From the article: A new study using electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings of brain responses of five-month-old infants showed that they can individuate faces of their mothers i.e., generate specific neural responses associated with recognition of faces, when briefly shown pictures of their mother’s face, but only under certain conditions.

The findings indicate that young infants can identify their mother’s face at a glance, under different angles and with different facial expressions, but only if it is not mixed with too many other faces. The study was published in the Cortex.

Recognizing people based on their faces is extremely important for social interactions. This is also a very complex task. Yet, in spite of its complexity, adult humans are typically able to recognize the identity of thousands of faces. They can also do it extremely quickly, at a glance, in less than a second.

From the article: The NightWare system uses “the Apple Watch heart rate sensor, accelerometer, and gyroscope to detect a nightmare and then disrupt it through haptic feedback, generating gentle pulses on the wrist that gradually increase until the user is roused from the nightmare, but not from sleep,” Apple says. It’s also the only FDA-approved digital therapeutic for treating nightmares.

NightWare has already been prescribed to 400 patients in the United States, according to Apple. Almost all of the patients are active-duty military or veterans.

From the article: Have you ever guessed that a leftover coffee could turn into biodiesel? Here's a remarkable development for bioscience.

Seemingly, Aston University scientists produced high-quality biodiesel microalgae fed on leftover coffee. According to Aston University's release, this development is also a breakthrough in the microalgal cultivation system.

Dr. Vesna Najdanovic, senior lecturer in chemical engineering, and Dr. Jiawei Wang were part of a team that produced algae and subsequently turned it into fuel.

The results of the study were published in the November 2022 issue of Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.

As stated by Aston University, approximately 98 million cups of coffee are drunk every day in the United Kingdom. This situation leads to a massive amount of spent coffee grounds which are processed as general waste, often ending up in landfill or incineration.

However, the scientists discovered that used coffee grounds serve as a structure for the microalgae (Chlorella vulgaris sp.) as well as a source of nutrients.

As a consequence, they were able to obtain enhanced biodiesel that complies with US and European standards, has low emissions, and has good engine performance.

Up until recently, algae has been grown on non-nutrient-containing surfaces like nylon and polyurethane foam. The scientists did discover, though, that microalgal cells may develop on the leftover coffee without the aid of other nutrients.

From the article: Studies have estimated that cooling accounts for about 15% of global energy consumption. That demand could be lowered with a window coating that could block the sun's ultraviolet and near-infrared light—the parts of the solar spectrum that typically pass through glass to heat an enclosed room. Energy use could be reduced even further if the coating radiates heat from the window's surface at a wavelength that passes through the atmosphere into outer space. However, it's difficult to design materials that can meet these criteria simultaneously and can also transmit visible light, meaning they don't interfere with the view. Eungkyu Lee, Tengfei Luo and colleagues set out to design a "transparent radiative cooler" (TRC) that could do just that.

The team constructed computer models of TRCs consisting of alternating thin layers of common materials like silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, aluminum oxide or titanium dioxide on a glass base, topped with a film of polydimethylsiloxane. They optimized the type, order and combination of layers using an iterative approach guided by machine learning and quantum computing, which stores data using subatomic particles. This computing method carries out optimization faster and better than conventional computers because it can efficiently test all possible combinations in a fraction of a second. This produced a coating design that, when fabricated, beat the performance of conventionally designed TRCs in addition to one of the best commercial heat-reduction glasses on the market.

In hot, dry cities, the researchers say, the optimized TRC could potentially reduce cooling energy consumption by 31% compared with conventional windows. They note their findings could be applied to other applications, since TRCs could also be used on car and truck windows. In addition, the group's quantum computing-enabled optimization technique could be used to design other types of composite materials.

From the article: A study published in the journal Biological Psychology suggests that exposure to social media content about motherhood can trigger a sense of threat among mothers, activating the body’s stress response. The study found that more time spent on social networking sites devoted to motherhood was associated with increased cortisol output among mothers.

During social interactions, people frequently fall victim to social comparison — they begin comparing themselves to the people around them and making self-judgments. These self-evaluations can lead to negative feelings, particularly when they stem from upward social comparisons — comparisons to people who seem better off than oneself.

