Featured news
25 Aug 2021
Environmental privilege: How recovery and rebuilding after climate disasters favors the wealthy, Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
Featured news
21 Aug 2021
By K.E.D. Coan, science writer Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock.com During the first wave of the pandemic, the European Union’s COVID-19 response highlighted ongoing limitations of the agencies put in place to prepare for such health crises, shows a recent study. According to a panel of health experts, national interests conflicted with coordinated Europe-wide health regulations. To prepare for the future, the panel recommends better funding and empowerment of these institutions. A new study in Frontiers in Public Health presents a review of expert opinions on the achievements and shortcomings of the European Union’s (EU) COVID-19 response. The aim: to draw lessons for future pandemics. In 2004, the EU created the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), precisely with the goal of coordinating cross-border disease surveillance and guidelines. However, the interviewed public health experts largely agreed that, although there were some successes, individual countries’ interests often superseded EU-wide responses. “The EU’s Joint Procurement Mechanism was recognized as a great achievement and a valid instrument for crisis management,” says lead author Marie Gontariuk, of Maastricht University in the Netherlands. “But experts also agreed that further improvement was possible specifically regarding the timeliness and efficacy.” “During the current pandemic specifically, the […]
Featured news
20 Aug 2021
By Suzanna Burgelman/ PhD student and fellow Trizah Koyi Milugo, ICIPE PhD student and fellow Trizah Koyi Milugo. Image: Trizah Koyi Milugo A preventable disease, malaria still threatens millions of people around the world. World Mosquito Day raises awareness about malaria and its transmission via mosquitos. Researchers such as PhD student Trizah Koyi Milugo focus their research on malaria control and prevention and, in her case, is researching the development of a novel tool for controlling malaria transmission. In 2019, 229m clinical cases of malaria occurred and 409,000 people died of the disease, most of them children in Africa. The disease is found in more than 100 countries worldwide, but roughly 70% of the world’s malaria burden is concentrated in Africa and India. Humans get infected with the malaria virus through mosquito bites. Other than malaria, mosquitos carry an array of dangerous diseases, such as dengue, zika, and west Nile virus. Mosquitos are the world’s deadliest creature. World Mosquito Day raises awareness about the dangers of mosquitos and the devastating consequences of malaria. Trizah Koyi Milugo, a PhD student at the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), is currently researching the development of a novel tool for controlling […]
Featured news
19 Aug 2021
Absence of fans at European elite soccer ‘ghost games’ significantly decreases home advantage, finds new study in Frontiers in Sports and Active Living
Featured news
17 Aug 2021
By Tania Fitzgeorge-Balfour, science writer Example of marine dinoflagellates (Dinophysis sp., not the species studied in the paper). Image credit: Rattiya Thongdumhyu/Shutterstock.com Plastic pollution is not just a problem for larger marine animals. Dinoflagellates, which are single-celled marine predators, can also ingest microplastic which in turn limits their growth and consequently their overall abundance. This has implications for the larger animals that feed on these microscopic predators, in terms of available food and the transfer of energy up the food chain. Microscopic marine predators can ingest microplastic, which in turn lowers their growth and overall abundance, finds a recent study published in Frontiers in Marine Science. This has implications for the larger marine animals that feed on these tiny predators, both in terms of available food and the transfer of energy up the food chain. “The plastic pollution of our oceans isn’t just affecting whales and sea turtles, it also impacts the small, microscopic animals towards the bottom of the food chain,” says Susanne Menden-Deuer, coauthor of this research and a professor at the Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, US. “Our study shows that some single-celled marine predators called dinoflagellates ingest microplastic particles, and when they do, […]
Featured news
16 Aug 2021
By Clarissa Wright, Frontiers science writer Close-up of a reptile eye, but not the ancient Eudibamus cursoris. Image Aedka Studio/Shutterstock.com The Early Permian marked a time of major seasonal changes on the planet, as reptiles rapidly diversified. A key innovation is seen in bolosaurids with the ability to run at high speeds on two legs. Scientists from California State University and Carnegie Museum of Natural History in the US and University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada, collaborated in a study recently published to Frontiers presenting the first comprehensive description of the earliest known bipedal reptile from the Early Permian – a type of bolosaurid called Eudibamus cursoris. For the first time, its unique style of locomotion that achieved high running speeds on two legs has been revealed. The Permian period (between 298.9m and 252.2m years ago) was the last period of the Paleozoic Era. The Earth was warming out of an ice age, while weather intensified. Remnants of carboniferous rainforests disappeared, replaced by open desert. Facing these environmental changes, reptiles rapidly diversified and showed remarkable innovations during the Permian. Bolosaurids are the oldest family belonging to the ancient group of extinct reptiles known as Parareptilla (or parareptiles), and are considered a […]
