Month: March 2020
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COVID-19 Spreads Fast, With 1 in 10 Infected by Other People With No Symptoms
About ten percent of those who are infected for COVID-19 get infected from people with no symptoms. Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin studying the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 made this finding. The team was also able to identify how quickly the virus spread. Their paper will be published in the journal…
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We Drink About Few Grams of Plastic Particles Every Month, Say Researchers
We drink close to a few grams of plastic particles every month, say researchers. Large numbers of plastic particles move through our water supply and often end up in landfills and as fertilizers. Researchers from Washington State University made these findings. They said the particles are on the nanoscale size, and move through our fresh…
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Scientists Learn How ‘Fear Memory’ Is Formed in the Brain
Scientists have found that when a ‘fear memory’ is formed, there is a strengthening of neural pathways between two areas of the brain. These two areas are called the hippocampus and the amygdala. The hippocampus responds to a particular context and encodes it, while the amygdala triggers defensive behavior, including fear responses. The Hippocampus Amygdala…
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Less Facebook Time Leads to Healthier Lifestyle and Better Well-Being, Says Study
People who reduced their Facebook time by 20 minutes a day reported a healthier lifestyle and increased happiness. Researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum reported these findings in the March 6, 2020 edition of the journal Computers in Human Behavior. The researchers recruited 286 Facebook users who spent at least 25 minutes a day on the social…
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Housekeeping Biological Mechanism in Brain May Also Regulate Sleep
Scientists have found that a housekeeping biological mechanism in the brain may also regulate sleep. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found a specific signaling pathway in fruit flies and zebrafish is required for sleep. This pathway is also important in getting rid of buildup of abnormal protein aggregates in brain cells. The researchers’ findings…
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New Flat Lens Makes Focus-Free Cameras Possible
Researchers have developed a camera that does not require focusing by using an ultra-thin single flat lens. The lens is about one-thousandth of an inch thick. The researchers said this new flat lens can make it possible to produce smartphones and cameras that are considerably lighter and cheaper. In fact, applications that require optics can…
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Babies Can Understand Grammar at 8-Month Old
Babies at 8-month old can already understand basic grammar of their language before they can even say words. This finding was made by researchers at the Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center (CNRS/Université de Paris). The researchers studied 175 eight-month-old babies. They played a 4-minute recording of an artificial language to the babies. The recording contained…
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New Technique Fixes Herniated Discs Like Patching Flat Tires
A new two-step medical technique can repair herniated discs like patching up flat tires. The technique involves filling up the ruptured disc with hyaluronic acid gel and then using a collagen gel to seal the hole in the disc. The development of the technique was led by a team from Cornell University. Their study was…
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Keep Your Cats Indoors More, Else They May Destroy the Local Wildlife
House cats kill more prey, in a given area, than similar-sized wild predators, says a new study. In fact, house cats can adversely affect the local wildlife population, especially birds and small animals. The study was done by researchers from NC State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in collaboration with scientists…
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Incubation Period for COVID-19 is 5.1 Days, Says Study
A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health finds that the median incubation period of the respiratory illness COVID-19 is 5.1 days. 14-Day Quarantine Period Reasonable The researchers analyzed publicly available data on infections by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 which caused COVID-19. Based on this incubation period, the researchers said the…