Giving blood could be good for your health – new research

Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock Michelle Spear, University of BristolBlood donation is widely recognised as a life-saving act, replenishing hospital supplies and aiding patients. But could donating blood also benefit the donor? Frequent blood donors may experience subtle genetic changes that could lower their risk of developing blood cancers, according to new research from the Francis Crick Institute in London. Alongside this, a growing body of evidence highlights a range of health benefits associated with regular donation. As we age, our blood-forming stem cells naturally accumulate mutations, a process known as clonal haematopoiesis. Some of these mutations increase the risk of diseases such as leukaemia. However, the new Francis Crick Institute study has identified an intriguing difference in frequent blood donors. The study compared two groups of healthy male donors in their 60s. One group had donated blood three times a year for 40 years, while the other had given blood only about five times in total. Both groups had a similar number of genetic mutations, but their nature differed. Nearly 50% of frequent donors carried a particular class of mutation not typically linked to cancer, compared with 30% of the infrequent donors. It is thought that regular blood donation encourages the body to produce fresh blood cells, altering...

Read More........→March 20, 2025

Eye tests can help predict stroke risk: Study

Sydney, (IANS): Routine eye tests can accurately predict a person's risk of stroke, according to an international research team on Tuesday.The research, led by the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) in Melbourne, Australia identified a blood vessel "fingerprint" at the back of the eye that can be used to predict a person's stroke risk as accurately as traditional risk factors, but without the need for invasive tests, Xinhua News agency reported.The research found that the fingerprint consists of 118 indicators of vascular health and can be analyzed from fundus photography, a common tool used in routine eye tests.The team used a machine learning tool called the Retina-based Microvascular Health Assessment System (RMHAS) to analyse fundus photos of the eyes of 45,161 people in the UK with an average age of 55.During an average monitoring period of 12.5 years, 749 participants had a stroke.The researchers identified 29 of the 118 indicators as being significantly associated with first-time stroke risk.Of the 29, about 17 of the indicators were related to vascular density, the percentage of a region of tissue that is occupied by blood vessels. Low density in the retina and brain is associated with an increased risk of stroke.According to the study, each change in density indicators was associated with an increased stroke risk...

Read More........→January 22, 2025

Mentally stimulating down time activities linked to better brain health: study

Canberra, (IANS) Engaging in mentally stimulating activities during down time, such as reading, can be beneficial for brain health, according to an Australian research.In a new study, researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) found that some sedentary, or sitting, activities are better for cognitive function than others.The researchers assessed the 24-hour activity patterns of 397 adults aged 60 and above, and found that socially or mentally stimulating activities such as reading, playing musical instruments, crafting or talking to others are beneficial for memory and thinking abilities.Watching television or playing video games was found to be detrimental.The researchers said the findings could help reduce the risks of cognitive impairment, including from dementia."We already know that physical activity is a strong protector against dementia risk, and this should certainly be prioritised if you are trying to improve your brain health. But until now, we hadn't directly explored whether we can benefit our brain health by swapping one sedentary behavior for another," Xinhua news agency quoted Maddison Mellow, a co-author of the study from UniSA, as saying in the report.She recommended breaking up time spent watching TV or gaming with five-minute bursts of physical activity or more cognitively-engaged seated activity.The...

Read More........→December 26, 2024

‘Unseen world’: researchers capture fascinating footage of the world’s smallest penguins in a bid to save them

Diane Colombelli-Négrel, Flinders UniversityOn Granite Island off South Australia, a colony of little penguins is fighting to survive. About two decades ago, the penguins numbered 1,600 adults – now there are just 30. It is important for scientists to monitor and study this little penguin colony, to observe their behaviours and stop their numbers from declining. In our latest research project, my colleagues and I captured footage of the penguins over several breeding seasons, as part of a study into their parenting behaviours. It provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into the unseen world of these vulnerable birds. So let’s take a look at what Granite Island’s little penguins get up to when humans aren’t watching. Granite Island’s colony of little penguins is fighting to survive. ShutterstockThe world’s tiniest penguin Little penguins (Eudyptula novaehollandiae) are the world’s smallest penguin species. They typically grow to about 35 centimetres and weigh an average 1.2 kilograms. They live in coastal waters in Tasmania and southern Australia – including on Granite Island, about 100 kilometres south of Adelaide. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway, and draws up to 800,000 visitors a year. The stark decline in little penguin numbers on Granite Island is due to several factors. They include...

