Wednesday 29 May 2019

Asia's glaciers provide buffer against drought

A new study to assess the contribution that Asia's high mountain glaciers make to relieving water stress in the region is published this week (29 May 2019) in the journal Nature. The study has important economic and social implications for a region that is vulnerable to drought. Climate change is causing most of the region's glaciers to shrink.

* This article was originally published here

DIY dentistry—It's a don't

As direct-to-consumer marketing becomes pervasive, there's a growing trend of Do-It-Yourself or DIY dentistry—prompting patients to skip the trip to the orthodontist in favor of at-home impression kits and the ability to order low-cost tooth aligners online.

* This article was originally published here

Seeing disfigured faces prompts negative brain and behavior responses

People with attractive faces are often seen as more trustworthy, socially competent, better adjusted, and more capable in school and work. The correlation of attractiveness and positive character traits leads to a "beautiful is good" stereotype. However, little has been understood about the behavioral and neural responses to those with facial abnormalities, such as scars, skin cancers, birthmarks, and other disfigurements. A new study led by Penn Medicine researchers, which published today in Scientific Reports, uncovered an automatic "disfigured is bad" bias that also exists in contrast to "beautiful is good."

* This article was originally published here

New research suggests sugar taxes and labelling are effective

Taxes on sugary products and labels on the front of packages can help reduce sugar consumption, according to a study from the University of Waterloo.

* This article was originally published here

Early statin treatment may help children with Fragile X

Children with an inherited form of intellectual disability and autism could be helped by a medicine commonly used to lower cholesterol, if used early in life.

* This article was originally published here

K-Athena: a performance portable magnetohydrodynamics code

Running large-scale simulations is a crucial aspect of modern scientific research, yet it often requires a vast amount of computational resources. As we approach the era of exascale computing, which will be marked by the introduction of highly performing supercomputers, researchers have been trying to develop new architectures and codes to meet the huge computational requirements of our times. An important property to consider when developing codes for the exascale computing era is performance portability, which prevents the repeated, non-trivial refactoring of a code for different architectures.

* This article was originally published here