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When using music to alleviate pain, tempo matters

admin — 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 ��ɫTV 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.

Shape-shifting materials are made more versatile

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

Finding new angles on an old artform, ��ɫTVl 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.

Ultra-thin bismuth holds unexpected promise for green electronics: researcher

admin — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 13:03:12 +0000

Electronic devices rely on materials whose electrical properties change with temperature, making them less stable in extreme conditions. A discovery by ��ɫTV researchers that challenges conventional wisdom in physics suggests that bismuth, a metal, could serve as the foundation for highly stable electronic components.

The researchers observed a mysterious electrical effect in ultra-thin bismuth that remains unchanged across a wide temperature range, from near absolute zero (-273°C) to room temperature.

New drone-assisted 3D model offers a more accurate way to date dinosaur fossils

admin — Thu, 10 Apr 2025 13:09:29 +0000

A new study from ��ɫTV is reshaping how scientists date dinosaur fossils in Alberta’s Dinosaur Provincial Park (DPP). Using advanced drone-assisted 3D mapping, researchers have uncovered significant variations in a key geological marker, challenging long-standing methods of determining the ages of dinosaur fossils.

New discovery could help protect against influenza

admin — 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 ��ɫTVl’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Senior Scientist at the Research Institute of the ��ɫTV 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.

Study of velvet worm slime could revolutionize sustainable material design

admin — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 13:02:30 +0000

A new discovery about the slime ejected by velvet worms could revolutionize sustainable material design, according to a study by ��ɫTV researchers. Their 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 fibre and back again. It’s a discovery that could inspire next-generation recyclable bioplastics.

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

admin — 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.

Blood test shows promise for early detection of dementia

admin — Tue, 11 Mar 2025 13:11:26 +0000

For people with a certain sleep disorder, a simple blood test could help predict the development of dementia years before symptoms appear, a new study indicates.

Fighting honey fraud with AI technology

admin — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 13:10:40 +0000

��ɫTV researchers have developed an AI-powered method to verify the origin of honey, ensuring that what’s on the label matches what’s in the jar. The breakthrough offers a potential solution to a long-standing problem.

“Honey is one of the most fraud-prone commodities in global trade. It often involves mislabelling where it was produced or the types of flowers that bees collected nectar from,” said lead author Stéphane Bayen, Associate Professor and Chair of ��ɫTVl’s Department of Food Science and Agricultural Chemistry.

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

admin — 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.

��ɫTV 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.

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

admin — 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 ��ɫTV-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.

AI has untapped potential to advance biodiversity conservation, study finds

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 13:11:59 +0000

A new study from ��ɫTV researchers suggests the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to rapidly analyze vast amounts of biodiversity data could revolutionize conservation efforts by enabling scientists and policymakers to make better-informed decisions.

AI innovation unlocks non-surgical way to detect brain cancer spread

admin — Tue, 14 Jan 2025 14:11:48 +0000

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) model to detect the spread of metastatic brain cancer using MRI scans, offering insights into patients’ cancer without aggressive surgery.

Scientific insights into how humans access deep spiritual states

admin — 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.

COVID-19 boosters help avoid breakthrough infections in immunocompromised people, ��ɫTVl-led study finds

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2025 13:26:36 +0000

New research findings provide solid evidence that annual COVID-19 vaccine booster doses continue to be advisable for certain immunocompromised people, researchers at ��ɫTV say.