science Archives - Amazing Health Advances

6 Things You Didn’t Know About the Science of Smell

The AHA! Team — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:36:45 +0000

Zachy Hennessey via Israel21c – Here are some of the coolest things Israeli researchers have sniffed out about the underappreciated sense of smell. You may not think it’s so important, but scientific research has done a lot to prove that your sense of smell has a lot of value besides checking if that two-week old cream cheese is starting to go bad (it is). We here at ISRAEL21c have been covering breakthroughs in smell research for over a decade; below are seven of the more incredible olfactory discoveries over the last few years that are sure to pique your interest — and your nose. 1. Like ‘white noise,’ there’s ‘white smell’ In 2012, a team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science (led by the noted olfactory researcher Prof. Noam Sobel) discovered that it’s possible to make a smell that our brains perceive as completely neutral — a so-called “white smell.” Just like white noise and the color white itself are blends of audio frequencies and light waves, respectively, white smell can be created by taking an amalgamation of about 30 different points across the scent spectrum and blending them together. They even invented a fancy name for the new smell: Laurax. That’s going right to the top of my “names for obscure smells” list, right above “Petrichor” (the smell that comes after a long-awaited rain), and right below “Yuckamolis” (my four-year-old’s description of the smell of my feet). 2. If you can’t smell, you’ll die faster Bad news if your sniffer’s out of commission: According to research published this year in Nature Communications, people who don’t have a sense of smell have a reduced life expectancy. Researchers at Weizmann found that people who don’t have a functioning olfactory sense have unique breathing patterns that could be linked to depression, anxiety and other negative health outcomes which, all in all, add up to a minus on life’s upper limits. A bit off our topic, but nonetheless fascinating, the same paper reveals the critical importance of sighing to good health. The researchers explain that “to maintain life, patients need not only to breathe rhythmically, but also sigh every 5 min[utes] or so, as this is critical for preventing collapse of alveoli in the lungs.” 3. Your nose has spots for different smells You may have heard that different parts of your tongue can taste different flavors. Well, the same goes for your nose. Back in 2011, Sobel and a group of Weizmann researchers found that there are specific areas in your nose dedicated to processing pleasant and unpleasant smells. This means that there are objective ways to measure whether an odor is actually bad and not a matter of personal taste: if the “yucky” sensors are the ones that process the smell of rotten fish, for example, then it’s a safe bet that rotten fish is definitively a bad smell. “We uncovered a clear correlation between the pattern of nerve reaction to various smells and the pleasantness of those smells. As in sight and hearing, the receptors for our sense of smell are spatially organized in a way that reflects the nature of the sensory experience,” Sobel noted. 4. Our friends smell like us Research conducted by — you guessed it — the Weizmann Institute in 2022 discovered that we tend to be friendlier with people who smell like we do. Using a fancy electronic nose, researchers discovered that close friends often share similar body odor patterns, a finding that goes beyond mere coincidence. The team put this theory to the test with both existing friends and strangers, finding they could predict with 71 percent accuracy which people would form social bonds based on smell similarity alone. 5. The smell of women’s tears makes men less aggressive Weizmann scientists also discovered that women’s tears contain chemicals that significantly reduce aggressive behavior in men. In the experiments, men who sniffed women’s tears (without knowing what they were smelling) showed 44% less aggressive behavior in a revenge-based game compared to when they sniffed saline. As we all (definitely) know, a similar phenomenon has been observed in other animal populations, like mice. The crazy thing is, humans don’t even have the biological parts necessary to detect the signals that lady tears give off — our noses just pick up on the odorless chemicals and our brains know what to do in response. Considering this discovery, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more sports bars having a spray bottle of woman tears on hand to cool off rowdy patrons. 6. Your nose could keep you on life support If you’re in a coma — first of all, I’m impressed that you’re reading this, but also — your nose may be able to communicate with the doctors around you. Scientists at (drumroll please…) the Weizmann Institute and Loewenstein Rehabilitation Hospital discovered that, by measuring changes in patients’ nasal airflow when exposed to different odors (like fragrant shampoo or rotten fish), those who showed even slight reactions to smells had a 100% rate of regaining consciousness during the four-year study period. The test also predicted with 92% accuracy which patients would survive for at least three years. This discovery is a big deal because current methods of diagnosing consciousness in brain-injured patients can be wrong up to 40% of the time, which affects critical decisions about life support and pain management. The new “sniff test” is simple, inexpensive and can be done at a patient’s bedside. The bad news is that this seriously amplifies the negative effects of entry No. 2 on this list. There’s truly no rest for the smell bereft. To read the original article click here.

