A study finds that the Arctic Ocean and Nordic Seas were sometimes largely isolated from the North Atlantic during past ice ages. The connection appears to have reopened rapidly as the ice ages ended, raising questions about effects on the global ocean circulation system.
A study of Galápagos tree finches has identified a highly differentiated stretch of DNA associated with differences in beak and body size. The result suggests that one genomic region may have helped the finches expand into different ecological roles despite hybridization between species.
A living systematic review of six randomized trials involving 286 people found that MDMA-assisted therapy produced greater short-term reductions in PTSD symptoms than control conditions. The researchers rated the overall certainty of the evidence as low because standard bias assessments may miss problems such as expectancy and functional unblinding.
Researchers developed a hardware-assisted system intended to detect message injection, spoofing, flooding and impersonation attacks on automotive networks. In tests using simulated traffic and a prototype automotive processor system, it reported an average detection time of 14 microseconds and less than 2 percent CPU overhead.
Laboratory tests found that plastic particles carrying pyrene or methyl chlorpyrifos increased the acute immobilization of water fleas. During chronic exposure, the contaminants affected survival and reproduction, with stronger effects when they were attached to polystyrene particles.
An experiment making Bronze Age-style markings in granite found that cupmarks, circles and a shallow boat could be created in minutes to about an hour. The results suggest some petroglyphs may have worked as ritual devices for producing mineral dust or collecting and directing liquids, rather than serving only as pictures.
A life cycle assessment found protein from Côte d'Ivoire's Lagenaria siceraria, or bottle gourd, had lower environmental impacts than imported soy in 11 of 18 categories under economic allocation. The comparison changed under mass allocation, showing how accounting choices affect the result.
A study of apple, pear and kiwifruit pollen finds that adhesion to the stigma depends on several interacting forces. Pollen surface structures, pollenkitt, moisture and electrostatic charge each contribute to how pollen attaches and is positioned.
Researchers have found direct spectroscopic evidence that a four-bismuth-atom ring has magnetically induced ring currents, a feature associated with aromatic systems. Comparisons with closely related reference compounds helped separate the ring’s response from effects caused by individual heavy atoms and surrounding ligands.
A review examines the brain’s fluid-clearance pathways and their connections with the body’s lymphatic, immune and vascular systems. It links impaired clearance with pathological protein buildup, inflammation and vascular dysfunction, while emphasizing that most therapeutic evidence comes from animal studies.
A study found that controlling how antibodies face on both the test particles and the test strip improved the sensitivity of lateral flow tests. The approach detected two cancer markers at once with little cross-reactivity and was checked against a hospital reference method in 28 serum samples.
An analysis of natural-hydrogen documents finds that promotional language is linked to peripheral positions in the research field and reliance on established authorities. A separate review of institutional documents suggests that some texts amplify expectations, while others temper them; hybrid documents can write those expectations into rules and research priorities.
A simulated multi-drone system used Wi-Fi signal measurements to estimate survivor locations in conditions with substantial noise. At a specified noise level, it reduced position-error and outlier measures compared with two other approaches, while spatial resampling shortened processing time.
Researchers identified a carboxylesterase enzyme from Bacillus halotolerans that rapidly converted the PET intermediates BHET and MHET. It showed much weaker activity against commercial PET powder, highlighting its main strength as an intermediate-processing enzyme rather than a bulk-plastic degrader.
Hospital wastewater can provide a pooled view of antimicrobial resistance, but its results did not consistently match traditional hospital surveillance. A review of 36 studies found that differing sampling and testing methods, along with poor timing alignment, make comparisons difficult.
