bionyt.dk

Oil and gas sector 'losing its social licence to operate'. The chairman of the UK's Oil and Gas Authority (OGA), sent shockwaves through the industry on Wednesday when he said growing public awareness about climate change was putting the sector's very survival at stake.

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Scientists Say They've Found a Way to Make Oxygen From Moon Dust

Making Air European Space Agency (ESA) scientists say they've found a way to produce oxygen from lunar dust. Samples of real lunar dust have been found to be made up of 40 to 45 percent of oxygen by weight, according to the ESA. The team just opened a "prototype oxygen plant" inside a European Space Research and Technology Center lab in the Netherlands. "Being able to acquire oxygen from resource

3min

Shooting the Messenger

The Trump administration has placed civil servants and nonpolitical government employees in a terrible position. Their job is to provide accurate, nonpartisan information and make decisions grounded in law; sometimes that involves providing testimony to Congress, which legally must be truthful. Yet if they tell the truth, President Donald Trump and his allies will publicly crucify them. Bureaucra

33min

The new black-and-white Leica does things color cameras can't

When it comes to cameras, there's none more black. (Leica/) Almost every subculture and craft has its own specific lexicon that can quickly identify outsiders. Say "tattoo gun" instead of "tattoo machine" in a shop, for instance, and you'll immediately reveal yourself as an outsider who hasn't learned the parlance. The same goes for photographers. Call digital noise "grain" in front of a photo sn

42min

U.S. appeals court tosses children's climate lawsuit

Innovative legal strategy fails key test

46min

Hospital: We Need Facial Recognition to Catch Baby Snatchers

Baby Monitor The St. James Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, plans on installing facial recognition security cameras in a new children's hospital facility that's still under construction. When the decision prompted backlash, a representative of a group that oversees development of new pediatric hospitals argued that the technology would protect babies from would-be kidnappers, according to The Irish T

46min

Prosecutors' race, class bias may not drive criminal justice disparities

Years of observational studies suggest that prosecutors' race and class biases are among the primary drivers for disparities in criminal justice. Recent University of Arizona-led research indicates otherwise.

50min

Ingestible medical devices can be broken down with light

MIT engineers have developed a light-sensitive material that allows gastrointestinal devices to be triggered to break down inside the body when they are exposed to light from an ingestible LED.

50min

Walking with atoms — chemical bond making and breaking recorded in action

Scientists have for the first time captured and filmed atoms bonding together, using advanced microscopy methods they captured a moment that is around half a million times smaller than the width of a human hair.

50min

New Scientist

Watch the first ever video of a chemical bond breaking and forming

A chemical bond between two metal atoms has been filmed breaking and forming for the first time – something scientists say they only dreamed of seeing

51min

New Scientist

A special kind of nose cell may trigger allergic reactions

Mice have thousands of allergen-sensing nose cells, a discovery which may offer clues as to why some people with allergies lose their sense of smell

51min

Three U.S. Airports to Screen Passengers for Chinese Coronavirus

China Wuhan Chinese

Passengers from Wuhan, China, will be screened at J.F.K. beginning Friday night, and in San Francisco and Los Angeles starting Saturday.

Pacific Ocean's Warm "Blob" Killed a Million Seabirds in One Year

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Attack of the Blob In 2013, scientists detected a large patch of water in the Pacific Ocean that was warmer than it should've been based on its location and the time of year. They dubbed the patch " The Blob " — and subsequently determined that climate change had caused it. Now, a new study has identified what may be the blob's greatest victim yet: a species of seabird known as the murre. Mass De

Edible caterpillars become rare in drought-hit Botswana

Packed with protein and calcium, mopane worms are a delicacy in Botswana, where they are stirred into chunky tomato and peanut stews.

60-Second Science

This Fish Knows How to Stick Around

The remora clings to other fish—and appears to use an unusual sense of touch to do so. Christopher Intagliata reports.

Science | The Guardian

LEDs used in tests to replace invasive medical procedures

Researchers produce gadgets such as gastric balloons that break down when lit by swallowable lights The days of having to have medical devices removed through an invasive procedure could be numbered. Researchers have produced gadgets such as gastric balloons that break down when light from a swallowable LED shines upon them. The team say the approach could be extended to a broader range of medica

Spotlight on Neuroscience

Profiling five neuroscientists who use single cell and spatial profiling techniques to gain new insights into nervous system dysfunction.

Deciphering a cancer treatment's dark side

New work suggests overproduction of proteins from a cell therapy sets off a dangerous side effect

Four-dimensional micro-building blocks

Four-dimensional (4D) printing relies on multimaterial printing, reinforcement patterns, or micro/nanofibrous additives as programmable tools to achieve desired shape reconfigurations. However, existing programming approaches still follow the so-called origami design principle to generate reconfigurable structures by self-folding stacked 2D materials, particularly at small scales. Here, we propos

When and how self-cleaning of superhydrophobic surfaces works

Despite the enormous interest in superhydrophobicity for self-cleaning, a clear picture of contaminant removal is missing, in particular, on a single-particle level. Here, we monitor the removal of individual contaminant particles on the micrometer scale by confocal microscopy. We correlate this space- and time-resolved information with measurements of the friction force. The balance of capillary

Anisotropic dynamics and kinetic arrest of dense colloidal ellipsoids in the presence of an external field studied by differential dynamic microscopy

Anisotropic dynamics on the colloidal length scale is ubiquitous in nature. Of particular interest is the dynamics of systems approaching a kinetically arrested state. The failure of classical techniques for investigating the dynamics of highly turbid suspensions has contributed toward the limited experimental information available up until now. Exploiting the recent developments in the technique

