SciPod

Advancements in genetic technologies have provided new wildlife survey tools that are more efficient, less expensive, and allow scientists to detect species that are otherwise difficult to observe. Detection of environmental DNA (eDNA) shed into water or soil by wildlife, is one such tool. Through a multi-year study of Asian carp eDNA in the Chicago Area Waterway System, Dr Martin Schultz of the U...

With ongoing climate change, land use change, and changing disturbance regimes that negatively impact Earth’s ecosystems, it is critical that educators convey the importance of safeguarding the natural environment to younger generations to prepare them to face current and future environmental challenges. Teaching Change comprises a collection of innovative programs aimed at strengthening the relat...

Fucoidans, which occur naturally in seaweeds, have previously been shown to have a range of possible clinical applications. In a review study, Dr Helen Fitton and her team from the biotechnology company, Marinova, discuss the breadth and depth of new fucoidan research – from their potential use in cancer treatment, to their possible effcts on microbiome. Finally, they cover new techniques for the...

Many of the plant species that we depend on for food produce toxins. The wild ancestors of these crops relied on toxins to ward off diseases and prevent them from being eaten by animals. By choosing individual plants that lack the genes necessary to produce toxins, generations of selective breeding have produced countless crop varieties that are safe to eat. In a recent review, Natalie Kaiser from...

In developed countries, we are broadly aware of the dangers of asbestos and the risks it poses if discovered in our living or working environments. It may be shocking to learn that asbestos still causes an estimated 255,000 deaths annually worldwide, with the vast majority – 89% – from work-related exposure. Although asbestos is banned in 55 countries, it is still widely used in the developing wor...

We all know exercise is good for us. In addition to the renowned physical benefits, Professor Kirk Erickson in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh is providing powerful evidence that exercise may improve cognitive faculties throughout the lifespan. Read on to discover the wide range of ways in which exercise can help us to live our lives to the fullest across the years, an...

To understand how human activities impact wildlife, biologists need to know which species are present within a given area. Traditional methods of surveying species are often labour intensive, time consuming, and expensive. However, recent advancements in genetic analysis may provide powerful new survey tools to complement existing methods. Through her research, Dr Katy Klymus at the US Geological...

Any injury such as trauma , surgery or infection to the cornea in the eye may result in persistent scarring (clinically referred to as fibrosis) due to the wound healing response. Professor Steven E. Wilson at the Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation has identified that defective epithelial basement membrane (EBM) regeneration plays a central role in the development of scar produc...

In the United States, there are thousands of industrial sites contaminated by the irresponsible disposal of chemical waste. The higher than expected frequency of cancer cases near these sites has caused alarm, since many of the chemical contaminants found at these sites have been linked to the development of long-term health problems, including cancer. As leaders of the Massachusetts Institute of...

Modern treatments for patients with more than one chronic condition can be highly precarious, and in many cases, simultaneous treatments for different illnesses can be detrimental to each other and ultimately, the patient. Dr Juliana Bowles at the University of St Andrews believes that this pressing issue can be solved with the help of advanced computational techniques. Her team has explored the a...

Neurodegenerative disorders present a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Treatments are typically expensive, non-efficient, and invasive. Although scientists are committed to finding better treatment strategies, the challenge of penetrating the blood-brain barrier remains. This highly selective envelope protects our brain from harmful substances but also prevents drugs from reaching th...

Attempting suicide by ingesting pesticides is a major public health problem in rural Asia. In Sri Lanka, pesticide self-poisoning is the most common method used in suicide attempts in many rural areas. Globally, it accounts for as many as one in every five of the world’s suicides. Many people have recommended ‘safer storage and use’ as the answer to the problem. A group of Sri Lankan and internati...

When learning about fluid dynamics, physics and engineering students can benefit greatly from hands-on experiments that allow them to visualise the equations they learn in lectures. For supersonic flows, however, the equipment required is incredibly expensive, making some experiments inaccessible to many universities. Dr Oleg Goushcha at Manhattan College has revived an old methodology to demonstr...

Despite recent efforts to promote diversity in STEM education and professional environments, some ethnic groups remain highly underrepresented in STEM fields, including the Hispanic/LatinX community. To tackle this underrepresentation, researchers at the University of San Diego have created a multi-dimensional program funded by the National Science Foundation called STEMWoW , which is designed to...

In certain areas of the US, local berry growers face difficulties in meeting the growing customer demand for high-quality berries, while also managing pests in sustainable ways. Aware of these challenges, researchers from different universities, including Michigan State, Penn State and Cornell Universities have been collaborating on a project called TunnelBerries . Their aim is to conduct research...

Dr Jun Hua , Associate Professor at the F. M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University, USA, leads a team focused on developing novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies for imaging the structure and function of the brain. Recently, they have been pioneering the development of new MRI techniques that can be used to i...

Our brain forms long-term memories and stores information through synaptic plasticity, the ability of the connections between neurons to be strengthened or weakened over time. However, the exact methods through which synaptic plasticity is achieved by the brain remain largely unknown in the scientific community. Professor Don Kulasiri at Lincoln University, New Zealand, is using a mathematical mod...

As people are now spending a substantial amount of time online, traditional businesses and other vendors try to attract new customers by gaining traction on social media platforms, capturing the attention of users in a variety of ways. This is often achieved by disseminating compelling information, which is not always true or reliable. In a recent study, Dr Camille Ryan and her colleagues at Bayer...

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is among the most impactful and costly biomedical challenges confronting society. Current treatment regimens for T2D rely upon daily drug dosing and frequent glucose monitoring to normalise blood glucose levels. However, these medications can only delay disease progression and frequently have undesired side effects including hypoglycaemia and weight gain. Growing evidence sup...

Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training – or ‘BEST’ – is a program that aims to help biomedical students to explore and pursue expanded career options beyond traditional academic positions. While the program has been in place for a few years, the views of participating faculty members on the value of BEST’s career development initiatives had never been collected. To fill this gap, Dr Stephan...

Despite dramatic advances in neuroscience and biology in the 20th and 21st centuries, our understanding of the brain remains very limited. Dr Yan M Yufik , Head at Virtual Structures Research Inc, USA, is a physicist and cognitive scientist who has spent over 20 years combining experimental findings and theoretical concepts in domains as diverse as neuroscience and thermodynamics to form a theory...

Foreign animal disease outbreaks in livestock systems have far-reaching economic, trade and food security implications. Biosecurity strategies can enhance the resilience of livestock production; however, understanding the behaviors of people involved in agriculture is critical – and more challenging. In a new approach, an innovative US-wide project is integrating social science, human decision mak...

Dr Christine Pfund is a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. With a strong network of colleagues and collaborators, her work focuses on developing, implementing, documenting, and studying interventions to optimise research mentoring relationships across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine. Read on to discover how the success of these initiatives has resul...

Our kidneys are primarily responsible for filtering waste out of the body and into urine. However, with aging, kidney dysfunction begins to develop. Although no symptoms appear for years, this dysfunction can eventually progress to severe kidney failure. If caught early, the adverse outcomes of kidney dysfunction can be prevented. But unfortunately, the detection and management of kidney disease r...

Identifying students who are at risk of withdrawing from higher education is of key importance, as it allows educators to devise and implement intervention strategies that could support students in completing their studies. With this in mind, Dr Naif Radi Aljohani and his colleagues at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia have recently devised a technique that could help to predict early drop...