science

There is so much discussion and uncertainty on species when its really very simple. We can add categories under species for more specificity but the definition of species must be objective and true. A species is any group of creatures that can reproduce and produce fertile off spring. This is a clear line that objectively determines where 1 species ends and where 1 species begins.

Now we can use another term either subspecies or breed, which can be described as a population within a species that predominantly reproduces within their subgroup. Problem solved? This allows for cases where 2 subgroups of animals can reproduce with each other but rarely do and completes the tree/pyramid of life.

A new method for diagnosing brain tumours could cut the time patients wait for treatments by weeks to hours and raise the possibility of novel types of therapy, researchers have said.

According to the Brain Tumour Charity, about 740,000 people around the world are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, around half of which are non-cancerous. Once a brain tumour is found, a sample is taken during surgery and cells are immediately studied under a microscope by pathologists, who can often identify the type of tumour. However, genetic testing helps to make or confirm the diagnosis.

“Almost all of the samples will go for further testing anyway. But for some of them it will be absolutely crucial, because you won’t know what you’re looking at,” said Prof Matthew Loose, a co-author of the research from the University of Nottingham.

The approach is based on devices that contain membranes featuring hundreds to thousands of tiny pores, each of which has an electric current passing through it. When DNA approaches a pore it is “unzipped” into single strands; as a strand passes through the pore it disrupts the electric current.

NASA is also looking at massive science cuts.

https://www.space.com/space-exploration/trump-administration-proposes-slashing-nasa-budget-by-24-percent

WHAT?!

Original paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08944-w

In physics, gauge theory helps scientists take all the measurable things they know and align them in order to find commonalities or definitions...In this paper, physicists Mikko Partanen and Jukka Tulkki turn the universe at large into a bunch of overlapping, finite relationships of symmetry...their goal was to find the mathematically smallest model that could still hold up to all the rules required of a theory of unified gravity.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29981554

cross-posted from: https://metawire.eu/post/105642

A study found that people who had suffered the herpes virus had an 80% increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

I'm been trying to expanding to my scientific literacy and that has involved looking at articles in scientific journals; i.e. the peer-reviewed literature. However, not all journals are trust-worthy. I would like to believe that academic search engines like Google Scholar would filter out "junk science" articles that I can't rely on that always happening. So how do I spot "predatory" or "pseudo-journals"?

Sometimes, it's quite obvious: "Answers Research Journal" makes it clear that they exist for creationist confirmation bias. This, however, isn't always the case.

I also can't always rely on a publication's reputation. In that oh-so famous example, Andrew Wakefield exploited The Lancet's venerable reputation to publish a fraudulent study with consequences that still reverberate to this day.

Thanks in advance.

Andi's Writeup

Recent research shows significant advances in using hydrogels to restore lost teeth and dental tissue through several approaches:

Injectable Hydrogels for Tooth Pulp Regeneration

• Researchers at NJIT developed a first-of-its-kind injectable hydrogel that triggers the body to regenerate lost tooth pulp, funded by a $3 million NIH grant[^3]
• The material recruits dental pulp stem cells to rebuild tissue without requiring live cells, making it viable for off-the-shelf use[^3]
• Early animal trials showed formation of soft tissue, blood vessels, and nerve bundles within a month[^3]

Enamel Regeneration

• Scientists in China created a gel containing mineral clusters that can stimulate crystal regrowth to restore eroded tooth enamel[^18]
• Tel Aviv University researchers developed a water-based hydrogel that encourages bone regrowth, potentially transforming dental implant procedures[^5]
• USC researchers engineered peptide-based hydrogels that can rebuild tooth enamel structure and restore early cavity damage[^23]

Periodontal Tissue Engineering

• Hydrogels are being used as scaffolds to regenerate periodontal ligament, alveolar bone, and cementum[^2]
• Key components include:
  • Natural polymers like chitosan, sodium alginate, and hyaluronic acid
  • Synthetic polymers such as polyethylene glycol and gelatin methacryloyl
  • Bioactive substances including antibiotics, growth factors, and stem cells[^2]

Future Development

• Japanese researchers aim to begin human trials for tooth regeneration within 6 years[^20]
• Current challenges include:
  • Creating sufficient blood vasculature
  • Controlling bacterial growth
  • Improving mechanical properties
  • Achieving complete periodontal regeneration[^2]

[^2]: NIH - Advances of Hydrogel Therapy in Periodontal Regeneration

[^3]: DrBicuspid - $3M project aims to regenerate lost tooth pulp

[^5]: NoCamels - New Gel Could Transform Dental Implants

[^18]: ABC News - Science has found a way to regrow tooth enamel

[^20]: Popular Mechanics - Humans Could Grow Entirely New Teeth in Just a Few Years

[^23]: USC News - Researcher makes strides in gel to regrow tooth enamel

Paleontologists have discovered a three-eyed creature with a pencil sharpener-like mouth that roamed the sea for prey more than 500 million years ago.

The fossilized remains of one Mosura fentoni — nicknamed the "sea moth" — were found in the Burgess Shale of Canadian Rockies, presenting researchers with new insight into animal life in the Cambrian period, according to a paper published this week in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

The predator was about the length of an index finger, with three eyes dotting its head and a circular mouth lined with teeth, according to paleontologists at the Manitoba Museum and Royal Ontario Museum who made the discovery. The beast was also equipped with flaps on both sides of its body for swimming, and had intimidating claws extending from its head.

Engineers at NASA say they have successfully revived thrusters aboard Voyager 1, the farthest spacecraft from our planet, in the nick of time before a planned communications blackout.

A side effect of upgrades to an Earth-based antenna that sends commands to Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2, the communications pause could have occurred when the probe faced a critical issue — thruster failure — leaving the space agency without a way to save the historic mission. The new fix to the vehicle’s original roll thrusters, out of action since 2004, could help keep the veteran spacecraft operating until it’s able to contact home again next year.

Voyager 1, launched in September 1977, uses more than one set of thrusters to function properly. Primary thrusters carefully orient the spacecraft so it can keep its antenna pointed at Earth. This ensures that the probe can send back data it collects from its unique perspective 15.5 billion miles (25 billion kilometers) away in interstellar space, as well as receive commands sent by the Voyager team.

Doctors in the US have become the first to treat a baby with a customised gene-editing therapy after diagnosing the child with a severe genetic disorder that kills about half of those affected in early infancy.

KJ was born with severe CPS1 deficiency, a condition that affects only one in 1.3 million people. Those affected lack a liver enzyme that converts ammonia, from the natural breakdown of proteins in the body, into urea so it can be excreted in urine. This causes a build-up of ammonia that can damage the liver and other organs, such as the brain.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors described the painstaking process of identifying the specific mutations behind KJ’s disorder, designing a gene-editing therapy to correct them, and testing the treatment and fatty nanoparticles needed to carry it into the liver. The therapy uses a powerful procedure called base editing which can rewrite the DNA code one letter at a time.

Impact simulator

https://neal.fun/asteroid-launcher/

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/44112210

This is the first (and currently only) known instance of a fault line motion being captured on camera.

With coral reefs in crisis due to climate change, scientists have engineered a bio-ink that could help promote coral larvae settlement and restore these underwater ecosystems before it's too late. In a paper publishing May 14 in the Cell Press journal Trends in Biotechnology, researchers demonstrate that the ink could boost coral settlement by more than 20 times, which they hope could contribute to rebuilding coral reefs around the world.