Ultrafast x-ray diffraction study of melt-front dynamics in polycrystalline thin films

Melting is a fundamental process of matter that is still not fully understood at the microscopic level. Here, we use time-resolved x-ray diffraction to examine the ultrafast melting of polycrystalline gold thin films using an optical laser pump followed by a delayed hard x-ray probe pulse. We observe the formation of an intermediate new diffraction peak, which we attribute to material trapped bet

Shape-morphing living composites

This work establishes a means to exploit genetic networks to create living synthetic composites that change shape in response to specific biochemical or physical stimuli. Baker's yeast embedded in a hydrogel forms a responsive material where cellular proliferation leads to a controllable increase in the composite volume of up to 400%. Genetic manipulation of the yeast enables composites where vol

Light-degradable hydrogels as dynamic triggers for gastrointestinal applications

Triggerable materials capable of being degraded by selective stimuli stand to transform our capacity to precisely control biomedical device activity and performance while reducing the need for invasive interventions. Here, we describe the development of a modular and tunable light-triggerable hydrogel system capable of interfacing with implantable devices. We apply these materials to two applicat

Access to tetracyclic aromatics with bridgehead metals via metalla-click reactions

The never-ending pursuits for exploring aromatic molecular architectures result in the large libraries of aromatics with fascinating structures, which have greatly broadened the scope of aromaticity. Despite extensive efforts that have been paid to develop aromatic frameworks, the construction of polycyclic aromatics that share a bridgehead atom with more than three rings has never been accomplis

Monolithic mtesla-level magnetic induction by self-rolled-up membrane technology

Monolithic strong magnetic induction at the mtesla to tesla level provides essential functionalities to physical, chemical, and medical systems. Current design options are constrained by existing capabilities in three-dimensional (3D) structure construction, current handling, and magnetic material integration. We report here geometric transformation of large-area and relatively thick (~100 to 250

Imaging an unsupported metal-metal bond in dirhenium molecules at the atomic scale

Metallic bonds remain one of the most important and least understood of the chemical bonds. In this study, we generated Re 2 molecules in which the Re–Re core is unsupported by ligands. Real-time imaging of the atomic-scale dynamics of Re 2 adsorbed on a graphitic lattice allows direct measurement of Re–Re bond lengths for individual molecules that changes in discrete steps correlating with bond

Picosecond-resolution phase-sensitive imaging of transparent objects in a single shot

With the growing interest in the optical imaging of ultrafast phenomena in transparent objects, from shock wave to neuronal action potentials, high contrast imaging at high frame rates has become desirable. While phase sensitivity provides the contrast, the frame rates and sequence depths are highly limited by the detectors. Here, we present phase-sensitive compressed ultrafast photography (pCUP)

Biophysical and biomolecular interactions of malaria-infected erythrocytes in engineered human capillaries

Microcirculatory obstruction is a hallmark of severe malaria, but mechanisms of parasite sequestration are only partially understood. Here, we developed a robust three-dimensional microvessel model that mimics the arteriole-capillary-venule (ACV) transition consisting of a narrow 5- to 10-μm-diameter capillary region flanked by arteriole- or venule-sized vessels. Using this platform, we investiga

Ultrafast optically induced spin transfer in ferromagnetic alloys

The vision of using light to manipulate electronic and spin excitations in materials on their fundamental time and length scales requires new approaches in experiment and theory to observe and understand these excitations. The ultimate speed limit for all-optical manipulation requires control schemes for which the electronic or magnetic subsystems of the materials are coherently manipulated on th

Nearly room temperature ferromagnetism in a magnetic metal-rich van der Waals metal

In spintronics, two-dimensional van der Waals crystals constitute a most promising material class for long-distance spin transport or effective spin manipulation at room temperature. To realize all-vdW-material–based spintronic devices, however, vdW materials with itinerant ferromagnetism at room temperature are needed for spin current generation and thereby serve as an effective spin source. We

Real-time observation of water radiolysis and hydrated electron formation induced by extreme-ultraviolet pulses

The dominant pathway of radiation damage begins with the ionization of water. Thus far, however, the underlying primary processes could not be conclusively elucidated. Here, we directly study the earliest steps of extreme ultraviolet (XUV)–induced water radiolysis through one-photon excitation of large water clusters using time-resolved photoelectron imaging. Results are presented for H 2 O and D

Direct light-induced spin transfer between different elements in a spintronic Heusler material via femtosecond laser excitation

Heusler compounds are exciting materials for future spintronics applications because they display a wide range of tunable electronic and magnetic interactions. Here, we use a femtosecond laser to directly transfer spin polarization from one element to another in a half-metallic Heusler material, Co 2 MnGe. This spin transfer initiates as soon as light is incident on the material, demonstrating sp

Spotlight on Neuroscience

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Chemosensory Cells in the Nose Play a Role in Allergic Reactions

In mice, a group of nasal epithelial cells called brush cells release pro-inflammatory signals in response to allergens.

Air France-KLM chief warns carbon taxes could backfire

Air France-KLM chief executive Ben Smith said Friday that imposing carbon taxes on ticket prices could prove counterproductive, hindering efforts by airlines to buy more fuel-efficient planes that could significantly reduce emissions.

NASA water vapor imagery shows Tino's heavy rain potential over Fiji

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Southern Pacific Ocean it gathered water vapor data that provided information about the intensity of Tropical Cyclone Tino.

