Ohio University research shows ‘bad cholesterol’ is only as unhealthy as its composition. Research demonstrates that current guidelines for diagnosing risk are ‘dangerously misleading.’ New research at Ohio University shows that a particular subclass of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), also known as “bad cholesterol,” is a much better predictor of potential heart attacks than the mere presence of LDL, which is incorrect more often than not. The presence of LDL is considered an indicator for the potential risk of heart attacks or coronary disease, but studies have shown that about 75 percent of patients who suffer heart attacks have cholesterol levels that don’t indicate a high risk for such an event....

The floor of the ocean is home to 2.9×1029 single-celled organisms but this large number, 10 million trillion microbes for every human on planet Earth, is only 8% of the previous estimate of 35.5×1029. Jens Kallmeyer, a geomicrobiologist, and his colleagues at the University of Potsdam in Germany have created the most accurate model of the geographical distribution of microbes in the marine sediment. They published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences....

What role do the stages of sleep play in the formation of memories? “We’ve known for a long time that useful learning happens during sleep,” says University of Pennsylvania neuroscientist Anna Schapiro. “You encode new experiences while you’re awake, you go to sleep, and when you wake up your memory has somehow been transformed.” Yet precisely how new experiences get processed during sleep has remained mostly a mystery. Schapiro, Penn Ph....

Families with multiple children tend to make more healthy eating decisions than families with a single child. A new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, published by Elsevier, found that only-children, who researchers refer to as “singletons,” had less healthy family eating practices, beverage choices, and total Healthy Eating Index 2010 score, coming in lower on three out of the 12 areas measured. They also had significantly lower total scores across weekdays, weekends, and on average, indicating there are both individual and collective differences in eating patterns between the groups....

First full results from interim analysis confirm that the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine (AZD1222) has an acceptable safety profile and is efficacious against symptomatic COVID-19 disease, with no hospitalizations or severe disease reported in the COVID-19 vaccine group so farFirst clinical efficacy results of the vaccine are based on a pre-specified pooled analysis of phase 3 trials in UK and Brazil (11,636 people), alongside safety data from a total of 23,745 participants in 4 trials in the UK, Brazil and South Africa...

There are currently four proposals to create vast marine protected areas (MPAs) that would tightly regulate fishing activities in the region. However, protection will require a unanimous agreement by CCAMLR’s members, which includes 24 countries and the EU. Some, like Japan and China, have recorded skepticism about any kind of Antarctic MPA. If the proposals are blocked, it would set back the conservation effort by more than a decade, states Alex Rogers, a conservation biologist at the University of Oxford, UK....

Soil is the most species-rich microbial ecosystem in the world. From this incredible diversity, plants specifically choose certain species, give them access to the root and so host a unique, carefully selected bacterial community from which they then benefit in a variety of ways. To achieve this, the plant’s immune system must be able to tell which of these bacteria are friends and which foes. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research in Cologne and the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen have now discovered that the model plant Arabidopsis preferentially takes up three bacterial phyla into its roots: Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes....

High-energy-density polymeric cathode for fast-charge sodium- and multivalent-ion batteries. Next-generation batteries will probably see the replacement of lithium ions by more abundant and environmentally benign alkali metal or multivalent ions. A major challenge, however, is the development of stable electrodes that combine high energy densities with fast charge and discharge rates. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, US and Chinese scientists report a high-performance cathode made of an organic polymer to be used in low-cost, environmentally benign, and durable sodium-ion batteries....

Although the Field Museum in Chicago is famous for SUE the T. rex, it is also home to the best, most-complete fossils of a prehistoric superpredator — one that lived hundreds of millions of years before Tyrannosaurs roamed the Earth. Whatcheeria was a six-foot-long lake-dwelling creature with a salamander-like body and a long, narrow head. Its strange name comes from the fact that its fossils were discovered in a limestone quarry near the town of What Cheer, Iowa....

Immune cells in newborns appear to be more ready to do battle than previously thought. New Cornell research shows that small populations of preprogrammed immune cells can fight specific pathogens that they have never encountered. The findings, say the researchers, have the potential to revolutionize how and when people are immunized. The study, published in the March issue of the Journal of Immunology, demonstrates a way to grow these cells, potentially transforming our approach to preventing infectious disease....

