sodium channel, called voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.2, is a leading cause of autism. Overactive sodium channels in the neuron cause seizures. Doctors often treat seizures by giving […]

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