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Research

Motivation depends on how the brain processes fatigue

August 11, 2021 by Editor

How do we decide whether or not an activity which requires work is ‘worth the effort’? Researchers at the University of Birmingham & University of Oxford have shown that the willingness to work is not static, and depends upon the fluctuating rhythms of fatigue.

Fatigue – the feeling of exhaustion from doing effortful tasks – is something we all experience daily. It makes us lose motivation and want to take a break. Although scientists understand the mechanisms the brain uses to decide whether a given task is worth the effort, the influence of fatigue on this process is not yet well understood.

The research team conducted a study to investigate the impact of fatigue on a person’s decision to exert effort. They found that people were less likely to work and exert effort – even for a reward – if they were fatigued. The results are published in Nature Communications. [Read more…] about Motivation depends on how the brain processes fatigue

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    'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study revealsFrom the thrill of hearing an ice cream truck approaching to the spikes of pleasure while sipping a fine wine, the neurological messenger known as dopamine has been popularly described as the brain's "feel good" chemical related to reward and pleasure. A ubiquitous neurotransmitter that carries signals between brain cells,…
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  • Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiology
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    Rules of brain architecture revealed in large study of neuron shape and electrophysiologyTo understand our brains, scientists need to know their components. This theme underlies a growing effort in neuroscience to define the different building blocks of the brain – its cells. With the mouse's 80 million neurons and our 86 billion, sorting through those delicate, microscopic building blocks is no small…
    Tags: brain, researchers, study, activity, team, news
  • Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe not
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    Is sitting always bad for your mind? A new study suggests maybe notIt's generally accepted health advice that adults of all ages should sit less, move more, and engage in regular exercise to feel better and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. However, when it comes to the brain and cognition, a new study of older adults from Colorado State University suggests…
    Tags: activity, study, people, researchers, brain, news
  • Touch-and-know: Brain activity during tactile stimuli reveals hand preferences in people
    34
    Touch-and-know: Brain activity during tactile stimuli reveals hand preferences in peopleHave you ever wondered whether the brains of right-handed people work differently from those of left-handers? Is it possible to distinguish between them by observing their brain activity in response to stimuli or tasks? These are important questions from the perspectives of both basic sciences and application-based fields such as…
    Tags: brain, study, people, activity, work, team
  • Brain activity foreshadows changes in stock prices
    32
    Brain activity foreshadows changes in stock pricesSociety for Neuroscience Activity in the brains' risk circuits can forecast changes in stock prices Forecasting changes in stock prices may be possible with the help of brain activity in regions associated with how people feel before making investment choices. Scientists could accurately forecast market price changes based on the…
    Tags: activity, brain, news

Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: activity, brain, exert, fatigue, feeling, motivation, people, researchers, work

Crime scene tape set to revolutionize microplastics research

July 29, 2021 by Editor

An adhesive tape patented by Staffordshire University researchers to recover trace evidence from crimes scenes is being adopted to analyse microplastics more efficiently.

Man-made polymer particles or “microplastics” are proven to be present in land, air and water environments. However, despite extensive global studies, there is no standardised approach for their collection and analysis.

Currently, studies regularly involve retrieving microplastic samples from water using a filtration method. Samples are commonly analysed in situ on the filter or after removal from it by hand, which is time consuming and risks accidental loss of the particles and cross contamination. [Read more…] about Crime scene tape set to revolutionize microplastics research

Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: analysis, easylift, gwinnett, method, microplastic, microplastics, particles, pollution, professor, samples, standardised, tape, university, will

How children integrate information

July 13, 2021 by Editor

“We know that children use a lot of different information sources in their social environment, including their own knowledge, to learn new words. But the picture that emerges from the existing research is that children have a bag of tricks that they can use”, says Manuel Bohn, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

For example, if you show a child an object they already know – say a cup – as well as an object they have never seen before, the child will usually think that a word they never heard before belongs with the new object. Why? Children use information in the form of their existing knowledge of words (the thing you drink out of is called a “cup”) to infer that the object that doesn’t have a name goes with the name that doesn’t have an object. Other information comes from the social context: children remember past interactions with a speaker to find out what they are likely to talk about next.

