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Life Sciences - Health - 18.09.2023

Larger brain area for language
Language is one aspect that makes us human. The ability to produce an infinite number of utterances based on the words in the mental lexicon and a small number of syntactic rules is unique to humans. Other animals can learn words or calls and communicate, but the language ability of humans is unique.

Health - Life Sciences - 18.09.2023

Autoimmune diseases: Protein discovered as potential new target for therapies
Autoimmune diseases are complex conditions whose causes are diverse and have not been fully elucidated to date. A research team at MedUni Vienna has now discovered an immunoregulatory protein that could be linked to the development of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. -Rinl- is the name of the identified building block of the immune system, which may provide a new starting point for the development of immunomodulatory therapies.

Life Sciences - Computer Science - 18.09.2023

Evolution wired human brains to act like supercomputers
Now, scientists have a mathematical model that closely matches how the human brain processes visual information Scientists have confirmed that human brains are naturally wired to perform advanced calculations, much like a high-powered computer, to make sense of the world through a process known as Bayesian inference.

Life Sciences - 18.09.2023

Branching Out: Modeling Neurons in New Ways
Nothing is easy to predict, especially not the development of organisms. However, predicting neuron cell growth just got a little bit easier, thanks to CMU researchers. Jessica Zhang, a professor of mechanical engineering , and students in the Computational Bio-Modeling Lab created a computational model that could predict, with 97.7% accuracy, the different stages of how rodent neuron cells would grow in vitro.

Environment - Life Sciences - 18.09.2023

Gauging the key role animals can play in monitoring climate change
Increased tagging of fish, seals, birds, and other animals can help fill key data gaps in understanding the world's changing climate, Yale scientists say. The world's scientists rely on an elaborate network of satellites, ocean buoys, weather stations, balloons, and other technologies to help predict the weather and assess the global effects of climate change on terrestrial landscapes, oceans, and the atmosphere.

Life Sciences - 15.09.2023

How Ribosome Production and Cell Proliferation Rate Are Linked
Ribosomes are the nanomachines of the cell. They act as protein factories for the organism, producing vital proteins with various tasks. Correct ribosomal formation is therefore of elementary importance in cell division and propagation. As biochemist Ed Hurt explains, scientists first observed about 20 years ago that cancer cell division could be inhibited by blocking the production of new ribosomes.

Health - Life Sciences - 15.09.2023

Glow-in-the-dark at the general practitioner
Eva van Aalen defended her PhD thesis at the Department of Biomedical Engineering on September 15th. TU/e researcher Eva van Aalen has developed a glow-in-the-dark test that can make disease diagnosis by general practitioners or in hospitals faster. This test could potentially also be used by patients at home, for example to monitor the concentration of certain drugs in the body.

Life Sciences - Health - 15.09.2023

Study decodes surprising approach mice take in learning
In a simple game that humans typically ace, mice learn the winning strategy, too, but refuse to commit to it, new research shows. Neuroscience discoveries ranging from the nature of memory to treatments for disease have depended on reading the minds of mice, so researchers need to truly understand what the rodents' behavior is telling them during experiments.

Life Sciences - Health - 14.09.2023

Breakthrough way to train neuromorphic chips
Using a biosensor to detect cystic fibrosis as the test case, TU/e researchers have devised an innovative way to train neuromorphic chips as presented in a new paper in Nature Electronics. Neuromorphic computers - which are based on the structure of the human brain - could revolutionize our future healthcare devices.

Health - Life Sciences - 14.09.2023

A pose-mapping technique could remotely evaluate patients with cerebral palsy
The machine-learning method works on most mobile devices and could be expanded to assess other motor disorders outside of the doctor's office. It can be a hassle to get to the doctor's office. And the task can be especially challenging for parents of children with motor disorders such as cerebral palsy, as a clinician must evaluate the child in person on a regular basis, often for an hour at a time.

Life Sciences - Chemistry - 13.09.2023

A human model for autism
The CRISPR-Cas gene scissors enable researchers to study the genetic and cellular causes of autism in the lab - directly on human tissue. How does autism develop? Which genes and cells in the human brain contribute to it? A new brain organoid model allows researchers from the Department of Biosystems at ETH Zurich in Basel and colleagues from Vienna to investigate these questions in human cells.

Life Sciences - Environment - 13.09.2023

Optimized cacao pollination for higher yields
How can the cultivation of cacao be improved by using the right pollination technique? This has now been investigated by a research team including Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter's Department of Animal Ecology and Tropical Biology. The success of cacao cultivation depends to a large extent on functioning pollination.

Life Sciences - 13.09.2023

Why new mothers are more likely to see faces in everyday objects
A University of Queensland study has found women who've just had a baby are much more likely to see faces in everyday objects than other women. Dr Jessica Taubert from UQ's School of Psychology led research to determine if face pareidolia - perceiving a facial structure on an otherwise lifeless object - was any more common in new mothers, compared to other women.

Life Sciences - Health - 12.09.2023

Reducing the population of the Asian tiger mosquito in Valencia by inoculating males with the Wolbachia bacteria investigated
Reducing the population of the Asian tiger mosquito in Valencia by inoculating males with the Wolbachia bacteria investigated A team of researchers from the University of Valencia (UV) is working on

Environment - Life Sciences - 12.09.2023

Animals may be the best monitors of global climate change
Carrying small sensors, they could be the most sensitive and informative weather instruments of all   The world's scientists rely on an elaborate network of satellites, ocean buoys, weather stations, and balloons to help predict the weather and assess the impact of global climate change across land, air, and sea.

Life Sciences - 12.09.2023

Research coordinated by the University of Valencia discovers bacteria that could improve biogas production
Scientists from the European research project Micro4Biogas have discovered and characterised a new taxonomic order of bacteria which specialise in the decomposition of organic matter and could hold the key to improving biogas fuel production. The order, which they have dubbed Darwinibacteriales, is one of the most abundant in biogas-producing tanks but had never been characterised scientifically before.

Life Sciences - Health - 11.09.2023

How Internal Clocks Control Fat Metabolism
In the fruit fly Drosophila, circadian clocks also control fat metabolism. This is shown in a new study by a research team at the University of Würzburg. The findings could also be relevant for humans. Much is known about how modern human lifestyles contribute to triggering metabolic disorders and diseases.

Health - Life Sciences - 11.09.2023

Consortium Discovers 28 New Risk Genes for COVID-19
Researchers from the Institute of Human Genetics are involved in the work with their own study A great many criteria determine whether or not we get seriously ill from COVID-19. Besides our age and any previous or existing conditions, they also include genetic factors. Right from the start of the pandemic, the "COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative" has been investigating the links between genetic factors and severe COVID-19.

Life Sciences - Health - 11.09.2023

Healthy lifestyle can help prevent depression - and new research may explain why
A healthy lifestyle that involves moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy diet, regular physical activity, healthy sleep and frequent social connection, while avoiding smoking and too much sedentary behaviour, reduces the risk of depression, new research has found. Although our DNA - the genetic hand we've been dealt - can increase our risk of depression, we've shown that a healthy lifestyle is potentially more important.

Health - Life Sciences - 11.09.2023

HIV: two autopsies reveal where the virus hides
A Canadian research team shows for the first time that HIV reservoirs are concentrated in the spleen and lymph nodes, and that they can travel throughout the body. A small number of HIV-infected cells remain in the tissues of people living with the virus and who are undergoing antiretroviral therapy.