Science & Technology
Invasive plant species are increasing exponentially, but no one knows how many invasive plant species there are
Invasive plants can have devastating effects on local ecologies, comparable to the effects wrought by global warming. And yet, there is currently no reliable understanding of how many invasive plant species there are in the world. New research comprehe…
Insight into immune mechanisms of inflammatory disease
Innate lymphoid cells are a recently discovered family of white blood cells that reside in the skin, gastrointestinal tract, airways and other barrier tissues of the body. Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) have an essential role in protecting these…
In the latest human vs. machine match, artificial intelligence wins by a hair
A protein scientist, who competed against a computer program, says machine learning will advance biotechnology.
A common dietary fiber promotes allergy-like immune responses in preclinical studies
A type of dietary fiber called inulin, commonly used in health supplements and known to have certain anti-inflammatory properties, can also promote an allergy-related type of inflammation in the lung and gut, and other parts of the body, according to a…
Machine learning facilitates ‘turbulence tracking’ in fusion reactors
Researchers demonstrated the use of computer-vision models to monitor turbulent structures that appear in plasma created in controlled-nuclear-fusion research. They created a synthetic dataset to train these models to identify and track the structures,…
In young adults, moderate to heavy drinking linked to higher risk of stroke
People in their 20s and 30s who drink moderate to heavy amounts of alcohol may be more likely to have a stroke as young adults than people who drink low amounts or no alcohol, according to a new study. The risk of stroke increased the more years people…
Chronic pain associated with poor health — and COVID-19 infection — decades later
People who suffer from chronic pain at age 44 are more like to report pain, poor general health, poor mental health outcomes and joblessness in their 50s and 60s, according to a new study.
This simple material could scrub carbon dioxide from power plant smokestacks
A simple material can separate carbon dioxide from other gases that fly out of the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants. It lacks the shortcomings that other proposed carbon filtration materials have, rivaling designer compounds in its simplicity, ov…
Global analysis shows where fishing vessels turn off their identification devices
Data from the shipboard Automatic Identification System (AIS) can provide information about global fishing activity, including illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Fishing vessels may disable their AIS devices, but a new analysis identifies in…