“But in the real world, children learn words in complex social settings in which more than just one type of information is available. They have to use their knowledge of words while interacting with a speaker. Word learning always requires integrating multiple, different information sources”, Bohn continues. An open question is how children combine different, sometimes even conflicting, sources of information. [Read more…] about How children integrate information

Filed Under: Features, Research Tagged With: children, experiments, learn, object, social, sources

Aquaponics treatment system inspired by sewage plants grows tastier crops and keeps fish healthy

June 22, 2021 by Editor

A current challenge for sustainable aquaculture is how to increase the quantities of farmed fish while also reducing waste products that can lead to the accumulation of harmful fish sludge.

New research aims to understand how this fish waste can be treated for use in aquaponics systems, by removing excessive carbon, yet preserving the mineral nutrients required by plants to grow.

In this study in Frontiers in Plant Science, researchers from the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, demonstrate a novel and effective way to convert this fish sludge into plant fertilizer and therefore improving the nutrients available for plants in hydroponic plant cultivation. [Read more…] about Aquaponics treatment system inspired by sewage plants grows tastier crops and keeps fish healthy

Filed Under: Agriculture, Research Tagged With: agriculture, crops, fertilizer, fish, nutrients, plants, system, treatment, waste, water

Data from community science is underutilized. New study aims to change that

June 17, 2021 by Editor

In recent years, community science – also known as citizen science – has become a global phenomenon, engaging millions of people through wildlife observation platforms like iNaturalist and contributing unparalleled amounts of data on the natural world.

Despite this, however, community science data remains widely underutilized by the scientific community due to its perception as being less reliable than expert-collected data.

In a paper published last week in Oikos, California Academy of Sciences researchers – with support from the California Ocean Protection Council – present a new framework for how community-generated data can be effectively used to monitor and protect our planet’s biodiversity. [Read more…] about Data from community science is underutilized. New study aims to change that

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  • Fossil trees on Peru's Central Andean Plateau tell a tale of dramatic environmental change
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    Fossil trees on Peru's Central Andean Plateau tell a tale of dramatic environmental changeOn an expedition to the Central Andean Plateau, researchers from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and colleagues were astounded to find a huge fossil-tree buried in the cold, grassy plain. The plant fossil record from this high-altitude site in southern Peru contains dramatic reminders that the environment in the…
    Tags: science, researchers, data, environment, change

Filed Under: Environment, Research Tagged With: biodiversity, change, community, community-generated, data, framework, observations, researchers, science

Declining growth rates of global coral reef ecosystems

June 16, 2021 by Editor

If the trend of declining coral growth continues at the current rate, the world’s coral reefs may cease calcifying around 2054, a new Southern Cross University study has found.

Drawing on research from the late 1960s until now, the paper published in Communications & Environment reveals the global spatiotemporal trends and drivers of coral reef ecosystem growth (known as calcification).

One hundred and sixteen studies from 53 published papers were analysed. [Read more…] about Declining growth rates of global coral reef ecosystems

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Filed Under: Environment, Research Tagged With: calcification, coral, declining, ecosystem, growth, reef

Consumers spent less on candy and desserts when shopping online

June 11, 2021 by Editor

When shopping online, participants surveyed spent more money, purchased more items, and spent less on candy and desserts than when they shopped in-store, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, published by Elsevier.

In recent years, online grocery shopping has grown exponentially. To describe the grocery shopping patterns of people who shopped both online and in-store and evaluate whether shoppers purchased fewer unhealthy, impulse-sensitive items online, 137 primary household shoppers in Maine who shopped at least once in-store and online (with curbside pickup) were studied for 5,573 total transactions from 2015-2017.

“There were differences in both the quantity and types of food purchased when shopping online compared to in-store. When study participants were shopping online, they spent about 44 percent more per transaction, and they purchased a greater number and variety of items compared to when they shopped in-store,” said lead author Laura Zatz, ScD, MPH, Department of Nutrition and Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA. [Read more…] about Consumers spent less on candy and desserts when shopping online

Filed Under: Industry, Research Tagged With: candy, desserts, drinks, grocery, in-store, items, online, purchased, shopping, snacks, spending, sugary

Urban crime fell by over a third around the world during COVID-19 shutdowns, study suggests

June 10, 2021 by Editor

A team of researchers led by the University of Cambridge and University of Utrecht examined trends in daily crime counts before and after COVID-19 restrictions were implemented in major metropolitan areas such as Barcelona, Chicago, Sao Paulo, Tel Aviv, Brisbane and London.

