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Featured news

15 Dec 2021

Are older people more likely to fall for Covid-19 scams than younger people?

By Colm Gorey, science communications manager Image: mimagephotography/Shutterstock.com Not long after the Covid-19 pandemic began, a surge in scams targeting people’s fears was seen across the globe. Yet despite the disease posing a greater threat to older people, it wasn’t known whether this demographic were more likely to fall for these scams. Now, a study published to Frontiers has found that contrary to stereotypes, older people are less likely to fall for the alleged benefits of scams than middle-aged and younger people are. Are older people more likely to fall for Covid-19 scams than younger generations? Despite a prevailing mentality that older people are less up to speed on the latest technology and 21st century scams, new research suggests that cautiousness concerning scams does not vary between age groups. In our highly interconnected age, the opportunities to try and exploit people into handing over large sums of money through various falsehoods are now widespread. Unsurprisingly, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic also coincided with the start of a new wave of scams. By October of this year, the US Federal Trade Commission reported more than 270,000 Covid-19 fraud cases that cost their victims a total of more than $580m. But […]

Featured news

01 Dec 2021

Survivors of severe Covid-19 may have increased risk of death within 12 months of illness

By Conn Hastings, science writer Image: Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock.com A new study shows the long-term implications of severe Covid-19 infection, with such patients demonstrating significantly increased chances of death in the 12 months following the illness. The majority of deaths occurred for a wide variety of reasons, suggesting that severe infection damages overall health. The stark findings highlight the need to reduce the numbers of severe infections through vaccination. Can long Covid kill? Striking findings presented in a new study published to Frontiers in Medicine show that patients who survive severe Covid-19 have more than twice the risk of dying over the following year, compared with those who experience mild or moderate disease or remain uninfected. Unusually, the increased risk of dying was greater for patients who are under 65, and only 20% of the severe Covid-19 patients who died did so because of typical Covid complications, such as clotting disorders or respiratory failure. The study suggests that severe Covid-19 may significantly damage long-term health and highlights the importance of preventing severe disease through vaccination.          ► Read original article► Download original article (pdf) Reality of long Covid Covid-19 can cause severe symptoms and death for vulnerable people, particularly older patients and […]

Featured news

29 Nov 2021

Estimating the impact of ‘eco’ jet fuel: How much could it reduce CO2 emissions by 2050?

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer Image: Thiago B Trevisan/Shutterstock.com The aviation sector is seen as a very visible contributor of CO2 emissions globally, but will efforts to clean up the industry pay off? New research published with Frontiers has calculated what impact ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ (SAF) will have, showing CO2 emissions between 4% and 23% lower than if no SAF was used, even if airlines exceed pre-Covid-19 demand. However, while the use of SAF can help contribute to international targets, SAF alone will not be enough to meet 2050 net-zero CO2 goals for aviation. Much in the same way that the automotive industry is shifting gears to produce more environmentally-friendly cars to offset the effects of the climate crisis, the aviation sector is trying to find ways to significantly cut down on its CO2 emissions. Estimates suggest that the sector is responsible for about 2.5% of global carbon emissions and equivalent to the release of more than 900m metric tons of CO2 annually just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with entirely electric-powered aircraft some way off from becoming commonplace and limited in range, airlines have turned to cleaner jet fuels to help reduce their impact on the planet […]

Featured news

29 Nov 2021

DNA of future deep-space explorers could become more ‘error prone’ in microgravity

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer During parabolic flight to simulate weightless conditions in space, researchers show for the first time that a DNA polymerase enzyme derived from bacteria makes 10-140% more errors while copying DNA in microgravity. Combined with the known greater rate of DNA damage from space radiation, this inaccuracy of DNA replication is likely to pose a threat to the health of future astronauts on long missions. On 22 May 2019, scientists from Queen’s University boarded a modified Falcon 20 aircraft at Ottawa airport. Scheduled was a ‘vomit comet’ flight, where the plane repeatedly climbs to 8km in a steep parabola, alternating with a descent in freefall. During freefall, at a rate of over 3.3km in 20 seconds, only gravity but no lift, thrust, or drag work on the plane, resulting in weightlessness. The scientists’ mission under these difficult conditions was to test whether the enzymes that copy DNA are as accurate under weightlessness as under earthbound conditions. This question is of paramount importance for future space exploration, as the health of astronauts will depend on accurate DNA replication during cell division. “So-called DNA polymerases are essential enzymes that copy and repair DNA. Inevitably, they aren’t perfect: […]

Featured news

24 Nov 2021

Electroconvulsive therapy is safe for treatment of mental conditions, shows large-scale study