Social self-preservation theory says that when a social situation threatens a person’s self-concept, this activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and stimulates the release of cortisol. Accordingly, study author Nataria T. Joseph and her co-authors wanted to test whether engaging in social comparison has a measurable impact on a person’s cortisol levels.

“This project is the third of a series of projects that we executed together, with the aim of examining the complex nature of and multifactorial, biopsychosocial implications of social media use among first time mothers,” explained Joseph (@_NoCrystalStair), an associate professor at Pepperdine University who holds the Blanche E. Seaver Professor of Social Science professorship.

From the article: A team of researchers has detected a trio of near-Earth asteroids in the inner solar system, one of which is the largest found since 2014 that poses a potential risk to the planet. The asteroids remained undetected until now because they occupy a region of the sky hidden by the Sun’s glare.

Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) and Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are two types of near-Earth objects that space agencies like to keep track of. Despite the scary-sounding names, none of them pose any imminent threat to us. Currently, there are 1,454 NEAs that have a non-zero probability of impacting Earth in the next 100 years. You can find a complete list of NEOs at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies.

The three near-Earth asteroids were found using the Dark Energy Camera in Chile. The camera took deep-field images close to Earth’s horizon during twilight, to combat the Sun’s glare and atmospheric distortions. The team’s results are published in The Astronomical Journal.

“Our twilight survey is scouring the area within the orbits of Earth and Venus for asteroids,” said Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Earth and Planets Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution for Science and the paper’s lead author, in a NOIRLab release. “So far we have found two large near-Earth asteroids that are about 1 kilometer across, a size that we call planet killers.”

Two of the recently observed asteroids have orbits that safely skirt Earth, but one of the rocks—a 0.93-mile-wide (1.5-kilometer) asteroid dubbed 2022 AP7—has an orbit that may eventually put it on a collision course with Earth.

To be perfectly clear: The asteroid is not currently barreling toward Earth. but its path could bring it close enough one day that NASA will want to keep tabs on it.

From the article: A recent online survey explored how sexual desire changes with age and found that it is the highest between 30 and 40 in both men and women. It was noticeably lower only in respondents over 60 years of age. Men reported higher levels of sexual desire than women on average. The study was published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Sexual desire is the experience of sexual thoughts, fantasies, and the motivation to engage in sexual activities. It is positively associated with well-being. Previous studies have suggested that sexual desire decreases with age, but assumptions about the specific age when sexual desire is highest differ. Studies have also shown substantial individual variability in the level of sexual desire.

Due to this, the study of factors predicting sexual desire has attracted a lot of research interest. Sexual desire can be dyadic (desire for sexual activity with a partner) or solitary (desire for solitary sexual activity such a masturbation).

For their study, Larissa L. Wierczorek from the University of Hamburg and her colleagues analyzed a part of the data from an online survey of social attitudes and personality in order to examine the relationship between sexual desire, age, masculinity, and attractiveness. The study sample consisted of 8,150 participants between 15 and 80 years of age, but predominantly very young, who were recruited via a number of social media platforms in the eleven-year period between 2007 and 2018.

Participants were predominantly females (67.88%) and 72.17% identified as heterosexual. Data analyzed in this study included self-assessments of two types of dyadic sexual desire – towards one’s partner, towards an “attractive person” and towards themselves (Sexual Desire Inventory-2, SDI-2) as well as an overall assessment of sexual desire and self-ratings of own masculinity, attractiveness and health (participants rated how masculine/attractive/healthy they believe they are on a 7-point scale).

From the article: Facebook’s promise to advertisers is that its system is smart, effective, and easy to use. You upload your ads, fill out a few details, and Facebook’s algorithm does its magic, wading through millions of people to find the perfect audience.

The inner workings of that algorithm are opaque, even to people who work at Meta, Facebook’s parent company. But outside research sometimes offers a glimpse. A new study published Tuesday in the Association for Computer Machinery’s Digital Library journal finds that Facebook uses image recognition software to classify the race, gender, and age of the people pictured in advertisements, and that determination plays a huge role in who sees the ads. Researchers found that more ads with young women get shown to men over 55; that women see more ads with children; and that Black people see more ads with Black people in them.

