ScienceDaily

 

Super-heatwaves of 55°C to emerge if global warming continues

Aug 9 2017

Heatwaves amplified by high humidity can reach above 40°C and may occur as often as every two years, leading to serious risks for human health. If global temperatures rise with 4°C, a new super heatwave of 55°C can hit regularly many parts of the world, including Europe, warn researchers.

When robots help with shopping

Aug 9 2017

Today, the desired book, toy or household appliance can be purchased by a click only -- thanks to online mail order business and smart logistics. The bottleneck in logistics, however, is the high-bay store, where many picking and detection processes cannot yet be executed automatically by robots. At the Amazon Robotics Challenge in Nagoya, Japan, a team has demonstrated how future warehousing may work.

Transforming skin cells to insulin

Aug 9 2017

Researches are one step closer to cure diabetes by making insulin-producing cells from skin cells. They have transformed skin puncture cells from diabetes patients into insulin producing cells, using stem cell techniques. The researchers’ aim is to transplant these cells under the skin of people with diabetes.

'Robin Hood effects' on motivation in math

Aug 9 2017

Students from families with little interest in math benefit more from a school intervention program that aims at increasing math motivation than do students whose parents regard math as important. A study indicates the intervention program has a "Robin Hood effect" which reduces the "motivational gap" between students from different family backgrounds because new information about the importance of math is made accessible to underprivileged students.

Antidepressant use increases risk of head injuries among persons with Alzheimer's disease

Aug 9 2017

Antidepressant use is associated with an increased risk of head injuries and traumatic brain injuries among persons with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study. Antidepressant use has previously been linked with an increased risk of falls and hip fractures, but the risk of head injuries has not been studied before.

Assembling nanomachines in bacteria

Aug 9 2017

Researchers have used X-ray crystallography and electron microscopy to resolve the assembly of the export gate apparatus in Salmonella. The new details of this nanomachine are expected to clarify how bacteria infect eukaryotic cells and present new molecular targets for drug discovery.

Post-glacial history of Lake of the Woods

Aug 9 2017

The extent and depth of lakes in glaciated regions of North America are controlled by climate and the influence of differential isostatic rebound of the land's surface that began when Pleistocene ice melted from the continent. This relationship and the post-glacial history of Lake of the Woods -- one of the largest lake complexes in North America and the source of water for the city of Winnipeg -- is presented for the first time in a new study by five Canadian researchers.

Turning homes into power stations could cut household fuel bills by more than 60 percent

Aug 9 2017

Energy bills could be cut by more than 60 percent -- saving the average household over £600 a year -- if homes were designed to generate, store and release their own solar energy, a report has revealed. The concept has already been proven and is operating successfully on a building in the UK.

Prairie-chicken nests appear unaffected by wind energy facility

Aug 9 2017

Wind energy development in the Great Plains is increasing, spurring concern about its potential effects on grassland birds, the most rapidly declining avian group in North America. However, a new study suggests that for one grassland bird species of concern -- the greater prairie-chicken -- wind energy infrastructure has little to no effect on nesting. Instead, roads and livestock grazing remain the most significant threats to its successful reproduction.

Parents' disagreements about bedtime can affect coparenting relationship

Aug 9 2017

Positive parental teamwork is key to promoting healthy child development, but when mothers have stronger opinions than fathers about how to tend to their infants in the middle of the night, the coparenting relationship can suffer, says a group of researchers.

Weight loss surgery's effects on bone marrow fat and bone mass

Aug 9 2017

Bone marrow fat is thought to regulate bone metabolism, and high levels of marrow fat are seen in states of low bone mass, severe underweight, and diabetes.

2016 was another warm year, report confirms

Aug 9 2017

A new report confirms that 2016 was another exceptionally warm year, with global temperature having reached 0.77± 0.09 degrees C above its level between 1961 and 1990.

Marijuana associated with three-fold risk of death from hypertension

Aug 9 2017

Marijuana use is associated with a three-fold risk of death from hypertension, according to new research.

Insights into causes of miscarriages for some women revealed by mice study

Aug 9 2017

Researchers have identified how natural killer cells in the mouse placenta can cause a fetus to fail to grow in the womb or cause miscarriages.

New genes discovered regulating brain metastases in lung cancer patients

Aug 9 2017

Researchers set out to find which genes can regulate the cells that initiate brain metastases, and outline their findings in a new report.