Walking with atoms—chemical bond making and breaking recorded in action

Ever since it was proposed that atoms are building blocks of the world, scientists have been trying to understand how and why they bond to each other. Be it a molecule (which is a group of atoms joined together in a particular fashion), or a block of material or a whole living organism, ultimately, everything is controlled by the way atoms bond, and the way bonds break.

Ingestible medical devices can be broken down with light

A variety of medical devices can be inserted into the gastrointestinal tract to treat, diagnose, or monitor GI disorders. Many of these have to be removed by endoscopic surgery once their job is done. However, MIT engineers have now come up with a way to trigger such devices to break down inside the body when they are exposed to light from an ingestible LED.

Court Quashes Youth Climate Change Case Against Government

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Two of three judges on the panel said that climate change was an issue for lawmakers, not the courts.

Do Artificial Sweeteners Actually Help With Weight Loss?

Sweet like sugar, but without the calories — a promise that might be too good to be true.

Low doses of radiation used in medical imaging lead to mutations in cell cultures

Common medical imaging procedures use low doses of radiation that are believed to be safe. A new study, however, finds that in human cell cultures, these doses create breaks that allow extra bits of DNA to integrate into the chromosome.

Science | The Guardian

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The Guardian view on 'flight shaming': face it – life must change | Editorial

Individual choices will not solve the climate crisis but ministers should not be encouraging flying It started in Sweden, where the term flygskam (flight shame) was coined in 2018 to describe the unease about flying experienced by environmentally conscious travellers. The hashtag #jagstannarpåmarken (which translates as #stayontheground) came into use around the same time, as groups sprang up to s

Identity Theft Is a Real Threat. Luckily, Modern Tech Offers Real Solutions.

There are a lot of preventative actions you can take to reduce your likelihood of becoming a victim of identity theft, from placing a security freeze on credit reports and shredding all those credit card applications you get in the mail, to encrypting your data with a VPN or bolstering security with a high-tech password manager . However, no matter how careful you are, it's pretty much impossible

2019 was the second warmest year on record—here's what this means for our future

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NOAA found that temperatures in 2019 were 1.71 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the 20th Century average. Last year was a scorcher of epic—but not surprising—proportions, according to independent analyses by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The agencies reported on January 15 that 2019 was the second warmest year on record, closing out the warmest five-year perio

Fun and Games with Neuroscience

"Brain Games" turns human behavior into pop television entertainment.

Scientists Create "Strange Metal" Packed With Entangled Electrons

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An international team of researchers has created what's called a "strange metal" — and they say it could help harness the potential of the quantum world in a practical way. Specifically, the metal provides evidence for the quantum entanglement nature of quantum criticality. But that's a lot to unpack, so let's start with something most of us probably learned about in elementary school: phase tran

At the Bottom of the Sea, They Wait to Feast on Alligators

Usually the large reptiles feed on other creatures. But scientists found a surprise at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Men's outdoor boots that keep you warm, dry, and stable

Reliable boots for explorations of all types. (Toomas Tartes via Unsplash/) Outdoor boots are an essential part of any man's shoe collection. Whether you face gnarly winters or go hiking routinely, you'll need the right support and protection for your ankles and feet. And while fashion-over-comfort won't get you too far in the realm of outdoor boots, who's to say you can't have at least a little

NASA water vapor imagery shows Tino's heavy rain potential over Fiji

When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Southern Pacific Ocean it gathered water vapor data that provided information about the intensity of Tropical Cyclone Tino.

Futurity.org

3 brain games boost memory, focus, and flexible thinking

Three digital games can help children and adults improve their cognitive skills, say the researchers who created them. They designed and developed the games—available online and in the iOS and Google Play app stores—to help users' brains work more efficiently. While some games falsely claim to improve cognitive skills, these three games have actually proven to help users boost memory, inhibition

Avoiding Carsickness When the Cars Drive Themselves

If the future lets people focus on work instead of driving during the daily commute, many of us will have to conquer motion sickness to read memos (or tweets). Researchers are working on some fixes.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Is Not Impressed

SANTA MONICA, Calif.—In another world, Arnold Schwarzenegger might be an elder statesman in his party. The former Republican governor of California might even be a top ally of the entertainment president: They used to be friendly, and Schwarzenegger was Donald Trump's successor on Celebrity Apprentice . In Trump's world, though, Schwarzenegger is a GOP apostate. Fresh off of playing the president

Inside Science

In About 60 Years, a 'Guest Star' May Shine as One of the Brightest in the Sky

That's when the two stars in the binary system V Sagittae are set to merge in a spectacularly luminous fashion. newstar2083_top2.jpg Image credits: Abigail Malate, Staff Illustrator Rights information: Copyright American Institute of Physics Space Friday, January 17, 2020 – 12:30 Abigail Malate, Staff Illustrator (Inside Science) – The constellation Sagitta, or the Arrow, is smaller and less wel

Scientific American Content

To Conserve Marine Species, Make Protected Areas Mobile

Because climate change is shifting ocean ecosystems, sanctuaries need to shift with them, experts argue — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Ecuadorian Cactus Absorbs Ultrasound, Enticing Bats to Flowers

Many plants reflect ultrasonic waves, thereby attracting the pollinators, but one cactus takes a different approach.

Spider-Man-style robotic graspers defy gravity

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Specially designed vacuum suction units allow humans to climb walls. Scientists have developed a suction unit that can be used on rough surfaces, no matter how textured, and that has applications in the development of climbing robots and robotic arms with grasping capabilities.