From the article: Women who use anabolic steroids tend to exhibit heightened levels of psychopathology, such as depression and antisocial traits, according to new findings published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

“We were interested in this topic because very little is known about women who take anabolic steroids, and most studies tend to focus on the visible effects of these substances, rather than on the potential psychiatric effects or traits that make women prone to start using steroids,” explained study author Morgan Scarth, a PhD student at the Oslo University Hospital. “This is a result of stigma and perceived low prevalence of anabolic steroid use among females, and we wanted to know more about these women and their mental health.”

The study included 32 female weight-lifting athletes from Norway, who were recruited via social media, web forums, and flyers. Six participants indicated that they were currently using anabolic steroids, while 10 women were previous consumers. The researchers collected urine samples to confirm steroid use. The most commonly used steroids were Anavar (oxandrolone), clenbuterol, Winstrol (stanozolol) and Primobolan (metenolone).

The women completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III, a scientifically validated questionnaire designed to assess 14 personality disorders (such as narcissism) and 10 clinical syndromes (such as anxiety and bipolar disorder). The participants also provided information regarding their weight-lifting training and records along with health-related information and previous pharmacological treatment for medical or psychiatric conditions.

Compared to those who had never used anabolic steroids, women who had used or were currently using anabolic steroids showed elevated levels of anxiety, somatic symptom disorder, bipolar disorder, dysthymia, alcohol dependence, drug dependence, PTSD, thought disorder, major depression, and delusional disorder. Women who had used or were currently using steroids also scored significantly higher on measures of depressive, antisocial, sadistic, negativistic, masochistic/self-defeating, and borderline personality disorders.

From the article: Scientists are searching far and wide for new tools in the battle against rising obesity rates, and lately a promising candidate has emerged from piles of purified sand. A new study has bolstered the potential of silica particles made from this material by showing how they block enzyme activity to hamper the body’s uptake of fats and sugars, while also hinting at the ideal design for the optimal anti-obesity effects.

The research was carried out by scientists at the University of South Australia, and builds on earlier work exploring how engineered silica particles can impact the way the body absorbs energy from high-fat foods. Previous studies have shown mesoporous silica particles can drive weight loss in obese mice when added to their diet, and can be safely tolerated in male humans as a food additive. One 2020 paper also hinted at the best shape and size of particle to induce anti-obesity effects.

“Porous silica has received increasing attention for its anti-obesity potential, with human trials showing it is a safe therapy,” said lead researcher Paul Joyce. “However, exactly how it works has eluded researchers – until now. Our research shows how porous silica promotes an anti-obesity effect by functioning locally in the gut to restrict fat and carbohydrate digestion and absorption. Importantly, the gentle mechanism is expected to deliver clinically effective outcomes for weight loss, without adverse effects.”

From the article: The vast majority of plastic that people put into recycling bins is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the U.S.

The report cites separate data published this May which revealed that the amount of plastic actually turned into new things has fallen to new lows of around 5%. That number is expected to drop further as more plastic is produced.

Greenpeace found that no plastic — not even soda bottles, one of the most prolific items thrown into recycling bins — meets the threshold to be called "recyclable" according to standards set by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastic Economy Initiative. Plastic must have a recycling rate of 30% to reach that standard; no plastic has ever been recycled and reused close to that rate.

"More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled," says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. "The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050."

From the article: As the EU energy crisis deepens, U.K.’s National Grid is testing new technology that could increase the capacity of its existing overhead power lines on its electricity transmission network, allowing more renewable power to flow.

National Grid is collaborating with LineVision, the only firm in the world to offer non-contact overhead power line monitoring systems, to install sensors and a dynamic line rating (DLR) platform, according to a press release the company published on Thursday.

“To meet the increasing demand for electricity and deliver net zero, our network needs to grow, but at the same time we are continually looking at ways of expanding capacity on our existing infrastructure,” said Lydia Ogilvie, Director of Network Strategy and Operations for National Grid, a British multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London.

