scientific breakthroughs

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Here Are 5 of 2023's Biggest Medical Breakthroughs

Alzheimer's meds, an OTC birth control pill, RSV vaccines all make ABC's list

(Newser) - If looking back at 2023 brings forth visions of dumpster fires in your head, take heart: There were some pretty amazing accomplishments over the past 12 months, notably on the health and science front. ABC News compiles some of the year's biggest medical breakthroughs, including a "significant milestone"...

Researchers Partially Reverse Death in Pig Organs

OrganEx technology could change the medical definition of death

(Newser) - Yale University researchers have come up with an apparent cure for death, at least in pig organs. In research published in the journal Nature , researchers said their OrganEx system, which uses a network of pumps, filter, and tubing, restored circulation and repaired damaged cells in pigs that had been dead...

We Finally Have a Complete Map of the Human Genome

Researchers finish work that first emerged about 20 years ago

(Newser) - Scientists say they have finally assembled the full genetic blueprint for human life, adding the missing pieces to a puzzle nearly completed two decades ago, per the AP . An international team described the first-ever sequencing of a complete human genome—the set of instructions to build and sustain a human...

Nuclear Fusion Feat Moves Us One 'Huge Step' Forward

Scientists manage to generate the biggest amount of energy ever from fusion

(Newser) - We are now "a huge step closer to conquering one of the biggest scientific and engineering challenges of them all," according to the CEO of the UK Atomic Energy Authority: developing "practical" nuclear fusion, as the BBC puts it. Nuclear fusion is the energy process that powers...

DNA Is Airborne—and a Vacuum Can Grab It
Scientists Are Vacuuming
DNA Out of Thin Air
NEW STUDIES

Scientists Are Vacuuming DNA Out of Thin Air

Researcher envisions worldwide monitoring system for wildlife using environmental DNA

(Newser) - More than a decade ago, research began to describe the detection of DNA released by organisms into their environments. For the last several years, this environmental DNA has allowed scientists, including those at the US Geological Survey , to get a handle on the distribution and abundance of small, rare, or...

3 Cheetahs, 2 Cubs, One 'Big Breakthrough'

Birth via surrogacy allows for greater genetic diversity

(Newser) - Ohio has welcomed two new scientific marvels—the first ever cheetah cubs born via in vitro fertilization. Cheetahs are a vulnerable species, with only 7,500 left in the wild. They also have low genetic diversity owing to a mass die-off about 10,000 years ago. That's made breeding...

The Biggest Physics Breakthroughs of the Year

We now know what's needed for secure quantum teleportation

(Newser) - Physics World has given its 2015 Breakthrough of the Year award to two scientists in China who demonstrated the requirements for secure quantum teleportation. Sadly, this doesn't mean you'll be able to randomly appear anywhere in the world, but it's pretty cool regardless. Basically, the research...

Schizophrenia Isn't Actually One Disease
 Schizophrenia 
 Isn't Actually 
 One Disease 
study says

Schizophrenia Isn't Actually One Disease

Genetic research points to 8 disorders

(Newser) - Genetic research is paving the way to a "new era" in psychiatry, a researcher says, and that includes a different way of looking at schizophrenia: It's not one disease, but rather eight different ones, divided by their genetic profiles, a study suggests. Researchers reviewed genetic data from 4,...

This Tiny Copper Awl Is Rewriting History
This Tiny Copper Awl
Is Rewriting History
in case you missed it

This Tiny Copper Awl Is Rewriting History

Awl is oldest metal object ever found in Middle East

(Newser) - A small copper awl found in a woman's ancient grave in Israel is rewriting history. It's the oldest metal object ever found in the Middle East, and was probably owned by the apparently important 40-year-old woman buried with it in an extravagant Tel Tsaf grave, LiveScience reports. The...

Scientists Peak in Their Late 30s

 Scientists 
 Peak in Their 
 Late 30s 
study says

Scientists Peak in Their Late 30s

Education may explain phenomenon

(Newser) - Good news for struggling scientists in their mid-30s: Your big breakthrough is probably still to come. So says a new study from the National Bureau of Economics Research, which finds that great scientists and inventors see their biggest moments of genius in their late 30s, the Atlantic reports. Education may...