The post 6 Things You Didn’t Know About the Science of Smell appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Flapping Frequency of Birds, Insects, Bats and Whales Described by Universal Equation

The AHA! Team — Wed, 23 Oct 2024 09:03:27 +0000

PLOS via EurekAlert! – The wing and fin beats of flying and diving animals can be predicted using just body mass and wing area A single universal equation can closely approximate the frequency of wingbeats and fin strokes made by birds, insects, bats and whales, despite their different body sizes and wing shapes, Jens Højgaard Jensen and colleagues from Roskilde University in Denmark report in a new study in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, publishing June 5. The ability to fly has evolved independently in many different animal groups. To minimize the energy required to fly, biologists expect that the frequency that animals flap their wings should be determined by the natural resonance frequency of the wing. However, finding a universal mathematical description of flapping flight has proved difficult. Researchers used dimensional analysis to calculate an equation that describes the frequency of wingbeats of flying birds, insects and bats, and the fin strokes of diving animals, including penguins and whales. Wing-beat-frequency data for a variety of flying animals versus the square-root of the animal mass divided by the wing/fin area. They found that flying and diving animals beat their wings or fins at a frequency that is proportional to the square root of their body mass, divided by their wing area. They tested the accuracy of the equation by plotting its predictions against published data on wingbeat frequencies for bees, moths, dragonflies, beetles, mosquitos, bats, and birds ranging in size from hummingbirds to swans. The researchers also compared the equation’s predictions against published data on fin stroke frequencies for penguins and several species of whale, including humpbacks and northern bottlenose whales. The relationship between body mass, wing area and wingbeat frequency shows little variation across flying and diving animals, despite huge differences in their body size, wing shape and evolutionary history, they found. Finally, they estimated that an extinct pterosaur (Quetzalcoatlus northropi) — the largest known flying animal — beat its 10 meter-square wings at a frequency of 0.7 hertz. The study shows that despite huge physical differences, animals as distinct as butterflies and bats have evolved a relatively constant relationship between body mass, wing area and wingbeat frequency. The researchers note that for swimming animals they didn’t find publications with all the required information; data from different publications was pieced together to make comparisons, and in some cases animal density was estimated based on other information. Furthermore, extremely small animals — smaller than any yet discovered — would likely not fit the equation, because the physics of fluid dynamics changes at such a small scale. This could have implications in the future for flying nanobots. The authors say that the equation is the simplest mathematical explanation that accurately describes wingbeats and fin strokes across the animal kingdom. The authors add: “Differing almost a factor 10000 in wing/fin-beat frequency, data for 414 animals from the blue whale to mosquitoes fall on the same line. As physicists, we were surprised to see how well our simple prediction of the wing-beat formula works for such a diverse collection of animals.” ##### In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0303834 Citation: Jensen JH, Dyre JC, Hecksher T (2024) Universal wing- and fin-beat frequency scaling. PLoS ONE 19(6): e0303834. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303834 Author Countries: Denmark Funding: The work was supported by the VILLUM Foundation’s Matter grant VIL16515. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Journal PLoS ONE DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0303834 To read the original article click here.

