natureasia.com top ten research highlights
The following highlights are the top ten most viewed research highlights on the English website of natureasia.com during the past month.
1 September 2022 ～ 1 October 2022
Environment: Human contribution to Middle East’s poor air quality underestimated
Communications Earth & Environment, September 23, 2022
More than 90% of fine particle matter air pollution in the Middle East may be generated by human activity, reports an article published online in Communications Earth & Environment. The findings challenge the consensus that natural aerosols, such as desert dust, are the main cause of poor air quality and highlight the importance of reducing emissions to protect human health in the Mi...
doi: 10.1038/s43247-022-00514-6
Sustainability: Swapping meat for seafood could improve nutrition and reduce emissions
Communications Earth & Environment, September 9, 2022
Sustainable seafood could provide more nutrition to people than beef, pork and chicken, whilst reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reports an article published online in Communications Earth & Environment. The findings suggest that policies to promote seafood in diets as a substitute for other animal protein could improve future food security and help address climate change.
doi: 10.1038/s43247-022-00516-4
Earth science: Fagradalsfjall eruption sheds light on source of Iceland’s fire
Nature, September 15, 2022
Unexpected observations of seismic activity and magma movements before and during the 2021 Fagradalsfjall volcanic eruption in Iceland are presented in a pair of papers published in Nature. The insights have implications for understanding the processes that drove the eruption and for future monitoring of volcanic activity.
Fagradalsfjall volcano is located on the Reykjanes Peni...
doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05083-4
Environment: Fishing equipment feeding North Pacific Garbage Patch
Scientific Reports, September 2, 2022
A small number of industrialised fishing nations are contributing the majority of floating plastic waste in the North Pacific Garbage Patch, reports a new paper published in Scientific Report. The findings highlight the important role fishing industries play in both contributing to and solving the problem of oceanic plastic pollution.
The North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP) is a...
doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16529-0
Palaeontology: Climate belts shaped early dinosaur distribution
Nature, September 1, 2022
A new collection of Triassic dinosaur fossils from Zimbabwe suggests that the earliest dinosaurs were confined to a temperate region in the far south of the ancient supercontinent of Pangaea. The findings, reported in Nature, enhance our knowledge of the origin and early evolution of dinosaurs across Pangaea.
Previous research has suggested that a hothouse climate, strong seaso...
doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05133-x
Engineering: A new method to make hydrogen fuel from air
Nature Communications, September 7, 2022
A new method to extract water from the air to produce hydrogen is demonstrated in a paper published this week in Nature Communications. These findings may enable future solar-to-fuel conversion devices to operate anywhere on Earth.
Green hydrogen, produced by electrolyzers using electricity and water, represents a potential alternative to CO2-emitting fossil fuels. Electrolyzer...
doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32652-y
Medical research: Insulin delivery system may aid adolescents with type 1 diabetes
Nature Communications, August 31, 2022
A hybrid closed-loop insulin delivery system that reduces hyperglycemia and glucose variation and may improve brain development and cognitive function in adolescents with type 1 diabetes, is reported in a proof-of-concept pilot study in Nature Communications. The findings are based on results from 42 adolescents and further research is needed to explore how the system may aid the care of...
doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32289-x
Cancer: Genomics may determine outcomes for personalized breast cancer treatment
Nature, September 8, 2022
Personalized genetic treatments for metastatic breast cancer improve treatment outcomes for a subset of genomic alterations, according to a phase two clinical trial presented in Nature. The findings could help to guide treatment decisions based on genomics.
DNA sequencing techniques are widely used to assess specific genetic mutations that may have contributed to an individual ...
doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05068-3
Environmental sciences: Increasing social costs of carbon dioxide
Nature, September 2, 2022
The cost of damages to society caused by increases in CO2 emissions may be nearly four times higher than previously estimated, a paper in Nature suggests. The current US government value for the social cost of carbon is US$51 per additional metric tonne of CO2 emissions, whereas the new estimate is US$185 per tonne of CO2. These higher values increase the expected benefits of greenhouse ...
doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05224-9
Health: Brain stimulation aids treatment of binge eating in two patients
Nature Medicine, August 30, 2022
Brain stimulation, guided by patterns of neural activity associated with food cravings, improved self-control of food intake and weight loss in two people with binge-eating disorder and severe obesity, according to a paper published in Nature Medicine. These findings — which form part of an ongoing clinical trial — demonstrate the feasibility and safety of treating people with loss-o...
doi: 10.1038/s41591-022-01941-w
