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But new research at the University of Kentucky shows that changes to mitochondria–the powerhouse of cells–drive chronic inflammation from cells exposed to certain types of fats, shattering the prevailing assumption that glucose was the culprit. Chronic inflammation fuels many of the devastating complications of type 2 diabetes, including cardiovascular, kidney, and periodontal diseases, and is thus one of the key targets for therapy development. This new data may enlighten the conversation about tight glycemic control as the dominant treatment goal for people with diabetes....

A new luminescent sensor can detect terbium, a valuable rare earth element, from complex environmental samples like acid mine waste. The sensor, developed by researchers at Penn State, takes advantage of a protein that very specifically binds to rare earth elements and could be harnessed to help develop a domestic supply of these metals, which are used in technologies such as smart phones, electric car batteries, and energy efficient lighting....

According to a recent survey, only 48% of individuals between the ages of 50 and 80 who use blood pressure medications or have a medical condition that is impacted by hypertension frequently monitor their blood pressure at home or elsewhere. A somewhat greater percentage — still only 62% — claim that they were advised to perform these tests by a healthcare professional. Respondents who reported that their providers had advised them to monitor their blood pressure at home were three and a half times more likely to do so than those who did not recollect receiving such advice....

How do we evaluate these risks and take the appropriate preventative measures? The answer comes from the results of the European project SUN (Sustainable Nanotechnologies Project), which has been given 13 million euros of funding from the European Commission. Over 100 scientists from 25 research institutions and industries in 12 different European Countries coordinated by the group of professor Antonio Marcomini from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice have completed one of the first attempts to understand the risks nanomaterials carry throughout their life cycle, starting from their fabrication and ending in being discarded or recycled....

Polyphenols are found naturally in black grapes, peanuts, berries, and red wine. They are aromatic compounds with bioactive properties, and include dyes, flavoring substances, and tannins. These phytochemicals are reputed to have a range of beneficial nutritional effects, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and are even in some cases said to help prevent cancer. Polyphenols can also have bactericidal effects, enabling them, for example, to inhibit tooth decay. It turns out, however, that these unusual chemicals can do even more: “We have synthesized azopolyphenols that can be switched between the cis and trans forms using ultraviolet light,” explains Felix Hartrampf from the Department of Chemistry at LMU....

A team led by Rebecca Nevin designed a computer program that scans through surveys of galaxies to look for a wide range of signs that a merger might be happening. That includes the shape of the resulting galaxies and how the stars inside are moving. The method could help scientists to identify hundreds or thousands more merging galaxies. That’s important, Nevin said, because such mergers may be an important step in the building of huge, spiral galaxies like the Milky Way and in kicking off the formation of new stars....

Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) have built a device for artificial intelligence that replicates the retina of the eye. The research might result in cutting-edge AI that can identify what it sees right away, such as automated descriptions of photos captured with a camera or a phone. The technology could also be used in robots and self-driving vehicles. The technology, which is described in a recent study published in the journal ACS Nano, also performs better than the eye in terms of the range of wavelengths it can perceive, from ultraviolet to visible light and on to the infrared spectrum....

Canadian researchers create method to measure severity of the pandemic virus. When COVID-19 attacks, the immune system produces a cytokine, or protein, called Interleukin-6 (IL-6), whose concentrations can offer vital information about a patient’s level and stage of infection. But measuring the critical marker has been extremely challenging, given its nearly undetectable presence in the biological stew that makes up human blood. Existing technology has not been accurate or sensitive enough to measure concentrations of IL-6 well enough to be reliable, especially in low concentrations....

Is this brain cell your ‘mind’s eye’? No one knows what connects awareness — the state of consciousness — with its contents, i.e. thoughts and experiences. Now researchers propose an elegant solution: a literal, structural connection. ‘Content circuits’ within the cortex are plugged into ‘switchboard circuits’ that allocate awareness, says the theory, via cortical cells called L5p neurons. Writing in Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, the group offers evidence — and caveats....

Now, a team of researchers at MIT and elsewhere has developed an ultrathin coating that is inexpensive, simple to apply, and can be removed by applying certain acids. The new coating could open up a wide variety of potential applications for these “fascinating” 2D materials, the researchers say. Their findings are reported this week in the journal PNAS, in a paper by MIT graduate student Cong Su; professors Ju Li, Jing Kong, Mircea Dinca, and Juejun Hu; and 13 others at MIT and in Australia, China, Denmark, Japan, and the U....

