Chernobyl's liquidators didn’t pass on radiation damage to their children
Exposure to Chernobyl radiation increased the risk of thyroid cancer by breaking DNA strands, but the effects didn't carry to the next generation.The new research is a step forward in understanding the mechanisms that drive human thyroid cancer, said Stephen Chanock, the director of the division of cancer epidemiology and genetics at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the senior author on both research papers. It's also reassuring for those exposed to radiation in events such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster and who plan to start families, Chanock told Live Science.
A simple device could be the solution to a deeply annoying problem that's plagued humanity for millennia: the hiccups.
© Provided by Live Science image of a hand holding the hiccup-relieving device, which resembles a big plastic straw with a mouth piece at the top When a bout of hiccups strikes, the brain stem shoots signals to the diaphragm that cause the muscle to contract and pull a gulp of air into the lungs; then the epiglottis, a flap of tissue behind the tongue, flips over to cover the windpipe and triggers the characteristic "hic" sound that give hiccups their name, Live Science previously reported. The involuntary reflex may serve some purpose in fetuses and newborns, in that hiccups may help train the brain regions and muscles involved in breath control. But as the "hics" serve no apparent purpose in older humans, at some point, they're mostly just a nuisance.
MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD one step closer to FDA approval
Barring results from an additional trial, the treatment could be approved within a few years.The study, soon to be published in the journal Nature Medicine, included 90 people with PTSD who all underwent talk therapy during the trial; these participants included combat veterans, first responders and victims of sexual assault, mass shootings, domestic violence or childhood trauma, the Times reported.
A quick internet search generates a slew of home remedies for hiccups. Some of the best-known tricks include holding your breath, drinking water from the far side of a glass and eating a spoonful of granulated sugar, while some case studies have suggested stranger cures, such as rectal massages and orgasms.
Related: Can a scare cure the hiccups?
But none of these solutions are backed by robust scientific data, and the typical home remedies "are plagued by unclear instructions, inconsistent performance and poor effectiveness," researchers wrote in a new study, published Friday (June 18) in the journal JAMA Network Open. "There is a need for a simple and effective method to stop hiccups," they wrote.
The study's senior author, Dr. Ali Seifi, an associate professor of neurosurgery and the director of neurocritical care at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, said he saw a need for a hiccup remedy while working in the intensive care unit.
What is Darwin's Theory of Evolution?
Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection isn't an idea with holes. It's one of the most solid theories in science. But what exactly is it?Darwin chose the term "natural selection" to be in contrast with "artificial selection," in which animal breeders select for particular traits that they deem desirable, according to National Geographic. In natural selection, it's the natural environment, rather than a human being, that does the selecting.
"Many patients with brain injury, stroke, and cancer chemotherapy patients get hiccups on my floor," he told Live Science in an email. For example, one of his patients developed hiccups after undergoing neurosurgery and became increasingly frustrated as the nurses helped him through various remedies, such as drinking from the far side of a cup. Just days later, Seifi got hiccups while delivering a speech to medical students, and in that frustrating moment, he "really decided that I have to find a definite, but simple solution," he said.
Gallery: 10 ways COVID-19 changed the world (Live Science)
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10 ways COVID-19 changed the world
The year 2020 was defined by the coronavirus pandemic, arguably the worst pandemic the world has seen in 100 years. The illness has affected nearly every aspect of life, from work and school to everyday activities like getting groceries, and even our wardrobes.
Laughing gas may treat depression, small study suggests
As many as one in three cases of depression are resistant to standard treatments. Could laughing gas be an alternative?Two weeks after inhaling a mixture of laughing gas and oxygen for an hour, participants in an early stage clinical trial had less severe symptoms of depression than they did two weeks after a placebo treatment, according to research published June 9 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Here are just some of the ways COVID-19 changed the world.
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New vocabulary
A number of new words and phrases entered the general lexicon in 2020. We were told we need to "social distance," or stay six feet apart, so that we could "flatten the curve," or slow the disease's spread in order to reduce the burden on the healthcare system. People even became familiar with relatively obscure epidemiological terms like the "basic reproduction number" (R0, pronounced R-nought), or the average number of people who catch the virus from a single infected person. And of course the name of the illness itself, COVID-19, is a new term, with the World Health Organization officially naming the disease on Feb. 11 2020.
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Wardrobe addition
The must-have fashion item of 2020 was a small piece of cloth to put around your face.