Patients and physicians should be aware of these potential interactions and effects. Reference: “Drug interactions with cannabinoids” by Tony Antoniou, Jack Bodkin and Joanne M.-W. Ho, 2 March 2020, CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.191097

There are still questions about specifically where the SARS-CoV-2 virus emerged. But experts across the globe agree that communities can take steps to reduce the risk of future spillovers. A key is for veterinarians, doctors and scientists to work together, recognizing how closely connected human health is with that of animals and of the habitats that we share – an approach known as One Health. To prevent new pandemics, scientists need to identify specific locations where viruses are most likely to make the jump from animals to humans....

Muscles can become weak and waste away due to a lack of exercise, such as when a limb is immobilized in a cast, or gradually as people age. This condition, known as muscle atrophy, can also occur as a result of neurological disorders like ALS and MS, or as a response to certain diseases including cancer and diabetes. Mechanotherapy, a type of therapy that uses manual or mechanical techniques, is believed to have the potential to aid in tissue repair....

Neuroscientists have been able to create a prosthetic retina that was able to partially restore sight to blind mice. The device could be eventually adapted to do the same in human patients. Twenty million people worldwide have become blind due to the degeneration of their retinas, which from the back of the eye converts light into a neural signal. Currently, there’s only one prosthetic approved for the treatment of this condition consisting of an array of surgically implanted electrodes that directly stimulate the optic nerve and therefore allowing patients to discern edges and letters....

Instead, continuous observations of soil moisture show that the grasses surrounding the rings strongly depleted the water inside them, which most likely contributed to the mortality of the grasses inside the circle. The findings were recently published in the journal Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. Millions of fairy circles may be found in the Namib, between 50 and 90 miles (80 and 140 kilometers) from the coast. These circular holes in the grassland are each a few meters wide, and collectively they create a recognizable pattern that can be seen for miles around....

If LCD TVs start getting much more colorful — and energy-efficient — in the next few years, it will probably be thanks to MIT spinout QD Vision, a pioneer of quantum-dot television displays. Quantum dots are light-emitting semiconductor nanocrystals that can be tuned — by changing their size, nanometer by nanometer — to emit all colors across the visible spectrum. By tuning these dots to red and green, and using a blue backlight to energize them, QD Vision has developed an optical component that can boost the color gamut for LCD televisions by roughly 50 percent, and increase energy efficiency by around 20 percent....

Data transmission is the backbone of the modern information society, on both the large and small scale. On the internet, data are exchanged between computers all over the world, most often using fiber optic cables. Inside a computer, on the other hand, information has to be shuttled back and forth between different processors. A reliable exchange of data is also of great importance for the new quantum information technologies that are currently being developed – but at the same time it is also fiendishly difficult....

This illustration shows a distant galaxy with an active quasar at its center. A quasar emits exceptionally large amounts of energy generated by a supermassive black hole fueled by infalling matter. Using the unique capabilities of Hubble, astronomers have discovered that blistering radiation pressure from the vicinity of the black hole pushes material away from the galaxy’s center at a fraction of the speed of light. The “quasar winds” are propelling hundreds of solar masses of material each year....

The US Department of Defense has been developing pills that will protect humans from radiation. The pills are named Ex-Rad and were developed by Onconova Therapeutics in conjunction with the DoD. The scientists published their findings in the journal Radiation Research. Once humans have been exposed to radiation, there hasn’t been much they could do to protect themselves, besides evacuating the area. Ex-Rad increases the likelihood that the human body will survive radiation exposure....

This wasn’t the first time someone cast doubt on quantum computing. Last year, Michel Dyakonov, a theoretical physicist at the University of Montpellier in France, offered a slew of technical reasons why practical quantum supercomputers will never be built in an article in IEEE Spectrum, the flagship journal of electrical and computer engineering. So how can you make sense of what is going on? As someone who has worked on quantum computing for many years, I believe that due to the inevitability of random errors in the hardware, useful quantum computers are unlikely to ever be built....