Science of Aging Knowledge Environment 
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This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.New feline coronavirus blamed for thousands of cat deaths in Cyprus
When thousands of cats started to die this year on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, nicknamed the “island of cats” for its 1-million-strong feline population, the crisis made international news. The animals had fevers, swollen bellies, and lethargy—symptoms that pointed to feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), a common condition caused by a type of cat coronavirus. But scientists struggled to explain the apparent explosion in cases.
Now, researchers have identified a possible culprit: a new strain of feline coronavirus that has
coopted key RNA sequences
from a highly virulent dog pathogen cal...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - November 14, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Cosmic blast seared Earth ’s atmosphere from 2 billion light-years away
On 9 October 2022, for 7 minutes, high energy photons from a gigantic explosion 1.9 billion light-years away toasted one side of Earth as never before observed. The event, called a gamma ray burst (GRB), was 70 times brighter than the previous record holder. But what astronomers dub the “BOAT”—the brightest of all time—did more than provide a light show spanning the electromagnetic spectrum. It also ionized atoms across the ionosphere, which spans from 50 to 1000 kilometers in altitude, researchers say. The findings highlight the faint but real risk of a closer burst destroying Earth’s protective ozone layer.
...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - November 14, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
AI churns out lightning-fast forecasts as good as the weather agencies ’
Meteorologists call it the “
quiet revolution
”: a gradual but steady improvement in weather forecasting. Today, the 6-day forecast is about as good as the 3-day forecast from 30 years ago. Rarely do severe storms or heat waves catch people unaware. This revolution has saved lives and money, but it also comes with a cost: billions of dollars’ worth of energy-hungry supercomputers that must run 24/7 just to produce a few forecasts a day.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now spurring another revolution within numerical weather prediction, as the field is known. In mere minutes on cheap desktop computers,...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - November 14, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Ancient sharks may have pioneered the ability to taste bitterness in food
If a bite of dandelion greens or extra-dark chocolate makes you pucker, there’s good reason. Bitterness can indicate the presence of toxins in potential foods, and animals long ago honed the ability to ferret out harsh tastes.
But the ability to sense bitterness may be even older than many presumed, a new study finds. It likely first evolved in vertebrates roughly 460 million years ago, when sharks and other cartilaginous fishes separated from bony vertebrates like ourselves, researchers report
today in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
. The bitter taste receptor...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - November 13, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
Misconduct concerns, possible drug risks should stop major stroke trial, whistleblowers say
In 2022, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) placed a large bet on an experimental drug developed to limit brain damage after strokes. The agency committed up to $30 million to administer a compound called 3K3A-APC in a study of 1400 people shortly after they experience an acute ischemic stroke, a perilous condition in which a clot blocks blood flow to part of the brain.
The gamble seemed warranted. Lab studies, most by a longtime grantee, prominent University of Southern California (USC) neuroscientist Berislav Zlokovic, had generated promising data. A small safety study of the drug, sponsored by a company ...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - November 13, 2023 Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research
