Bermuda braces for Hurricane Humberto

Residents of the tiny British archipelago of Bermuda battened down the hatches on Wednesday ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Humberto, a major category 3 storm packing fierce winds and punishing rain.

African star tech start-up lays off hundreds of junior developers

Major African tech start-up Andela sacked hundreds of its staff this week—the majority from Nigeria—in one of the largest layoffs in the continent's budding tech industry.

Youth in Canada is diagnosed with illness related to vaping

A high school student in Canada has been diagnosed with a severe respiratory illness related to vaping, officials said Wednesday, in what's believed to be the first reported case in the country.

Study helps parents build resilience to navigate child's cancer

Tatum Fettig remembers when her family's lives changed forever. In 2016, her daughter Teagan began vomiting and struggling with balance. At Seattle Children's, Teagan, then 2, was diagnosed with a pediatric brain tumor, medulloblastoma. Through the grueling process of chemotherapy treatment and radiation, Fettig and her husband were by Teagan's side, trying to cope with the uncertainty of whether they would see their youngest child grow up. They mourned the loss of their former life.

Zuckerberg sets talks in Washington on 'future regulation'

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was expected in Washington Thursday for private talks with policymakers as the leading social network faces a myriad of regulatory and legal issues.

Qatar Airways reports $639-mn loss as boycott bites

Qatar Airways hit turbulence on Wednesday posting a net loss for the year to March 2019 of $639 million which the airline blamed on key markets closing their airspace to Doha.

Tech execs say they're acting faster on extremist content

Executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter told Congress on Wednesday that they've gotten better and faster at detecting and removing violent extremist content on their social media platforms in the face of mass shootings fueled by hatred.

NASA manager casts doubt on 2024 moon landing by astronauts

A top NASA manager cast doubt Wednesday on the space agency's ability to land astronauts on the moon by 2024.

Google ads: effective, a little frustrating, businesses say

For many small business owners, Google is a necessary and successful way to advertise although it can also be expensive and frustrating.

Suntanner, heal thyself: Exosome therapy may enable better repair of sun, age-damaged skin

In the future, you could be your very own fountain of youth—or at least your own skin repair reservoir. In a proof-of-concept study, researchers from North Carolina State University have shown that exosomes harvested from human skin cells are more effective at repairing sun-damaged skin cells in mice than popular retinol or stem cell-based treatments currently in use. Additionally, the nanometer-sized exosomes can be delivered to the target cells via needle-free injections.

Team closes in on 'holy grail' of room temperature quantum computing chips

To process information, photons must interact. However, these tiny packets of light want nothing to do with each other, each passing by without altering the other. Now, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have coaxed photons into interacting with one another with unprecedented efficiency—a key advance toward realizing long-awaited quantum optics technologies for computing, communication and remote sensing.

Are irrational beliefs holding back your career?

Psychologists have developed a free test which reveals how the way you think affects your performance.

Want to optimize sales performance? Reduce commissions on sales of popular items and provide sales incentives

According to new research published in the INFORMS journal Marketing Science, companies can improve sales performance when they adjust sales commissions for the sale of more popular items. Further, the researchers found that when companies provide incentives to the sales force, that is more cost-effective than offering consumers discount pricing. The research centered on automotive sales at the dealership level.

Study: Obesity associated with abnormal bowel habits—not diet

Obesity affects approximately 40 percent of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While obesity is known to be associated with increased risk of other health conditions—such as heart disease, diabetes and gastrointestinal diseases—less is known about the relationship between obesity and abnormal bowel habits. In the most comprehensive analysis of the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and bowel habits to date, published today in Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, a team of physician-researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) found a strong association between obesity and chronic diarrhea independent of an individual's dietary, lifestyle, psychological factors or medical conditions. The findings could have important implications for how physicians might approach and treat symptoms of diarrhea in patients with obesity.

Grizzlies show remarkable gene control before and during hibernation

Being a human couch potato can greatly increase fat accumulation, hasten the onset of Type II diabetes symptoms, result in detrimental blood chemistry and cardiovascular changes, and eventually, bring about one's death.

