President Trump has laid out his case for reelection. In a series of speeches over the past several days, the president has spelled out, or at least gestured toward, the major themes of his coming campaign. There will be other themes, to be sure—mostly, one presumes, attacks on Joe Biden—but the president's recent speeches in Tulsa, in Phoenix, and at Mount Rushmore all outline what appear to be
Scientists have filled a gaping hole in the world's climate records by reconstructing 600 years of soil-moisture swings across southern and central South America. Along with documenting the mechanisms behind natural changes, the new South American Drought Atlas reveals that unprecedented widespread, intense droughts and unusually wet periods have been on the rise since the mid-20th century. It sug
How does evolution impact ecological patterns? It helps smooth out the rough edges, says UConn Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Mark Urban. Urban led an international team of researchers through a review of the history of ecological and evolutionary research to establish a framework to better understand evolution's impact on ecosystem patterns. The research is published as a perspective
In physics, they are currently the subject of intensive research; in electronics, they could enable completely new functions. So-called topological materials are characterized by special electronic properties, which are also very robust against external perturbations. This material group also includes tungsten ditelluride. In this material, such a topologically protected state can be "broken up" u
How does evolution impact ecological patterns? It helps smooth out the rough edges, says UConn Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Professor Mark Urban. Urban led an international team of researchers through a review of the history of ecological and evolutionary research to establish a framework to better understand evolution's impact on ecosystem patterns. The research is published as a perspective
For decades, climate scientists have been tracking troubling changes in glaciers around the world. These massive bodies of ice shift and flow under their own weight, but many glaciers are now shrinking. A new trend in the European Alps suggests glacial thawing could accelerate thanks to some unassuming pink algae . Glaciers are an important part of maintaining global temperatures because they ref
Artificial watering points in rangelands are posing an increasing threat to surrounding biodiversity long after the removal of livestock, according to University of Queensland research.
Artificial watering points in rangelands are posing an increasing threat to surrounding biodiversity long after the removal of livestock, according to University of Queensland research.
Blast Off and Blow Up New Zealand-based spaceflight company Rocket Lab had a very bad day. Its 13th and most recent launch on July 3, ironically dubbed "Pics or It Didn't Happen," ended in disaster when the upper-stage of its Electron rocket experienced a failure shortly after liftoff. The rocket blew up, exploding seven pricey satellites into smithereens. But the startup still has friends in hig
Now more than ever, people are working from home, which in turn means that more meetings and calls are being disrupted by those inevitable bursts of ambient noise from pets, kids, spouses, and whatever else is making noise while you're trying to work. It may only be a momentary annoyance for those on the other side, but it's mortifying to have that annoyance stem from your own home, especially if
Researchers at the University of Alicante (UA) have designed a new antibacterial agent against Escherichia coli (E.coli), a bacterium present in the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract of people and animals, responsible for infectious diseases such as traveler's diarrhea, hemorrhagic diarrhea and even kidney failure. The technology consists of two molecules—called Poll-N and UK-C—with specifi
UToledo student Eric Kostecky zeroed in on how coastal flooding and erosion in 2019 damaged park facilities, boat launches and roads and interrupted visitor experiences.
With the rise of globalization, geographic borders are becoming less relevant for making charitable donations, which means nonprofits and charities can make more effective pitches to donors by emphasizing higher-level concepts such as morality and idealistic values, said Carlos Torelli, a professor of business administration and the James F. Towey Faculty Fellow at Illinois.
Early infections of influenza A can help predict how the virus will affect people across different ages in the future and could impact the effectiveness of flu vaccines, says a new study published today in eLife.
Scientists have engineered natural killer immune cells that not only kill head and neck tumour cells in mice but also reduce the immune-suppressing myeloid cells that allow tumours to evade the immune response, according to a new study in eLife.
Students tend to be more engaged in activism if the school that they attend emphasizes social and political issues, according to new research featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
While researchers have previously identified brain structural signatures associated with individual neurological diseases using techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a team of scientists based in Germany, in a new study, has compared data from multiple studies to find brain structural abnormalities shared between four different neuropsychiatric conditions. The researchers also found
Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Ivannikov Institute for System Programming, and the Harvard Medical School-affiliated Schepens Eye Research Institute have developed a neural network capable of recognizing retinal tissues during the process of their differentiation in a dish. Unlike humans, the algorithm achieves this without the need to modify cells, making the met
Researchers at CRANN and the School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, have created an innovative new device that will emit single particles of light, or photons, from quantum dots that are the key to practical quantum computers, quantum communications, and other quantum devices.
