��о�� News - News releases

Proactively exposing ecosystems to mild environmental stressors appears to offer protection, study finds

webfull — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 21:05:32 +0000

Mild, proactive exposure to environmental stress can help biological communities resist severe disturbances and maintain genetic diversity, a recent study from ��о�� has found.

Published: 19 February 2025

Scientific insights into how humans access deep spiritual states

webfull — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 14:11:10 +0000

Two seemingly opposite spiritual practices – Buddhist jhāna meditation and the Christian practice of speaking in tongues – have more in common than previously thought, a new study suggests.

While one is quiet and deeply focused, and the other emotionally charged and expressive, both appear to harness the same cognitive feedback loop to create profound states of joy and surrender.

Published: 19 February 2025

New discovery could help protect against influenza

webfull — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 14:23:27 +0000

A component found in all fungi may provide a shield against flu-related lung damage, according to a new study.

A team of scientists led by Maziar Divangahi, a Professor in ��о��’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of the ��о�� Health Centre, demonstrated that beta-glucan, administered to mice before their exposure to influenza, can reduce lung damage, improve lung function and lower the risk of illness and death.

Published: 17 February 2025

Communication between body muscle and the brain influences fertility, study finds

webfull — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 14:53:33 +0000

A newly discovered line of communication between body muscle and the pituitary gland may play an unexpected role in female fertility, according to a new study.

��о�� researchers found that a protein produced in the muscles helps manage the release of a hormone made in the pea-sized gland attached to the base of the brain.

The findings, published in Science, could lead to new treatment options for infertility, the researchers said.

Published: 5 February 2025

When using music to alleviate pain, tempo matters

webfull — Mon, 03 Feb 2025 16:32:01 +0000

Music has the best chance of providing pain relief when it is played at our natural rhythm, a ��о�� research team has discovered.

This suggests it may be possible to reduce a patient’s level of pain by using technology to take a piece of music someone likes and adjust the tempo to match their internal rhythm, the researchers said.

The discovery was the subject of a paper published this week in Pain, the top journal in the field of pain medicine and research.

Published: 3 February 2025

Remote sensing tools yield insights into abandoned pre-Columbian Mexican city

webfull — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 14:57:34 +0000

A ��о�� researcher has discovered that Guiengola, a 15^th century Zapotec site in southern Oaxaca, Mexico, which had been thought to be simply a fortress where soldiers were garrisoned, was in fact a sprawling, fortified city. It covered 360 hectares, with over 1,100 buildings, four kilometres of walls, a network of internal roads and a clearly organized urban layout with temples and communal spaces such as ballcourts, and the elites and commoners lived in separate neighbourhoods.

Published: 29 January 2025

‘Last Ice Area’ in the Arctic could disappear much sooner than previously thought

webfull — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 21:17:23 +0000

The Arctic’s “Last Ice Area” (LIA) — a vital habitat for ice-dependent species — might disappear within a decade after the central Arctic Ocean becomes ice-free in summer, which is expected to occur sometime around mid-century, a new study by ��о�� researchers using a high-resolution model has found.

Published: 27 January 2025

What drives mood swings in bipolar disorder? Study points to a second brain clock

webfull — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 14:08:29 +0000

A brain rhythm working in tandem with the body’s natural sleep-wake cycle may explain why bipolar patients alternate between mania and depression, according to new research.

The ��о��-led study published in Science Advances marks a breakthrough in understanding what drives shifts between the two states, something that, according to lead author Kai-Florian Storch, is considered the “holy grail” of bipolar-disorder research.

Published: 27 January 2025

Dead galaxies, live signals: Astronomers uncover a fast radio burst’s surprising location

webfull — Tue, 21 Jan 2025 16:41:09 +0000

Astronomers studying the origins of enigmatic fast radio bursts (FRBs) have made a groundbreaking discovery that could transform our understanding of the universe’s most powerful and mysterious signals. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) collaboration has pinpointed the location on the sky of a repeating FRB, known as FRB 20240209A, outside a dead galaxy, a finding unprecedented in FRB science. The researchers believe the FRB may have originated in a cluster of old, dead stars orbiting the dead galaxy.

Published: 21 January 2025

Shape-shifting materials are made more versatile

webfull — Fri, 17 Jan 2025 19:27:12 +0000

Finding new angles on an old artform, ��о�� researchers have increased the number of stable shapes that kirigami-based engineered materials can take, opening the way to a range of new applications.

What makes these metamaterials special is not what they are made of – they can be plastic, cardboard or anything else – but how, thanks to shapes cut into them, they are able to morph from one form to another. To begin to understand the concept, think of pop-up illustrations of cut paper in books or greeting cards.

Published: 17 January 2025

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