'Brain Dead' Might Not Mean Brain Dead After All

Study detects activity even after a flat EEG line

(Newser) - An intriguing new study out of Montreal might redefine our concept of being "brain dead." Researchers for the first time think that the brain remains active even in patients whose EEG lines have gone flat, reports the Los Angeles Times . The study sprang from an unusual case in...

Study: Teeth Can Be Made From Urine

Chinese scientists managed to grow teeth-like structures

(Newser) - It's a scientific feat equal parts fascinating and stomach-turning: Scientists have been able to grow "rudimentary teeth" from urine, reports the BBC . Suspend your disbelief, and read on: The Chinese team's process, as outlined in Cell Regeneration Journal, had researchers harvest cells from urine and then convert...

Culprit in Irish Potato Famine Finally Discovered
Culprit in Irish Potato Famine Finally Discovered 
in case you missed it

Culprit in Irish Potato Famine Finally Discovered

Potato blight strain HERB-1 now apparently extinct

(Newser) - Nearly two centuries later, researchers believe they have identified the pathogen that led to Ireland's deadly potato famine. To make their discovery, British, German, and American scientists sequenced DNA from samples of dried potato leaves collected between 120 and 170 years ago, reports PhysOrg. They identified the particular strain...

Scientists Create New Ear —With 3D Printer

Project uses living cells

(Newser) - Scientists at Cornell have put 3D printing to an incredible medical use: They've made an ear remarkably similar to a natural one. Using 3D images of a human ear, they printed a mold to be injected with gel containing collagen from rats' tails, HealthDay reports. Next, they added cartilage...

What Scares Even the Medically Fearless
 What Scares 
 Even the 
 Medically 
 Fearless 
in case you missed it

What Scares Even the Medically Fearless

Suffocation ignites different form of fear: study

(Newser) - A much-studied woman was thought to be fearless—literally unable to experience the emotion after having part of her brain, the amygdala , damaged. Nothing from snakes to assaults could scare the woman, dubbed SM, until, in a recent study, she was faced with the feeling of suffocation. That prompted a...

Scientists Decode Banana Genome

Breakthrough could help keep millions fed in developing nations

(Newser) - They got the tomato in May, and now researchers have sequenced the banana genome, too. It's no mere scientific exercise—the feat could have huge implications in the developing world, explains the Los Angeles Times . Bananas are a vital source of food for hundreds of millions, but they're...

New Molecule Can Cavity-Proof Your Teeth
New Molecule Can
Cavity-Proof Your Teeth
study says

New Molecule Can Cavity-Proof Your Teeth

Researchers hope to add it to toothpaste, mouthwash

(Newser) - Say goodbye to cavities: Two researchers have discovered a new molecule that can kill cavity-producing bacteria and even make your teeth cavity-proof for hours, just by staying in your mouth for a full minute. The scientists named the molecule Keep 32, after the 32 teeth humans have, and they say...

10K Microbial Species Inhabit ... You

 10K Microbial Species 
 Inhabit ... You 
new research

10K Microbial Species Inhabit ... You

Research could help with treatment of disease

(Newser) - After five years of research, scientists have developed the first genetic map of the "human microbiome"—the more than 10,000 distinct microbial species that reside on and in your body. To do so, they collected tissue samples from 242 healthy Americans from different sites (or "habitats"...

Fountain of Youth for Your Brain: Slashing Calories

Calories-restricted diets release CREB1, the key to brain health

(Newser) - Scientists have long known that calorie-restricted diets— as in 30% fewer calories than normal —are a key to living longer and keeping your brain healthier. But now, for the first time, they think they know why: Apparently extreme calorie restriction triggers a brain protein, CREB1, that unlocks good genes...

Scientists Make Ebola Breakthrough

Create new synthetic vaccine that can survive long enough to be effective

(Newser) - Scientists have made a major breakthrough in the fight against Ebola, developing a new synthetic vaccine that successfully protected 80% of the mice into which it was injected. More importantly, the new vaccine can be dried down and frozen for storage, the BBC reports; past Ebola vaccines have used real...

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