The family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders. For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1. The study was published in "Chemical Communications".
Advanced X-ray MicroCT technology offers unparalleled insights into the functional morphology of specialized organs that mediate interactions between butterfly caterpillars and their ant hosts.
Amid news that the United States has bought up virtually the entire global supply of remdesivir, a new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study outlines how the drug could save lives in countries with less hospital capacity, such as South Africa, where COVID-19 is beginning to overwhelm intensive care units (ICUs).
Scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory found they can stop the growth of pancreatic cancer cells by interfering with the way the cells store cholesterol. Their findings in mice and lab-grown pancreas models point toward a new strategy for treating deadly pancreatic cancer.
Exposure to iodine used for medical procedures in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) may increase an infant's risk for congenital hypothyroidism (loss of thyroid function), suggests a study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.
When it comes to accurately flagging hate speech on social media, context matters, says a new USC study aimed at reducing errors that could amplify racial bias.
Researchers at the University of Alicante (UA) have designed a new antibacterial agent against Escherichia coli (E.coli), a bacterium present in the microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract of people and animals, responsible for infectious diseases such as traveler's diarrhea, hemorrhagic diarrhea and even kidney failure. The technology consists of two molecules—called Poll-N and UK-C—with specifi
Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have built a novel microscope that provides a "chemical lens" for viewing biological systems including cell membranes and biofilms. The tool could advance the understanding of complex biological interactions, such as those between microbes and plants.
Researchers at CRANN and Trinity's School of Physics have created an innovative new device that will emit single particles of light, or photons, from quantum dots that are the key to practical quantum computers, quantum communications, and other quantum devices.
A new review of the availability, uptake, and effectiveness of bank card gambling blockers in the UK has found an estimated 28 million personal current accounts do not have the option to block gambling expenditure.
At a superficial glance, becoming a veterinarian seems like the realization of an animal lover's childhood dream—devoting a career to the care of animals.
Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats.
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Canada has found that bears living with people are at high risk of dying until they learn to adapt. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of data on grizzly bears in British Columbia over a 41-year period and what they learned from it.
We are living in the midst of a global pandemic. And there is a bitter partisan debate unfolding on whether more Americans should cast their votes through the mail during a time when going out may be hazardous to peoples' health.
At a superficial glance, becoming a veterinarian seems like the realization of an animal lover's childhood dream—devoting a career to the care of animals.
Summer has finally arrived in the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska, liberating hundreds of thousands of northern stream fish from their wintering habitats.
A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Canada has found that bears living with people are at high risk of dying until they learn to adapt. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of data on grizzly bears in British Columbia over a 41-year period and what they learned from it.
Most materials derive their macroscopic properties from their microscopic structure. A steel rod is hard, for instance, because its atoms form a repeating crystalline pattern that remains static over time. Water parts around your foot when you dip it into a lake because fluids don't have that structure; their molecules move around randomly. Then there's glass, a strange in-between substance that
Measurements of the optical response of 2-D transition-metal dichalcogenides have now pinpointed real material systems in which a hypothesized light-squeezing quasiparticle can form. The 2-D exciton-polariton, which couples light to bound electron-hole pairs in the form of excitons in an unusual way, can confine light to dimensions orders of magnitude below the diffraction limit. Confining light t
Evidence of minute amounts of marine life in an ancient Antarctic ice sheet helps explain a longstanding puzzle of why rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels stalled for hundreds of years as Earth warmed from the last ice age.
A pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen containing an investigational long-acting form of the HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every 8 weeks was more effective than daily oral Truvada at preventing HIV acquisition among cisgender men who have sex with men and transgender women who have sex with men in a clinical trial sponsored by NIH. Findings from the Phase 2b/3 study, called HPTN 083, will
A new South American Drought Atlas reveals that unprecedented widespread, intense droughts and unusually wet periods have been on the rise since the mid-20th century.
