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Pheomelanin, the orange-to-red pigment in human red hair and bird feathers, helps prevent cellular damage by converting excess cysteine into inert pigment, thus maintaining cysteine homeostasis. This protective role may explain the evolutionary persistence of pheomelanin despite its association with increased melanoma risk.
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Widespread burning of plastic for heating and cooking is reported in low-income urban areas across 26 countries, primarily due to energy poverty and inadequate waste management. This practice exposes vulnerable populations to toxic emissions, including dioxins and furans, leading to significant health and environmental risks such as food contamination and persistent pollutants.
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A new oral care ingredient selectively inhibits periodontitis-causing bacteria, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis, without disrupting beneficial oral microbiota. Incorporated into toothpaste and other products, this technology helps maintain microbial balance, potentially preventing periodontitis recurrence and associated systemic diseases, while meeting medical-grade safety and efficacy standards.
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Long-term residential exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos is associated with over a 2.5-fold increased risk of Parkinson's disease. Laboratory models show chlorpyrifos damages dopamine-producing neurons by disrupting autophagy, leading to neurodegeneration. These findings highlight autophagy dysfunction as a potential therapeutic target for Parkinson's prevention.
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Greenland sharks, which can live up to 400 years, maintain functional vision throughout their lifespan due to a robust DNA repair mechanism that prevents retinal degeneration. Their retinas remain healthy and sensitive to blue light, enabling adaptation to extreme low-light environments, challenging assumptions about inevitable age-related vision loss in vertebrates.
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Winter storm tracks over the North Pacific are shifting northward at a rate much faster than climate models predict. This shift increases heat and moisture transport to Alaska, accelerating glacier melt, while reducing ventilation in the southwestern US, intensifying heat and dryness. The change is attributed to climate change rather than natural variability.
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A five-dimensional classical framework is proposed in which both quantum phenomena and gravity emerge from underlying dynamics beyond four-dimensional spacetime. In this model, particles and gravitational effects develop gradually along an extra evolution parameter, reproducing key quantum effects and offering intuitive explanations without invoking quantum gravity. The theory yields distinct, testable predictions.
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The critically endangered kakapo, a flightless parrot native to New Zealand, has begun breeding for the first time in four years, with 236 individuals and 83 breeding-age females currently in three isolated populations. Conservation efforts aim to achieve the largest number of hatched chicks since records began, supporting the goal of establishing self-sustaining populations.
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Unregulated groundwater pumping in Arizona’s Ranegras Plain, primarily by a Saudi-owned company growing alfalfa for export, has caused severe aquifer declines—up to 242 feet since the 1980s—and land subsidence of up to 2 inches per year. Arizona officials are considering new regulations to limit pumping, require water use reporting, and preserve groundwater, as current extraction rates far exceed natural recharge.
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Chemical residues of Boophone disticha poison were identified on 60,000-year-old quartz arrowheads from South Africa, providing the earliest direct evidence of poisoned arrow use. This finding demonstrates that early humans possessed advanced hunting strategies, planning abilities, and a sophisticated understanding of plant toxins, reflecting modern cognitive traits.
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A compact, low-cost muon detector called CosmicWatch enables direct observation and measurement of cosmic ray particles, making particle physics accessible for education and research. The device’s portability and affordability allow widespread use in classrooms and international experiments, supporting studies of cosmic phenomena and practical applications such as environmental monitoring and detector calibration.
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Two inscribed clay cylinders from Kish, dating to Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign (604–562 BC), provide the first foundation text directly documenting his restoration of the city’s ziggurat. The inscriptions confirm previously inferred construction activities and detail the king’s divine motivation to repair the temple dedicated to Zababa and Ishtar after its deterioration.
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Analysis of sediment from beneath Greenland's Prudhoe Dome indicates the ice cap was absent between 6,000 and 8,200 years ago, during the early Holocene when temperatures were 3–5 °C higher than today. This demonstrates the dome's sensitivity to modest warming and highlights its vulnerability to future climate change, with implications for predicting sea level rise.
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A unified framework has been developed that describes quantum correlations across both space and time using multipartite quantum states over time. This approach, based on linearity and quantum conditionability, enables spatial and temporal quantum processes to be analyzed with a single mathematical structure and links these states to Kirkwood–Dirac quasiprobabilities.
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Neonicotinoid insecticides coat nearly all corn seeds planted in Colorado, providing pest protection but raising concerns about harm to pollinators, water quality, and ecosystem health. Lawmakers are considering restricting neonic use to reduce environmental impact, though farmers argue alternatives are less effective or more damaging. Water sampling shows neonic levels above EPA thresholds in several state water bodies.
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Continuous migration into England occurred from the end of Roman rule through the Norman period, involving both men and women from diverse regions including the Mediterranean and Arctic Circle. Isotopic and ancient DNA analyses of over 700 individuals reveal persistent population movement, with a notable increase in the 7th–8th centuries. Climate events and cross-cultural contacts influenced these migration patterns.
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Ammonite fossils found above the K-Pg boundary at Stevns Klint, Denmark, show sediment characteristics matching Danian limestone, indicating these marine mollusks survived the initial mass extinction event 66 million years ago. This evidence suggests ammonites persisted into the earliest Paleogene, raising new questions about the timing and causes of their final extinction.
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Daily 40-Hz auditory stimulation in aged rhesus monkeys led to a sustained increase in β-amyloid (Aβ42 and Aβ40) levels in cerebrospinal fluid, persisting for at least five weeks post-treatment. This noninvasive approach shows potential for promoting β-amyloid clearance and offers promise as a therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease.
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Europa likely lacks the necessary undersea geological activity, such as tectonic motion or hydrothermal vents, to support life. Calculations indicate that heat from its core dissipated long ago and tidal forces from Jupiter are insufficient to drive significant seafloor activity, suggesting Europa's ocean is geologically quiet and unlikely to harbor life.
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Replication studies in topological quantum computing found that data interpreted as evidence for major breakthroughs can often be explained by alternative mechanisms. These findings highlight the need for comprehensive data sharing and open discussion of alternative explanations to improve the reliability of experimental results in the field.
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