Sea otters are one of the few animals that use tools to access their food, and a new study has found that individual sea otters that use tools — most of whom are female — are able to eat larger prey and reduce tooth damage when their preferred prey becomes depleted. The study researchers and…
By kindergarten age, most children have been taught that “please” is a magic word. “Please” is an expression of politeness that shows courtesy and respect, turning a potential demand into a request that will — poof! — magically be granted. But a new study on the ways people make requests of one another suggests that…
A study by Rutgers Health experts of more than 31 million hospital records shows that infertility treatment patients were twice as likely as those who conceived naturally to be hospitalized with heart disease in the year after delivery. Patients who underwent infertility were particularly likely — 2.16 times as likely as those who conceived naturally…
Methane is particularly targeted for curbing greenhouse gas emissions because its significant global-warming potential in the short term exceeds carbon dioxide by over 80-fold. However, monitoring methane emissions and compiling their quantities have been challenging due to limiting trade-offs with existing detection methods. Researchers developed a method to automatically detect methane emissions at a global…
Cinematography techniques can significantly increase user engagement with virtual environments and, in particular, the aesthetic appeal of what users see in virtual reality. This was the result of a recent study conducted by computer scientists at the University of Helsinki. The results were published in May at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing…
Sometimes it seems like an AI is helping, but the benefit is actually a placebo effect — people performing better simply because they expect to be doing so — according to new research from Aalto University in Finland. The study also shows how difficult it is to shake people’s trust in the capabilities of AI…
Rice University’s Peter Wolynes and his research team have unveiled a breakthrough in understanding how specific genetic sequences, known as pseudogenes, evolve. Their paper was published May 13 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Led by Wolynes, the D.R. Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science, professor of chemistry, biosciences and physics and astronomy…
Common conditions such as indigestion and heartburn as well as peptic ulcers, autoimmune gastritis and stomach and esophageal cancers have one thing in common – they involve disruptions of the normal activity of parietal cells (PCs) in the stomach, the only cells in the body that produce acid. Despite their medical importance, little is known…
Bob Wilbur thought he’d found a retirement home that would be a place of peace. Nestled against Admiralty Bay on the western edge of Whidbey Island, the three-story house is surrounded by trees and shoreline. It offers the kind of quiet that only an island can provide. Except when the Growlers fly. As often as…
A breakthrough study, published in Science Translational Medicine, features a biomedical engineering innovation with the potential to transform trauma care and surgical practices. Chapman University’s Fowler School of Engineering Founding Dean and Professor, Andrew Lyon, is a member of this multidisciplinary, multi-university scientific research team developing platelet-like particles that integrate into the body’s clotting pathways…