Read More........→December 24, 2024

Vaccine that Could Cure and Even Prevent Brain Cancer Developed by Scientists

In Boston, a potentially-revolutionary treatment for deadly brain cancer is showing promising early signs in mice both for the eradication and prevention of tumors and individual cancer cells.A vaccine in the true sense of the word, the method involves repurposing living cancer cells to destroy the tumors which spawned them.Cancer cells have very particular characteristics, one of which potentially makes them even better cancer-killers than immune molecules. That characteristic is their ability to travel long distances through the body returning to the tumor they came from.By using a similar technique to CRISPR called CRISP-CAS9, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston were able to change proteins within the living cancer cells to prime tumors and other cells for destruction. The priming got the immune system involved, which then resulted in the mice in immunological memory just like vaccines for viruses.In experiments, it worked on mice carrying cells derived from humans, mimicking what will happen in patients, which had the deadliest form of brain cancer called glioblastoma.“Our team has pursued a simple idea: to take cancer cells and transform them into cancer killers and vaccines,” said corresponding author Dr Khalid Shah.“Using gene engineering, we are repurposing cancer cells to develop a therapeutic that kills...

Read More........→December 19, 2024

Gorillas Use Chest Beating to Prevent Conflict, Not Provoke it, a New Study Finds

Male gorilla – credit Kabir Bakie at the Cincinnati Zoo CC 2.5.A gorilla’s chest beating is an incredible sight, and sound, to behold, but new research based on years of observation of mountain gorillas shows there’s much we never understood about this iconic acoustic.Since people first went to see King Kong, or since gamers first met Donkey Kong from the Mario Bros franchise, most might say male gorillas beats their chests with their fists, and as a sign of challenge or triumph.Apart from the fact that they use cupped hands, it seems to serve a number of functions—a challenge not necessarily being one of them.Edward Wright, a primatologist at the Max Planck Institute, spent between 2014 and 2016 observing 500 chest beats from 25 different silverback mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s national parks.Using acousitc monitoring equipment he and his colleagues determined that the chest thumping was an honest demonstration of body size. This hints at several organizational aspects of gorilla social life. The first is that larger animals were recorded at lower frequencies which could travel half a mile.By beating their chests, air sacks underneath their larynx reverberate from the kinetic energy, producing a sound, and the bigger the male, the deeper the sound. This is believed to broadcast how big and dominant a male gorilla is as a means...

Read More........→December 18, 2024

How light can shift your mood and mental health

llaszlo/Shutterstock Jacob Crouse, University of Sydney; Emiliana Tonini, University of Sydney, and Ian Hickie, University of SydneyThis is the next article in our ‘Light and health’ series, where we look at how light affects our physical and mental health in sometimes surprising ways. Read other articles in the series. It’s spring and you’ve probably noticed a change in when the Sun rises and sets. But have you also noticed a change in your mood? We’ve known for a while that light plays a role in our wellbeing. Many of us tend to feel more positive when spring returns. But for others, big changes in light, such as at the start of spring, can be tough. And for many, bright light at night can be a problem. Here’s what’s going on. An ancient rhythm of light and mood In an earlier article in our series, we learned that light shining on the back of the eye sends “timing signals” to the brain and the master clock of the circadian system. This clock coordinates our daily (circadian) rhythms. “Clock genes” also regulate circadian rhythms. These genes control the timing of when many other genes turn on and off during the 24-hour, light-dark cycle. But how is this all linked with our mood and mental health? Circadian rhythms can be disrupted. This can happen if there are problems with how the body clock develops or functions,...

Read More........→December 11, 2024

Chimps are upping their tool game, says study

WASHINGTON - "Planet of the Apes" may have been onto something.Chimpanzees are steadily honing their tool-using skills -- a process unfolding over millennia, driven by the exchange of ideas through migrations between populations, according to a new study published Thursday in Science.The finding in chimps -- humans' closest living relatives -- holds relevance for us too, as it supports the idea that, deep in the mists of time, our own ape ancestors leveraged social connections to improve their technologies, lead author Cassandra Gunasekaram told AFP.Scientists have long marvelled at chimps' ability to pass down intricate behaviours, like tool use, from one generation to the next.Yet while human civilisation has leapt from the Stone Age to the Space Age, chimpanzee "culture" -- defined as socially learned behaviours -- seemed to have remained static.Gunasekaram, a doctoral student at the University of Zurich, set out to challenge this assumption.She and colleagues combined genetic data tracing ancient chimpanzee migrations across Africa with observations of 15 distinct foraging behaviours across dozens of populations and the four subspecies.These behaviours were categorised into three levels: those requiring no tools, those with simple tools, like using chewed leaves as a sponge to absorb water from tree holes, and the most complex,...

