Scientists

An international team with Spanish participation has analyzed data from more than 500,000 people and found a link between digestive disorders such as colitis, gastritis, esophagitis, or functional bowel disorders and an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. According to the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Science Advances, “this effort sheds light on the interaction between factors involved in the gut-brain axis and opens avenues for targeted treatment and early diagnosis.”

The upper part of the human pelvis, the ilium, underwent two major structural changes during evolution that enabled humans to walk on two legs. One was the formation of cartilage and the second was the process of bone formation. New research identifies differences in the way bone cells are deposited on cartilage in the human ilium, compared to other primates and human long bones. The study, published in Nature, lays the genetic and evolutionary foundations for bipedalism, according to the authors.

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. These are known as the building blocks of life, but they cannot replicate themselves. To do so, they need the instructions provided by RNA. How this relationship began is still a mystery. Now, a British team has shown how it could have started from relatively simple conditions. According to the researchers, who published their findings in the journal Nature, ‘understanding the origin of protein synthesis is fundamental to understanding where life comes from.’

A team in China has transplanted a pig lung, genetically modified using CRISPR, into a brain-dead human. According to the researchers, this is the first time a lung transplant of this kind has been performed. The organ remained viable for the nine days of the study, although it showed some signs of damage and immune rejection. The results are published in the journal Nature Medicine.

The frequency and intensity of extreme heat events have increased in recent years, heightening the risks for those who work outdoors and indoors. Health risks include heatstroke, dehydration, kidney dysfunction and neurological disorders. These are some of the conclusions of a joint report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which estimates that worker productivity falls by between 2% and 3% for every degree above 20°C. The document proposes measures for governments, businesses and health authorities to mitigate the risks of extreme heat for these people.

Light pollution is causing birds to sing more, prolonging their vocalisations by an average of 50 minutes, according to a study published in Science. The study, which analyses more than 580 species of diurnal birds, shows that those most exposed to light, either because they have large eyes or open nests, are the most affected by this phenomenon. The authors analysed more than 60 million vocalisations from the BirdWeather citizen science project. ‘The machine learning algorithm allows us to analyse audio recordings 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which would otherwise take a lifetime to listen to,’ says Breant Pease, one of the authors.

A US team has analyzed the evolution of the global population exposed to forest fires between 2002 and 2021. The study indicates that the number of people exposed has increased by 40%, despite a 26% reduction in the area burned. This is mainly due to the increase in the population living in urban-forest interfaces. 85% of exposures occurred in Africa, even though forest fire disasters in North America, Europe, and Oceania have received most of the attention, notes the study, which is published in the journal Science.  

Space-based solar power could provide electricity to support Europe's net-zero emissions target if its cost of supply is reduced sufficiently. This is one of the conclusions of an article published in the journal Joule, by the Cell Press group. Space solar panels would allow continuous capture of solar energy, rather than only when light reaches Earth, reducing the need for wind and solar energy on Earth by 80% in Europe. The researchers estimate that by 2050, space-based solar power could reduce the costs of the European electricity system, although this depends on the development of two NASA space-based solar power designs they have used for their research: the Innovative Heliostat Swarm and the Mature Planar Array.

Various studies claimed that the loss of a limb caused a reorganisation of the “body map” integrated in the brain: neighbouring regions invaded and reused the brain area that previously represented the amputated limb. But a new study refutes this theory. Cortical representation remains stable even when the body suffers the loss of a limb. The team, which published its study in Nature Neuroscience, analysed three people who were about to undergo amputation of one of their hands, studying for the first time the maps of the hand and face before and after amputation, with follow-up for up to five years. Even without the hand, the corresponding brain region was activated in an almost identical way.

Between 2019 and 2021, five major fires burned nearly 500,000 hectares in Sierra Nevada (California). Now, a team from the United States has analysed the relationship between the structure and type of ownership of these forests and the development of a severe fire. Their conclusions are that this probability is 45% higher on private land used for the timber industry than in public forests. The results are published in the journal Global Change Biology.