International Research Awards on New Science Inventions

Just as the melody is not made up of notes nor the verse of words nor the statue of lines, but they must be tugged and dragged till their unity has been scattered into these many pieces, so with the World to whom I say Thou .  —  Martin Buber We creatures of the 21st Century, grandchildren of the Enlightenment, like to think that our particular brand of rationality has finally established a basis for understanding the world in which we live. Of course, we don’t have all the details worked out, but the foundation is solid.  We might be chastened by the precedent of Lao Tzu and Socrates and Hypatia fof Alexandria  and Thomas Aquinas and Lord Kelvin , who thought the same thing. I wonder if the foundation of our world-view is really made of more durable stuff than theirs. In fact, founding our paradigm in the scientific method offers us something that earlier sages did not have: we can actually compare in detail the world we observe and the consequences of our ph...

Quantum information ‘teleported’ at Fermilab, Caltech represents step toward quantum internet Aviable quantum internet—a network in which information stored in qubits is shared over long distances through entanglement—would transform the fields of data storage, precision sensing and computing, ushering in a new era of communication. This month, scientists at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory—a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory affiliated with the University of Chicago—along with partners at five institutions took a significant step in the direction of realizing a quantum internet. In a paper published in  PRX Quantum , the team presents for the first time a demonstration of a sustained, long-distance teleportation of qubits made of photons (particles of light) with fidelity greater than 90%. The qubits were teleported over a fiber-optic network 27 miles (44 kilometers) long using state-of-the-art single-photon detectors, as well as off-the-shelf equipment. “We...

The human body is filled with friendly bacteria. However, some of these microorganisms, such as Veillonella parvula, may be too nice. These peaceful bacteria engage in a one-sided relationship with pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, helping the germ multiply and cause gum disease, according to a new University at Buffalo-led study. The research sought to understand how P. gingivalis colonizes the mouth. The pathogen is unable to produce its own growth molecules until it achieves a large population in the oral microbiome (the community of microorganisms that live on and inside the body). The answer: It borrows growth molecules from V. parvula, a common yet harmless bacteria in the mouth whose growth is not population dependent. In a healthy mouth, P. gingivalis makes up a miniscule amount of the bacteria in the oral microbiome and cannot replicate. But if dental plaque is allowed to grow unchecked due to poor oral hygiene, V. parvula will multiply and eventually produce enough growt...

Results from a study of 19 deceased patients suggests brain damage is a byproduct of a patient’s illness. In an in-depth study of how COVID-19 affects a patient’s brain, National Institutes of Health researchers consistently spotted hallmarks of damage caused by thinning and leaky brain blood vessels in tissue samples from patients who died shortly after contracting the disease. In addition, they saw no signs of SARS-CoV-2 in the tissue samples, suggesting the damage was not caused by a direct viral attack on the brain. The results were published as a correspondence in the New England Journal of Medicine. “We found that the brains of patients who contract infection from SARS-CoV-2 may be susceptible to microvascular blood vessel damage. Our results suggest that this may be caused by the body’s inflammatory response to the virus” said Avindra Nath, M.D., clinical director at the NIH’s National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke ( NINDS ) and the senior author of the study...

Reports of possible allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines produced by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, both recently approved for emergency use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have raised public concern. A team of experts led by allergists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) has now examined all relevant information to offer reassurance that the vaccines can be administered safely even to people with food or medication allergies. The group’s review is published in the  Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice . In response to accounts of potential allergic reactions in some people following COVID-19 vaccination in the United Kingdom, that country’s medical regulatory agency advised that individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to a medicine or food should avoid COVID-19 vaccination. After closer review of the data related to allergic reactions, however, the FDA recommended that the vaccines be withheld only from individuals with a history of ...

When fat cells in the body are stuffed with excess fat, the surrounding tissue becomes inflamed. That chronic, low-level inflammation is one of the driving factors behind many of the diseases associated with obesity. Now, UT Southwestern scientists have discovered a type of cell responsible, at least in mice, for triggering this inflammation in fat tissue. Their  findings , published in  Nature Metabolism , could eventually lead to new ways to treat obesity. “The inflammation of fat cells in obese individuals is linked to many of the comorbidities we associate with being overweight – cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and infection,” says study leader  Rana Gupta, Ph.D. , associate professor of internal medicine. “By identifying these cells, we’ve taken a step toward understanding some of the initial events that contribute to that inflammation.” When a person consumes more calories than needed, the excess calories are stored in the form of triglycerides inside fat tissue...

A team of rehabilitation researchers has studied processing speed deficits in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI), comparing their brain activation patterns with those of healthy age-matched controls, and older healthy individuals. They found that the SCI group and older controls had similar activation patterns, but the SCI group differed significantly from their age-matched controls. The article, “The neural mechanisms underlying processing speed deficits in individuals who have sustained a spinal cord injury: A pilot study” (doi: 10.1007/s10548-020-00798-x) was epublished on September 25, 2020 by  Brain Topography . The authors are scientists with expertise in research in cognitive rehabilitation and SCI rehabilitation: Glenn Wylie, DPhil, Nancy D. Chiaravalloti, PhD, Erica Weber, PhD, Helen Genova, PhD, and Trevor Dyson-Hudson, MD, from Kessler Foundation, and Jill M. Wecht, EdD, from the James J. Peters VA Medical Center. Individuals with chronic SCI have an increased ...