Read More........→December 10, 2024

Can listening to music make you more productive at work?

Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock Anna Fiveash, Western Sydney University Listening to music can enhance our lives in all kinds of ways – many of us use it during exercise, to regulate our mood, or in the workplace. But can listening to background music while you work really make you more productive? It’s a controversial topic. Some people swear by it, others find it painfully distracting. The research agrees there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The best way to use music in the workplace depends on several factors, including your personality traits, what you’re doing, and what kind of music you’re listening to. Here’s how to find out what works best for you. Who you are Your personality has a key influence on whether background music can boost productivity or be distracting in the workplace, which relates to your unique optimal level of arousal. Arousal in this context relates to mental alertness, and the readiness of the brain to process new information. Background music can increase it. Research suggests that being at an optimal level of arousal facilitates a state of “flow”, enhancing performance and productivity. Introverts may need less external stimulus – such as music – to focus well. Ground Picture/ShutterstockIntroverts already have a high baseline level of internal arousal. Adding background...

Read More........→December 03, 2024

Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus

PARIS - Playing a monotonous sound stimulates the activity of a fungus that promotes plant growth, a study suggested on Wednesday, raising the potential that playing music could be good for crops and gardens.Whether or not blasting Mozart could help plants grow has long been a matter of scientific debate. The US TV show "MythBusters" even tested it out, finding that plants exposed to death metal and classical music grew a little better than those left in silence, but deeming the results inconclusive.However, with the plant world facing a raft of human-driven challenges -- including erosion, deforestation, pollution and a burgeoning extinction crisis -- the future of the world's biodiversity and crops are increasingly feared to be under threat.According to the new study in the journal Biology Letters, "the role of acoustic stimulation in fostering ecosystem recovery and sustainable food systems remains under-explored".Based on previous work that exposed E. coli bacteria to sound waves, the team of Australian researchers set out to assess the effect sound has on the growth rate and spore production of the fungus Trichoderma harzianum.This fungus is often used in organic farming for its ability to protect plants from pathogens, improve nutrients in the soil and promote growth.The researchers built little sound booths to house petri...

Read More........→November 26, 2024

Australian-German research finds world-first cure for deadly skin disease

Sydney, (IANS): Researchers from Australia and Germany have for the first time cured patients suffering from toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), a deadly skin disease, said a news release on Monday.An international collaboration, including researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, has developed the first-ever cure for TEN in a breakthrough study published in Nature, WEHI said in a news release on Monday.Also known as Lyell's syndrome, TEN is a rare skin disease that causes widespread blistering and detachment of the skin and can lead to dehydration, sepsis, pneumonia and organ failure, Xinhua news agency reported.The potentially deadly condition is triggered by a severe adverse reaction to common medications and has a mortality rate of approximately 30 per cent.The new study identified a hyperactivation of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway - a chain of interactions between proteins in a cell that is involved in processes such as immunity, cell death and tumour formation - as a driver of TEN.By using JAK inhibitors - an existing class of drugs used to treat inflammatory diseases - they were able to treat patients with TEN."Finding a cure for lethal diseases like this is the holy grail of medical research. I am beyond proud of this...

Read More........→November 13, 2024

How Covid virus defeats body’s immune response

New Delhi, (IANS): Japanese researchers have discovered that SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for Covid-19, carries an enzyme that can act against a cell’s innate defence mechanism against viruses.This can answer why Covid-19 is more infectious than the previous SARS and MERS-causing viruses, said the researchers from Kobe University.The team focussed their study on the role of a molecular tag called “ISG15” in Covid virus that prevents nucleocapsid proteins from attaching to each other -- a key process to enable viruses to assemble.In addition, the “enzyme can remove the tags from its nucleocapsid, recovering its ability to assemble new viruses and thus overcoming the innate immune response,” explained virologist Shoji Ikuo from the varsity, in a paper in the Journal of Virology.While SARS and MERS viruses also carry an enzyme that can remove the ISG15 tag, Shoji’s team found that their versions are less efficient.“The results suggest that the novel coronavirus is simply better at evading this aspect of the innate immune system’s defense mechanism, which explains why it is so infectious,” Shoji said.The innate immune system is the first line of defense against pathogens which limits viral entry, replication, and assembly. It also detects and removes infected cells.Unlike SARS and MERS viruses, Covid rapidly spread to almost all...

