Freelance Science Writer
In most people, the lung-infecting pathogens known as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and human metapneumovirus (hMPV) trigger mild cold-like symptoms. But in infants and seniors, these viruses can cause severe pneumonia and even death. Vaccines against both viruses, however, have been difficult to design. Now, Scripps Research scientists have analyzed the structure and stability of …
Today, most graphite — a form of carbon used in electronics and batteries — comes from environmentally damaging mining or a synthetic process that relies on crude oil. Both ways of obtaining graphite have a large carbon footprint and energy demand. Now, researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have invented …
Quantum computers offer powerful ways to improve cybersecurity, communications, and data processing, among other fields. To realize these full benefits, however, multiple quantum computers need to be connected to build quantum networks or a quantum internet. Scientists have struggled to come up with practical methods of building such networks, which must transmit quantum information over …
A newly discovered hormone that keeps the bones of breastfeeding women strong could also help bone fractures heal and treat osteoporosis in the broader population. Researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Davis showed that in mice, the hormone known as Maternal Brain Hormone (CCN3) increases bone density and strength. Their results, published July 10 …
A class of drugs already on the market to lower blood pressure appears to reduce adults’ risk of developing epilepsy, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have discovered. The finding comes out of an analysis of the medical records of more than 2 million Americans taking blood pressure medications. The study, published June 17 in JAMA Neurology, suggests that the …
As the electric vehicle market booms, the demand for lithium — the mineral required for lithium-ion batteries — has also soared. Global lithium production has more than tripled in the last decade. But current methods of extracting lithium from rock ores or brines are slow and come with high energy demands and environmental costs. They …
The next time you have a suspicious-looking mole on your back, your dermatologist may be able to skip the scalpel and instead scan the spot with a noninvasive “virtual biopsy” to determine whether it contains any cancerous cells. Similarly, surgeons trying to determine whether they have removed all of a breast tumor may eventually rely …
By analyzing millions of small genetic differences across a person’s genome, researchers can calculate a polygenic risk score to estimate someone’s lifetime odds of developing a certain disease. Over the past decade, scientists have developed these risk scores for dozens of diseases, including heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, and cancer, with the hope that patients …
Drifting at sea, isolated on a space station, or stuck in a war zone, engineers trying to build new things or patch together a repair are often constrained by the materials they have at hand. But what if they had one single polymer that they could coax into anything from a rubber band-like material or …
A team led by Stanford Medicine analyzed thousands of genomes, including those newly sequenced from 204 skeletons, to gain insight into how and where people moved during the Roman Empire. Read at Stanford Medicine website.