In the last centuries science has advanced by leaps and bounds . The new discoveries do not stop happening even today, and this happens in very different fields and disciplines. However, these discoveries are not magically transferred to the rest of the population.

This requires someone to make information about the results of scientific research available to the public at large, which can be achieved through the publication of informative articles. The function of these articles is to bring science closer to the majority of the population, with a language that can be understood by the layman in the subjects they deal with. They can cover multiple subjects and reach the whole population in different ways.

In order to recognize them more easily, throughout this article we will see 20 examples of popular science articles , with all their typical characteristics.

What is an example of a popular science article?

Before viewing different examples of disclosure articles, it is relevant to comment on what we mean by these types of articles. We understand by scientific popularization article that written or written that starts from the knowledge obtained by one or several research teams to generate a document in which the concepts and results obtained by them are explained in a pleasant and understandable way for the general population.

In this way, the popular articles aim to bring the scientific discoveries made by the specialists in the different fields closer to the general public. These are texts that aim to be objective and in which the authors do not express their opinion (although there may be some commentary that reflects it, the text is based on objective data belonging to a research).

It is necessary to take into account that the informative article is not an investigation per se nor does it intend to discover new data or information but only elaborates and explains in a clear and understandable way the data obtained by other authors, with the possibility of complementing them with those coming from other investigations.

Examples of popular science articles

There are many informative articles that we can find. Without going any further, most of the articles visible on this website are. But in order to visualize in greater measure what a popularization article is, next we leave you with a sample of a total of 20 examples of scientific popularization articles.

1. Being too hard on yourself can lead to OCD and generalized anxiety

New research has found that people with intense feelings of responsibility were susceptible to developing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) or Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). People with OCD feel tortured by recurring negative thoughts and develop some strategy to prevent it.

GAD is a very generalized type of anxiety that makes people worry about everything,” associate professor Yoshinori Sugiura of Hiroshima University describes in the International Journal of Cognitive Therapy. Anxiety and OCD-like behaviors, such as checking to see if the door is locked , are common in the general population. However, it’s the frequency and intensity of these behaviors or feelings that make the difference between a trait and a character disorder.

“For example, use two audio recorders instead of one just in case one fails,” he explains. Having two recorders will improve your work, but setting up too many recorders will interfere with your work. Three types of “inflated responsibility” The goal of this research team, consisting of Sugiura and University of Central Florida associate professor Brian Fisak, was to find a common cause for these disorders and to simplify the theories behind them because they believe that in psychology every disorder patients experience has several competing theories about its causes.

Sugiura and Fisak first defined and explored “inflated responsibility”. The team identified 3 types of inflated responsibility: 1) Responsibility to prevent or avoid danger and/or harm, 2) Sense of personal responsibility and blame for negative outcomes, and 3) Responsibility to continue thinking about a problem.

The research group combined the tests used to study OCD and GAD , as there was no previous work comparing these tests in the same study. To establish whether inflated responsibility was a predictor of OCD or GAD, Sugiura and Fisak sent an online questionnaire to US college students.

Through this survey, they found that respondents who scored higher on questions about responsibility were more likely to exhibit behaviors that resemble those of patients with OCD or GAD. Personal responsibility and guilt and the responsibility to keep thinking had the strongest link to the disorders.

Although the researchers clarify that this preliminary study is not representative of the general population because of the small scale and biased population (mostly college women), the promising findings suggest that this format can be applied to a larger population and yield similar results. Sugiura is studying how to reduce liability and preliminary results are positive.

When asked for some advice to reduce anxiety or obsessive behaviour , he said: “One very quick or easy way is to realise that responsibility lies behind your concern. I ask patients why they are so worried and they respond ‘because I can’t help worrying’ but they don’t spontaneously think ‘because I feel responsible’. Just realizing that will dissociate the thought of responsibility from the behavior.

2. Successful aging

Aging is a process that accompanies living matter. Longevity is closely related to the quality control of cellular proteins. A slow cellular growth could favor longevity by maintaining low translational levels, that allow a better quality control of the proteome .

.

According to the dictionary of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, “to age” is defined as follows: “To say of a material, a device or a machine: To lose its properties over time.” Already in the territory of life, with the passage of time living beings age. This aging can be studied at the cellular level, since individual cells also age by losing some of their properties. But what properties are lost with age? How does this loss occur? What is its cause?

