1,103 news posts in Featured news

Featured news

26 Sep 2022

Phoebe Koundouri and Marina Della Giusta – Women supporting women

By Leticia Nani Silva , Rocio Caverzasi and Geraldine Clancy To celebrate International Equal Pay Day, we speak to the new Field Chief Editors of our Economics journals Professor Phoebe Koundouri and Professor Marina Della Giusta. Photo redit: Mrs Kattirzi via Frontiers Professor Phoebe Koundouri is an economics professor and world ambassador for sustainable development. She is listed in the 1% of most-cited women economists in the world. She holds two professorship titles, one at the Athens University of Economics and Business, and the other at the Technical University of Denmark. In addition to her academic roles, Professor Koundouri is the founder and Chair of the Alliance of Excellent for Research and Innovation on Aeiphoria (AE4RIA), President of the European Association of Environmental and Natural Resource Economists (EAERE), Chair of the SDSN Global Climate Hub, co-Chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network for Europe and Greece, Director of the Research Laboratory on Socio-Economic and Environmental Sustainability (ReSEES) at Athens University of Economics and Business, and of the Sustainable Development Unit & EIT Climate-KIC Hub Greece of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology at “Athena” Research and Innovation Center . Moreover, she is an elected member of Academia Europae […]

Featured news

26 Sep 2022

New research shows self-injectable contraception can enable women to take charge of their reproductive health

By Allen Namagembe, PATH, Uganda and Dr Jane Cover, PATH, US Image: PATH/Will Boase Allen Namagembe is a clinical epidemiologist, a biostatistician, and a global expert on self-injection. She is the Uganda Deputy Project Director and M&E Lead on the Uganda Self-Injection Scale-Up project at PATH. Dr. Jane Cover is a Research and Evaluation Manager on PATH’s Sexual and Reproductive Health team and the PATH-JSI DMPA-SC Access Collaborative. Now, they explain their team’s two studies, published in Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, where they used a human-centered design approach to develop and implement a pilot self-injection program in Uganda. Their results show how the program can increase women’s contraceptive access and options. For some, the term ‘self-care’ might conjure up images of skincare routines, bubble baths, and meditation. But in public health, self-care refers to the ability of individuals to self-manage aspects of their health care with the goal of promoting and sustaining health, preventing disease, and managing illness or disability. Grounded in evidence, agency, and equity, self-care interventions are key components of a holistic primary health care system and can help fill gaps in access to essential health services. We both conduct research in the sexual and reproductive health […]

Featured news

26 Sep 2022

Rodents are reservoirs for life-threatening disease, finds new study

By Tania Fitzgeorge-balfour, science writer Image: Vicky Outen/Shutterstock.com Fungal diseases in the human population are on the rise, so it is important for health authorities to understand where these pathogens come from. A new study has searched for fungi in the lung tissues of small mammals and found fungal pathogens that cause diseases in humans. This suggests that these rodents can serve as reservoirs, agents of dispersal, and incubators of emerging fungal pathogens. Fungal diseases in the human population are on the rise, so it is important for health authorities to understand where these pathogens come from. A new study, published in Frontiers in Fungal Biology, has revealed that small mammals could act as a reservoir for these fungal infections. “Our analysis, which specifically focused on lung pathogens that cause disease in humans, detected a wide range of fungi in the lung tissues of small mammals,” said Paris Salazar-Hamm, first author of this research, of the University of New Mexico. “We found that many of the rodents we sampled from areas in the Southwestern US were harboring the type of fungi that can cause lung infections in humans, such as the fungus that leads to Valley Fever, a disease that […]