Scientists measure the evolving energy of a solar flare's explosive first minutes

Toward the end of 2017, a massive new region of magnetic field erupted on the Sun's surface next to an existing sunspot. The powerful collision of magnetic energy produced a series of potent solar flares, causing turbulent space weather conditions at Earth. These were the first flares to be captured, in their moment-by-moment progression, by NJIT's then recently opened Expanded Owens Valley Solar

Chemists allow boron atoms to migrate

Organic molecules with atoms of the semi-metal boron are among the most important building blocks for synthesis products that are needed to produce drugs and agricultural chemicals. However, during the usual chemical reactions used in industry, the valuable boron unit, which can replace another atom in a molecule, is often lost. Chemists at the University of Münster have now succeeded in significa

Not all of nature's layered structures are tough as animal shells and antlers, study finds

Nacre—the iridescent part of mollusk shells—is a poster child for biologically inspired design. Despite being made of brittle chalk, the intricately layered microstructure of nacre gives it a remarkable ability to resist the spread of cracks, a material property known as toughness.

ScienceDaily<>

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Human fetal lungs harbor a microbiome signature

The lungs and placentas of fetuses in the womb — as young as 11 weeks after conception — already show a bacterial microbiome signature, which suggests that bacteria may colonize the lungs well before birth. This first-time finding deepens the mystery of how the microbes or microbial products reach those organs before birth and what role they play in normal lung and immune system development.

Transformational innovation needed to reach global forest restoration goals

Chemists allow boron atoms to migrate

Organic molecules with atoms of the semi-metal boron are important building blocks for synthesis products to produce drugs and agricultural chemicals. However, the conversion of substances commonly used in industry often results in the loss of the valuable boron unit, which can replace another atom in a molecule. Chemists now introduce carbon-carbon couplings in which the boron atom is retained.

Neuron found in mice could have implications for effective diet drugs

A CALCR cell found in mice may stop feeding without subsequential nauseating effects, as well as influence the long term intake of food.

Scientists measure the evolving energy of a solar flare's explosive first minutes

In 2017, a massive new region of magnetic field erupted on the sun's surface next to an existing sunspot. The powerful collision of magnetic energy produced a series of solar flares, causing turbulent space weather conditions at Earth. Scientists have now pinpointed for the first time exactly when and where the explosion released the energy that heated spewing plasma to energies equivalent to 1 bi

A new method for dating ancient earthquakes

Constraining the history of earthquakes produced by bedrock fracturing is important for predicting seismic activity and plate tectonic evolution. In a new study published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports Jan 17, 2020, a team of researchers presents a new microscale technique to determine the age of crystals grown during repeated activation of natural rock fractures over a time range of bil

Material developed which is heat-insulating and heat-conducting at the same time

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Styrofoam or copper—both materials have very different properties with regard to their ability to conduct heat. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz and the University of Bayreuth have now jointly developed and characterized a novel, extremely thin and transparent material that has different thermal conduction properties depending on the direction. While it

Molecules move faster on a rough terrain

Roughness, the presence of irregularities on a surface, is commonly associated with slower motion and stickiness. This is true at different length scales: at human size (1 meter), it takes longer to walk along a path that goes up and down, rather than walking on a flat road. At the size of smaller objects (1/100 – 1/1000 meter), Italians use pasta shapes with a rough surface, e.g. rigatoni, to mak

Human fetal lungs harbor a microbiome signature

When David poses as Goliath

Observations have shown that stellar black holes typically have masses of about ten times that of the Sun. Recently, Chinese astronomers claimed to have discovered a black hole as massive as 70 solar masses, which, if confirmed, would challenge the current view of stellar evolution. Astronomers from the Universities of Erlangen-Nürnberg and Potsdam discovered that it may not necessarily be a black

Scientific American

This Fish Knows How to Stick Around

The remora clings to other fish—and appears to use an unusual sense of touch to do so. Christopher Intagliata reports. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Acid reflux drugs may have negative side effects for breast cancer survivors

Acid reflux drugs that are sometimes recommended to ease stomach problems during cancer treatment may have an unintended side effect: impairment of breast cancer survivors' memory and concentration.

Human ancestors started biodiversity decline millions of years ago

The human-caused biodiversity decline started much earlier than researchers used to believe. According to a new study the process was not started by our own species but by some of our ancestors.

Molecules move faster over rough terrain

Contrary to what one might think, molecules can move faster in the proximity of rougher surfaces.

It takes more than two to tango: Microbial communities influence animal sex and reproduction

It is an awkward idea, but a couple's ability to have kids may partly depend on who else is present. The reproductive tracts of males and females contain whole communities of micro-organisms. These microbes can have considerable impact on (animal) fertility and reproduction. They may even lead to new species.

Activation of a distinct genetic pathway can slow the progress of metastatic breast cancer

Activation of the BMP4 signalling pathway presents a new therapeutic strategy to combat metastatic breast cancer, a disease that has shown no reduction in patient mortality over the past 20 years.

Elon Musk Says He'll Put A Million People on Mars By 2050

Going Multiplanetary In a series of Thursday evening tweets, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed new details about his plans to colonize Mars. In theory, 1,000 Starships could eventually send "maybe around 100k people per Earth-Mars orbital sync," Musk tweeted . "That's the goal," he added . Musk envisions these ships departing Earth orbit over a 30-day period, the window of time when Earth and Mars ar

Singularity Hub

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Mojo Vision's Augmented Reality Contact Lenses Kick off a Race to AR in Your Eye

The digital world has been creeping closer to your face. Was a time when a laptop was about as personal as you got with a computer. Then came smartphones, and a few years later, some of us started strapping screens to our heads. Now, in what must be the penultimate step to tapping brains directly, the world has a working digital display in a contact lens. After years of quiet research, startup Mo

Bio-Rad Enters RNA-Seq Library Prep Market with Launch of the SEQuoia Complete Stranded RNA Library Prep Kit

Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb) today announced the launch of the SEQuoia Complete Stranded RNA Library Prep Kit, a novel approach to RNA-Seq library preparation.