With medical masks in short supply at the beginning of the year, sewing enthusiasts began churning out homemade masks for their communities. Then, clothing companies and retailers got on board, adding masks to their fashion lines. Now, in many parts of the world, you can't leave your house without putting on a mask.
Gut bacteria may 'talk' to the brain, mouse study suggests
Research suggests that gut bacteria may also influence human brain activity and behavior.Specifically, researchers wanted to find out how gut bacteria influence the activity of brain networks involved in mouse social behavior. Normally, when a mouse encounters a mouse it's never met, the two rodents will sniff at each other's whiskers and clamber over each other, much like how two dogs might greet each other at a dog park. However, germ-free mice, which lack gut bacteria, actively avoid social interactions with other mice and instead remain strangely aloof.
At first, it was unclear whether wearing cloth masks would protect against COVID-19, but as the year went on, numerous studies showed the benefits of wearing masks, for both the wearer and those around them.
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Anxiety and depression
The pandemic took a serious toll on people's mental health in 2020. One study published in August by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that levels of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts skyrocketed amid the pandemic.
The study could not determine the reason for the rise in mental health conditions, but factors relating to the pandemic, such as social isolation, school and university closures, unemployment and other financial worries, as well as the threat of the disease itself, may play a role, the authors said.
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She sticks a rose stalk into a potato and look what happens a week later
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Pandemic drinking
Another insidious side effect of the pandemic was increases in alcohol consumption. A study published in October in the journal JAMA Network Open found that alcohol consumption in the United States rose 14% during pandemic shutdowns.
Women in particular reported worrying increases in heavy drinking during the spring of 2020, according to the study.
Having someone to talk to may help stave off Alzheimer's, study claims
Researchers at New York University's Grossman School of Medicine analysed the cognitive function of 2,171 volunteers with an average age of 63. They said that, although Alzheimer's typically occurs in the elderly, the results apply to middle-aged and younger adults. © Provided by Daily Mail ( The researchers used MRI scans to measure brain volume - with lower numbers pointing to worse cognitive function and greater risk of Alzheimer's. The results were published in the online journal JAMA Network Open.
"In addition to a range of negative physical health associations, excessive alcohol use may lead to or worsen existing mental health problems," the authors concluded.
Dark regions of the genome may drive the evolution of new species
The findings suggest a way to rescue "doomed" animal hybrids.These long, repeating stretches of the genome, called satellite DNA, may ultimately prevent incompatible animals from mating by scrambling the chromosomes in their hybrid babies, according to the study. And if animals from different populations can't mate, they will diverge over time, leading to speciation.
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New normal
As businesses began to open after initial lockdowns, people needed to adjust to a new normal to reduce the risk of spreading the disease from everyday activities. Businesses implemented universal mask policies. Dining switched to outdoors only. Waiting rooms became a thing of the past. You needed a reservation to go to the gym. And large gatherings and events were banned completely in many areas.
Although there is no way to ensure zero risk of catching COVID-19, officials said taking precautions could reduce the risk of spread. However, as the fall began, many areas went into lockdown again amid surging COVID-19 cases.
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Rampant rumors
From the idea that drinking bleach can kill the norovirus to a theory that the virus was created in a lab as a bioweapon, the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a flurry of misinformation. Indeed, one study, published Aug. 10 in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, found that the pandemic has hatched more than 2,000 rumors, conspiracy theories and reports of discrimination.
Such false information can have serious consequences — the researchers of the new study found that COVID-19 related rumors were linked to thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of deaths.
"Health agencies must track misinformation associated with ... COVID-19 in real time, and engage local communities and government stakeholders to debunk misinformation," the authors concluded.
How do cats get their stripes?
Several key genes dictate whether a house cat will have stripes, spots or neither.How cats get their stripes is a decades-old mystery in the life sciences, senior author Dr. Gregory Barsh, a geneticist at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama, told Live Science in an email. About 70 years ago, scientists began developing theories as to why and how organisms come to bear periodic patterns, like the stripes on a zebra or the squidgy segments of a caterpillar's body.
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Pandemic puppies
With orders to stay at home as much as possible, many people decided to get a furry friend during quarantine.
The coronavirus pandemic has been a boon for pet adoptions, particularly dog adoptions. Many shelters, breeders and pet stores reported a surge in applications for dogs, with the demand far exceeding supply, according to The Washington Post. Some shelters reported double the number of adoptions compared with the previous year, and needed to resort to waitlists to handle the demand.