Study gives the green light to the fruit fly's color preference

For more than a century, the humble and ubiquitous fruit fly has helped scientists shed light on human genetics, disease, and behavior. Now a new study by University of Miami researchers reveals that the tiny, winged insects have an innate time- and color-dependent preference for light, raising the intriguing possibility that our own color choices depend on the time of day.

Coral reefs and squat lobsters flourished 150 million years ago

Coral reefs and the abundant life they support are increasingly threatened today, but a snapshot of a coral reef that flourished 150 million years ago shows that many animals were then at their peak of diversity, just offshore of the land ruled by dinosaurs.

Research team unveils 'Tunabot,' first robotic fish to keep pace with a tuna

Mechanical engineers at the University of Virginia School of Engineering, leading a collaboration with biologists from Harvard University, have created the first robotic fish proven to mimic the speed and movements of live yellowfin tuna.

Winning-at-all-costs in the workplace: Short-term gains could spell long-term disaster

Organizations endorsing a win-at-all-costs environment may find this management style good for the bottom-line, but it could come a price. Teamwork and civility between co-workers are severely compromised which can lead to major issues down the road (remember Enron?).

NASA sees heavy rainfall occurring in strengthening Tropical Storm Mario

When the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite passed over the Eastern Pacific Ocean, it flew over the eastern side of Tropical Storm Mario and measured rainfall.

NASA-NOAA satellite studies tropical storm Kiko's center

Hurricane Kiko weakened to a tropical storm, but imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed that the storm has maintained strength in the circular area of powerful storms around the low-level center.

NASA infrared data shows heavy rain potential along gulf from Imelda

One of the ways NASA researches tropical cyclones is using infrared data that provides temperature information. The AIRS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a look at those temperatures in Tropical Depression Imelda and gave insight into the storm's rainfall potential over eastern Texas.

Study captures six galaxies undergoing sudden, dramatic transitions

Galaxies come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and brightnesses, ranging from humdrum ordinary galaxies to luminous active galaxies. While an ordinary galaxy is visible mainly because of the light from its stars, an active galaxy shines brightest at its center, or nucleus, where a supermassive black hole emits a steady blast of bright light as it voraciously consumes nearby gas and dust.

Indonesian haze closes schools, sparks fears for Singapore F1

Toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires closed thousands of schools across the country and in neighbouring Malaysia Wednesday, while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city's Formula One motor race.

Facebook auto-generating pages for Islamic State, al-Qaida

In the face of criticism that Facebook is not doing enough to combat extremist messaging, the company likes to say that its automated systems remove the vast majority of prohibited content glorifying the Islamic State group and al-Qaida before it's reported.

Number of abortions in US falls to lowest since 1973

The number and rate of abortions across the United States have plunged to their lowest levels since the procedure became legal nationwide in 1973, according to new figures released Wednesday.

The long road to clean energy

The vital transition to a zero-carbon economy is likely to be a long and rocky road. So-called green energy is booming, but not fast enough to curb climate change, which is accelerating at an alarming pace as oil, gas and coal consumption soar.

Health fears prompt Swiss 5G revolt

Switzerland was among the first countries to begin deploying 5G, but health fears over radiation from the antennas that carry the next-generation mobile technology have sparked a nationwide revolt.

Study finds manufacturing, driving and cleaning jobs linked to the highest risk of developing type 2 diabetes

Professional drivers, manufacturing workers and cleaners have a threefold increased risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared with university teachers and physiotherapists, according to a new study presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and published in Diabetologia (the journal of EASD).

Deprivation associated with increased risk of death following hospital admission with type 2 diabetes

New research presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain (16-20 Sept) shows that where you live has an impact on how likely you are to die for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), and how likely you are to be readmitted to hospital for patients with type 1 diabetes (T1D) following hospital discharge. The study is by Dr. Tim Robbins, Institute of Digital Healthcare, WMG, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, and colleagues from both the University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust, UK.

Early signs of adult diabetes are visible in children as young as 8 years old

Early signs of adulthood type 2 diabetes can be seen in children as young as 8 years old, decades before it is likely to be diagnosed, according to a new genetic study being presented at this year's European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting in Barcelona, Spain (16-20 September).

Study stresses the importance of staying physically active and the negative effects of even short-term inactivity

A new study presented at this year's Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Barcelona, Spain (16-20 September) highlights the negative health effects of even short periods of physical inactivity and stresses the importance of staying physically active.