Featured news
12 Aug 2021
By Prof Maureen Hanson, Cornell University Image: Andrea Piacquadio/Pexels.com Chronic fatigue syndrome is a long-term illness with a wide range of symptoms, no known treatment, and undetermined origins. However, with as many as 65m people across the world living with the illness, researchers continue to search for answers. Now, Prof Maureen Hanson of Cornell University discusses how she and graduate student Adam O’Neal searched through the research archives to see whether a genus of RNA viruses called enteroviruses are the most likely culprits and whether the findings have implications in future ‘long Covid’ research. Like SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, viruses, enteroviruses (EVs) are RNA viruses that can lead to cause serious illness and death. One type of EV causes poliomyelitis, which is now largely conquered through near-universal vaccination. But no vaccine exists against many other types of EVs, which are free to circulate widely. Indeed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates between 10m-15m enteroviral infections occur each year in the US. EVs have long been suspected as causal agents in outbreaks of an illness that is now usually named ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome). Outbreaks have been documented since the turn of the previous century and may have […]
Featured news
11 Aug 2021
By Conn Hastings, science writer Image credit: Life science / Shutterstock.com A new study investigates tiny tumbling soft robots that can be controlled using rotating magnetic fields. The technology could be useful for delivering drugs to the nervous system. In this latest study, researchers put the robots through their paces and showed that they can climb slopes, tumble upstream against fluid flow and deliver substances at precise locations to neural tissue. Would you let a tiny MANiAC travel around your nervous system to treat you with drugs? You may be inclined to say no, but in the future, “magnetically aligned nanorods in alginate capsules” (MANiACs) may be part of an advanced arsenal of drug delivery technologies at doctors’ disposal. A recent study in Frontiers in Robotics and AI is the first to investigate how such tiny robots might perform as drug delivery vehicles in neural tissue. The study finds that when controlled using a magnetic field, the tiny tumbling soft robots can move against fluid flow, climb slopes and move about neural tissues, such as the spinal cord, and deposit substances at precise locations. Diseases in the central nervous system can be difficult to treat. “Delivering drugs orally or […]
Featured news
10 Aug 2021
By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Image: Hana Mara/Pexels.com Scientists from Germany have used state-of-the-art complementary mass spectrometry methods to quantify the chemical complexity in beer from around the world. In 467 commercial beer types they found at least 7,700 different chemical formulas, which translates to tens of thousands of unique molecules. Beers brewed from barley plus either wheat, rice, or corn contain molecules that reliably indicate the original cereal. The analysis takes only 10 minutes to detect thousands of metabolites per beer, making it a powerful new method for quality control. The tradition of beer brewing dates back to at least 7,000 BCE and maybe even to the invention of agriculture, considering that the starch in many cereals can spontaneously ferment to some extent if exposed to airborne yeasts. The code of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (rule 1792 to 1750 BCE), whose laws 108 through 111 regulate beer sales, shows that people have been anxious to safeguard the quality of beer through legislation for millennia. For example, the Bavarian ‘Reinheitsgebot’ (‘Purity Law’) of 1516, often considered the world’s oldest still functional – with modifications – food regulation, allows only barley, water, and hops as ingredients for brewing beer (with […]
Featured news
02 Aug 2021
Baby marine turtles’ stomachs are full of harmful plastic debris, suggests new study in Frontiers in Marine Science
Featured news
29 Jul 2021
