Focused ultrasound treatment for essential tremor highly effective after 5 years
A scalpel-free, high-tech form of brain surgery offers long-term relief for patients with essential tremor, a common movement disorder, a five-year review shows.
Science & Technology
Using monsoons of the past to predict climate conditions of the future
As temperatures around the world continue to rise because of global warming, a team of researchers are looking for environmental clues from millions of years in the past to predict what the southwestern climate may look like in the future. By analyzing…
Using monsoons of the past to predict climate conditions of the future
As temperatures around the world continue to rise because of global warming, a team of researchers are looking for environmental clues from millions of years in the past to predict what the southwestern climate may look like in the future. By analyzing…
Molecular fingerprint behind beautiful pearls revealed
Researchers produce the first robust genome of pearl oysters, which they hope can be used to find strains that are resilient to increasingly common diseases or that produce more beautiful pearls.
Low levels of air pollution deadlier than previously thought
The World Health Organization’s most recent estimates (2016) are that over 4.2 million people die prematurely each year due to long-term exposure to fine particulate outdoor air pollution (often referred to as PM2.5,). A recent study now suggests that …
Earth-sun distance dramatically alters seasons in the equatorial Pacific in a 22,000-year cycle
Earth is closer to the sun at some times of year than at others, with the time of closest approach shifting over a period of 22,000 years. This affects Earth’s climate, including ice ages, but a team of scientists found that it also affects a yearly we…
Growing pure nanotubes is a stretch, but possible
Researchers have published a new theory for making batches of carbon nanotubes with a single, desired chirality. Their method could simplify purification of nanotubes that are all metallic or all semiconductors.
Biomarkers that predict preeclampsia risk
In a study of pregnant women in the United States, investigators found that a specific imbalance of two placental proteins could predict which women were at risk of developing a severe form of preeclampsia, a life-threatening blood pressure disorder.
Mysterious outbreak of bone-eating tuberculosis resembled an ancestral form
The force driving a strange outbreak of tuberculosis that exited the lungs and began chewing away at bones 15 years ago in North Carolina has been solved at the molecular level by a collaborative team of scientists. The mysterious bug reverted to an an…
Using SNAP benefits can help your memory, study finds
Eligible older adults who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States may have slower memory decline than eligible people who do not participate, according to a new study. Researchers found that those who us…