Fruit flies' microbiomes shape their evolution

The expression "you are what you eat" has taken on new meaning. In an experiment in fruit flies, or Drosophila melanogaster, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have found that adding different species of microbes to the flies' food caused populations to diverge genetically, racking up significant genomic changes in just five generations.

Researchers develop thermo-responsive protein hydrogel

Imagine a perfectly biocompatible, protein-based drug delivery system durable enough to survive in the body for more than two weeks and capable of providing sustained medication release. An interdisciplinary research team led by Jin Kim Montclare, a professor of biomolecular and chemical engineering at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, has created the first protein-engineered hydrogel that meets those criteria, advancing an area of biochemistry critical to not only to the future of drug delivery, but tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Brain imaging shows how nonverbal children with autism have slower response to sounds

Even though nonverbal or minimally verbal people who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make up between 25 and 30 percent of the total autistic population, almost no studies have been done focusing on this group and their particular needs.

Stabilizing neuronal branching for healthy brain circuitry

Neurons form circuits in our brain by creating tree-like branches to connect with each other. Newly forming branches rely on the stability of microtubules, a railway-like system important for the transport of materials in cells. The mechanisms that regulate the stability of microtubules in branches are largely unknown. New research from the Vickie & Jack Farber Institute for Neuroscience—Jefferson Health has identified a key molecule that stabilizes microtubules and reinforces new neuronal branches.

NASA's Terra Satellite sees the birth of Tropical Storm Imelda

NASA's Terra satellite passed over the western Gulf of Mexico during the early afternoon of Sept. 17 and captured a visible image of the newly formed Tropical Depression 11.

Immigrants who committed felonies less likely than nonimmigrants to commit another felony

Prior research has shown that immigrants have lower rates of offending, arrest, and incarceration than nonimmigrants. However, that work hasn't examined whether this holds true for recidivism. A new study compared recidivism rates of foreign-born and native-born individuals formerly incarcerated for felonies and released from prisons in Florida. It found that immigrants are significantly less likely to reoffend by committing another felony than their nonimmigrant peers.

March of the multiple penguin genomes

The Penguin Genome Consortium sequences all living penguin species genomes to understand the evolution of life on the ice

Quarter of teachers in England report 60-hour working week

One in four teachers work more than 60 hours a week and many work in the evenings, despite successive government promises to reduce their hours, according to a new UCL-led study.

Microbiome may be involved in mechanisms related to muscle strength in older adults

A novel new study suggests that the gut microbiome has a role in mechanisms related to muscle strength in older adults. The work, led by researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts, is available as a pre-proof in advance of print in Experimental Gerontology.

Electronic nose can sniff out which lung cancer patients will respond to immunotherapy

An electronic nose that detects chemicals in the breath of lung cancer patients can identify with 85% accuracy those who will or will not respond to immunotherapy, according to new research published in the leading cancer journal Annals of Oncology today.

Radiation may lower potential for side effects of CAR T therapy in non-hodgkin's lymphoma

Treating non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients with radiation therapy as an additional treatment while they wait for their CAR T cells to be manufactured may reduce the risk of CAR T therapy side effects once it is administered, according to a new study from researchers in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The study found patients who received radiation 30 days or fewer before their CAR T infusion did not experience serious cytokine release syndrome (CRS) or neurotoxicity, the two most common side effects of the gene therapy. Michael LaRiviere, MD, a resident in Radiation Oncology in Penn's Perelman School of Medicine, will present the findings today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago (Abstract #135).

Fast MRIs offer alternative to CT scans for pediatric head injuries: study

Researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine have released a study that shows that a new imaging method "fast MRI" is effective in identifying traumatic brain injuries in children, and can avoid exposure to ionizing radiation and anesthesia.

Study questions routine sleep studies to evaluate snoring in children

Pediatricians routinely advise parents of children who snore regularly and have sleepiness, fatigue or other symptoms consistent with sleep disordered breathing, to get a sleep study; this can help determine whether their child has obstructive sleep apnea, which is often treated with surgery to remove the tonsils and adenoids (adenotonsillectomy). Often pediatricians make surgery recommendations based on the results of this sleep study.