These Researchers Want You to Live In a Fungus Megastructure

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Imagine that you roll out of bed onto a living fungus floor. The walls and ceiling — heck, the whole apartment building, down to the plumbing and electrical systems — are made of fungus too. Wood and concrete are remnants of the distant past; this entire city, from the schools to the stores to the hospitals, is made of living fungus — constantly growing, dying off and regenerating itself. That's

Wired

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Real or Fake: New NBC Peacock Shows

NBC Peacock Comcast

Is the new streaming service literally going to offer a TV show about Twitter?

There's Not Enough Data on How Women Deal With Endometriosis. These Scientists are Changing That

Phendo is an app that, with the help of citizen scientists, seeks to catalog endometriosis symptoms and increase understanding and visibility of this "invisible" disease.

Why Twitter May Be Ruinous for the Left

Something odd happened this week on Twitter: A hashtag became the most popular topic in the country by accident. After Senator Elizabeth Warren brushed away the handshake of Senator Bernie Sanders in the moments following a debate, Sanders supporters—or at least alleged Sanders supporters— began to tweet #NeverWarren . Several left-leaning journalists and online Sanders surrogates noticed the ris

Eminem Slips Into the Mind of the Las Vegas Shooter

Eminem Grande Manchester

Gun violence is a crisis that you can see and hear. There's surveillance footage of the Columbine killings, and the assailants taped home videos bragging about what they were about to do. When a Las Vegas music festival was targeted in 2017 , audience video showed the moment when shots began raining down. The alleged Christchurch, New Zealand, gunman live-streamed his attack on a mosque last year

UVA engineering professor Jack W. Davidson named an IEEE fellow

UVA Engineering computer science professor Jack W. Davidson has been named an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow in recognition of his contributions to compilers, computer security and computer science education.

UVA professor Matthew B. Dwyer named a fellow by the Association for Computing Machinery

The Association for Computing Machinery has named Matthew B. Dwyer, a University of Virginia professor of computer science, a fellow. Fellowships are conferred to association members for technological accomplishments that help define the digital age and improve professional and personal lives. Association for Computing Machinery Fellows comprise an elite group that represents less than 1% of the a

Scientific American Content

This Fish Knows How to Stick Around

The remora clings to other fish—and appears to use an unusual sense of touch to do so. Christopher Intagliata reports. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Inductive Charging Stand from BrandTech® Scientific

NEW! An inductive charging stand is now available for the BRAND® HandyStep® touch and HandyStep® touch S repeating pipettes.

NJIT scientists measure the evolving energy of a solar flare's explosive first minutes

Inductive Charging Stand from BrandTech® Scientific

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Senate bill would boost spending on Trump administration's research priorities

Bipartisan group of legislators backs "Industries of the Future"

China's Mysterious Virus Spreads to Japan and Thailand

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The respiratory virus that put Chinese authorities on high alert in December has reportedly spread to Japan and Thailand. This week, the government of Thailand announced that it had identified two cases of the pneumonia-like illness, according to Reuters , with Japanese authorities confirming another case. While most people who contracted the virus — dubbed 2019-nCoV — survived, the fact that it'

BBC News – Science & Environment

'Resistant' trees planted in Hampshire in ash dieback fight

Scientists have identified 3,000 ash trees with suspected resistance to a deadly disease.

Sciencemag

One Sugar Turns Into Another

As someone who used a lot of carbohydrates as chiral pool starting materials in grad school, I regard this paper as the next thing to witchcraft. Even folks without carbohydrate experience appreciate readily that there are sugars that you hear about all the time (such as glucose, mannose, and galactose) and some that you hardly ever hear about at all (such as allose, gulose, and talose). That's n

New on MIT Technology Review

Force social-media firms to share data to cut teen suicides, say psychiatrists

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Not all of nature's layered structures are tough as animal shells and antlers

Engineers looking to nature for inspiration have long assumed that layered structures like those found in mollusk shells enhance a material's toughness, but a study shows that's not always the case. The findings may help engineers avoid 'naive biomimicry, the researchers say.

Real risks associated with cannabis exposure during pregnancy

A new study has definitively shown that regular exposure to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, during pregnancy has significant impact on placental and fetal development.

The core of massive dying galaxies already formed 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang

The most distant dying galaxy discovered so far, more massive than our Milky Way — with more than a trillion stars — has revealed that the 'cores' of these systems had formed already 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, about 1 billion years earlier than previous measurements revealed. The discovery will add to our knowledge on the formation of the Universe more generally, and may cause the com

The way you dance is unique, and computers can tell it's you

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Nearly everyone responds to music with movement, whether through subtle toe-tapping or an all-out boogie. A recent discovery shows that our dance style is almost always the same, regardless of the type of music, and a computer can identify the dancer with astounding accuracy.

Biochemistry Research News — ScienceDaily

Charge model for calculating the photoexcited states of one-dimensional Mott insulators

Researchers have developed a charge model to describe photoexcited states of one-dimensional Mott insulators. They have also succeeded in constructing a many-body Wannier function as the localized basis state of the photoexcited states and calculating large-system, optical conductivity spectra that can be compared with experimental results.

Biology News – Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology

Hands off our grasslands

In the north eastern Free State, a 60 km green corridor is being created that will link the upper Wilge Protected Environment to the Sneeuwberg.

