Many veterinarians struggle with suicidal thoughts

WHEN Simon Thomas' wife Gemma started to experience headaches, GPs dismissed the symptoms. Not letting up, Gemma, 40, went to her local surgery three times, complaining of night sweats, bruising and fatigue. In November 2017 she developed a bruise on her thigh and her headaches became severe. She was told...

A critically endangered Sumatran elephant and its unborn baby were found dead from suspected poisoning in western Indonesia, a conservation official said on Thursday. The carcass of the heavily pregnant mammal was found next to a palm plantation in Riau province on Sumatra, a large island home to some of the world's rarest animals.

Old dogs may not learn new tricks, but old drugs can, according to a research team based in China. The collaboration found that Metformin, a small molecule drug that has been used to treat type II diabetes for more than 50 years, can improve the efficiency and efficacy of antibacterial treatments for quick wound-healing in mice.

The first successfully sequenced human genome from an individual who died in Pompeii, Italy, after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE is presented this week in a study published in Scientific Reports. Prior to this, only short stretches of mitochondrial DNA from Pompeiian human and animal remains had been sequenced.

Less than two weeks after a shooting in a Buffalo, New York, grocery store left 10 people dead, an 18-year-old wielding an AR-15-style rifle entered an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, and killed 19 children and two teachers. The tragedy, which took place on Tuesday at Robb Elementary School, comes...

On the list of scientific tools that help us understand health, evolution or the environment, the Trinidadian guppy doesn't often come to mind. The fish are more often thought of as aquarium pets in the U.S. and, in their native Trinidad, wild guppies are so ubiquitous, they're almost taken for granted.

Women feel more frustrated than men by the gendered expectations placed on them at work, even when those expectations appear to signal women's virtues and are seen as important for workplace advancement, according to new Cornell research. Both women and men face gendered pressures at work. While men are expected...

The deadly shooting of at least 19 children and two adults in Texas on May 24, 2022, is the latest in an ever-growing list of national tragedies, leaving families and friends of the victims gripped with grief, anguish and despair. In addition to those who experience direct loss, such events...

Any animal ascending a mountain experiences a double whammy of impediments: The air gets thinner as it also becomes colder, which is particularly problematic for creatures struggling to keep warm when less oxygen is available. For tiny animals with the highest-octane lifestyles, such as hovering hummingbirds, the challenges of relocating to higher levels to evade climate change may be too much, but no one knew whether these extraordinary aviators may have more gas in the tank to keep them aloft at higher altitudes.

Scientists at the University of Chicago and the University of Leeds have assembled the largest and most comprehensive family tree of the order primates, including both living and extinct species. Covering more than 900 species—about half living and half extinct—the new tree can help scientists understand the history of monkeys,...

DNA molecules called plasmids—some of which protect bacteria from antibiotics—can spread rapidly through bacterial "communities" that are treated with antibiotics, new research shows. Plasmids are found within bacterial cells, sometimes slowing bacterial reproduction—but they can carry genes that stop antibiotics from working (called antimicrobial resistance). The new...

How fast is evolution? In adaptive evolution, natural selection causes genetic changes in traits that favor the survival and reproduction of individual organisms. Although Charles Darwin thought the process occurred over geological timescales, we have seen examples of dramatic adaptive evolution over only a handful of generations. The peppered moth changed color in response to air pollution, poaching has driven some elephants to lose their tusks and fish have evolved resistance to toxic chemicals.

"Nothing is certain except for death and taxes," said Benjamin Franklin. Of course, he left out another certainty for humankind: sleep. All humans sleep, albeit some better than others. But do all animals sleep, too?. "It all depends on what you mean by sleep," says Franks, a researcher at Imperial...

Darwinian evolution is the process by which natural selection promotes genetic changes in traits that favor survival and reproduction of individuals. How fast evolution happens depends crucially on the abundance of its "fuel": how much genetic difference there is in the ability to survive and reproduce. New research by an international research team with participation of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) has now discovered that the raw material for evolution is much more abundant in wild animals than previously believed. The findings were published in Science.

Understanding the effects of microgravity on the human body is essential in enabling astronauts to travel through the harsh environment of space for months, or even years. Significant changes to the body's skeletal and muscle systems have been studied for decades, and strategies to maintain physical fitness are being applied through various countermeasures, including vigorous exercise, aboard the International Space Station. But scientists and researchers still have a lot to learn—including how time spent in space affects the eyes and brain.

A gene that has been associated with severe learning disabilities in humans has been found to also play a vital role in cells' response to environmental stress, according to a Duke University study appearing May 24 in the journal Cell Reports. Cells are stressed by factors that may damage them,...

Baby season this year launched out of this world with the birth of two new critically endangered red-ruffed lemurs on April 13, 2022. Meet Hubble and Kitt, the newest additions at the Duke Lemur Center. Male Hubble and female Kitt are the first infants of parents Ruby and Buzz. In...

Throughout history, mass gatherings such as collective rituals, ceremonies, and pilgrimages have created intense social bonds and feelings of unity in human societies. But Yale psychologists wondered if modern day secular gatherings that emphasize creativity and community serve an even broader purpose. The research team studied people's subjective experiences and...

Using a next generation sequencing analysis to examine human endogenous retrovirus (HERV) integration sites, researchers from Kumamoto University, the National Institute of Genetics (Japan), and the University of Michigan (U.S.) have discovered that these ancient retroviruses can undergo retrotransposition (DNA sequence insertion with RNA mediation) into iPS cells. The team believes that their discovery places a spotlight on a possible risk that HERVs pose when using iPS cells in regenerative medicine.

Speech and language skills are unique to modern humans. While this ability evolved over millions of years, it is not possible to trace language in the fossil record because it leaves no direct imprint. Instead, re-examining the ways our nearest living relatives communicate is helping to unravel this mysterious capability.