From an evolutionary point of view, aging is considered a cumulative process of cellular damage over time. This accumulation of damage can affect the number of divisions that a cell can carry out (replicative aging) and/or the time that a cell can remain metabolically active while maintaining its capacity for division (chronological aging).

Aging is affected by two major groups of variables : cell genetics/biochemistry and the environmental conditions to which the cell is subjected. Since the pioneering work on the worm Caenorhabditis elegans , numerous genes have been discovered that influence the longevity of all organisms studied, from yeast to man. Moreover, the environmental conditions surrounding the cell itself within each organism, in particular the amount of nutrients available, affect longevity. As early as 1935 McCay, Crowell and Maynard described that caloric restriction (without malnutrition) in rats increased their longevity.

By combining these two variables that influence ageing, nine hallmarks of ageing have been proposed, ranging from telomere shortening to mitochondrial dysfunction. These nine hallmarks of aging meet the following criteria:

  1. Manifest themselves during normal aging
  2. Its experimental aggravation accelerates aging
  3. Its experimental enhancement increases longevity

One of these hallmarks is the loss of the integrity of an organism’s proteome (set of proteins). This loss of protein homeostasis or proteostasis meets the three criteria mentioned above: during ageing there is a decline in the quality of the cellular proteins, and a direct relationship between the worsening / improvement of this quality and the lesser / greater longevity of the organism, respectively. In addition, the presence of protein aggregates or poorly folded proteins contributes to the appearance and development of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

The reduction in the amount of defective proteins promotes proteostasis. There are numerous mechanisms for quality control of the proteome, which mainly consist of ensuring the correct folding of proteins and, on the other hand, the elimination of incorrectly folded proteins. Involved in these mechanisms are heat shock proteins/chaperones that stabilize and fold proteins, and the mechanisms of protein degradation mediated by the proteasome and autophagy. There is evidence of how improving these mechanisms of proteostasis maintenance through genetic manipulation can delay aging in mammals .

In addition to these mechanisms, there is a fundamental cellular process that contributes to cellular proteostasis and, therefore, to aging: the translation or synthesis of proteins. The balance between functional, well-folded proteins and added, poorly-folded proteins, etc., depends on a finely regulated balance between their production and their elimination. Therefore, it is logical to think that, if defects in the elimination of defective proteins contribute to premature aging, an excess of protein production would have a similar effect.

Conversely, a limitation in protein production would avoid an overload of the protein degradation systems and therefore contribute to an increase in longevity. This hypothesis has been confirmed in numerous examples in different organisms, in which the mutation or elimination of translation factors or ribosomal proteins, due to their effects on translation, can extend cellular longevity.

This translational reduction could be the cause of increased longevity due to caloric restriction. The lower input of nutrients would lead to a lower cellular energy level. The reduction in translational activity, which consumes large amounts of energy, would have two beneficial effects: energy saving and stress reduction for protein quality control systems. In summary, increased transactional activity would lead to reduced longevity and, conversely, reduced protein synthesis activity would lead to increased longevity. It seems paradoxical that one of the basic mechanisms of cell growth, in its state of greatest activation, would have the negative effect of less longevity.

There is still much to be learned about the role played by the components of the translation apparatus in aging. Although they are possibly only one part of the complex biochemical network that regulates this process, it is easy to venture that research into translation and its components will give us more information about the way in which cells age.

3. Imminent launch of the Parker Solar Probe, the space probe that will approach the Sun

On Saturday, August 11, 2018, starting at 9:33 a.m. (Spanish peninsular time), NASA will launch the Parker Solar Probe, which will come close to 6.2 million kilometers from the Sun; no spacecraft has ever been so close to our star. The space probe will be launched on a Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, in the state of Florida (United States).

The Parker Solar Probe mission, named after solar astrophysicist Eugene Newman Parker (91 years old), “will revolutionize our understanding of the Sun,” NASA explains in a press release, primarily because it will investigate how energy and heat move through the Sun’s atmosphere and what accelerates the solar wind and energetic solar particles. The space probe will fly directly through the solar corona (the aura of plasma that we observe around the Sun during a total solar eclipse), facing brutal heat and radiation and offering close and privileged observations of our star. The spacecraft and its instruments will be protected from the heat of the Sun by a shield composed of carbon that will withstand extreme temperatures close to 1,371 ºC.