Reward improves visual perceptual learning — but only after people sleep

A new study from Brown researchers finds that rewards improve performance on a visual perceptual task only if participants sleep after training.

Spider-Man-style robotic graspers defy gravity

Traditional methods of vacuum suction and previous vacuum suction devices cannot maintain suction on rough surfaces due to vacuum leakage, which leads to suction failure. Researchers Xin Li and Kaige Shi developed a zero-pressure difference method to enhance the development of vacuum suction units. Their method overcame leakage limitations by using a high-speed rotating water ring between the surf

Study: Critical care improvements may differ depending on hospital's patient population

A new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center reveals that while critical care outcomes in ICUs steadily improved over a decade at hospitals with few minority patients, ICUs with a more diverse patient population did not progress comparably.

New scheduling tool offers both better flight choices and increased airline profits

Researchers from Dartmouth and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an original approach to flight scheduling that, if implemented, could result in a significant increase in profits for airlines and more flights that align with passengers' preferences. The approach is presented in a paper, 'Airline Timetable Development and Fleet Assignment Incorporating Passenger Choice,

Tired of waiting for a university, a publisher commissions its own investigation — and retracts two papers

Hands off our grasslands

In the north eastern Free State, a 60 km green corridor is being created that will link the upper Wilge Protected Environment to the Sneeuwberg.

Retraction Watch

The journal Diabetes has retracted two 2006 papers by a group of researchers in Germany whose work has long been the subject of concerns about image duplication and manipulation. The first author of the articles is Kathrin Maedler, a prominent diabetes specialist at the University of Bremen, where she'd been a named professor but lost … Continue reading Tired of waiting for a university, a publish

Science | Smithsonian Magazine

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As the World Faces One of the Worst Flu Outbreaks in Decades, Scientists Eye a Universal Vaccine

A universal flu vaccine would eliminate the need for seasonal shots and defend against the next major outbreak

Rethinking interactions with mental health patients

New research overturns the belief that people with severe mental illness are incapable of effective communication with their psychiatrist, and are able to work together with them to achieve better outcomes for themselves.

Chemists allow boron atoms to migrate

Organic molecules with atoms of the semi-metal boron are important building blocks for synthesis products to produce drugs and agricultural chemicals. However, the conversion of substances commonly used in industry often results in the loss of the valuable boron unit, which can replace another atom in a molecule. Chemists at Münster University now introduce carbon-carbon couplings in which the bor

Researchers find that cookies increase ad revenue for online publishers

How long has it been since you logged onto a Web site and you were prompted to decide whether to opt out of 'cookies' that the site told you will enhance your online experience? Minutes? Hours?

Study: Neuron found in mice could have implications for effective diet drugs

A CALCR cell found in mice may stop feeding without subsequential nauseating effects, as well as influence the long term intake of food.

Not all of nature's layered structures are tough as animal shells and antlers, study finds

Observational study explores fish oil supplements, testicular function in healthy young men

An observational study of nearly 1,700 young healthy Danish men looked at how fish oil supplements were associated with testicular function as measured by semen quality and reproductive hormone levels. Limitations of this study include a lack of information on the actual concentration of omega-3 fatty acids in the fish oil supplements self-reported by the men. Researchers suggest randomized clinic

Biology News – Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology

Climate may play a bigger role than deforestation in rainforest biodiversity

"Save the rainforests" is a snappy slogan, but it doesn't tell the full story of how complicated it is to do just that. Before conservationists can even begin restoring habitats and advocating for laws that protect land from poachers and loggers, scientists need to figure out what's living, what's dying, and which patterns explain why. Tackling these questions—in other words, finding out what driv

Climate may play a bigger role than deforestation in rainforest biodiversity

Internet use reduces study skills in university students

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Research conducted at Swansea University and the University of Milan has shown that students who use digital technology excessively are less motivated to engage with their studies, and are more anxious about tests. This effect was made worse by the increased feelings of loneliness that use of digital technology produced.

Rich rewards: Scientists reveal ADHD medication's effect on the brain

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Researchers have identified how certain areas of the human brain respond to methylphenidate — a stimulant drug which is used to treat symptoms of ADHD. The work may help researchers understand the precise mechanism of the drug and ultimately develop more targeted medicines for the condition.

Charge model for calculating the photoexcited states of one-dimensional Mott insulators

TED Talks Daily (SD video)

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Why can't we talk about periods? | Jen Gunter

"It shouldn't be an act of feminism to know how your body works," says gynecologist and author Jen Gunter. In this revelatory talk, she explains how menstrual shame silences and represses — and leads to the spread of harmful misinformation and the mismanagement of pain. Declaring the era of the menstrual taboos over, she delivers a clear, much-needed lesson on the once-mysterious mechanics of the

Discovery (uploads) on YouTube

K5 Blazer With a Bass-Dropping Trailer | Diesel Brothers

The Diesel Brothers complete their transformation on an old K5 Blazer and square body truck bed into the ultimate diesel-powered party on wheels. Stream Full Episodes of Diesel Brothers: https://go.discovery.com/tv-shows/diesel-brothers/ Subscribe to Discovery: http://bit.ly/SubscribeDiscovery Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DieselBrothersTV https://www.facebook.com/Discovery Follow

Astronomers Find Four Strange New Objects in the Center of the Milky Way

The dust-shrouded objects may be binary stars merging as they orbit the supermassive black hole in our galaxy's core.

Marijuana Might Impair Driving Abilities Even After the High Wears Off

In a driving simulation, people who started using recreational cannabis prior to age 16 had difficulty following the rules of the road.