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have found that dopamine neurons in the brain can represent the decision-making process when making economic choices. As monkeys contemplated whether or not to choose an item, a subset of dopamine neurons transitioned from indicating the item's value to indicating the monkey's ultimate decision. Encoding of the decision into these dopamine neurons happened
By studying the role of lysosomes in mitosis, an IDIBELL and UB group discovers that alterations in the separation of chromosomes cause a detectable nucleus morphology once mitosis has finished.This morphology would be useful to identify cells that have chromosomal instability inherent in cancer cells.
So-called topological materials have special electronic properties, which are very robust against external perturbations. In tungsten ditelluride such a topologically protected state can be "broken up" using special laser pulses within picoseconds and thus change its properties. This could be a key requirement for realising extremely fast, optoelectronic switches. For the first time, physicists at
Couples embarking on IVF to treat their infertility tend to overestimate their chance of success, according to a prospective study of 69 couples having at least their second treatment attempt. Such over-optimism, suggest the authors, may be a source of distress or even a reason to discontinue their IVF treatment.
Successful tissue regeneration can have major benefits in healing injuries or replacing portions of diseased or damaged tissue But the effectiveness of the body's own system for repairing such damage can vary greatly. In a recent publication in Nature Reviews Materials, Ali Khademhosseini, Ph.D., Director and CEO of the Terasaki Institute, and colleagues discuss the use of biomaterials, which can
In 2010, Professor Patrick Kwan from Monash University's Department of Neuroscience, led an international team researching the causes and outcomes of epilepsy patients in rural China. A decade later the results indicate that at least one million Chinese people with epilepsy could be candidates for a standard operation that may leave them seizure-free.
While COVID-19 has impacted all individuals, the impact has not been equal. In a new national Socioeconomic Impact of COVID-19 survey, the Social Policy Institute (SPI) at Washington University in St. Louis found that liquid assets increased the likelihood that an individual could practice social distancing. However, Black individuals were least likely to afford social distancing.
Sean Majoy, V06, VG13, was far too familiar with the toll that traumatic bleeding can take on dogs before he joined Cummings School as an emergency and critical care veterinarian and clinical assistant professor. Majoy served on active duty in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps from 2006 to 2017, and one of his jobs was caring for military working dogs returning injured from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Roughly 15 years ago, in a seeming prank, a pair of smiley faces graced the cover of Nature , one of the world's preeminent science journals. Flash forward to today, and those smiley faces may be key to saving us from the Covid-19 pandemic—or other viral foes lurking in our future. The smiley faces were an early example of DNA origami, a method of folding DNA—the biological hardware on which life
Nature, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01861-0 The United States, China and the United Arab Emirates will soon launch missions to a notoriously dangerous destination for spacecraft.
Sean Majoy, V06, VG13, was far too familiar with the toll that traumatic bleeding can take on dogs before he joined Cummings School as an emergency and critical care veterinarian and clinical assistant professor. Majoy served on active duty in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps from 2006 to 2017, and one of his jobs was caring for military working dogs returning injured from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Faced with a glut of pandemic research from around the world, scientists are confronting their biases and learning to engage with science conducted at institutions they're unfamiliar with. (Image credit: Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images)
Last summer's catastrophic bushfires burnt about one quarter of New South Wales' best koala habitat. On the state's mid-north coast, an estimated 30% of koalas were killed.
Last summer's catastrophic bushfires burnt about one quarter of New South Wales' best koala habitat. On the state's mid-north coast, an estimated 30% of koalas were killed.
PLUS. Britiske og belgiske arkæologer har for første gang med georadar kortlagt ruinerne af en hel romersk by, der stadig ligger under jorden. I Danmark er samme teknologi dog udfordret af vores undergrund.