Featured news

23 Sep 2022

Ancient Maya cities were dangerously contaminated with mercury

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Temple of the Great Jaguar at Tikal, a UNESCO world heritage site in Guatemala. Image credit: Leonid Andronov,/ Shutterstock.com A new review shows that the soil in the cities of the ancient Maya are heavily polluted with mercury. As vessels filled with mercury and objects painted with cinnabar have been found at many Maya sites, the authors conclude that the Maya were heavy users of mercury and mercury-containing products. This resulted in severe and dangerous pollution in their day, which persists even today. The cities of the ancient Maya in Mesoamerica never fail to impress. But beneath the soil surface, an unexpected danger lurks there: mercury pollution. In a review article in Frontiers in Environmental Science, researchers conclude that this pollution isn’t modern: it’s due to the frequent use of mercury and mercury-containing products by the Maya of the Classic Period, between 250 and 1100 CE. This pollution is in places so heavy that even today, it poses a potential health hazard for unwary archeologists. Lead author Dr Duncan Cook, an associate professor of Geography at the Australian Catholic University, said: “Mercury pollution in the environment is usually found in contemporary urban areas and […]

Featured news

23 Sep 2022

Bees, blue light, and bacteria in beetles’ ‘back pockets’: Most viewed articles of August 2022

Image: Shutterstock.com by Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Each month, Frontiers shines a spotlight on some of the leading research across a wide range of topics. Here are just some of the highlights that resonated strongly with readers on our news site in the month of August. 1. Modern pesticides make it hard for bees to keep on the straight and narrow Research published in Frontiers in Insect Science showed that common pesticides affected bees’ brains so that they couldn’t orient themselves properly. Bees exposed to sulfoxaflor and imidacloprid were tested on their ability to respond to stimuli that tricked them into thinking they’d been blown off course, a situation which required them to use their optomotor response to reorient themselves. Compared to control bees, they performed very poorly, reacting inappropriately or not at all to the stimuli. The problem seems to be caused by damage to the nervous system, but the exact mechanism is unclear. Since bees need this optomotor response to travel between different sources of pollen, and since these insecticides are widely used, this is a source of significant concern. The authors tested the optomotor response in walking bees rather than flying bees, so further research […]

Featured news

23 Sep 2022

Acquired immunity against random food allergens may protect some lucky people against Covid-19

By Conn Hastings, science writer A new study has investigated the potential of proteins in common foods to elicit protection against SARS-CoV-2. The researchers found that antibodies that bind SARS-CoV-2 can also bind to proteins in certain foods, viruses, vaccines, and common bacteria. The results suggest that exposure to such agents may confer some protective immunity to Covid-19, but further research is needed to confirm this. Why do some people become seriously ill with Covid-19, while others have no symptoms at all? The answer may lie in the proteins our immune system has previously been exposed to. A recent study in open-access journal Frontiers in Immunology finds that common foods, vaccines, bacteria and viruses may all prime our immune system to attack SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. These agents all contain proteins that are similar to those found in SARS-CoV-2. As such, exposure to these proteins may train our immune system to respond when it encounters the virus. The study paves the way for new immunotherapies or vaccines that lead to stronger immunity against Covid-19. SARS-CoV-2: comfort in the familiar? SARS-CoV-2 is new, and the pandemic can make it feel like an alien invader from another planet. However, it […]

Featured news

22 Sep 2022

Teams of sperm swim more smoothly against the current

By Peter Rejcek, science writer The physics of how sperm navigate their way to an egg in mammals, including humans, are not well understood. The tendency for sperm to cluster together as they make their way upstream through the thickish, elastic-like fluid of the female reproductive tract is more than just random behavior. Researchers have found biological benefits for sperm working together that may have implications for fertility studies. It turns out sperm go against the flow better when they swim together. Despite the popular idea that the fastest and fittest male reproductive cell is the one that wins the fertilization race, research has shown that spermatozoa often team up to navigate the female reproductive tract in a wide range of mammalian species. A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology offers some compelling reasons behind a newly identified clustering behavior. Previous research by the team, led by scientists out of North Carolina A&T State University and Cornell University, first discovered that sperm naturally pull together without attaching to each other when swimming in viscoelastic fluid. This is the type of fluid encountered by sperm migrating through the cervix and uterus to the oviduct where […]