Programmable nests for cells

Using DNA, small silica particles, and carbon nanotubes, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have developed novel programmable nanocomposites that can be tailored to various applications and programmed to degrade quickly and gently. For medical applications, they can create environments in which human stem cells can settle down and develop further. Additionally, they are suited

3-D printing with applications in the pharmaceutical industry

University of Seville researchers, in collaboration with the University of Nottingham, have managed to create the first image of nanoparticles of stabilised gold with biodegradable and biocompatible systems that have been obtained with 3-D-printng techniques. The image chosen for this test was the logo of the University of Seville.

Acid reflux drugs may have negative side effects for breast cancer survivors

Acid reflux drugs that are sometimes recommended to ease stomach problems during cancer treatment may have an unintended side effect: impairment of breast cancer survivors' memory and concentration.

Microplastics affect sand crabs' mortality and reproduction, study finds

Sand crabs, a key species in beach ecosystems, were found to have increased adult mortality and decreased reproductive success when exposed to plastic microfibers, according to a new Portland State University study.

Charge model for calculating the photo-excited states of one-dimensional Mott insulators

Assistant Professor Ohmura Shu and Professor Takahashi Akira of the Nagoya Institute of Technology and others have developed a charge model to describe photo-excited states of one-dimensional Mott insulators under the JST Strategic Basic Research Programs. They have also succeeded in constructing a many-body Wannier function as the localized basis state of the photo-excited states and calculating

Transformational innovation needed to reach global forest restoration goals

The U.N. and other international organizations agree that forest restoration is a critical part of the collective global effort to combat climate change, reduce extinctions, and improve the lives of people in rural communities. Dozens of nations have pledged to restore 230 million hectares of forest so far as part of projects such as the Bonn Challenge and REDD+. The Bonn Challenge goal is to rest

Self-assembled artificial microtubule like LEGO building blocks

Simple LEGO bricks can be assembled to more complicated structures, which can be further associated into a wide variety of complex architectures, from automobiles, rockets, and ships to gigantic castles and amusement parks. Such an event of multi-step assembly, so-called 'hierarchical self-assembly,' also happens in living organisms.

Sea lions yawn due to anxiety

Researchers have analysed these animals for 14 months, concluding that the frequency of their yawns increases immediately after a social conflict among members of the group.

The war on waste pickers

The man in the tattered shirt, biceps bulging as he pulls an enormous bag of waste behind him on a trolley. The blaring horns as cars slide by, annoyed at the intrusion in their lane. The furtive WhatsApp messages on community channels, "Are these waste pickers dangerous? I don't like them digging through my trash …"

Why bosses should let employees surf the web at work

If you're like most workers, you don't spend 100% of your time at the office doing what you're supposed to be doing.

Science | The Guardian

Nailbiter to keen runner: the three secrets to turning a bad habit into a good one

From looking at my phone too much to sucking air through my teeth and biting my nails, I have habits I'd like to change. Can a treadmill desk and cookery lessons with my girlfriend help? I am going to talk to Wendy Wood about my bad habits. Professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, Wood researches how habits guide behaviour and has written a new book about it: Good Habits,

Watch This Adorable Mini Cybertruck Drift in the Snow

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Cybertruck Kart YouTubers from the account "The Hacksmith" have built a half-scale Cybertruck, the stainless steel monstrosity Tesla first showed off in November. In a new update video uploaded Thursday, the team can be seen whipping around a snowy parking lot in the tiny vehicle. Small yet Mighty The Canadian team of engineering enthusiasts constructed the adorable miniature out of the skeleton

Biology News – Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology

Sea lions yawn due to anxiety

Researchers have analysed these animals for 14 months, concluding that the frequency of their yawns increases immediately after a social conflict among members of the group.

Chemist proposes new method for synthesizing precursors for Parkinson's drugs

A chemist from RUDN University has proposed a new method for the synthesis of secondary propargylamine used to create antidepressants, drugs for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, as well as malaria. It differs from the known methods in its simplicity and stability of the resulting substance. The paper was published in the Journal of Organic Chemistry.

Programmable nests for cells

Using DNA, smallest silica particles, and carbon nanotubes, researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) developed novel programmable materials. These nanocomposites can be tailored to various applications and programmed to degrade quickly and gently. For medical applications, they can create environments in which human stem cells can settle down and develop further. Additionally, they a

3D printing with applications in the pharmaceutical industry

This achievement will have applications in the pharmaceutical industry, such as in the preparation of biocompatible biosensors based in gold, which have already been shown to be effective in the detection of carcinogenic cells and tumour biomarkers.

Research shows real risks associated with cannabis exposure during pregnancy

A new study from researchers at Western University and Queen's University is the first to definitively show that regular exposure to THC, the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, during pregnancy has significant impact on placental and fetal development. With more than a year since the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada, the effects of its use during pregnancy are only now beginn

The way you dance is unique, and computers can tell it's you

Ingeniøren

Branchen: Derfor gik det galt for danske geotermi-projekter

PLUS. To af tre danske geotermianlæg til fjernvarmen er stoppet. Forkert design og drift får skylden.

Biology News – Evolution, Cell theory, Gene theory, Microbiology, Biotechnology

Changing the leopard's spots

Since wildlife poaching in Africa became a critical conservation issue, Chinese people have been portrayed as ruthless in the apparent pursuit of wildlife body parts. The Africa-China Reporting Project in Wits Journalism enable journalists to cut through the rhetoric, stereotypes and generalisations.

