News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Multiple factors play a role in complex diseases like COVID, and knowing what they are is important for predicting how different people will be affected. Early on in the pandemic, being older, overweight, or smoking were identified as increasing your risk of developing severe COVID. This then informed public health decisions – the elderly were … Read more
This year, polar bears will cross from Alaska to Siberia as they do every spring, plodding across the frozen Chukchi Sea to their summer home on Russia’s Wrangel Island. But this time, U.S. scientists won’t be following them. “There’s no way,” says Eric Regehr, a University of Washington (UW), Seattle, polar bear biologist who was … Read more
The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. Shortly after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, both governments said that the Russian military had taken over the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. In a tweet, the Ukrainian Ministry of … Read more
One of the largest COVID-19 brain imaging studies to date has shed some unsettling light on the disease’s impact on our brains. Even in those with a mild or moderate case, a SARS-CoV-2 infection was associated with “significant” neurological changes and loss of gray matter. The study looked at the brain scans of 785 … Read more
A new class of immunotherapy drugs – used to treat arthritis, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease – might also work for those with severe asthma. The pharmaceuticals are known as ‘jakinibs‘ because they inhibit the protein JAK1. This protein plays an essential role in the body’s immune response by activating cytokines, which can then lead … Read more
Say hello to the Jorō spider (Trichonephila clavata), an arachnid you’re likely to be seeing a lot more of in the future if you live on the East Coast of the US. New research suggests the distinctive black-and-yellow creature – currently flourishing in the state of Georgia – is unlikely to face any barriers in … Read more
Dr. Michaela Musilova is the director of the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) program, which conducts analog missions to the moon and Mars for scientific research at a habitat on the volcano Mauna Loa. Currently, she is in command of the two-week Valoria 3 Martian mission and contributed this report to Space.com’s Expert … Read more
A thorough review of 300 years of research, and an exceptionally preserved fossil, have given us what paleontologists say is the most up-to-date reconstruction yet of an ancient beast. Living alongside dinosaurs during the Mesozoic Era, ichthyosaurs were marine reptiles that swam and hunted in Earth’s oceans. Resembling reptilian dolphins, these fascinating animals thrived … Read more
Conventional wisdom would have us believe the journey to a long and healthy life begins with 10,000 steps. Each and every day. For those living a more sedentary lifestyle, it’s a goal that can take some effort to maintain. We’ve also known for some time it’s also almost certainly wrong. By analyzing data on … Read more
Archaeologists may have just uncovered evidence for the oldest known practice of mummification. Human remains interred 8,000 years ago in the Sado Valley in Portugal, during the Mesolithic, appear to have been deliberately treated for mummification prior to burial. This is the first evidence for Mesolithic mummification in Europe. It’s also possibly the oldest … Read more