Whether you're hunting duck or goose, we've got ideas for both. (2 Bro's Media/Unsplash/) This story was originally featured on Outdoor Life . These five homemade decoys are perfect for the waterfowler on a budget. The economy is bad, but the duck hunting this season should be good—real good—if you can afford to hunt it. Here are five waterfowl decoys for divers, dabblers, and geese that you can
I wrote here about the reports of rather short antibody persistence in recovering coronavirus patients, and what's been coming out in the two weeks since then has only made this issue more important. In that post, I was emphasizing that although we can measure antibody levels, we don't know how well that correlates with exposure to the virus nor to later immunity from it, and that T cells are sur
The impact of corporate sociopolitical activism on a company's bottom line depends on how the activism aligns with the firm's stakeholders, according to new research. Over the last 10 years, purpose-driven corporate actions have evolved from companies contributing to widely supported causes, such as cancer research, to companies taking stances on more divisive issues , such as gun control and LGB
The final breaths of dying stars called white dwarfs shed light on carbon's origin in the Milky Way, researchers report. As dying stars take their final few breaths of life, they gently sprinkle their ashes into the cosmos through the magnificent planetary nebulae. These ashes, spread via stellar winds, are enriched with many different chemical elements, including carbon. "The findings pose new,
The fascinating family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders such as Crohn's disease. For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1, a key player in mucosal protection and repair. Chemic
Since 2005, scientists have been scanning the night sky to create a three-dimensional map of our universe with the purpose of shedding light on one of the biggest mysteries in physics: the nature and identity of dark energy and dark matter. That effort is about to get a massive upgrade with the successful installation and testing of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI.
Climate change will intensify winds that steer hurricanes north over Texas in the final 25 years of this century, increasing the odds for fast-moving storms like 2008's Ike, compared with slow-movers like 2017's Harvey, according to new research.
Last week we learned woody vegetation in New South Wales is being cleared at more than double the rate of the previous decade—and agriculture was responsible for more than half the destruction.
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often suffer from what is referred to as interstitial lung disease (ILD). For years, standard medication with Methotrexate (MTX) has been suspected of either increasing the risk of, or worsening, this aspect of rheumatoid arthritis. This suspicion is now refuted by two current studies. The results have been presented at the annual conference of the European
Increasing the levels of a chemical found in all human cells could boost a woman's fertility and help select the best eggs for IVF, according to University of Queensland research.
The smallest cell structures can now be imaged even better: The combination of two microscopy methods makes fluorescence imaging with molecular resolution possible for the first time.
Global water consumption has increased almost fourfold in the past 100 years, and many regions can only meet their water demand thanks to essential contributions from mountain regions. In 30 years, almost a quarter of the world's lowland population will strongly depend on runoff from the mountains. Only sustainable development can ensure the important function of mountain areas as Earth's "water t
A study performed by UCO (University of Cordoba) and IFAPA (Institute of Agricultural Research and Training) analyzed the potential of no-till farming in order to achieve the aims of the 4perMille initiative, that seeks to increase the amount of organic carbon in soil.
People who work in jobs that require less physical activity – typically office and desk-based jobs – are at a lower risk of subsequent poor cognition than those whose work is more physically active, suggests new research from the University of Cambridge.
The air around us is still getting more and more polluted. No wonder many scientists strive to find a way to purify it. Thanks to the work of an international team led by prof. Juan Carlos Colmenares from the Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, we are a big step closer to achieve this goal. They found a way to make an efficient reactive adsorbent able to purify the air fro
New particle formation (NPF) over three countries is investigated using aerosol physicochemical quantities and turbulence information. A common relationship is found between NPF and turbulence, and a new physical mechanism is proposed to complement the traditional photochemical mechanism, supported by both observational analyses and model simulations. Turbulence enhances supersaturation, accelerat
Many animals move their ears to better focus their attention on a novel sound. That humans also have this capability was not known until now. A research team now has demonstrated that we make minute, unconscious movements of our ears that are directed towards the sound want to focus our attention on. The team discovered this ability by measuring electrical signals in the muscles of the vestigial m
The fascinating family of trefoil factor peptides brings hope to both research and industry to improve the treatment of chronic disorders such as Crohn's disease. For the first time, a team led by ERC awardee Markus Muttenthaler from the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna succeeded in the synthesis and folding of the peptide TFF1, a key player in mucosal protection and repair. Chemic
Brazilian scientists say the man no longer shows signs of the infection after taking a powerful drug cocktail. But the preliminary results require confirmation.
I teach in gender studies, where I spend time with university students discussing critical issues that shape our society —power, violence, racism and colonialism. My students learn that histories are complicated and alive in the present.