In New Jersey and Nationwide, Battles Over Vaccinations Continue

This week's top Science news

Undark Magazine

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Five states ban religious exemptions from vaccines, compelling parents to have their kids vaccinated as a condition for attending public school. New Jersey sought this week to become the sixth, but to the chagrin of public health advocates, the bill failed. The fight there — and elsewhere — will continue.

Changing the leopard's spots

Researchers testing ability of floating wetlands to survive winter

The grasses are dormant, their brown leaves poking the sky as they float in one of the frigid lily ponds in Lincoln's Sunken Gardens, the 1.5-acre public garden at 27th Street and Capital Parkway.

Stephen King's Comments About the Oscars Explain the Oscars

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It started, as it so often does, with a series of tweets from someone famous enough to need a social-media manager. Early Tuesday morning, the author Stephen King logged on to Twitter to share his thoughts about the fact that the Oscar nominees, announced the day before, included no female directors and a single actor of color. "As a writer, I am allowed to nominate in just 3 categories: Best Pic

New on MIT Technology Review

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The EU might ban facial recognition in public for five years

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Equipment essentials for beginner DJs

Learn to DJ with this basic equipment. (Marius Serban via Unsplash/) Vinyl may be back , but if you're just learning to DJ, purchasing quality turntables and building up your record collection is a big investment. Enter the world of modern DJ controllers, which work with the music files on your laptop to mix killer sets with old-school FX. Here are two great controllers for beginners, and a pair

The first step in managing plastic waste is measuring it – here's how we did it for one Caribbean countryhertilhertil

Countries around the world throw away millions of tons of plastic trash every year. Finding ways to manage plastic waste is daunting even for wealthy nations, but for smaller and less-developed countries it can be overwhelming.

Battling longer, more intense fire seasons

Fires in Australia have been burning for months. At least 28 people and hundreds of thousands of animals have died, and more than 15 million acres have been destroyed as firefighters work to squelch the blaze. Penn doctoral student Clare Super has been closely watching news of the fires. Super is a third-year doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology in the School of Arts and Sciences at

New astronomical instrument on the hunt for exoplanets

At the highest point of the Quinlan mountains, overlooking the Sonoran Desert as it stretches across southern Arizona, NEID (pronounced like "fluid") recently collected its first observations, known colloquially by astronomers as "first light," at the Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Scientific American Content

Is Eating Late Bad for Your Heart?

The American Heart Association suggests that late-night eating might increase your risk of heart disease. But how solid is the evidence? — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Raincoats to keep you dry in a downpour

Bring it on. (Alesia Kazantceva via Unsplash/) Sometimes umbrellas just don't work, especially when it's windy. If you're looking for a jacket for rainy days that will keep you dry but not overheated, you'll want something lightweight, breathable, and with a hood that'll stay up even on blustery days. Some factors to consider include: how portable the jacket is, how long it's cut, and the style.

It takes more than two to tango: Microbial communities influence animal sex and reproduction

Violence and adversity in early life can alter the brain

But social supports can reduce the negative effects of childhood stress. Childhood adversity is a significant problem in the US, particularly for children growing up in poverty. Those who experience poverty have a much higher risk of being exposed to violence and suffering from a lack of social support, which can have long-term consequences including higher rates of diabetes, cancer, and other dis

Miniature double glazing

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) in Mainz and the University of Bayreuth have jointly developed and characterized a novel, extremely thin and transparent material that has different thermal conduction properties depending on the direction. While it can conduct heat extremely well in one direction, it shows good thermal insulation in the other direction.

Psychedelic drugs could help treat PTSD

Clinical trials suggest treatment that involves psychedelics can be more effective than psychotherapy alone. More than three million people in the United States are diagnosed each year with post-traumatic stress disorder, whose symptoms include nightmares or unwanted memories of trauma, heightened reactions, anxieties, and depression–and can last months, or even years.

The core of massive dying galaxies already formed 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang

Human-caused biodiversity decline started millions of years ago

The human-caused biodiversity decline started much earlier than researchers used to believe. According to a new study published in the scientific journal Ecology Letters the process was not started by our own species but by some of our ancestors.

Artificial intelligence to improve resolution of brain magnetic resonance imaging

Researchers of the ICAI Group -Computational Intelligence and Image Analysis- of the University of Malaga (UMA) have designed an unprecedented method that is capable of improving brain images obtained through magnetic resonance imaging using artificial intelligence.

Molecules move faster on a rough terrain

Contrary to what one might think, molecules can move faster in the proximity of rougher surfaces. This is the conclusion of a research, published in Physical Review Letters by researchers from Université libre de Bruxelles.

Chemists have managed to stabilize the 'capricious' phosphorus

An international team of Russian, Swedish and Ukrainian scientists has identified an effective strategy to improve the stability of two-dimensional black phosphorus, which is a promising material for use in optoelectronics.

Inside China's new robotic restaurant in Guangzhou

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BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, will dump more than $0.5 billion in coal shares from all of its actively managed portfolios. BlackRock has a total of $7 trillion in funds under its control. Its announcement will "put climate change at the center of its investment strategy."

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Leaders Declare Climate Emergency for San Diego. At least a dozen California cities and hundreds nationally that have already declared climate emergencies

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Europe Mulls New Tougher Rules for Artificial Intelligence

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Forging global cooperation and collaboration

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Chinese property firm Country Garden plans mass production of construction robots – China's largest property developer by sales Country Garden is planning to start mass production of construction robots next year to cut costs and raise efficiency, it said on Friday.

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Hundreds of millions of workers need reskilling. Where do we start?

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