Switzerland’s glaciers lost more than 5 percent of their ice in a single year, with record melt, disappearing glaciers, and nearly one-fifth of the country’s glacier volume now gone in just five years. By September, bare glacier ice stretched across parts of the Swiss Alps where snow should still have been shielding the surface from […]
Scientists Decode a 12,000-Year-Old Mystery Hidden in Ancient Spear Points
An analysis of roughly 500 spear points suggests that inherited knowledge of stone deposits helped Ice Age hunters decide which tools were worth carrying. Ice Age hunters in the Tennessee River Valley sometimes threw away stone spearheads that were still usable. Leaving a point behind lightened the load, but replacing it required suitable rock, something […]
Scientists Decode a 12,000-Year-Old Mystery Hidden in Ancient Spear Points
An analysis of roughly 500 spear points suggests that inherited knowledge of stone deposits helped Ice Age hunters decide which tools were worth carrying. Ice Age hunters in the Tennessee River Valley sometimes threw away stone spearheads that were still usable. Leaving a point behind lightened the load, but replacing it required suitable rock, something […]
Researchers Reverse Autism-Related Behaviors in Mice by Targeting Brain Blood Vessels
A study in mice suggests that cells lining the brain’s blood vessels may play an important role in autism-related symptoms. Researchers have reversed several autism related behavioral symptoms in adult mice by correcting a problem in the blood vessels that supply the brain. The findings point to an unexpected treatment target: endothelial cells, which line […]
Researchers Reverse Autism-Related Behaviors in Mice by Targeting Brain Blood Vessels
A study in mice suggests that cells lining the brain’s blood vessels may play an important role in autism-related symptoms. Researchers have reversed several autism related behavioral symptoms in adult mice by correcting a problem in the blood vessels that supply the brain. The findings point to an unexpected treatment target: endothelial cells, which line […]
Scientists Tested This Tropical Fruit for Diabetes – and Found an Unexpected Blood Pressure Effect
Researchers studying whether feijoa could help prevent type 2 diabetes unexpectedly found a possible benefit for blood pressure. Each morning for six months, adults with prediabetes stirred about a gram of feijoa powder into water or breakfast while trying to lose weight. Researchers were watching their blood sugar, hoping the tropical fruit might help reduce […]
Rare Mutation May Shield the Brain From Alzheimer’s Damage
A rare mutation may keep a major Alzheimer’s risk gene from damaging the brain’s protective barrier. About one in five people carries at least one copy of APOE ε4, the strongest common genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Yet some carriers remain mentally sharp into their 80s. Columbia researchers previously identified a rare variant in […]
A Strange New Material Breaks the Usual Rules of Heat and Stiffness
A new material barely lets heat through yet is up to 10,000 times stiffer than the silicone used in oven mitts. Researchers at North Carolina State University have engineered a thin film that combines exceptional stiffness with extreme thermal insulation. Its thermal conductivity ranks among the lowest reported for a dense, nonporous material, approaching the […]
A Strange New Material Breaks the Usual Rules of Heat and Stiffness
A new material barely lets heat through yet is up to 10,000 times stiffer than the silicone used in oven mitts. Researchers at North Carolina State University have engineered a thin film that combines exceptional stiffness with extreme thermal insulation. Its thermal conductivity ranks among the lowest reported for a dense, nonporous material, approaching the […]
A Strange New Material Breaks the Usual Rules of Heat and Stiffness
A new material barely lets heat through yet is up to 10,000 times stiffer than the silicone used in oven mitts. Researchers at North Carolina State University have engineered a thin film that combines exceptional stiffness with extreme thermal insulation. Its thermal conductivity ranks among the lowest reported for a dense, nonporous material, approaching the […]