While both stringency of lockdowns and the resulting crime reductions varied considerably from city to city, the researchers found that most types of crime – with the key exception of homicide – fell significantly in the study sites.

Across all 27 cities, daily assaults fell by an average of 35%, and robberies (theft using violence or intimidation, such as muggings) almost halved: falling an average of 46%. Other types of theft, from pick-pocketing to shop-lifting, fell an average of 47%. [Read more…] about Urban crime fell by over a third around the world during COVID-19 shutdowns, study suggests

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  • Rise in childhood short-sightedness may be linked to pandemic, suggests Hong Kong study
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    Rise in childhood short-sightedness may be linked to pandemic, suggests Hong Kong studyThe increase in cases of myopia (myopia) in children in Hong Kong may be associated with a significant decrease in the amount of time they were able to spend outdoors and a sharp increase in screen time during a coronavirus pandemic. I have. NS British Journal of Offtalmology.. By September…
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  • 'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study reveals
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    'Feel good' brain messenger can be willfully controlled, new study revealsFrom the thrill of hearing an ice cream truck approaching to the spikes of pleasure while sipping a fine wine, the neurological messenger known as dopamine has been popularly described as the brain's "feel good" chemical related to reward and pleasure. A ubiquitous neurotransmitter that carries signals between brain cells,…
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Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: cities, covid, crime, lockdowns, study, violence

The most discussed and shared research and commentary of 2020

June 9, 2021 by Editor

Covid-19, racial justice, climate change, the origins of life and other crucial issues all garnered attention in 2020.

The annual Altmetric Top 100 highlights research and scholarly commentary published in 2020 that generated significant international online attention and discussion – from patents and public policy documents to mainstream media, blogs, Wikipedia and social media platforms.

This year’s Top 100 represents the most discussed research from all disciplines, selecting the top five works by Altmetric Attention Score from twenty subjects.

Unsurprisingly, Covid-19 research accounts for roughly 30% of the Top 100 across many disciplines including biomedicine, built environment and design, and economics. Virus transmission and face mask protection were among the most heavily discussed topics. [Read more…] about The most discussed and shared research and commentary of 2020

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  • Global warming already responsible for one in three heat-related deaths
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    Global warming already responsible for one in three heat-related deathsBetween 1991 and 2018, more than a third of all deaths in which heat played a role were attributable to human-induced global warming, according to a new article in Nature Climate Change. The study, the largest of its kind, was led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine…
    Tags: climate, change, global, news

Filed Under: News, Research Tagged With: altmetric, attention, change, climate, coronavirus, covid, global, greenhouse, mask, sars-cov, science, transmission

Scientists make powerful underwater glue inspired by barnacles and mussels

June 8, 2021 by Editor

If you have ever tried to chip a mussel off a seawall or a barnacle off the bottom of a boat, you will understand that we could learn a great deal from nature about how to make powerful adhesives.

Engineers at Tufts University have taken note, and today report a new type of glue inspired by those stubbornly adherent crustaceans in the journal Advanced Science.

Starting with the fibrous silk protein harvested from silkworms, they were able to replicate key features of barnacle and mussel glue, including protein filaments, chemical crosslinking and iron bonding. [Read more…] about Scientists make powerful underwater glue inspired by barnacles and mussels

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    'Vegan spider silk' provides sustainable alternative to single-use plasticsResearchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products. The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, created a polymer film by mimicking the properties of spider silk, one of the strongest materials in nature. The new material is as strong as many…
    Tags: proteins, silk, materials, protein, material, strong, researchers, nature, created, molecular

Filed Under: Engineering, Research Tagged With: adhesives, barnacle, bonding, chains, fibroin, filaments, glue, iron, material, mussel, polymers, protein, silk, strength, surfaces, tufts, underwater

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