In 1996, a total of 72 significant earthquakes occurred worldwide, with one great earthquake (magnitude 8.1) causing 108 deaths and widespread damage in Indonesia. Another major quake in China resulted in over 251 fatalities and left nearly one million homeless.
New research suggests that the Pacific Ocean's natural air-ocean circulation system may be counteracting global warming by redistributing heat. The study, conducted by Lamont-Doherty scientists, found that surface waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific have cooled over the past century despite rising Earth temperatures.
Microbial subsurface life is likely to be found on Mars and other planetary bodies in our solar system. The theory proposes that life evolved from the inside out, using rocks for oxygen, and suggests that petroleum has come up from great depths, not from biological sediments.
The world's major cereal crops have increased variability in quantity from year to year, posing a risk to the poorest people who spend much of their income on food. Long-term climate change, technology adoption stages, and other factors contribute to these fluctuations.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that blacks are less likely to undergo heart bypass surgery compared to whites. The research suggests that patient preferences and cultural factors contribute to this disparity in treatment.
Despite its popularity in classrooms, board game therapy remains untested and potentially ineffective due to a lack of scientific studies. Therapists are advised to scrutinize games before using them in therapeutic settings to avoid making uncritical claims about their benefits.
Researchers have identified an inactive gene that contributes to cancer development when it fails to work in harmony with the tumor-suppressing p53 gene. The findings suggest that the bax gene can act as a tumor suppresser, and its dysfunction may lead to increased cancer cell death and tumor growth.
The study provides a three-dimensional view of molecular switch Src, assisting in the development of new drugs. The researchers discovered that Src has four lobes with interconnected linkers, which keep it idle until stimulation arrives, turning it on.