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Patagonian people were riding horses long before Europeans arrived
The first Europeans to visit the southernmost tip of South America marveled at the people they met there. They were so tall, one version of the story goes, that Ferdinand Magellan’s 16th century crew dubbed them “Patagones,” from the Spanish for “big foot.” The name came to describe Patagonia, the southern tip of South America as well. Two hundred years after Magellan’s visit, a British sailor stranded in the region recorded a very different picture. The locals, probably Indigenous Tehuelche people, were no longer notable just for their size. They were now thundering across the Patagonian plains on horses...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 8, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

First-of-its-kind tyrannosaur fossil reveals what younglings ate
Fully grown tyrannosaurs were fearsome predators. With powerful jaws and piercing teeth, they could kill huge herbivores larger than themselves. But young tyrannosaurs ate different—and much smaller—prey, paleontologists report today in Science Advances . A new fossil with remains of a last supper confirms these carnivores switched their diet as they grew . “This is a tyrannosaur’s last meal, preserved in stone! How amazing is that?” says Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh who was not involved in the new work. “This is direct evidence of what a tyrannosaur ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 8, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

A ‘living skin’ is protecting the Great Wall of China from erosion
The Great Wall of China used to be much greater. What stands today is only a fraction of the expansive fortifications built on the country’s northern borders starting more than 2000 years ago and then eroded by time. But many sections of the remaining walls seem to be getting preservation help from an unlikely source: thin layers of bacteria, moss, lichen, and other organisms known as biocrusts, which grow on the surface of soils. A study published today in Science Advances finds that these so-called “living skins” have likely protected parts of the Great Wall from wind, rain, and ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 8, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Biden wants NIH to have ‘march-in’ power to override patent rights for high-priced drugs
President Joe Biden today stepped into a long-running debate about whether the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has legal authority to override an exclusive patent license granted to drug developers if they charge too much for treatments that relied on agency-funded research. In draft policy guidance, the Biden administration says federal agencies would be able to use so-called “march-in” rights when a company is not charging a “reasonable” price for a product. The “ proposed framework ” was released today as part of other White House actions aimed at the high drug prices that have ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 7, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Birds that lead people to honey recognize local calls from their human helpers
When people in the Niassa Special Reserve of northern Mozambique hanker for something sweet, they don’t call DoorDash or Uber Eats. They call a bird. The aptly named honeyguide will lead them to a bee nest so they can harvest the honey. The bird obtains a treat, too—scrumptious wax and bee larvae. A new study suggests this partnership, which occurs in several places in Africa, is even more intricate than scientists thought. People in different regions make unique sounds to summon the birds, and the birds recognize and respond to calls from their local area , researchers report today in Science . The...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 7, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

News at a glance: Climate damage fund, a Palestinian physicist killed, and a dismissal following a Harvard gift
CLIMATE POLICY Climate damage fund launched At the U.N. climate conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, last week, nations agreed to a draft resolution for a “loss and damage” fund to compensate developing countries for harms caused by climate change when adapting to them is not possible. Many of those countries face risks from increased storms, drought, and other effects of global warming, despite not being responsible for the bulk of historic fossil fuel emissions. Wealthy countries have already promised more than $700 million for the fund. But many details of its operation, including the bo...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 7, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Archaeology society votes to ban photos of Indigenous burial offerings
The Southeastern Archaeological Conference (SEAC) announced yesterday it will maintain a new image policy that prohibits its flagship journal from publishing photographs of objects buried with Indigenous ancestors. The decision reflects a vote held on the issue that concluded on 4 December. Many tribes with ties to the U.S. Southeast say seeing such images is a profound spiritual and cultural violation, and that publishing them is exploitative. Critics of SEAC’s new policy say they worry it will infringe on academic freedom and shut down significant areas of research. Thirty of those critics petitioned to...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 6, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Not all organs age the same. ‘Older’ ones may predict your risk of disease
You’re only as old as you feel, so the adage goes. But new research suggests you may really be as old as your oldest organ. Scientists say they have developed a simple, blood test–based method to measure the speed of aging in individual organs such as the heart and brain. When an organ is substantially “older” than a person’s actual age, the risk of death and diseases related to that part of the body shoots up, the researchers report today in Nature . The team’s findings are compelling, says Daniel Belsky, an epidemiologist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and co...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 6, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

