Vegetation cover in California's Sonoran Desert has diminished over the past three decades as a result of droughts and warming temperatures, highlighting dryland ecosystems' vulnerability to climate change.
A plant's leaves reflect light according to the type of fungal symbiont associated with its roots, according to a new study that suggests aerial imaging of treetops could give insight into distributions of mycorrhizal fungi, which play key roles in global carbon and nutrient cycling.
Researchers have developed a novel approach based on machine learning to project the likely progression of disability from multiple sclerosis, relying on the most complete patient history of any prior strategy, by utilizing information from more than 6,600 MS patients across five continents. The team can generate more precise predictions within milliseconds, potentially enabling better therapeutics for a serious and incurable disease.
An investigation of microplastics in marine mammals from German waters has revealed that the tiny particles were present in nearly all the deceased harbor porpoises examined by scientists, although more research is needed to determine what this means for the animals’ health.
For the first time, researchers from the University of Virginia and Toyota have described how human fat tissue behaves under forces typical of motor-vehicle crashes, closing a vulnerable gap in car safety research while offering a valuable resource for manufacturers seeking to make safer vehicles.
A novel approach to monitoring sleep with remote sensing and radar signals that uses a new active motion suppression technique to address an artifact from breathing motion has been invented by researchers from Arizona State University, potentially providing an alternative to both high-tech wearable devices and the sensors used in clinical sleep studies.
Children who are more emotionally sensitive may be more responsive to both supportive and adverse caregiving experiences, as measured in the amygdala, a brain region involved in responding to stress and regulating emotions.
Ninety-nine million years ago, in the tropical forest of what is now Myanmar, a snail gave birth to five children near the site of what could have been their first meal. Except the possible food source, tree resin, ended up swallowing them all, leaving behind a unique amber fossil that captures not only a snail, still soft inside, but a rare glimpse into its life history.
Rapid whole-genome sequencing as a first-line test can save babies' lives and reduce health care costs by thousands of dollars per patient, a paper published Friday says.
A new study with implications for environmental and medical research found that the ability of bacterial communities to work together to form biofilms, the thin layers of microbes found throughout nature and in the human body, is highly dependent on temperature.
Rates of sexually transmitted infections are going to "skyrocket" — a ripple effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and an indictment of the chronic underfunding of public health services, the researcher behind a new study said.
Novel real-time computer simulations with an atomic level of precision captured exactly how DNA structures move within the body, providing insight that could one day be instrumental in drug development and organ regeneration strategies.