Not only is this good news for pets who need homes, but also for their humans, given that many studies show there are mental health benefits to pet ownership, according to NPR.
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School closures
Children seem to be largely spared from the most severe effects of COVID-19, but they can still act as spreaders of the disease. So many schools across the U.S. and the world made the decision to close in 2020, and opt for virtual learning instead. Questions around how long to remain closed and how to safely reopen were the subject of much debate. As fall arrived with a number of schools still closed, many children seemed to be falling behind in learning. Statewide polls have found that nearly 9 in 10 parents are worried about their children falling behind at school due to the pandemic closures, according to The Educational Trust.
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Lowered emissions
Coronavirus lockdowns, which slowed the normal hustle and bustle of cities to a near halt, also appeared to dramatically lower emissions of carbon dioxide around the world. A study published May 19 in the journal Nature Climate Change found that daily global carbon dioxide emissions dropped by 17% in early 2020, compared with levels in 2019. That appears to be one of the biggest drops in recorded history. But this temporary drop is far from enough to undo the harmful effects of man-made climate change.
"Although this is likely to lead to the largest cut in emissions since World War II, it will make barely a dent in the ongoing build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere," Richard Betts, Head of Climate Impacts Research at the Met Office Hadley Centre in England, said in a statement.
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She pricks a needle into a banana and this is what happens
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New vaccine
Developing a new vaccine normally takes years to decades. But in an unprecedented feat, researchers in the U.S. and several other countries created a coronavirus vaccine — taking it from lab bench to bedside — in just under 12 months. When 2020 began, COVID-19 and the virus that causes it, SARS-CoV-2, were unknown to science. But once the virus was identified, scientists acted quickly to begin developing a vaccine. By mid-March, early trials in humans had begun, and by late summer, the vaccines were ready for more advanced trials with thousands of participants. In December, the United States authorized two COVID-19 vaccines, from Pfizer and Moderna, after trials showed impressive results. Both vaccines used molecules known as mRNA to stimulate an immune response against the coronavirus, marking the first time that any mRNA vaccine has been authorized for use in people. The vaccines were heralded as an extraordinary scientific advancement, and the first doses were administered to healthcare workers in the U.S. in mid-December.
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So Seifi invented a device called the forced inspiratory suction and swallow tool, or FISST. (He has also patented the tool and branded it under the somewhat catchier name "HiccAway.") The device is a rigid plastic tube with a mouthpiece on one end and a pressure valve on the other. The user operates the tool by placing it in a half-full glass of water, "forcefully" sucking water through the mouthpiece and then swallowing the liquid.
The act of sucking up the water stimulates the phrenic nerve, which sends motor signals to the diaphragm, and the act of swallowing stimulates the vagus nerve, which helps control unconscious activity of the digestive tract and connects to the epiglottis, Seifi said. "Hypothetically, when we keep these two nerves busy with a different duty, they will have no time to mess up and generate hiccups," he said.
When people use FISST, "the hiccups are usually expected to stop instantly in one to two attempts," the team wrote in their report.
To put the device to the test, the researchers ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2020 in which volunteers could receive a free FISST to try. In all, 249 participants took part in the study and completed questionnaires in which they rated their experience on a scale from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "strongly in favor of home remedies" and 5 meaning "strongly in favor of FISST." The participants also rated their satisfaction with the product, in terms of its feasibility compared with home remedies.
More than 69% of the participants reported having hiccups at least once a month, with most bouts of hiccups lasting less than two hours. More than 90% of the participants rated FISST as superior to home remedies, in terms of both effectiveness and feasibility. These ratings were consistently high regardless of a given participant's hiccup frequency or duration.
While the results hint that FISST works better than other hiccup-relieving tactics, the study is limited in that it relied on subjective rating scales and lacked a control group, meaning a group of individuals who did not use the tool, the authors noted.
"Future studies will need to assess the efficacy of FISST in randomized clinical trials," in which one group gets a sham device, while the others test the real one, they wrote. Seifi noted that the team has already initiated such trials in the U.S., Japan and Switzerland.
Originally published on Live Science.
How do cats get their stripes? .
Several key genes dictate whether a house cat will have stripes, spots or neither.How cats get their stripes is a decades-old mystery in the life sciences, senior author Dr. Gregory Barsh, a geneticist at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, Alabama, told Live Science in an email. About 70 years ago, scientists began developing theories as to why and how organisms come to bear periodic patterns, like the stripes on a zebra or the squidgy segments of a caterpillar's body.