Grant enables study into mechanical properties of episiotomy cuts Millions of women undergo episiotomies during childbirth every year, yet the mechanics behind these surgical cuts remain largely unstudied. A new research project is poised to change that, addressing this significant gap in women’s health. An episiotomy involves cutting the pelvic-floor muscles to aid delivery, a technique currently guided largely by a surgeon’s personal judgment and experience. While intended to prevent severe vaginal tears or other complications during delivery, the procedure…
Discover how Huntsman Cancer Institute is transforming surgical care with the new da Vinci 5 robotic systems. Learn about their precision, patient benefits, and commitment to advancing minimally invasive procedures in Utah and the Mountain West. SALT LAKE CITY— Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) proudly announces the addition of two da Vinci 5 robotic surgical systems. This state-of-the-art technology is designed to enhance precision, control, and safety during minimally invasive surgeries, setting a new standard in…
Award recognizes contributions to rehabilitation psychology EL PASO, Texas (Jan. 30, 2025) – Health sciences researcher Emre Umucu, Ph.D., associate professor and associate dean for research at The University of Texas at El Paso, has been awarded the Roger G. Barker Distinguished Research Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association (APA). The award honors research in the field of rehabilitation psychology, which focuses on helping individuals with disabilities and chronic conditions improve their health, independence and social participation. “I am…
A new platform can design and match small peptides with complex, tangled proteins previously considered unreachable DURHAM, N.C. — Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed an AI-based platform that designs short proteins, termed peptides, capable of binding and destroying previously undruggable disease-causing proteins. Inspired by OpenAI’s image generation model, their new algorithm can rapidly prioritize peptides for experimental testing. The work appeared Jan. 22 in the journal Science Advances. One approach to treat disease is to develop therapeutics that…
For the first time, DNA evidence has confirmed killer whales in Australia hunted a white shark for its liver. Based on DNA analysis from the bite wounds on the carcass of a large white shark washed ashore near Portland in Victoria in 2023, the Flinders University-led study identified that killer whales were responsible for consuming the mid-section containing the nutritionally rich liver. Around the world, killer whales (Orcinus orca) have been observed preying on various shark species including white sharks…
As grasslands get abandoned, controlled burning is discussed as a labor-saving method of keeping forests at bay. A Kobe University research team found that this method results in higher biodiversity and a higher prevalence of endangered plant species in some grasslands compared to others, depending on what soils they grow on. Humans have been keeping grasslands since millennia by grazing, mowing and controlled burning, all of these are means to keep forests from overgrowing the grasslands. Grazing and mowing are,…
Research team led by OHIO’s Sabrina Curran finds new evidence that pushes back the arrival of early hominins in Europe; discovery published in Nature Communications ATHENS, Ohio (Jan. 24, 2025) – Research led by Ohio University Associate Professor of Anthropology Dr. Sabrina Curran reveals new evidence of early hominin activity in Europe, suggesting that hominins were present on the continent far earlier than previously thought. The team of researchers, also led by co-principal investigators Dr. Alexandru Petculescu, of the “Emil…
The UK’s peatlands face an uncertain future amid the escalating impacts of climate change Peatlands are critical ecosystems for carbon storage and biodiversity, containing more carbon than all the world’s forests despite covering just 3% of the global land surface. But new research reveals that vast areas of the UK’s peatlands, including the Flow Country UNESCO World Heritage Site, are likely to be unsuitable for peat accumulation by 2061–80 due to climate change. The researchers urge for a shift in…
The electronics of the future can be made even smaller and more efficient by getting more memory cells to fit in less space. One way to achieve this is by adding the noble gas xenon when manufacturing digital memories. This has been demonstrated by researchers at Linköping University in a study published in Nature Communications. This technology enables a more even material coating even in small cavities. Twenty-five years ago, a camera memory card could hold 64 megabytes of information….
The new method optimises the technical design with regard to classic objectives such as costs, efficiency and package space requirements and also takes greenhouse gas emissions along the entire supply chain into account The development of vehicle components is a lengthy and therefore very costly process. Researchers at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have developed a method that can shorten the development phase of the powertrain of battery electric vehicles by several months. A team led by Martin Hofstetter…
Research team investigates influence of Zagros Mountains on bending Earth’s surface An international research team led by the University of Göttingen has investigated the influence of the forces exerted by the Zagros Mountains in the Kurdistan region of Iraq on how much the surface of the Earth has bent over the last 20 million years. Their research revealed that in the present day, deep below the Earth’s surface, the Neotethys oceanic plate – the ocean floor that used to be…
International research team led by Göttingen University develops new method for ultrafast imaging of dark excitons How can the latest technology, such as solar cells, be improved? An international research team led by the University of Göttingen is helping to find answers to questions like this with a new technique. For the first time, the formation of tiny, difficult-to-detect particles – known as dark excitons – can be tracked precisely in time and space. These invisible carriers of energy will…
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have created a new thermometer using atoms boosted to such high energy levels that they are a thousand times larger than normal. By monitoring how these giant “Rydberg” atoms interact with heat in their environment, researchers can measure temperature with remarkable accuracy. The thermometer’s sensitivity could improve temperature measurements in fields ranging from quantum research to industrial manufacturing. Unlike traditional thermometers, a Rydberg thermometer doesn’t need to be first adjusted…
Research among the first to show pandemic’s effects on children before they become students Lockdowns. Social distancing. Shuttered schools and businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic and its sweeping disruptions set off a stampede of “what it’s doing to us” research, focused largely on schoolchildren. How were students’ academics affected? Their mental health? Their social development? Left unexamined was whether the pandemic impacted the social cognition of preschool children — kids younger than 6 — whose social norms were upended by day…
University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka scientists have successfully analysed more than 30 years of vital data on the thickness of landfast sea ice in Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound, which will prove useful to measure future impacts of climate change. The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, set out to discover what key influences determine the thickness of landfast sea-ice, known as fast ice, using data from 1986 to 2022. Fast ice is frozen ocean water that…
New options make care faster, safer, and more accessible Tuberculosis remains one of the top infectious disease killers worldwide, a challenge amplified by drug-resistant forms of the disease. Now, in a major step forward, an international clinical trial has found three new safe and effective drug regimens for tuberculosis that is resistant to rifampin, the most effective of the first-line antibiotics used to treat TB. The research, published Jan. 30 in the New England Journal of Medicine, was led by…
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