Mechanistic Link Between Red Meat Consumption and Development of Colorectal Cancer

Red meat consumption may promote DNA damage-associated mutations in patients with colorectal cancer. Genetic mutations indicative of DNA damage were associated with high red meat consumption and increased cancer-related mortality in patients with colorectal cancer, according to a study published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. “We have known for some time that consumption of processed meat and red meat is a risk factor for colorectal cancer,” said Marios Giannakis, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The International Agency for Research on Cancer declared that processed meat

China gives one-billionth COVID shot as Brazil toll hits milestone

People receive Covid-19 vaccines in China’s southwestern city of Chongqing. China on Sunday announced it had administered its one-billionth shot in the world’s biggest coronavirus inoculation drive as Brazil’s death toll from the pandemic passed 500,000. The global death toll from COVID-19 is now more than 3.8 million and many nations are still battling outbreaks, but vaccine drives in some countries are allowing activities that were unthinkable a few months ago. China’s vaccine milestone comes after the number of shots administered globally passed 2.5 billion on… Continue Reading News Source: medicalxpress.com

Spacewalking astronauts install new solar panel

In this image taken from NASA video, a solar panel is unfolded at the International Space Station, Sunday, June 20 2021. Credit: NASA via AP Spacewalking astronauts equipped the International Space Station with the first in a series of powerful new solar panels Sunday, overcoming suit problems and other obstacles with muscle and persistence. It took two spacewalks for French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough to install and… Continue Reading News Source: phys.org

Global standards to embed health and wellbeing into education system

The first global standards to embed health and wellbeing into the education system have been created amid a rise in mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: Kuanish Reymbaev The first global standards to embed health and wellbeing into the education system have been created amid a rise in mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) led the two-year project at the invitation of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations… Continue Reading News Source: medicalxpress.com

Drone Footage Shows Even Killer Whales Have Close ‘Friends’

Drone footage has captured the social lives of southern resident killer whales like never before, and their friendships look surprisingly similar to our own. Tracking a single pod of 22 killer whales for 10 days, researchers observed a complex web of relationships, including close friendships.   Resident killer whales live their whole lives in the same pod they were born in, but that doesn’t mean they have to like everyone around them equally. Over the course of their lives, their relationships with other whales in their group appear to ebb and flow. In drone footage, researchers noticed most whales showed

27.5-Million-Year Cycle of Geological Activity Discovered

Analysis of 260 million years of major geological events finds recurring clusters 27.5 million years apart. Geologic activity on Earth appears to follow a 27.5-million-year cycle, giving the planet a “pulse,” according to a new study published in the journal Geoscience Frontiers. “Many geologists believe that geological events are random over time. But our study provides statistical evidence for a common cycle, suggesting that these geologic events are correlated and not random,” said Michael Rampino, a geologist and professor in New York University’s Department of Biology, as well as the study’s lead author. Over the past five decades, researchers have proposed cycles

Probing Deeper Into the Origins of Cosmic Rays With Geometric Brownian Motion

Schematic representation of cosmic rays propagating through magnetic clouds. Credit: Salvatore Buonocore Simulation model provides first step in developing algorithms to enhance detection methods. Cosmic rays are high-energy atomic particles continually bombarding Earth’s surface at nearly the speed of light. Our planet’s magnetic field shields the surface from most of the radiation generated by these particles. Still, cosmic rays can cause electronic malfunctions and are the leading concern in planning for space missions. Researchers know cosmic rays originate from the multitude of stars in the Milky Way, including our sun, and other galaxies. The difficulty is tracing the particles to

Ketamine Might Help Alcohol Addiction by Rewiring the Brain

Alcohol misuse is a huge issue across the world, accounting for 4 percent of deaths and 5 percent of the burden of disease globally. It’s well-known that staying sober is the key to reducing alcohol-related harm, but unfortunately, treatments for alcoholism are limited in their effectiveness, and people often relapse after only a short time. Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in the use of the dissociative anesthetic and scheduled drug, ketamine, to treat alcohol addiction. It’s traditionally used to induce and maintain surgical anaesthesia, but can legally be used off-label —sometimes in conjunction with psychotherapy —

A Glimpse at Transportation in the Future

Welcome back to our “Life in 2050” series! In previous installments, we looked at how accelerating change and environmental issues will affect the future of warfare, economy, education, everyday living, and space exploration (in two installments). Today, we look at how people will get from A to B by mid-century, whether it’s across town, from one city to the next, or one continent to the next. Transportation is another sector that is expected to undergo a major revolution in the coming decades. In several respects, this revolution is already underway thanks to the introduction of autonomous vehicles, the wide-scale adoption

59 Labs Around World Handle the Deadliest Pathogens – Only 1 in 4 Score High on Safety

Did the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 result from high-risk research gone wrong? Regardless of the answer, the risk of future pandemics originating from research with dangerous pathogens is real. The focal point of this lab-leak discussion is the Wuhan Institute of Virology, nestled in the hilly outskirts of Wuhan. It is just one of 59 maximum containment labs in operation, under construction or planned around the world. Known as biosafety level 4 (BSL4) labs, these are designed and built so that researchers can safely work with the most dangerous pathogens on the planet – ones that can cause serious disease and for which no