One of world’s earliest examples of art, the enigmatic ‘Venus’ figurines carved some 30,000 years ago, have intrigued and puzzled scientists for nearly two centuries. Now a researcher from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus believes he’s gathered enough evidence to solve the mystery behind these curious totems. The hand-held depictions of obese or pregnant women, which appear in most art history books, were long seen as symbols of fertility or beauty. But according to Richard Johnson, MD, lead author of the study published today in the journal,  Obesity,  the key to understanding the statues lays in climate change and diet. “Some of the earliest art in the world are these mysterious figurines of overweight women from the time of hunter gatherers in Ice Age Europe where you would not expect to see obesity at all,” said Johnson, a professor at the  University of Colorado School of Medicine  specializing in renal disease and hypertensio...

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that fructose stimulates the release of vasopressin, a hormone linked to obesity and diabetes. They also found that water can suppress the hormone and alleviate these conditions in mice. “The clinical significance of this work is that it may encourage studies to evaluate whether simple increases in water intake may effectively mitigate obesity and metabolic syndrome,” said the study’s lead author Miguel A. Lanaspa, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine specializing in renal disease and hypertension. The study was published today in the journal  JCI Insight . Lanaspa and his colleague, Richard Johnson, MD, also a professor at the CU School of Medicine, wanted to understand why vasopressin, which maintains the body’s water levels, was elevated in those with obesity and diabetes. They fed mice sugar water, specifically fructose, and found that it stimulated the...

The introduction of computer simulation to the identification of symptoms in children with  attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder  (ADHD) has potential to provide an additional objective tool to gauge the presence and severity of behavioral problems, Ohio State University researchers suggest in a new publication. Most mental health disorders are diagnosed and treated based on clinical interviews and questionnaires – and, for about a century, data from cognitive tests has been added to the diagnostic process to help clinicians learn more about how and why people behave in a certain way. Cognitive testing in ADHD is used to identify a variety of symptoms and deficits, including selective attention, poor working memory, altered time perception, difficulties in maintaining attention and impulsive behavior. In the most common class of performance tests, children are told to either press a computer key or avoid hitting a key when they see a certain word, symbol or other stimul...

A single positive experience on a psychedelic drug may help reduce stress, depression and anxiety symptoms in Black, Indigenous and people of color whose encounters with racism have had lasting harm, a new study suggests. The participants in the retrospective study reported that their trauma-related symptoms linked to racist acts were lowered in the 30 days after an experience with either psilocybin (Magic Mushrooms), LSD or MDMA (Ecstasy). Alan Davis “Their experience with psychedelic drugs was so powerful that they could recall and report on changes in symptoms from racial trauma that they had experienced in their lives, and they remembered it having a significant reduction in their mental health problems afterward,” said  Alan Davis , co-lead author of the study and an assistant professor of  social work at The Ohio State University . Overall, the study also showed that the more intensely spiritual and insightful the psychedelic experience was, the more significant t...

Thanks to the marine worm Platynereis dumerilii, an animal whose genes have evolved very slowly, scientists from CNRS, Université de Paris and Sorbonne Université, in association with others at the University of Saint Petersburg and the University of Rio de Janeiro, have shown that while haemoglobin appeared independently in several species, it actually descends from a single gene transmitted to all by their last common ancestor. These findings were published on 29 December 2020 in  BMC Evolutionary Biology . Having red blood is not peculiar to humans or mammals. This colour comes from haemoglobin, a complex protein specialized in transporting the oxygen found in the circulatory system of vertebrates, but also in annelids (a worm family whose most famous members are earthworms), molluscs (especially pond snails) and crustaceans (such as daphnia or ‘water fleas’). It was thought that for haemoglobin to have appeared in such diverse species, it must have been ‘invented’ several tim...

Race and class make a difference in experiences and outcomes for criminal defendants in a system that emphasizes control and getting defendants to give in, according to sociologist Matthew Clair. Achance encounter five years ago in a Chicago-area courtroom altered the course of sociologist  Matthew Clair ’s academic life. While a graduate student researching the criminal justice system, Clair and a colleague often observed courtroom proceedings in cities they were visiting. While sitting in the gallery of a courtroom one day, Clair was startled to hear the prosecutor say, “Is Clair coming from lockup?” Clair wondered if his last name was more common than he had assumed. His father’s family hailed from Chicago, and Clair had had some contact with them over the years, but he was still shocked when a man who could have been his doppelgänger walked into the courtroom. “I later found out he was a first cousin,” said Clair, assistant professor of sociology in the  Schoo...

A collection of research and insights from Stanford experts who are deciphering the mysteries and mechanisms of extinction and survival in Earth’s deep past and painting an increasingly detailed picture of life now at the brink. An estimated 8 million animal and plant species live on planet Earth. But extinction rates are  accelerating . Gorillas, gazelles, frogs, rhinos and whales are among the species now critically endangered, and human activities present the biggest threat. In mass extinctions, a huge portion of the planet’s species die off over thousands or even millions of years – a geological blink. Scientists have identified five of these events in fossil data going back roughly half a billion years. Scientists who study  past extinction events  can find clues about not only the evolution of life on Earth, but also about the effects of extreme changes in our planet’s atmosphere, and how life finds ways to rebound. Stanford scientists and colleagu...