The Sun, although it seems incredible, represents about 99.8% of the mass of our Solar System . Despite the gravitational attraction it exerts on the planets, asteroids or comets, “it is surprisingly difficult to reach the Sun”, according to a statement released this week by NASA, it takes 55 times more energy to reach the Sun than Mars.

Our planet travels very fast around the Sun, at approximately 107,000 kilometres per hour, and the only way to reach our star is to cancel out that lateral speed with respect to the Sun. Apart from using a powerful rocket, the Delta IV Heavy, the Parker Solar Probe will use the gravitational assistance of Venus seven times over a period of almost seven years; these gravitational assistances will place the spacecraft in a record orbit around the Sun, 6.2 million kilometres away, well settled in the orbit of Mercury. The Parker Solar Probe will complete 24 orbits around the Sun and meet Venus seven times.

The observations you make directly inside the solar corona will be of great help to scientists: to understand why the solar atmosphere is a few hundred times hotter than the solar surface. The mission will also provide close and unprecedented observations of the solar wind, the constant leakage of solar material thrown from the Sun at millions of kilometres per hour .

.

The study of the fundamental processes that occur near the Sun will serve to better understand space weather, which “can change the orbits of satellites, shorten their lives or interfere with the onboard electronic system,” says NASA. “A better understanding of space weather also helps protect astronauts from dangerous radiation exposure during potential manned space missions to the Moon and Mars,” the space agency adds in the press pack.

4. The relationship between stress and eating: “compulsive eaters”

Food has acquired multiple symbolic connotations, generally associating it with moments of celebration, pleasure, satisfaction and well-being. Those people who have no control over what they eat, do not make a choice of what they ingest, nor do they feel full satisfaction, usually identify themselves as “compulsive eaters”.

Although these are individuals who generally channel their anxiety and stress towards food, there is also the other side of the coin, as there are people who when they are pressured, anxious or depressed stop eating because food makes them feel disgusted , which can cause them to lose weight in a few days.

“Either end brings negative health consequences, even more so if the person has diabetes mellitus. On the one hand, overfeeding significantly raises blood glucose and, on the other, lack of food reduces it (a condition known as hypoglycemia),” said nutritionist and psychotherapist Luisa Maya Funes in an interview.

The specialist adds that the problem can derive equally in lack of nutrients or in obesity, being this last one an important risk factor to develop serious cardiovascular conditions, discomfort in joints, difficulty to breathe and low self-esteem.

However, the fact that stress influences the way you eat is a behavior learned throughout your life . “The human being, from birth, is linked to his mother through food. Later, during the preschool stage, we begin to reward the child with treats if he behaves well, does his homework and puts away his toys, actions that cause the child to have the idea that any need, support or reward has to be covered by food,” explains Dr. Maya Funes.

Thus, food has acquired multiple symbolic connotations, generally associating it with moments of celebration, pleasure, satisfaction and well-being. In this context, many people feel that not only do they nourish their organism, but they do the same with their soul because they were instilled with this idea from an early age.

That is why when they face situations that cause them stress, anxiety or anguish, they compensate for this dissatisfaction by eating ; otherwise, those who have not been taught to place such a high value on food will obviously not resort to it as a source of satisfaction in moments of tension.

“In these cases, it is essential that the patient detects those factors that cause him/her stress and analyses his/her eating behaviour, which aims at controlling both elements. If it is not possible for him to do so on his own, he must resort to psychological therapy that provides support, directs him to manage this type of behavior, increases his self-esteem and raises awareness about his eating.

Afterwards, it will be necessary to channel your anxiety towards the practice of some activity that you find pleasant and relaxing, such as exercising or attending painting or photography classes,” said Dr. Maya Funes.

Finally, those affected who have been able to manage stress are not exempt from suffering relapses, but it is essential to understand that this is part of the adaptation process that will also allow them to easily recognize moments of crisis in order to control them as soon as possible.

5. They propose using molecular “cages” to selectively destroy cancer cells

A study led by scientists from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has proposed the use of molecular ‘cages’ (made up of pseudo-peptides) to selectively kill cancer cells in acidic microenvironments. The work, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, focuses on the pH of the tumor environment, which could be used as a selective parameter between healthy cells and malignant cells. The results could help in the design of cancer treatments .