Whatever you do, don’t call them “mini-brains,” say scientists at University of Utah Health. Regardless of what they are called, the seed-sized organoids—which are grown from human cells in the lab—provide insights into the brain and uncover differences that may contribute to autism in some people. “We used to think it would be too difficult to model the organization of cells in the brain,” says Alex Shcheglovitov, PhD, assistant professor of neurobiology at U of U Health....

Bioengineering researchers at Lehigh University have identified a previously unknown interaction between receptors in human cells and the spike, or “S,” protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. This new information could aid in the development of new strategies to block SARS-CoV-2 entry into human cells. X. Frank Zhang and Wonpil Im knew from recent studies that the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors in human cells is stronger than the interaction between the structurally identical spike protein of SARS-CoV-1, the virus that caused the 2002-2004 SARS outbreak, and the same receptors....

In a study conducted by The University of Texas at Austin, researchers found that the oceans’ capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) would reach its maximum by 2100 and decrease to half of its current efficiency by 2300, based on a climate simulation that was configured for a worst-case emissions scenario. The decline happens because of the emergence of a surface layer of low-alkalinity water that hinders the ability of the oceans to absorb CO2....

So far, vaccination against influenza did not provide a lasting protection. The reason: Influenza viruses mutate very fast. Every year, new virus strains emerge against which previous vaccinations provide no or only limited protection. To avoid having to vaccinate against the flu every year, a research network consisting of the University of Konstanz, the University of Tübingen and Technische Universität Dresden is testing an alternative vaccination method. This new method aims at comprehensive protection against all known influenza mutations and thus is a promising candidate for reaching lasting immunity....

According to the researchers, who focused their analysis on southern New England, it had been previously estimated that a combination of prior infections and high vaccination rates had led to between 80 and 85 percent of southern New Englanders having immunity against SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) infection by the time the delta variant began to circulate in July 2021. But in their new study, the researchers found that the percentage of those immune was actually closer to 67 percent, leaving almost one-third of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts residents still fully susceptible to infection....

The scientists published their findings in the journal Science. It took another eight years to identify the 129,494 specimens, and to extrapolate that number to come up with a global estimate of 6 million species. This is the most comprehensive survey done in one small area of tropical rainforest, states Andrew Hamilton, an entomologist at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Arthropods have hard, jointed exoskeletons, and they include insects, arachnids and crustaceans....

Instead, people with chronic conditions, like diabetes, are turning to online resources that are more typically associated with gift shopping. They are scrolling through craigslist, browsing for second-hand goods on eBay, and searching social media message boards. Rather than toys and sweaters, they are looking for leads to medications and supplies like glucose strips for measuring blood sugar, and insulin, a drug they must take regularly to keep their blood sugar in control....

A study from scientists at Yale University examined the extent to which 91,000 individuals in 89 countries on five continents detected recent changes in average local temperatures, finding that public opinion of climate change may shift in response to the personal experience of climate change. Human beings around the world are observing and accurately detecting changes in their local climates, according to a new study led by Yale University researchers....

UMass Amherst researchers develop powerful new memory-compacting system: Introducing ‘mesh,’ memory-saving plug-in to boost phone and computer performance. Applications like web browsers or smartphone apps often use a lot of memory. To address this, a research group co-led by Emery Berger, a professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has developed a system they call Mesh that can automatically reduce such memory demands. Berger is presenting this work today at Cppcon, the C++ conference in Aurora, Colorado....

In the world of the very tiny, perfection is rare: virtually all materials have defects on the atomic level. These imperfections — missing atoms, atoms of one type swapped for another, and misaligned atoms — can uniquely determine a material’s properties and function. Now, UCLA physicists and collaborators have mapped the coordinates of more than 23,000 individual atoms in a tiny iron-platinum nanoparticle to reveal the material’s defects. The results demonstrate that the positions of tens of thousands of atoms can be precisely identified and then fed into quantum mechanics calculations to correlate imperfections and defects with material properties at the single-atom level....