Featured news

15 Sep 2022

Sharing a laugh: Scientists teach a robot when to have a sense of humor

By Peter Rejcek, science writer ERICA being trained on how to have a sense of humor. Image: Inoue et al No one can really agree on what makes each of us laugh, so designing an artificial intelligence (AI) system with a sense of humor is enormously challenging. Researchers at Kyoto University laughed off the challenge by developing an AI that appropriately detects and responds to human laughter at a shared moment during a conversation. This shared-laughter model is another step toward creating more natural interactions between humans and robots. Since at least the time of inquiring minds like Plato, philosophers and scientists have puzzled over the question, “What’s so funny?” The Greeks attributed the source of humor to feeling superior at the expense of others. German psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed humor was a way to release pent-up energy. US comedian Robin Williams tapped his anger at the absurd to make people laugh. It seems no one can really agree on the question of “What’s so funny?” So imagine trying to teach a robot how to laugh. But that’s exactly what a team of researchers at Kyoto University in Japan are trying to do by designing an AI that takes its […]

Featured news

15 Sep 2022

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology forms publishing agreement with Frontiers

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology has formed an institutional membership agreement for open access publishing with Frontiers. This institutional agreement means that eligible Harrisburg University researchers may qualify to publish in any Frontiers journal at no cost to them and with a simplified process. See the section for researcher below for more information. The Harrisburg University Library supports its researchers in making their research more widely available. This agreement will further encourage Harrisburg University researchers to publish open access, increasing the volume of research openly available. While this reduces costs for the researcher, it also benefits the wider research community and the public at large. For more information on all Frontiers’ institutional agreements please visit our institutional partnerships page or contact institutions@frontiersin.org to discuss the possibilities for your own organization.  Information for Researchers  If you are a Harrisburg University researcher, please select Harrisburg University in the payment information section (“Frontiers institutional partners”) when submitting your article. Affiliated authors are expected to also be marked as corresponding authors during the submission process. Frontiers will verify your eligibility with the library and, if confirmed, the APC will be paid by Harrisburg University acceptance.   For information on whether your article is eligible […]

Featured news

14 Sep 2022

In conversation with Professor Laura Haynes, Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Aging

Professor Laura Haynes, Field Chief Editor for Frontiers in Aging Frontiers in Aging is an open access journal dedicated to advancing our understanding of human aging and age-related diseases, ultimately leading to improvement in health spans. Professor Laura Haynes joins Frontiers in Aging in a new capacity as Field Chief Editor, having previously led its section devoted to Aging and the Immune System. Prof. Haynes is based at the UConn Centre on Aging and serves on the board for The Gerontological Society of America. Here, Frontiers journal manager John Rushton asks Prof. Haynes about her research, her role as a Field Chief Editor, and the future of aging research. John Rushton (JR): What drew you to the field of aging, and what is the current focus of your own research? Laura Haynes (LH): I became interested in how aging impacts the immune system when I was a post-doctoral researcher. A colleague approached my post-doc mentor asking if we would be interested in collaborating and that collaboration turned into a very productive 30 year career (this is why I always tell my trainees to never turn down an offer to collaborate). I have gone from focusing specifically on the impact of […]

Featured news

13 Sep 2022

Putting sharks on the map: a new standard to identify important, global habitats

By Tayyibah Aziz, science writer Image: Shutterstock Many existing marine protected areas fail to adequately consider the needs of sharks, rays, and chimaeras, as data about many species is limited. In a new publication, scientists have developed a new framework to consider the species’ biological and ecological needs and inform planning to secure the protection they desperately need in the face of extinction. To date, shark, ray, and chimaera species have not been sufficiently considered in the planning of marine protected areas. However, a publication in Frontiers in Marine Science by researchers from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSC), IUCN’s Ocean Team, and the IUCN Marine Mammal Protected Areas Taskforce have developed a new framework to fundamentally change how sharks are considered in the design of protected areas and therefore support the protection they desperately need in the face of extinction. Ciaran Hyde, consultant to the IUCN Ocean Team, explained: “We still have so much to learn about many shark, ray, and chimaera species, but unfortunately several studies indicate that many protected areas are failing to adequately meet their needs. However, Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRAs) will help to identify areas for these […]