Ph.D. Candidate James Barr, from Curtin University's School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said while the phenomena of multiple-tailed lizards are widely known to occur, documented events were generally limited to opportunistic, single observations of one in its natural environment.
Minister proposes mandatory hospital care as country grapples with fresh outbreaks Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Italy's health minister has proposed "sectioning" people who refuse hospital treatment for Covid-19 and has suspended flights from Bangladesh as the southern European country grapples with several new coronavirus outbreaks. The potential move towards for
Ph.D. Candidate James Barr, from Curtin University's School of Molecular and Life Sciences, said while the phenomena of multiple-tailed lizards are widely known to occur, documented events were generally limited to opportunistic, single observations of one in its natural environment.
Being everything to everyone or being too hands-off are leadership styles that are more likely to lead to burnout in managers, according to a University of Alberta business study.
An international study led by Monash University scientists has found that the distance traveled by marine larvae is dictated by both biological and physical constraints—contradicting previous hypotheses based on biology or physics alone.
The waters of south-eastern Australia are a climate change hotspot, warming at four times the global average. Understanding how to future-proof the prey of little penguins in these challenging conditions is essential for their long-term survival and may well benefit the health of the whole marine system.
For PNNL chemist and Air Force veteran Kabrena Rodda, living by an honor code is second nature. Her time at the Air Force Academy as both a cadet and later an instructor, instilled in her the value—and possibility—of a community that joins to uphold a standard of ideals, honesty, and responsibility.
An international study led by Monash University scientists has found that the distance traveled by marine larvae is dictated by both biological and physical constraints—contradicting previous hypotheses based on biology or physics alone.
The waters of south-eastern Australia are a climate change hotspot, warming at four times the global average. Understanding how to future-proof the prey of little penguins in these challenging conditions is essential for their long-term survival and may well benefit the health of the whole marine system.
Chinese chestnut trees are thought to be critical for resurrecting wild American chestnut and European chestnut trees. Knowledge of speciation genomics may be of great value to the chestnut forest restoration in Europe and America.
Chinese chestnut trees are thought to be critical for resurrecting wild American chestnut and European chestnut trees. Knowledge of speciation genomics may be of great value to the chestnut forest restoration in Europe and America.
Air pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown in Beijing was mainly due to different chemical responses of primary and secondary aerosols to changes in anthropogenic emissions.
On a gram for gram basis, animal proteins are more effective than plant proteins in supporting the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass with advancing age, shows research presented this week at The Physiological Society's virtual early career conference Future Physiology 2020.
USC Dornsife's "Understanding Coronavirus in America" tracking survey reveals that discrimination against people who are perceived to have COVID-19, regardless of their true infection status, increased from March to April 2020.
A plasmonic spin-Hall nanograting structure that simultaneously detects both the polarization and phase singularities of the incident beam is reported. The nanograting is symmetry-breaking with different periods for the upper and lower parts, which enables the unidirectional excitation of the SPP depending on the topological charge of the incident beam. Additionally, spin-Hall meta-slits are integ
In experiments in rats and mice, two Johns Hopkins scientists — an engineer and an ophthalmologist — report the successful use of nanoparticles to deliver gene therapy for blinding eye disease. A uniquely engineered large molecule allows researchers to compact large bundles of therapeutic DNA to be delivered into the cells of the eye.
Powerful electrochemical process destroys water contaminants, such as pesticides.Wastewater is a significant environment issue.Researchers say the technology could be readily applied to the wine industry, paper processing and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
The HPTN 083 clinical trial showed that a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) regimen containing long-acting cabotegravir (CAB LA) injected once every 8 weeks was superior to daily oral tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) for HIV prevention among cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men.
Positive thinking has long been extolled as the route to happiness, but it might be time to ditch the self-help books after a new study shows that realists enjoy a greater sense of long-term wellbeing than optimists.
Curtin research into abnormal regeneration events in lizards has led to the first published scientific review on the prevalence of lizards that have re-generated not just one, but two, or even up to six, tails.