“I’m proud that National Grid is leading the way in using transformational and innovative engineering, integrating vital grid enhancing technologies like LineVision’s, to decarbonize and deliver world-class reliability, at lowest costs for consumers.”

The sensors will use advanced analytics to calculate the Dynamic Line Rating while continuously monitoring the transmission lines.

The size, resistance, and maximum safe operating temperature of a power line and the local weather circumstances all contribute to the Dynamic Line Rating.

From the article: Engineers at Duke University have developed a novel delivery system for cancer treatment and demonstrated its potential against one of the disease’s most troublesome forms. In newly published research in mice with pancreatic cancer, the scientists showed how a radioactive implant could completely eliminate tumors in the majority of the rodents, demonstrating what they say is the most effective treatment ever studied in these pre-clinical models.

Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat, with tumor cells of this type highly evasive and loaded with mutations that make them resistant to many drugs. It accounts for just 3.2 percent of all cancers, yet is the third leading cause of cancer-related death. One way of tackling it is by deploying chemotherapy to hold the tumor cells in a state that makes them vulnerable to radiation, and then hitting the tumor with a targeted radiation beam.

But doing so in a way that attacks the tumor but doesn’t expose the patient to heavy doses of radiation is a fine line to tread, and raises the risk of severe side effects. Another method scientists are exploring is the use of implants that can be placed directly inside the tumor to attack it with radioactive materials from within. They have made some inroads using titanium shells to encase the radioactive samples, but these can cause damage to the surrounding tissue.

"There's just no good way to treat pancreatic cancer right now," said study author Jeff Schaal.

From the article: A new study published in Psychiatry Research suggests that experiencing a serious case of COVID-19 is associated with increased risk of developing schizophrenia.

COVID-19 has had massive effects on society and many individuals’ health that will continue for years to come. In addition to serious physical health outcomes, it has been shown to be linked to declines in mental health that come from neuropsychological effects of the disease. COVID-19 can affect the nervous system, metabolism, and brain function. Despite our increasing knowledge of the negative effects of COVID-19, people have begun a return to normalcy and society has lifted mask mandates.

For their new study, Ancha Baranova and colleagues utilized data from two Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS). This included one for the SARS-CoV-2 infection and one for hospitalized COVID-19 cases. Datasets included 122,616 cases of SARS, 32,519 cases of COVID-19, and 53,386 cases of schizophrenia, in addition to controls for each group.

A genome-wide association study (GWAS) is a type of genetic research that looks for associations between genes and particular traits or conditions. Often, GWAS research is used to identify genes that may be involved in certain diseases.

The data allowed the researchers to examine the topic using the Mendelian randomization framework, a research method that uses genetic variation to study the relationship between exposures and outcomes. By comparing the effects of different variants of a gene, researchers can identify which exposures are associated with which outcomes. This approach has several advantages over traditional observational studies. First, it can help to control for confounding variables. Second, it can provide insight into causal relationships.

From the article: Sasha Zbrozek lives in Los Altos Hills, California, which he describes as "a wealthy Silicon Valley town," in a house about five miles from Google's headquarters. But after moving in December 2019, Zbrozek says he learned that Comcast never wired his house—despite previously telling him it could offer Internet service at the address.

Today, Zbrozek is on the board of a co-op ISP called Los Altos Hills Community Fiber (LAHCF), which provides multi-gigabit fiber Internet to dozens of homes and has a plan to serve hundreds more. Town residents were able to form the ISP with the help of Next Level Networks, which isn't a traditional consumer broadband provider but a company that builds and manages networks for local groups.

Zbrozek's experience with Comcast led to him getting involved with LAHCF and organizing an expansion that brought 10Gbps symmetrical fiber to his house and others on nearby roads. Zbrozek described his experience to Ars in a phone interview and in emails.

"Before I bought my home, I checked with Comcast—by phone—to see if service was available at the address. They said yes. After moving in, I called to buy service. The technician came out and left a note saying that service was not available," he told us.

From the article: America's fastest internet has become faster. The Department of Energy's (DOE) dedicated science network, ESnet (Energy Science Network), has been upgraded to ESnet6, boasting a staggering bandwidth of 46 Terabits per second (Tbps). Before you get any ideas, hold up. For now, it's strictly for scientists.