One of the characteristics of many tumors is that, due to the metabolism of the cancer cells, the environment around solid tumors has an acidic pH. This gives these cells special characteristics and makes them more resistant and able to migrate to other areas of the body (a process known as metastasis).

“In this study we have prepared a family of molecules derived from amino acids with a three-dimensional cage-like structure and which, when found in acidic media, encapsulate a chloride inside very efficiently. In addition, they are capable of transporting the chloride through lipid bilayers, this transport being also more efficient when there is a pH gradient with an acidic environment”, explains CSIC researcher Ignacio Alfonso, from the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia.

The researchers have obtained these results by first using different spectroscopic techniques (electrochemistry, nuclear magnetic resonance and fluorescence) on simple artificial experimental models, such as micelles and vesicles. They then demonstrated that this concept could be applied in living systems, since the transport of hydrochloric acid through the cell membrane produces adverse effects on the cells, even causing their death by different mechanisms.

Finally, they found in human lung adenocarcinoma cells that one of the molecular ‘cages’ was toxic to the cells depending on the surrounding pH . “The cage was five times more toxic at an acidic pH, similar to that found in the environment of solid tumours, than at the usual pH of normal cells. That is, there is a range of concentrations in which the cage would be harmless to cells at pH 7.5, healthy cells, but toxic to those cells that are in a slightly acidic pH, such as the microenvironment of a solid tumor,” Alfonso adds.

“This opens up the possibility of expanding the use of anionophores (negatively charged ion transporters) similar to those used in cancer chemotherapy, using pH as a parameter of selectivity between healthy and cancerous cells,” the researcher concludes.

6. New species of dinosaur discovered by chance in South Africa

A new species of dinosaur has been discovered by chance by a PhD student at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa after being misidentified for more than 30 years.

The team of this institution led by Kimberley Chapelle has recognized that the fossil not only belonged to a new species of sauropodomorphic, long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs, but to a completely new genus.

The specimen has been renamed Ngwevu Intlokowhich which means “grey skull” in the Xhosa language, chosen to honour South African heritage. It has been described in the academic journal PeerJ.

30 years of deception

Professor Paul Barrett, Chapelle’s supervisor at the UK’s Natural History Museum, explained the origin of the discovery: “This is a new dinosaur that has been hiding in plain sight. The specimen has been in the collections in Johannesburg for about 30 years, and many other scientists have already examined it. But they all thought it was simply a rare example of Massospondylus.”

The Massospondylus was one of the first predominant dinosaurs at the beginning of the Jurassic period . Found regularly throughout southern Africa, these reptiles belonged to a group called sauropodomorphs and eventually gave rise to the sauropods, a group characterized by their long necks and huge legs, like the famous Diplodocus. As a result of the discovery, researchers have begun to look more closely at many of the so-called Massospondylus specimens, believing that there is much more variation than previously thought.

New family member

Chapelle also pointed out why the team was able to confirm that this specimen was a new species: “To be sure that a fossil belongs to a new species, it is crucial to rule out the possibility that it is a younger or older version of an existing species. This is a difficult task to accomplish with fossils because it is rare to have a complete set of fossils of a single species. Fortunately, Massospondylus is the most common South African dinosaur, so we have found specimens ranging from embryos to adults. Based on this, we were able to rule out age as a possible explanation for the differences we observed in the specimen now called Ngwevu intloko.

The new dinosaur has been described from a single, fairly complete specimen with a remarkably well-preserved skull . The new dinosaur was bipedal with a fairly thick body, a long, thin neck and a small, square head. It would have measured three meters from the tip of its snout to the end of its tail and was probably omnivorous, feeding on both plants and small animals.

The findings will help scientists better understand the transition between the Triassic and Jurassic periods, some 200 million years ago. Known as a time of mass extinction, the latest research seems to indicate that more complex ecosystems flourished in the Jurassic period earlier than previously thought.