A group of scientists based in France used systematical datamining to gather information on two grapevine trichoviruses, grapevine Pinot gris virus and grapevine berry inner necrosis virus. They were able to capture new complete viral genomes from around the world. They gathered this information using their own HTS-datasets and by tapping into worldwide HTS databases. This compiled information hel
The meniscus is a thin layer of connective tissue in human knees that helps to maintain the stability of joints and conduct mechanical loads. Meniscus injuries, especially those in the avascular inner zone, have poor healing capability and are associated with the development of osteoarthritis.
For protein molecules that contribute to metabolism, interactions with other components of their metabolic pathway can be crucial. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen have now investigated a natural enzyme complex that comprises 10 enzymes with five distinct activities. They found that the molecular architecture is surprisingly compact, yet offers individua
The meniscus is a thin layer of connective tissue in human knees that helps to maintain the stability of joints and conduct mechanical loads. Meniscus injuries, especially those in the avascular inner zone, have poor healing capability and are associated with the development of osteoarthritis.
For protein molecules that contribute to metabolism, interactions with other components of their metabolic pathway can be crucial. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen have now investigated a natural enzyme complex that comprises 10 enzymes with five distinct activities. They found that the molecular architecture is surprisingly compact, yet offers individua
Binoculars in hand, birders around the world contribute every day to a massive database of bird sightings worldwide. But while community science observations of birds can be useful data, it may not be enough to fill the data gaps in developing countries where professional bird surveys are insufficient or absent.
Binoculars in hand, birders around the world contribute every day to a massive database of bird sightings worldwide. But while community science observations of birds can be useful data, it may not be enough to fill the data gaps in developing countries where professional bird surveys are insufficient or absent.
Mark Zuckerberg and US tech giants argue that regulation will allow China to dominate. But in reality, the global market rejects unregulated, invasive tech.
Looking for fresh indoor hobbies? Why not start a record collection? Here are our favorite entry-level turntables to help you enjoy analog audio at home.
PLUS. »Unormalt slid« på et af Cityringens metrotog førte fredag 3. juli til, at alle togene på linjerne M3 og M4 holdt stille i seks timer. Den bagvedliggende årsag undersøges nu af hovedleverandøren.
Using three NASA space observatories, astronomers have conducted a multiwavelength study of emission from a blazar known as 1ES 1218+304. Results of the investigation, presented in a paper published June 29 on arXiv.org, deliver more insights into the properties of this high-energy source.
Quantum information scientists have introduced a new method for machine learning classifications in quantum computing. The non-linear quantum kernels in a quantum binary classifier provide new insights for improving the accuracy of quantum machine learning, deemed able to outperform the current AI technology.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claims that agriculture is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases, and is thus by many observers considered as a climate villain. This conclusion, however, is based on a paradigm that can be questioned, shows Per Frankelius, Linkoping University, in an article in Agronomy Journal.
Researchers in the Cava Group at the Princeton University Department of Chemistry have demystified the reasons for instability in an inorganic perovskite. The source of thermodynamic instability in the halide perovskite cesium lead iodide (CsPbI3) is the inorganic cesium atom and its "rattling" behavior within the crystal structure.
Fraunhofer HHI announced it has finalized the H.266 codec, also known as Versatile Video Coding (VVC). The new compression standard is expected to reduce file sizes by up to 50 percent compared with H.265, in exchange for an increase in overall complexity and a need for more powerful encoding and decoding horsepower. It can also be used to support features like 8K HDR without requiring huge amoun
Researchers in the Cava Group at the Princeton University Department of Chemistry have demystified the reasons for instability in an inorganic perovskite that has attracted wide attention for its potential in creating highly efficient solar cells.
Vaccines are more likely to get through clinical trials than any other type of drug — but have been given relatively little pharmaceutical industry support during the last two decades, according to a new study by MIT scholars. Over a two-decade span from January 2000 to January 2020, private-sector vaccine-development efforts succeeded in bringing a drug to market 39.6 percent of the time, the re
Ornithologists at the University of Utah say that community science bird data shows different trends in bird populations than professional bird surveys do, especially in developing countries. Researchers look for trends to know whether the number of individuals in a species is increasing, stable or decreasing–with the latter as a warning sign that the species is in trouble. More observations are
Nature, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-01984-4 Genetic material is being collected from men across the country to help solve crimes, but researchers worry the data will be misused.