"ESnet6 represents a transformational change in the way networks are built for research, with improved capacity, resiliency, and flexibility," ESnet executive director Inder Monga said in a press release. "Together, these new capabilities make it faster, easier, and more efficient for scientists around the world to conduct and collaborate on ground-breaking research."

ESnet was established in 1986, and over the past 35 years, the network has served as the "data circulatory system" for the DOE from the Berkeley Lab. It connects all of its national laboratories, tens of thousands of DOE-funded researchers, and DOE's premier scientific instruments and supercomputing centers.

The network has had several upgrades and transmitted 1.1 exabytes of data over the network in 2021. According to the statement, traffic on ESnet increases by a factor of ten every four years.

To compare, you could be getting by on a few hundred Megabits per second (Mbps), while ESnet6 is equivalent to 46 million Mbps, according to the New Atlas.

Even if you're on a 10 Gbps fiber connection, which is the fastest internet speed available to consumers, ESnet6 has you beat 46,000 times over.

ESnet6 is made up of 15,000 miles (24,000 km) of fiber optic cables spanning the country, enabling network backbone links that can each transfer data between 400 Gigabits per second (Gbps) and 1 Tbps for record-time transfers. Though it set the record for the fastest internet network in the world, it isn't a record data transmission speed. An experimental setup in Japan, which achieved a speed of 1 Petabit per second (PBPs), which is 1,000 Tbps, has bagged the honor for the same.

From the article: A recent study examined Americans’ feelings of schadenfreude and sympathy toward Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis in 2020. The findings, published in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology, revealed that Democrats expressed more schadenfreude and less sympathy toward Trump’s diagnosis compared to Republicans. Democrats were also more likely to think that the diagnosis would sway people’s votes in the upcoming election.

Schadenfreude, a German word that has been adopted by the English language, describes a feeling of pleasure at another person’s misfortune. This emotion tends to occur within competitive environments, often when there is a conflict between two groups. Study author Joanna Peplak and her co-authors wanted to explore the role of schadenfreude within a particularly heated intergroup context — the latest U.S. presidential election.

“I have been interested in schadenfreude (i.e., feeling pleasure in others’ misfortunes) for some time now and have been primarily conducting research on individual and development differences in children’s and adolescents’ experiences of schadenfreude in social interactions,” explained Peplak, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California-Irvine.

From the article: Many factors can contribute to a person’s eating habits, including personality traits. The Dark Triad personality traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism have been linked to many negative outcomes, but their relationship to disordered eating has been underexplored. A study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health looks at how these traits related to uncontrolled, restrained, and emotional eating.

Eating disorders have been linked to personality traits before, such as high neuroticism, perfectionism, lower self-esteem, and introversion. Despite this, research focusing on the eating patterns of people high in Dark Triad personality traits has been minimal. Dark Triad personality traits have been linked to many negative behaviors and outcomes for people, including impulsivity, manipulation, and selfishness.

Previous research has explored meat eating habits of Dark Triad personality traits using German samples, and this research aims to delve deeper into how these personality traits relate to disordered eating and eating disorders.

From the article: Tesla's Megapack battery system is stepping in to fulfill the state’s power requirements, following the end of a 30-year deal on September 1 between Hawaiian Electric and AES Corporation to provide coal power (via Hawaiian Electric).

As an alternative to the energy gap left behind by the coal power plant, Plus Power LLC is using Tesla Megapacks to build a large battery energy storage system (BESS) in the state of Hawaii.

This sustainable energy project is named Kapolei Energy Storage (KES). KES is one of the world’s largest battery energy storage systems, featuring a capacity of 565 MWh. It will be charged using a 156 MW solar energy farm.

State-owned Hawaiian Electric estimates the completion of the KES project in the first half of 2023. According to the state’s electricity supply company, 9 BESS projects are scheduled to go live by 2024 on the island of Oahu alone (FAQ PDF by Hawaiian Electric).

“Last coal shipment arrived in Hawaii at the same time as Tesla Megapack batteries that will enable 24/7 sustainable energy,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a recent tweet.