Image: Tom Robertson/Shutterstock.com The Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) has announced the transition of the British Journal of Biomedical Science (BJBS) from hybrid access to gold open access in partnership with Frontiers. BJBS is the biomedical profession’s leading scientific journal; featuring peer-reviewed papers and reports on the latest scientific advances and laboratory techniques. The journal will transfer from the publisher Taylor & Francis to Frontiers from January 1, 2022, in coordination with the journal’s 20th anniversary of publication. For more than 100 years the IBMS has been dedicated to the promotion, development, and delivery of excellence in biomedical science within all aspects of healthcare, and to providing the highest standards of service to patients and the public. With over 21,000 members in 74 countries, the IBMS is the leading professional body for scientists, support staff, and students in the field of biomedical science. The IBMS will continue to support the community and benefit all biomedical scientists across the globe by transitioning the BJBS to gold open access with Frontiers. From 2022, all articles will be immediately, permanently, and freely available to read, download, and access for people everywhere. Authors will retain copyright on all new articles published and the journal […]
Featured news
28 Jul 2021
Secret role of swallowing in conversations revealed by new research in Frontiers in Communication
Featured news
28 Jul 2021
By Colm Gorey, Frontiers’ Science Communications Manager A digital reconstruction of SARS-CoV-2 primary infection in the lungs. Image: Blue Brain Project/EPFL 2005-2021. All rights reserved Why does Covid-19 present itself more severe in some patients but not in others? The question has puzzled researchers and clinicians since the start of the pandemic, but now new research from the EPFL Blue Brain Project may have found a major clue to solving the mystery thanks to machine learning. Analyzing data extracted from 240,000 open access scientific papers, the findings of a paper published in Frontiers revealed the previously undiscovered roles elevated blood glucose levels have in the severity of Covid-19. What makes one person more at risk of developing severe Covid-19 than someone else? While it is widely accepted that elderly people are the most at-risk during the current pandemic, many young, seemingly healthy people have also been hospitalized by the disease. A number of preexisting conditions are known to contribute to the severity of the disease – such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension – but a more recent finding has highlighted the impact of blood glucose levels among both diabetic and non-diabetic people. Yet the role that glucose plays in the […]
Featured news
27 Jul 2021
Image: Flamingo Images/Shutterstock.com The European Society for Organ Transplantation (ESOT) has announced the transition of Transplant International from Hybrid access to Gold Open Access in partnership with Frontiers. Transplant International is the premier journal publishing the key basic science and clinical developments in organ replacement medicine and will transfer from the publisher Wiley to Frontiers’ Open Science Platform from January 1, 2022. Frontiers will work closely with ESOT’s leadership committees and stakeholders to transition the journal, including its extensive archive of articles, which dates back to 1989. All articles will be immediately, permanently, and freely available to read, download and access for people everywhere. Authors will retain copyright and published articles will be compliant with Plan S. For more than thirty years ESOT, the leading community for all transplant professionals and patients, has been committed to advancing research and clinical practice in the field of organ transplantation. They aim to improve the lives of everyone affected and optimise the outcome of organ transplantation, with a growing attention to emerging techniques of organ regeneration. The transition of Transplant International to Gold Open Access with Frontiers will continue to drive this mission, by allowing all researchers, surgeons, and clinicians across the globe […]
Featured news
27 Jul 2021
By Peter Rejcek, science writer The Ifesowapo dùndún ensemble performing in Igbo Ora, southwest Nigeria. Image: Dr Cecilia Durojaye A novel analysis into the acoustical similarities between Yorùbá vocalizations and a west African instrument called the dùndún found a high degree of correlation. The researchers discovered that the talking drum mimics the microstructure of the tonal language and can be categorized into four different modes. In addition, the study emphasizes the value of studying non-western culture to understand various phenomena in mainstream musicology and linguistics that go beyond western domains. Musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton are considered virtuosos, guitarists who could make their instruments sing. Drummers in west Africa who play hourglass-shaped percussion instruments called dùndúns can make their instrument not only sing, but talk. New research published in the journal Frontiers in Communication is one of the first to show the high degree of acoustic correlation between these talking drums and the spoken Yorùbá language. Dùndún drumming is a musical-oral tradition where skilled drummers, manipulating the intensity and pitch of the instrument, can mimic Yorùbá, a tonal language mainly spoken in southwest Nigeria. Dubbed ‘talking drums’, dùndúns can be used as purely musical instruments or what scientists […]
Get the latest research updates, subscribe to our newsletter