Featured news

12 Sep 2022

Karen Strier – Lessons from the world’s most peaceful primate

Author: Natasha Inskip Dr Karen Strier is Vilas Research Professor and Irven DeVore Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. With a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University, her current research is based in the Atlantic Forest of south-eastern Brazil, studying one of the world’s most endangered primates, the Northern muriqui. In June 2023, she will be celebrating 40 years of this continuous field study on the same population of this species. She is an international authority on the endangered northern muriqui monkey and her pioneering, long-term field research has been critical to conservation efforts on behalf of this species and has been influential in broadening comparative perspectives on primate behavioral and ecological diversity. Dr Strier served as the President of the International Primatological Society from 2016 to 2022. In 2005, she was elected to the National Academy of Science, USA and in 2010 she was awarded the Distinguished Primatologist award from the American Society of Primatology, to name just a small number of her many accolades. She is currently serving as an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Conservation Science, within the specialty section Animal Conservation. Photo credit: João Marcos Rosa What is the focus of your current research […]

Featured news

12 Sep 2022

Scientists eavesdrop on minke whale ‘boing’ calls in Hawai’i, and 4 other articles you don’t want to miss

By Angharad Brewer Gillham, Frontiers science writer Image: Annie Leblanc/Shutterstock.com At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, many often fly under the radar. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed. Scientists eavesdrop on minke whale conversations in Hawai’i Scientists writing in Frontiers in Marine Science used hydrophones to study hard-to-spot minke whales in Hawai’i, learning that they use their ‘boing’ calls more frequently when they are close to other members of the same species. Minke whales who visit this area are hard to study because they are small, solitary, and visit outside the times when most ship-based surveys are conducted. Passive acoustic monitoring, using hydrophones mounted on the sea bed, allows scientists to listen in on whales all year round. The authors used 47 hydrophones to record thousands of calls between 2012 and 2017. These calls were analyzed to detect individual whales and monitor their behavior in the study area. The minke whales used their ‘boing’ calls only between fall and spring, and called more rapidly when other minke whales were nearby. Because minke whales are so enigmatic, it isn’t […]

Featured news

12 Sep 2022

Anti-diarrhea medication may help treat core autism symptoms

By Conn Hastings, science writer Image: Shutterstock.com There are currently no effective treatments for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), such as difficulties with socializing and communicating. A new study uses a computer-based protein interaction network to identify whether existing drugs could provide a new treatment approach. The researchers discovered that a common anti-diarrheal drug may have potential in treating the social difficulties associated with ASD. Can you teach an old drug new tricks? Although drug treatments for the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are not currently available, could an existing drug provide a new treatment, even if it previously had no association with ASD? This was the question asked by a new study in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology. The researchers used a computer model that encompasses proteins involved in ASD and the way they interact. By looking at how different drugs affected proteins in the system, they identified potential candidates to treat it. A commonly used antidiarrheal drug called loperamide was the most promising candidate, and the researchers have an interesting hypothesis about how it may work to treat ASD symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms in ASD involve difficulties with social interaction […]

Featured news

09 Sep 2022

Scientific ‘detective work’ reveals South American mummies were brutally murdered

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Sketch from the book by Reiss and Stübel (1887. The necropolis at Ancon) on the excavations and findings at the necropolis of Ancon, Peru. As it was typical at the end of the 19th/beginning of the 20th century, the content of graves was examined on the spot: mummy bundles and objects worth selling were taken away, invaluable items discarded. An international team used interdisciplinary techniques including 3D CT to do a ‘virtual autopsy’ on three mummies found in Peru and Chile, dating to between 900 and 1300 CE. They show that both male mummies had been murdered. These results highlight the wealth of archeological information that can be gained from mummies, as opposed to from skeletons. How frequent was violence in prehistoric human societies? One way to measure this is to look for trauma in prehistoric human remains. For example, a recent review of pre-Columbian remains found evidence of trauma from violence in 21% of males. So far, most studies of this kind focused on skulls and other parts of the skeleton, but a potentially richer source of information are mummies, with their preserved soft tissues. Now in a new study in Frontiers in […]