Life Sciences News & Analysis

Artificial Intelligence Used to Help Police Make Custody Decisions

Such a decision — which has potential implications for the suspect, the police and the public alike — is common in the law enforcement world, often occurring as much as hundreds of thousands of times a year.

Children Struggle with Mechanics of Holding a Pencil Thanks to Time Spent on Touchscreen Devices

As small children are spending more and more time on electronic devices such as touchscreen phones and tablets, experts believe that their excess use is getting in the way of children naturally developing their finger muscles enough to properly hold pencils upon starting school.

Portable, Fast and Accurate Device for Soil Pathogen Testing

Detecting disease-causing pathogens in the soil that can significantly level crops requires expensive and cumbersome equipment and lab results that can take weeks to receive.

Ophthalmologists Develop Eyedrops That Could Replace Eyeglasses

Eyeglasses may soon be a thing of the past thanks to a team of ophthalmologists from Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Bar-Ilan University’s Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials that has developed eyedrops capable of repairing the cornea in addition to improving short and long sightedness.

Watch: Printing Biological Structures, Fast Food Wrappers, Organ-on-chip

A new printing technique may be the next innovation in cancer research and development of new drugs to fight disease.

Global Effort Could Cut Ocean Plastic Pollution by 77 Percent by 2025, Report

Capping plastic waste and improving waste management efforts in the top 10 polluting countries could lead to a 77 percent reduction in ocean plastic by 2025, so says a report presented at this week’s Ocean Plastics Crisis Summit.

Historical Documents Protected with Help from the NIST

Fitted with an array of sensors, the sealed encasements were custom-designed by NIST to protect the documents from the elements.

NASA Designs New Spacesuit That Doubles as an Emergency Bathroom

With safety and comfort in mind, NASA engineers are designing a new spacesuit that would give astronauts a back-up bathroom in the event of an emergency.

Watch: SherpaPak and SherpaPerfusion Donor Heart Transport Coolers Cleared in Europe

The single-use, disposable devices suport hypothermic oxygenated perfusion preservation and transport of donor hearts.

First Evidence That Seals Consume Microplastics Via Their Prey

For the first time, researchers have found evidence that the microplastics consumed by fish are being transferred up the food chain to larger marine mammals such as seals.

Intestine-Chip Shows Promise for Personalized Medicine

Organ-on-chip technology is being used to demonstrate that human intestinal lining cells created outside the body will mirror living tissue, opening a door to personalized drug therapies.

Japan Expected to Be Home to World's Tallest Wooden Skyscraper in 2041

Tokyo, Japan, is expected to be home to the world’s tallest wooden skyscraper by 2041.

Researchers Develop Algorithm to Fight the Spread of Infectious Disease

Using data concerning behavioral, demographic and epidemic disease trends, researchers developed a model of disease spread, capturing information such as underlying population dynamics and contact patterns among people.

Plastics manufacturing responsible for significant amount of microplastic leakage: Study

While most studies concerning the impact of plastic pollution on marine life focuses on plastic waste such as discarded plastic grocery bags and beverage containers, researchers from Sweden are now turning their attention to the impact that small plastic pellets — typically used as a raw material in the production of a variety of plastic goods — shipped from manufacturing sites to different plants are having on the environment.

Plastic Bottle Redemption Programs Help Reduce Plastic Waste in the Ocean, Study Says

With roughly 8 million metric tons of plastic ending up in the ocean each year, researchers set out to determine the impact of plastic bottle redemption programs on plastic waste pollution.

Chemicals Found in Fast Food Wrappers, Non-stick Pots and Pans Linked to Weight Gain

While it is no surprise that eating fast food could lead to weight gain and other health issues, a recent study suggests that exposure to the chemicals used in fast food wrappers might also be contributing to weight gain.

Microplastic Levels High in Northwest Atlantic Fish

Hoping to further highlight the impact of microplastics on ocean life, researchers have published a new study revealing that microplastics were found in almost three out of every four mesopelagic fish captured in the Northwest Atlantic — considered one of the highest levels found worldwide.

Life Sciences