Member states of the European Union are obliged to designate Special Protection Areas (SPAs) as part of the Natura 2000 network. These areas are designed to guarantee the preservation and restoration of bird populations. However, due to the paucity of data about rare species, it was not known how well these areas worked. Researchers at the University of Göttingen and Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten (DDA) developed citizen science platforms as a new data source to evaluate the effectiveness of the 742 protected areas for birds across Germany. This research shows that although these areas are well placed, their effectiveness varies greatly. When  protected areas were compared with unprotected sites that showed similar geographical characteristics, only a few species thrived better inside the SPAs. The results were published in the journal Biological Conservation.

The Fort Worth Regional Science and Engineering Fair (FWRSEF), held in partnership with The University of Texas at Arlington, is the oldest continually operating regional science fair in Texas. One of the reasons it has been so successful is the tireless organizational efforts of UT Arlington psychology Professor Yuan Bo Peng, who has served as director of the 73-year-old FWRSEF since 2012. In recognition of his dedication to the science fair, Dr. Peng received the 2024 Individual Outstanding Community Service Award from the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Chinese Institute of Engineers (CIE/USA-DFW).

In ancient Greek mythology, the hero Theseus is famous for cleverly solving a labyrinth and defeating the Minotaur at its center. That story, as well as a famous maze experiment from the history of machine learning, is the inspiration for a new generative AI tool that helps researchers navigate the domain of computer modeling.

A new method for determining causality gives scientists a more holistic view of the causal role that contributing factors play within just about any system.

Pennington Biomedical Research Center researchers are gearing up and preparing to head to San Antonio for ObesityWeek 2024, presented by The Obesity Society. Pennington Biomedical will be well represented at the conference, as faculty members are not just participating in, but leading courses, presentations and speaker panels during the event. 

OXFORD, Miss. – Enough landmines are buried underground worldwide to circle Earth twice at the equator, but the identification and removal of these explosives is costly and time-consuming.  New University of Mississippi research could help solve the problem.  

A team led by Prof. WANG Chao and Prof. HUANG Chengdong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) revealed the molecular mechanism of E-cadherin- Ankyrin-G (AnkG) complex assembly and its function in maintaining lateral membrane polarity.