In two states, legalization of recreational marijuana found to have little effect on crime

Eleven states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana. A new study funded by a grant from the National Institute of Justice sought to determine the effect of this legal change on crimes rates. The study, which looked at legalization and sales of recreational cannabis in Colorado and Washington, found minimal to no effect on rates of violent and property crimes in those states.

Regular exercise is good for your heart, no matter how old you are: study

Regular exercise is highly beneficial for all patients with cardiovascular disease regardless of age, report investigators in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. Their results showed that the patients who benefited most from cardiac rehabilitation were those who started out with the greatest physical impairment.

UNAIDS HIV targets will be missed among gay men in Africa, study suggests

Despite improvements in HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Africa, many are missing out on HIV treatment.

A timekeeper for siesta

Circadian clocks must be flexible and they must be able to adapt to varying environmental conditions. Otherwise, it would be impossible for living beings to change their patterns of activity when the days get shorter again as is happening now. After all, Drosophila, also known as the common fruit fly, no longer needs a long siesta in autumn to protect itself from excessive heat and predators as in the middle of summer. At the same time, the fly must shift its evening activity peak a few hours forward if it doesn't want to end up buzzing around in the dark.

3 get Nobel Medicine prize for learning how cells use oxygen

Two Americans and a British scientist won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering how the body's cells sense and react to oxygen levels, work that has paved the way for new strategies to fight anemia, cancer and other diseases, the Nobel Committee said.

Unilever to halve use of new plastic

Anglo-Dutch commercial giant Unilever said Monday it will cut its use of new plastic by half by 2025 as pressure grows on multinational companies to do more for the environment.

Speech recognition using artificial neural networks and artificial bee colony optimization

Over the past decade or so, advances in machine learning have paved the way for the development of increasingly advanced speech recognition tools. By analyzing audio files of human speech, these tools can learn to identify words and phrases in different languages, converting them into a machine-readable format.

Scientists have identified the presence of cancer-suppressing cells in pancreatic cancer

A research team led by Nagoya University has revealed that cells containing a protein called Meflin have a role in restraining the progression of pancreatic cancer, a type of cancer that is hard to treat with traditional anti-cancer drugs. The team has also shown that cancer progression can be limited by artificially increasing the amount of this protein in the cells. These findings could lead to the development of new therapies against pancreatic cancer. This study was published online in Cancer Research on Aug 22, 2019.

Partnership plans to produce Mo-99 to fill global demand for medical applications

SHINE Medical Technologies and partner Phoenix LLC have developed a new way to produce molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) for use in medical applications. They claim that testing has shown their new technology breaks the world record for the strongest nuclear fusion reactor in a steady-state system.

Novel AI chip design platform to give the semiconductor industry a boost in productivity and quality

A*STAR researchers have developed an AI chip design platform that has the potential to transform the multibillion-dollar global integrated circuit (IC) design industry by accelerating design optimisation, reducing IC design turnaround time, and improving productivity significantly by twofold.

Microscope prints patterns at the nanoscale

Researchers from AMOLF's 3-D-Photovoltaics group have used an atomic force microscope to electrochemically print at the nanoscale. This technique can print structures for a new generation of solar cells on chips. The researchers published their results today in the online journal Nanoscale.

A symbiotic boost for greenhouse tomato plants

Use of saline water to irrigate crops would bolster food security for many arid countries; however, this has not been possible due to the detrimental effects of salt on plants. Now, researchers at KAUST, along with scientists in Egypt, have shown that saline irrigation of tomato is possible with the help of a beneficial desert root fungus. This represents a new key technology for countries lacking water resources.

Image: Hubble finds Medusa in the sky

The galaxy pictured in this Hubble image has an especially evocative name: the Medusa merger.

Should my cat be vegan? Why alternative diet trends can be dangerous for your pet

Millions of people embrace new diet and nutrition trends every day, but experts from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine urge people not to assume what works for them will also work for their pets.

6 things every woman should know about heart health

Heart disease is the nation's leading killer of women. But paying attention to risk factors and living a healthy lifestyle can help keep heart disease at bay.

More energy means more effects—in proton collisions

The higher the collision energy of particles, the more interesting the physics. Scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Cracow have found further confirmation of this assumption, this time, in the high energy collision of protons with protons or lead nuclei.

GM strike negotiations take 'turn for the worse': union

Negotiations to resolve a three-week-old strike at General Motors for better pay, benefits and job security have taken "a turn for the worse," a top negotiator with the United Autoworkers Union said Sunday.

In Brazil, Amazon fires threaten millenary rock paintings

Ancient rock paintings in Brazil's Monte Alegre park are being threatened by some of the fires burning in the Amazon region.

Nobel season opens with Medicine Prize

The announcement of the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday opens an unusual 2019 Nobel season in which two literature laureates will be crowned after a scandal postponed last year's award, amid speculation Greta Thunberg could nab the prestigious Peace Prize.

Cancer patients who exercise have less heart damage from chemotherapy

Patients with cancer should receive a tailored exercise prescription to protect their heart, reports a paper published today in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

Study provides insights on treatment and prognosis of male breast cancer

A recent analysis reveals that treatment of male breast cancer has evolved over the years. In addition, certain patient-, tumor-, and treatment-related factors are linked with better survival. The findings are published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

OTC medications commonly used in cases of attempted suicide by self-poisoning in youth

A new study from Nationwide Children's Hospital and the Central Ohio Poison Center found rates of suicide attempts by self-poisoning among youth and adolescents are higher in rural communities, higher during the academic school year and involve common medications found in many households.

A Canadian essential medicines list must be evidence-based

An essential medicines list in Canada should be evidence-based and independent of conflicting interests, found a study of decision-makers and policy-makers that is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

Computer kidney sheds light on proper hydration

A new computer kidney developed at the University of Waterloo could tell researchers more about the impacts of medicines taken by people who don't drink enough water.