By K.E.D. Coan, science writer Electroconvulsive therapy may be one of the most effective treatments for depression and severe mental conditions. But ongoing stigma associated with this therapeutic approach prevents it from being used more frequently. A recent study published in Frontiers in Psychology shows that, at least for one treatment center in Germany, the rate of life-threatening adverse events is less than 0.1%, suggesting that the medical community can safely use the method more broadly. The safety concerns associated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are unwarranted, according to a new study in Frontiers in Psychology. In part due to historical misuse and cinematic portrayals such as in One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, physicians and patients have been reluctant to use this approach. But extensive evidence appears to show that ECT may be one of the most valuable and effective options for severe and treatment-resistant mental conditions such as schizophrenia and depression. This latest study of more than 3,100 ECT sessions in a German psychiatric hospital appears to confirm that ECT is also very safe. There were no cases of permanent impairments from the treatment and only three sessions (<0.1%) caused potentially life-threatening events, which were all resolved by medical […]

Featured news

24 Nov 2021

These personality traits may make you more prone to problematic binge-watching

By Peter Rejcek, science writer Image credit: Diego Cervo / Shutterstock.com Binge-watching is a modern phenomenon where TV viewers sit through two or more episodes of a series at one time. A growing body of research suggests there may be negative consequences to this behavior, similar to other addictive activities such as online gaming. Now, a new study has identified what personality traits and motivations may predict problematic binge-watching. Impulsivity and the motivation to escape are among the most significant factors that drive marathon viewing. Once upon a time, TV viewers had to wait patiently each week for a new episode of their favorite series to drop. Streaming services have upended that model, allowing unfettered access to an entire season-worth of episodes –  unleashing the phenomenon known as binge-watching. Recent research into the behavior suggests it may be similar to other addictive activities, for example online gaming. A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry identified what factors may help predict unhealthy binge-watching. While marathon viewing of multiple TV episodes has been around for decades, binge watching burst onto the scene with the popular streaming service Netflix. Since then, it has become a popular way to spend free […]

Featured news

19 Nov 2021

Common household sounds are stressing out our pets, but little research has been put into giving them a happier life

By Dr Emma K Grigg, University of California, Davis Dr Emma K Grigg, University of California, Davis. Image: Sherri Rieck We may not realize it, but many household appliances are causing our pets significant stress, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. Now, one of its authors, Dr Emma K Grigg of University of California, Davis, writes about another less-discussed issue: how little effort is being put into better understanding our pets. Grigg is a certified applied animal behaviorist and a staff research associate and lecturer at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. She is also a lecturer in canine behavior at Bergin University of Canine Studies in northern California and has authored a number of scientific publications on canine, feline, and marine mammal behavior. Her first book, The Science Behind a Happy Dog, was published in June 2017. As an animal behavior researcher who specializes in dogs and cats, I have been trained to carefully observe and interpret their body language to better understand and predict their behavior, to study the ways in which they interact with their worlds, and to continually consider the impacts of human activities on their wellbeing. My […]

Featured news

09 Nov 2021

Off-world colony simulation reveals changes in human communication over time with Earth

By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer Image: SciePro/Shutterstock.com Future planetary colonists will experience isolation like no other group in human history, which is why scientists on Earth are attempting to see how we communicate in the most extreme situations. In a paper published with Frontiers, researchers in Russia observed volunteers in isolation attempting to replicate life in deep space to see how it would impact their mood and communication styles. Despite some initial differences, the eventual cohesion of the team offers hope for future moon and Mars colonists. Elton John famously sang that Mars “ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids”, but one day space agencies across the globe hope to prove him wrong by seeing the first human establishing the first colony on the Red Planet, and elsewhere in the solar system. However, those who make the journey will not only have to survive on a freezing planet with no breathable atmosphere, but live in isolation unlike any other explorers in human history. At its closest proximity, Mars is still almost 55m km away from Earth, making communication delays and supply issues between the two worlds unavoidable. This requires crew members to effectively cope with stressful conditions […]

Featured news

08 Nov 2021

Exposure to CO2 after traumatic experience strengthens fearful memories in mice

By Mischa Dijkstra, Frontiers science writer Image credit: By Stefan_Sutka / Shutterstock.com Mice who inhale CO2 within hours after forming a new fearful memory show more distress when subsequently prompted to retrieve the memory. This memory-strengthening effect of CO2 requires a functional ASIC1A gene in the mouse brain. The effect is time-dependent, unique to CO2, and specific to only certain types of memories, such as fearful sound cues or environmental contexts. Memories of a different type, such as remembering familiar objects, are weakened rather than strengthened by CO2. The inhalation of carbon dioxide (CO2) by mice a few hours after they formed a new fearful memory makes that memory stronger, so that the mice show more distress when they are prompted to ‘retrieve’ (ie, recall) it. That is the conclusion of a recent in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience by neuroscientists from the University of Iowa, US. The authors also show that the memory-strengthening effect of CO2 only occurs when the gene acid-sensing ion channel-1a (ASIC1A) is functional in the mouse brain. If the human version of the ASIC1A gene proves to have a similar role in the formation of fearful memories, interventions targeting this molecular pathway could one day be a […]