mRNA vaccines may make unintended proteins, but there ’s no evidence of harm
Even after the billions of doses given during the pandemic, messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines still hold surprises. A study out today reveals they may unexpectedly prompt cells to produce small amounts of unintended proteins. There is no evidence that these mistakes compromise the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, which saved millions of lives, and the researchers have already proposed a fix that may help make future vaccines or drugs based on mRNAs safer and even more effective. Other scientists say there is nothing alarming about the new work, reported today in Nature , and agree that it could help im...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 6, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Locusts raised in spinning centrifuge have stronger skeletons
This study is kind of a door opener for us,” says Dirks, who hopes the findings will inspire more appreciation for the humble insect exoskeleton. “It’s a wide biological question,” he adds, which goes beyond “just spinning insects.” (Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment)
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 6, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

DNA recovered from polar bear snowprints could shed light on elusive species
Polar bears are tough animals to track. Scientists must brave frigid Arctic landscapes to observe them, if they can spot them at all. And if they want to collect genetic information, they often have to dart and capture the animals—a risky proposition for both researcher and bear. A new approach may lend a paw to such efforts. In two new studies, scientists report that they can identify individual polar bears from the DNA of skin cells left in their snowy pawprints. One of the papers claims the same results in two other elusive animals: lynx and snow leopards. The work could help researchers monitor these and other ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 5, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Leading scholarly database listed hundreds of papers from ‘hijacked’ journals
Scopus, a widely used database of scientific papers operated by publishing giant Elsevier, plays an important role as an arbiter of scholarly legitimacy, with many institutions around the world expecting their researchers to publish in journals indexed on the platform. But users beware, a new study warns. As of September, the database listed 67 “hijacked” journals—legitimate publications taken over by unscrupulous operators to make an illicit profit by charging authors fees of up to $1000 per paper. For some of those journals, Scopus had listed hundreds of papers. These ersatz publications represent a tiny frac...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 5, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Tumor-killing viruses score rare success in late-stage trial
Once touted as the next big thing in cancer therapy, tumor-attacking viruses have been a letdown, failing in multiple clinical trials as far back as 1949. But preliminary results from a small phase 3 study presented at a conference last week suggest these unconventional cancer treatments, known as oncolytic viruses, might work after all. The data showed that an oncolytic virus developed by Irvine, California–based CG Oncology eliminated tumors in 64% of 66 patients with bladder cancer that didn’t respond to mainline treatment. The follow-up period was only 6 months, and much more research is necessary. But even a...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 5, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Studies that expose bats to SARS-CoV-2 could help gauge future pandemic risks
It’s not easy to work with captive horseshoe bats, as Linfa Wang discovered. In 2005, the molecular virologist wanted to infect the animals with the virus that had caused the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) a few years earlier to find out whether it would evolve to grow well in the bats. Working in a maximum-biosecurity lab, he and his team at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory struggled to feed the small insectivores while wearing full-body protective gear. “We had to fly small worms in front of them while wearing these spacesuits,” recalls Wang, who is now at the Duke-NUS Medical School. I...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 4, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research

Trial puts Howard Hughes Medical Institute —and disabled scientists—in the spotlight
In a trial beginning today in Maryland, a jury will consider whether the powerful Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) discriminated against a scientist by terminating her plum investigator award after she became disabled and asked for accommodations. Experts on disability rights say the trial will bring attention to an overlooked and pervasive form of discrimination in science. HHMI says it concerns nothing more than the institute’s right to terminate a scientist whose research didn’t measure up. In 2008, University of Michigan (UM) RNA biologist Vivian Cheung was selected as an HHMI investigator, a coveted po...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - December 4, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research