The post Flapping Frequency of Birds, Insects, Bats and Whales Described by Universal Equation appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Johnson & Johnson Pays $1.7b for Innovative Israeli Heart Failure Treatment

The AHA! Team — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 16:53:45 +0000

Zachy Hennessey via Israel21c – Big pharma giant shells out $1.7 billion for Israeli company V-Wave, and expects to earn enough to purchase a gumball — in the short term, at least. Global healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson (J&J) announced on Tuesday that it will acquire Israeli startup V-Wave for up to $1.7 billion, in a strategic move by J&J to bolster its position in the fast-growing congestive heart failure market, which is projected to reach $30 billion globally by 2030. The $1.7b. deal is the 10th biggest acquisition in Israel’s history. It will see J&J pay $600 million upfront, with an additional $1.1 billion in potential milestone payments tied to regulatory approvals and commercial performance targets. The acquisition is expected to provide a modest boost to J&J’s earnings, contributing an estimated 24 cents per share in 2024 and 6 cents per share in 2025. However, the true value of the deal likely lies in the long-term growth potential of V-Wave’s innovative heart failure treatment technology. V-Wave’s flagship product, the Ventura Interatrial Shunt (IAS), is an implantable device designed to alleviate the elevated left atrial pressure that plagues patients with congestive heart failure. The minimally invasive IAS procedure aims to reduce the risk of cardiovascular events and hospitalizations for those suffering from heart failure with reduced ejection fraction – a condition where the heart muscle is unable to effectively pump blood. By creating a shunt between the left and right atriums, the device helps to relieve pressure buildup in the left atrium, potentially improving patient outcomes and quality of life. The acquisition comes at a critical time for J&J, as the company prepares to face increased competition for its blockbuster psoriasis drug Stelara, which is set to lose patent protection next year. In response, the healthcare giant has been actively pursuing mergers and acquisitions to bolster its pipeline and drive future growth. “We know V-Wave well, with our relationship dating back to our original investment in the company in 2016, and we have a deep understanding of the technology and science, as well as the company’s commitment to patients,” said Tim Schmid, Executive Vice President and Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson MedTech. Earlier this year, J&J announced the $13.1 billion acquisition of Shockwave Medical Earlier this year, J&J announced the $13.1 billion acquisition of Shockwave Medical, a move aimed at expanding its cardiovascular device portfolio. The company has also recently acquired Numab’s skin disorder drug for $1.25 billion and Proteologix for $850 million. “At V-Wave, we are dedicated to achieving our vision to help patients around the world – and we know Johnson & Johnson MedTech shares this mission,” said Dr. Neal Eigler, CEO of V-Wave. “We look forward to continuing to build a world where cardiovascular disease is prevented, treated and cured.” To read the original article click here.

The post Johnson & Johnson Pays $1.7b for Innovative Israeli Heart Failure Treatment appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.

Promising COVID-19 Vaccine Trial on Hold – Setback or Standard Procedure?

AHA Publisher — Fri, 11 Sep 2020 07:00:44 +0000

News Staff via CBN News – There’s been a potential setback in efforts to pursue a COVID-19 vaccine as one of the most promising trials has now been placed on hold. Researchers are pausing the stage three vaccine trial being conducted by Oxford University in the UK after a volunteer came down with an unexplained illness. AstraZeneca, the company developing that vaccine with Oxford, is conducting an investigation to determine if the illness is linked to the trial. In a statement, the company insisted that they won’t seek approval or emergency use until “demonstrating safety and efficacy through a phase 3 clinical study. “The safety and efficacy of vaccines, including any potential vaccine for COVID-19, is reviewed and determined by expert regulatory agencies around the world, such as the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)” the statement reads. “FDA has established clear guidance for the development of COVID-19 vaccines and clear criteria for their potential authorization or approval in the US.” Chief executives of nine drug companies, including AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Moderna, Pfizer, Novavax, Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, and Merck vowed not to rush a vaccine. The pledge is intended to “help ensure public confidence in the rigorous scientific and regulatory process by which COVID-19 vaccines are evaluated and may ultimately be approved.” Scientists are evaluating the public health impact of rushing a vaccine and the potential safety concerns, against the effect of delaying this highly anticipated treatment. But, they point out that temporary halts are common in vaccine trials. Meanwhile, two other vaccines are in stage-three trials in the US. Just this week, President Trump said there could be a vaccine before Election Day. “So, we’re going to have a vaccine very soon. Maybe even before a very special date,” he stated. To read the original article click here. For more articles from CBN News click here.

The post Promising COVID-19 Vaccine Trial on Hold – Setback or Standard Procedure? appeared first on Amazing Health Advances.