Diets high in Fiber associated with Less Antibiotic Resistance in Gut Bacteria

Healthy adults eating a diverse diet with at least 8-10 grams of soluble fiber a day have fewer antibiotic-resistant microbes in their guts. Soluble fiber is found in foods such as grains, beans, lentils, nuts, and some fruits and vegetables.

Healthy adults who eat a diverse diet with at least 8-10 grams of soluble fiber a day have fewer antibiotic-resistant microbes in their guts, according to a study published by Agricultural Research Service scientists and their colleagues in mBio.

Microbes that have resistance to various commonly used antibiotics such as tetracycline and aminoglycoside are a significant source of risk for people worldwide, with the widely held expectation that the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) — the term that refers to bacteria, viruses, and fungi th...

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Computational Sleuthing Confirms First 3D Quantum Spin Liquid

A 3D representation of the spin-excitation continuum — a possible hallmark of a quantum spin liquid — observed in 2019 in a single crystal sample of cerium zirconium pyrochlore. (Image by Tong Chen/Rice University)

Numerical detective work verifies liquidlike magnetic order in prior experiments. Computational detective work by U.S. and German physicists has confirmed cerium zirconium pyrochlore is a 3D quantum spin liquid.

Despite the name, quantum spin liquids are solid materials in which quantum entanglement and the geometric arrangement of atoms frustrate the natural tendency of electrons to magnetically order themselves in relation to one another...

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Astronomers find ‘Gold Standard’ Star in Milky Way

The star HD 222925 is a ninth-magnitude star located toward the southern constellation Tucana. Image credit: The STScI Digitized Sky Survey

In our sun’s neighborhood of the Milky Way Galaxy is a relatively bright star, and in it, astronomers have been able to identify the widest range of elements in a star beyond our solar system yet.

The study, led by University of Michigan astronomer Ian Roederer, has identified 65 elements in the star, HD222925. Forty-two of the elements identified are heavy elements that are listed along the bottom of the periodic table of elements.

Identifying these elements in a single star will help astronomers understand what’s called the “rapid neutron capture process,” or one of the major ways by which heavy elements in the universe were created...

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‘Self-driving’ Microscopes Discover Shortcuts to New Materials

A smart approach to microscopy and imaging developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory could drive discoveries in materials for future technologies. Credit: Adam Malin/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are teaching microscopes to drive discoveries with an intuitive algorithm, developed at the lab’s Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences, that could guide breakthroughs in new materials for energy technologies, sensing and computing.

“There are so many potential materials, some of which we cannot study at all with conventional tools, that need more efficient and systematic approaches to design and synthesize,” said Maxim Ziatdinov of ORNL’s Computational Sciences and Engineering Division and the CNMS...

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