A new mobile phone-based facial recognition application for dogs has the potential to significantly improve rabies vaccination efforts in endemic areas like Africa and Asia, according to a new study. A team used the app to test its effectiveness at a rabies vaccination clinic in rural Tanzania where they microchipped, vaccinated and registered dogs. The technology proved remarkably accurate during a subsequent visit to surrounding villages once poor images and improperly recorded information were removed from its database. Using the app, operators identified 76.2% of vaccinated dogs and 98.9% of unvaccinated dogs.
Researchers have developed a way to use ultrasound to predict whether a pregnant person is at risk of delivering a baby prematurely, which occurs in upward of 10% of pregnancies in the U.S.
Scientists have developed a universal method for producing a wide variety of designed metallic and semiconductor 3D nanostructures -- the potential base materials for next-generation semiconductor devices, neuromorphic computing, and advanced energy applications. The new method, which uses a 'hacked' form of DNA that instructs molecules to organize themselves into targeted 3D patterns, is the first of its kind to produce robust nanostructures from multiple material classes.
Exposure to organophosphate ester flame retardants during pregnancy is linked to premature births and greater fetal growth, according to a new study.
Results of a preclinical study offer hope for new treatment options in the medium term ovarian cancer is often very aggressive and responds poorly to the therapies currently available. A recent study offers hope that this could change in the medium term. The researchers used an mRNA as a therapeutic. With its help, the tumor cells produced a protein again that prevents their own uncontrolled proliferation or induces cell death. The mRNA therapeutic successfully combated cancerous cells and tumors in vitro as well as metastases in mice.
A new study now provides a global examination of drought-pluvial volatility -- or the tendency to shift from one weather extreme to another.
Despite strict EU regulations on plastic recycling, there is little oversight on plastic waste shipped from the EU to Vietnam. A large percentage of the exported European plastic cannot be recycled and gets dumped in nature, according to recent research.
A new method predicts how much flooding a coastal community is likely to experience as hurricanes evolve due to climate change. Using New York as a test case, the model predicts Hurricane Sandy-level flooding will occur roughly every 30 years by 2099.
Researchers have presented a new study on cyberattack risks to offshore wind farms in Glasgow, United Kingdom. They looked specifically at wind farms that use voltage-source-converter high-voltage direct-current (VSC-HVDC) connections, which are rapidly becoming the most cost-effective solution to harvest offshore wind energy around the world. They found that their complex, hybrid-communication architecture presents multiple access points for cyberattacks.
Plants produce a range of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds that influence their interactions with the world around them. In a new study, researchers investigated how the type and amount of these VOCs change based on different features of tomato plants.
Engineers have created a new lithium battery that can charge in under five minutes -- faster than any such battery on the market -- while maintaining stable performance over extended cycles of charging and discharging.
Scientists have experimental evidence that the key step in protein formation can occur in droplets of pure water.
Like humans, mice live in complex social groups, fight over territory and mates, and learn when it is safer to avoid certain opponents. After losing even a brief fight, the defeated animals will flee from the mice that hurt them for weeks afterward, a new study shows.
Researchers showed that the way in which genes are turned on and off as bacteria grow provide clues to their regulation.
Cryptocurrency is usually 'mined' through the blockchain by asking a computer to perform a complicated mathematical problem in exchange for tokens of cryptocurrency. But now a team of chemists have repurposed this process, asking computers to instead generate the largest network ever created of chemical reactions which may have given rise to prebiotic molecules on early Earth.
Researchers have discovered the genetic material of the pathogen Treponema pallidum in the bones of people who died in Brazil 2,000 years ago. This is the oldest verified discovery of this pathogen thus far, and it proves that humans were suffering from diseases akin to syphilis -- known as treponematoses -- long before Columbus's discovery of America. The new findings call into question previous theories concerning the spread of syphilis by the Spanish conquistadors.
Groundwater is rapidly declining across the globe, often at accelerating rates. Researchers now present the largest assessment of groundwater levels around the world, spanning nearly 1,700 aquifers. In addition to raising the alarm over declining water resources, the work offers instructive examples of where things are going well, and how groundwater depletion can be solved. The study is a boon for scientists, policy makers and resource managers working to understand global groundwater dynamics.
New research shows that atmospheric pressure fluctuations that pull gases up from underground could be responsible for releasing subsurface methane into Mars' atmosphere; knowing when and where to look for methane can help the Curiosity rover search for signs of life.
Microorganisms were the first forms of life on our planet. The clues are written in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks by geochemical and morphological traces, such as chemical compounds or structures that these organisms left behind. However, it is still not clear when and where life originated on Earth and when a diversity of species developed in these early microbial communities. Evidence is scarce and often disputed. Now, researchers have uncovered key findings about the earliest forms of life. In rock samples from South Africa, they found evidence dating to around 3.42 billion years ago of an unprecedentedly diverse carbon cycle involving various microorganisms. This research shows that complex microbial communities already existed in the ecosystems during the Palaeoarchaean period.
A new model predicts how shoe properties will affect a runner's performance. The model could be a tool for designers looking to push the boundaries of sneaker design.
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