7. A new dwarf glow-in-the-dark ‘firefly shark’ is discovered

A team of U.S. scientists has identified a new species of dwarf shark, referred to as the ‘American dwarf shark’ (‘Molisquama Mississippiensis’). This new creature is an addition to the already 465 identified sharks. This animal measures only five and a half inches (about 14 centimeters) and was found in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. “In the history of fisheries science, only two types of dwarf sharks have been caught,” said Mark Grace, one of the researchers involved in the finding, in statements collected by Tulane University itself, to underscore the importance of the finding.

The only similar record was a small mako shark caught in the Eastern Pacific Ocean in 1979 and housed in the St. Petersburg Zoo Museum (Russia). “These are two different species, each from different oceans. And both are extremely rare,” said the study’s authors.

Henri Bart, researcher and director of the Institute of Biodiversity at Tulane University, has stated that the discovery shows that there is much to learn about the Gulf of Mexico , “especially about the deepest aquatic zone” as well as “the new species that remain to be discovered”.

What’s it like?

The scientists of the study, as we say, have found notable differences with the previous ‘firefly shark’, as it has fewer vertebrae and numerous photophores (light-emitting organs that look like luminous spots on the animals’ skin). Both specimens have small pockets on each side and near the gills that are responsible for producing the fluid that allows them to glow in the dark.

Bioluminescence is not exclusive to this species , since it fulfills a great number of functions: fireflies, for example, use it to find a mate, but many fish use it to attract their prey and fish them. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which works jointly with the aforementioned university, estimates that around 90% of the animals living in open waters are bioluminescent, although research on deep-sea creatures is very scarce, as reported by CNN.

Discovery

This new small shark was collected in 2010 when the NOAA ship ‘Pisces’ was studying the feeding of the sperm whale. However, they did not realise the finding until three years later, while examining the samples collected. The scientist asked Tulane University to archive the specimen in their fish collection, and soon after, they undertook a new study to find out what type of organism it was.

Identification of the shark involved examining and photographing the external features of the captured animal with a dissecting microscope, as well as studying radiographic images (x-rays) and high-resolution CT scans. The most sophisticated images of the shark’s internal features were taken at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, which uses the most intense source of synchrotron-generated light (a type of particle accelerator) in the world to produce X-rays that are 100 billion times brighter than the X-rays used in hospitals.

8. A new sensory organ for pain is discovered

Pain is a common cause of suffering that results in a substantial cost to society. One in five people in the world experience constant pain for one reason or another, which motivates the continuous need to find new painkillers. Despite this, sensitivity to pain is also necessary for survival and has a protective function: its function is to provoke the reflex reactions that prevent us from hurting ourselves, such as instinctively and automatically moving our hand away when we approach a flame or cut ourselves with a sharp object.

Until now it was known that the perception of a painful signal was associated with the existence of neurons specialized in the reception of pain called nociceptors. Now, a group of researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have discovered a new sensory organ that can detect painful mechanical damage. The results of the research are reported in the article entitled “Specialized cutaneous Schwann cells initiate pain sensation” published this week in the journal Science.

The organ in question would be formed by a set of glial cells with multiple, long bumps that collectively form a mesh-like organ within the skin. So-called glial cells are part of the nerve tissue and complementing neurons, while giving them support, they are able to perceive environmental changes.

The study describes this newly discovered organ, how it is organized together with the pain-sensitive nerves in the skin; and how the activation of the organ produces the electrical impulses in the nervous system that motivate reflex reactions and the experience of pain . The cells that make up the organ are very sensitive to mechanical stimuli, which explains how they can participate in the detection of punctures and pressure. In addition, in their experiments, the researchers also blocked the organ and saw a decrease in the ability to feel pain.

“Our study shows that pain sensitivity occurs not only in the nerve fibers of the skin, but also in this newly discovered pain-sensitive organ. The discovery changes our understanding of the cellular mechanisms of physical sensation and may be important in the understanding of chronic pain,” explains Patrik Ernfors, professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Medical Biophysics at the Karolinska Institute and lead author of the study.

Until now it was thought that pain was initiated exclusively by the activation of free nerve endings in the skin. In contrast to this paradigm, the discovery of this organ could open the door to a completely different way of understanding how we humans perceive external stimuli in general, and pain in particular, which could also have a great impact on the development of new analgesics that could substantially improve the lives of millions of people in the world.

9. The WHO has issued a list of the world’s most dangerous bacteria…