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Specialized face mask can detect kidney disease with just your breath (link is external)

Environmental Feed -

Surgical face masks help prevent the spread of airborne pathogens and therefore were ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a modified mask could also protect a wearer by detecting health conditions, including chronic kidney disease. Researchers incorporated a specialized breath sensor within the fabric of a face mask to detect metabolites associated with the disease. In initial tests, the sensor correctly identified people with the condition most of the time.

Fewer parasites in the Indian River lagoon signal big ecosystem problems (link is external)

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Parasites are crucial indicators of ecosystem health, and their absence can signal trouble. Once pristine, Florida's Indian River Lagoon (IRL) now faces pollution and algal blooms that have damaged essential habitats like seagrass beds. New research finds parasite levels in the IRL are significantly lower than in comparable ecosystems worldwide -- 11% lower overall and 17% lower for larval parasites requiring multiple hosts. This sharp decline suggests a disrupted food web likely caused by pollution and habitat degradation, and a less resilient and more vulnerable ecosystem.

Smart spongy device captures water from thin air (link is external)

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Engineers have invented a sponge-like device that captures water from thin air and then releases it in a cup using the sun's energy, even in low humidity where other technologies such as fog harvesting and radiative cooling have struggled. The water-from-air device remained effective across a broad range of humidity levels (30 -- 90%) and temperatures (5 -- 55 degrees Celsius).

Comb jellies reveal ancient origins of animal genome regulation (link is external)

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Life depends on genes being switched on and off at exactly the right time. Even the simplest living organisms do this, but usually over short distances across the DNA sequence, with the on/off switch typically right next to a gene. This basic form of genomic regulation is probably as old as life on Earth. A new study finds that the ability to control genes from far away, over many tens of thousands of DNA letters, evolved between 650 and 700 million years ago. It probably appeared at the very dawn of animal evolution, around 150 million years earlier than previously thought. The critical innovation likely originated in a sea creature, the common ancestor or all extant animals.

Climate change: Future of today's young people (link is external)

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Climate scientists reveal that millions of today's young people will live through unprecedented lifetime exposure to heatwaves, crop failures, river floods, droughts, wildfires and tropical storms under current climate policies. If global temperatures rise by 3.5 C by 2100, 92% of children born in 2020 will experience unprecedented heatwave exposure over their lifetime, affecting 111 million children. Meeting the Paris Agreement's 1.5 C target could protect 49 million children from this risk. This is only for one birth year; when instead taking into account all children who are between 5 and 18 years old today, this adds up to 1.5 billion children affected under a 3.5 C scenario, and with 654 million children that can be protected by remaining under the 1.5 C threshold.

A culturally adapted obesity prevention for Latino families (link is external)

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A research team has adapted an intervention for childhood obesity prevention to better serve Latina mothers, non-maternal caregivers, and families of low-income backgrounds in Inland Southern California. The study could make significant contributions to public health by ensuring that early childhood obesity prevention strategies begin in infancy with infant feeding and are culturally and linguistically relevant for immigrant communities.

Cracking the code: Deciphering how concrete can heal itself (link is external)

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Lichen is an understated presence in our everyday world, often found clinging to trees and rocks. Its true beauty lies in its unique symbiotic system of fungi and algae, or cyanobacteria, that form a self-sustaining partnership, allowing it to thrive in even the harshest conditions. With that inspiration, researchers created a synthetic lichen system that collaborates like natural lichens. Their system uses cyanobacteria, which turns air and sunlight into food, and filamentous fungi, which produces minerals that seal the cracks. Working together, these microbes survive on nothing more than air, light and water. The autonomy of this system sets it apart from previous self-healing concrete endeavors.

A healthy diet in childhood is linked to starting menstrual periods later, regardless of BMI or height (link is external)

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Eating a healthy diet as a child is linked to girls having their first menstrual period at an older age than those who consumed a less healthy diet, according to a new study. The findings remained unaltered by the girls' body mass index or height, both of which have been associated with the earlier onset of periods. The study has implications for health in later life as it is well known that women who started their periods at an early age may be at higher risk for diabetes, obesity, breast cancer and diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

More social parrots have a better vocabulary (link is external)

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For social animals, communication is a key that unlocks the benefits of group living. It's well known that animals with more complex social lives tend to have more intricate ways of communicating, from the clicks and whistles of dolphins to the calls of primates. While this pattern is found broadly in many species, a new study on wild parrots drills deep into the social and vocal lives of individual birds. Researchers analyzing the social networks of monk parakeets in Spain have uncovered how an individual's social ties shapes the calls these birds make.

Replanted rainforests may benefit from termite transplants (link is external)

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Termites -- infamous for their ability to destroy wood -- are rarely welcomed into rainforests that have been painstakingly replanted. But a new paper suggests that termite transplants may be necessary to help regenerating forests to thrive. Scientists found that termites are not thriving in replanted rainforests in Australia. Because decomposers like termites are essential for recycling nutrients and carbon, the researchers worry that the insect's slow recovery could hinder the growth and health of the young forests.

Study of velvet worm slime could revolutionize sustainable material design (link is external)

Environmental Feed -

A new discovery about the slime ejected by velvet worms could revolutionize sustainable material design. The findings outline how a naturally occurring protein structure, conserved across species from Australia, Singapore and Barbados over nearly 400 million years of evolution, enables the slime's transformation from liquid to fiber and back again. It's a discovery that could inspire next-generation recyclable bioplastics.

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