Knowridge Science Report

A new computer tool developed by scientists at the University of Oxford could help solve one of the biggest questions people ask before starting cholesterol-lowering medicine: “What are my real chances of getting serious muscle side effects?” Instead of giving the same answer to everyone, the tool provides a personal estimate based on each person’s health. Heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

Many people judge their health by the number on the bathroom scales, but new research suggests that where fat is stored may be even more important than how much a person weighs. Scientists have found that fat hidden deep inside the abdomen, known as visceral fat, may speed up the body’s biological aging. Their findings were published in Obesity. Unlike the soft fat found just beneath the skin, visceral fat surrounds major organs.

Taking medicine is a normal part of life for many older adults. A person may have one tablet for blood pressure, another for diabetes, one for cholesterol, and several more for arthritis, heart disease, or stomach problems. Over time the number of medicines can quickly grow. Doctors refer to this as polypharmacy when someone regularly takes five or more medications.

For decades, scientists have known that allergic asthma is caused by an overactive immune system, but many of the tiny biological switches controlling this process have remained hidden. Researchers at National Jewish Health have now uncovered one of those switches, offering fresh hope for future asthma treatments. Their study, published in Science Advances, centers on a protein called CBX7. Until now, CBX7 was believed to mainly help silence genes inside the nucleus of cells.

Growing older often brings changes in memory and thinking. Many people occasionally forget where they put their keys or struggle to remember a name that once came easily to mind. Scientists have traditionally believed that these changes mainly happen because brain cells gradually become damaged over time. But a new study suggests that another important factor may be involved.

Hubble captures the planetary nebula NGC 2440, the gas cast off by a dying star in exactly the kind of lopsided, uneven ejections that give it a recoil kick. The star itself, now a white dwarf, is the white dot at the centre. Credit: NASA, ESA, and K. Noll (STScI)). Imagine being nudged again and again by thousands of tiny shoves, each one barely perceptible alone, until they add up to a steady drift in one direction. That is roughly the fate of a star like our Sun as it nears the end of its life.

Computed tomography reconstruction of the West African slender-snouted Mecistops cataphractus, showing the internal cranial anatomy. Credit: Paul Burke. Crocodiles are often called “living fossils,” and a new study suggests that description may be more accurate than ever.

This graphic illustrates three different ways that electrons can pair up and flow through rhombohedral pentalayer graphene without resistance. The three different superconducting states (represented by different colors) surprisingly persist, and can even be boosted in a magnetic field, which normally kills superconductivity. Credit: Amy Pan, RLE.

From table sugar to medicines: new chemistry could reduce the cost and complexity of the production of vital drugs used to treat common health conditions. Credit: Dipayan Lodh. Scientists have discovered a surprisingly simple way to make important medicines using two everyday ingredients: table sugar and vinegar. The new method could make some life-saving drugs much cheaper and easier to produce, helping more people around the world afford the medicines they need.

Artist's conception of the view from the surface of the habitable-zone super-Earth exoplanet GJ 3378b. The planet has a minimum mass just over twice that of Earth and orbits its star at a distance that causes it to receive almost the same amount of starlight as Earth does. The planet joins a growing population of potential hosts for life in the nearby universe. Credit: Nikolai Berman/UC Irvine.