Read More........→November 03, 2024

Sleep loss most prevalent among popular teenagers in school: Study

New Delhi, (IANS) Teenagers who are popular in school are less likely to get their recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep each night, revealed a study on Wednesday.Researchers from Sweden and Australia found that with increasing school demands, activities, more independence from parents, and relationships with peers, popular children especially girls experience more insomnia symptoms.It is because of “a later melatonin onset and increased alertness in the evening”, revealed the study published in the journal Frontiers in Sleep.“Here we show that popular teenagers reported shorter sleep duration. In particular, popular girls -- but not boys -- reported more insomnia symptoms,” said Dr Serena Bauducco, a sleep researcher at Orebro University.“Most interestingly, popularity also seems to negatively impact sleep both before and after the advent of smartphones,” she added.To find out the link between popularity and sleeping habits, the team examined more than 1,300 Swedish teenagers, almost half of them female, aged 14 to 18.They found that those defined as more popular slept less than their peers, the most popular ones up to 27 minutes.Further, more popular girls experienced more insomnia symptoms, such as difficulties falling or staying asleep or waking up too early.Popular boys did not experience these symptoms to the same extent.While...

Read More........→October 15, 2024

Study finds aggressive bonobo males attract more mates

BOSTON - Humankind's two closest primate relatives are often said to embody contrasting sides of our nature: peace-loving bonobos versus violence-prone chimpanzees.But a new study in Current Biology says it's not that simple. Male bonobos in fact fight each other more often than male chimps do -- and the bonobo "bad boys" who have more dust-ups also see greater mating success.Lead author Maud Mouginot of Boston University told AFP she decided to investigate the question of aggression among bonobos after prior research revealed a "reproductive skew" among males, meaning some fathered far more offspring than others."So the question was, if bonobos are not that aggressive, how can they have such a high reproductive skew?" she said.Since their recognition as a species distinct from chimpanzees, bonobos have been romanticized for their free-spirited nature.Part of their reputation as "hippies" stems from how they use sex as a means of conflict resolution and often have same-sex couplings, especially among females. They're also more likely to share food than chimps.Researchers had previously attempted to compare aggression between the two species, which share 99.6 percent of their DNA with each other, but these studies were limited because they used differing methods in the field.Mouginot and her colleagues focused on three communities...

Read More........→October 01, 2024

Counting on Fingers Really Helps Kids Improve Their Math Skills–By 40% New Study Shows

By Yan Krukau via Public Domain on PexelsSome teachers consider finger counting a signal that youngsters are struggling with math, while others associate its use as advanced numerical knowledge.Now, new research is the first to show that children’s performance in arithmetic can show a “huge” improvement through the teaching of a finger-counting method.Swiss and French teams explored whether finger counting can help primary-school-aged children to solve math problems. They said adults rarely use their fingers to calculate a small sum, because such behavior could be attributed to cognitive impairments or “pathological difficulties” in math.But young children under age 8 who use their fingers to solve such problems may be seen as intelligent, probably because they have already reached a level that allows them to understand that a quantity can be represented by different means.The research aimed to determine whether children who don’t count on their fingers can be trained to do so, and whether such training would result in enhanced arithmetic performance.The study, published in the journal Child Development, focused on 328 five- and six-year-old children at kindergarten, mainly living in France, and tested their abilities to solve simple addition problems.The kindergarteners were recruited through their teachers, who voluntarily took...

Read More........→September 23, 2024

Scale of microplastics in Antarctic revealed in preliminary survey results

The first results of the pioneering scientific research project launched earlier this year have catalogued microplastic particles in the sea water, sediment and animals in Antarctica. (Image: IAEA)By Alex Hunt: The preliminary results were outlined during an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) General Conference session focusing on the study, which is supported by Argentina and forms part of the wider IAEA NUTEC plastics initiative, which aims to use nuclear technologies to tackle plastic pollution.Nathalie Bernard, from the IAEA Marine Environment Laboratories and University of Buenos Aires, unveiling the results, said that "sadly we have found microplastics everywhere, on every sample, every matrix". She said that the concentrations of microplastics varied by location and by day.More than 250 samples were collected from the Almirante Irizer icebreaker, which sailed 27,209 kilometres over 125 days covering 84 sampling stations. Over the course of a week 166 samples were collected from Argentina's Carlini research station base as part of what was described as the first study of microplastics pollution from South America to Antarctica.The samples were of water, of sediment and also of penguin droppings and shellfish. Bernard said: "All of these results were possible thanks to nuclear techniques, specifically vibrational microspectroscopy...

Read More........→September 20, 2024