Like everyone else across the country and the world, China's leaders are likely watching the contentious presidential campaign unfolding in the United States and anxiously wondering what it means for them. After their four-year rumble with Donald Trump, the Chinese should be counting the months, weeks, days, and minutes to the November election, hoping a (more pliable) Democrat takes over the Whi
Kongonaphon lived 237m years ago and paved way for gigantic successors, scientists say A small, insect-eating reptile that lived 237m years ago was a miniature ancestor of the giant dinosaurs that went on to dominate the Earth, according to scientists examining fossils in Madagascar. The Kongonaphon kely measured about 40cm (16in) long and stood 10 cm (4in) tall at the hip, scientists said on Mon
Criticism comes as government launches public information campaign amid low takeup Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Experts have urged the government to go beyond a newly announced campaign telling people in England how to wear face coverings and promote their use more forcefully, amid low takeup by the public. The information campaign will instruct people to ensure t
Global water consumption has increased almost fourfold in the past 100 years, and many regions can only meet their water demand thanks to essential contributions from mountain regions. By the middle of this century, 1.5 billion people, almost a quarter of the world's lowland population, will strongly depend on runoff from mountain regions. Only sustainable development can ensure the important func
An ancestor to modern humans had a stockier build than previously thought—one that is quite different from today's human body—a team of paleoanthropologists has discovered. This newly established distinction suggests that the modern human body evolved more recently than once believed.
Many animals have evolved life cycles and strategies (patterns of survival and reproduction) in line with predictable seasonal variation in environmental conditions. Short and mild summers produce bursts of vegetation and food, the perfect time to give birth to young. Long, harsh winters when food is scarce have shaped animals to largely depend on fat reserves for energy, and in extreme cases, to
The development of metasurfaces opened a horizon for the advance of planar optics. Among metadevices, the metalens has attracted widespread attention for practical applications in imaging and spectroscopy, as it provides multifunctional wavefront manipulations for improved focus.
New research published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution by scientists from Australia and Mexico reveals the world's first complete angiosperm "time tree"—a reconstruction of the evolution of the Earth's flowering plants through time.
Many animals have evolved life cycles and strategies (patterns of survival and reproduction) in line with predictable seasonal variation in environmental conditions. Short and mild summers produce bursts of vegetation and food, the perfect time to give birth to young. Long, harsh winters when food is scarce have shaped animals to largely depend on fat reserves for energy, and in extreme cases, to
New research published today in Nature Ecology & Evolution by scientists from Australia and Mexico reveals the world's first complete angiosperm "time tree"—a reconstruction of the evolution of the Earth's flowering plants through time.
Nature, Published online: 06 July 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02036-7 Black and Latino people have been three times as likely as white people to be infected with the coronavirus in the US. Plus: everything we don't know about COVID-19, and the ever-present threat of chemical weapons.
Nature, Published online: 06 July 2020; doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2459-6 Tuning the electronic interactions by changing the dielectric environment of twisted bilayer graphene reveals the disappearance of the insulating states and their replacement by superconducting phases, suggesting a competition between the two phases.
Nature, Published online: 06 July 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02028-7 One-quarter of the global lowland population could depend on water from higher elevations by mid-century.
A new generation of orbiters, landers and rovers will study the Red Planet as never before, setting the stage for returning pristine samples to Earth — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Making an autonomous vehicle is proving harder and costlier than many startups predicted. So they're teaming up with giants like Hyundai, Jaguar, and Ford.
Growing evidence points to a link between air pollution and increased vulnerability to COVID-19. At the same time, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed doing away with a longstanding practice of accounting for reductions in health-damaging pollutants beyond a regulation's primary targets. If approved, the new approach would only weigh the benefits of further r
Stars do not just disappear – except when they do. Using the Very Large Telescope (part of the European Southern Observatory) astronomers have been tracking a massive unstable star. The star is located in the Kinman Dwarf galaxy, which is a distant, small, and metal poor galaxy (PHL 293B – at a distance of 23.1 Mpc ). This is too far away for current telescopes to resolve individual stars, but as
A new generation of orbiters, landers and rovers will study the Red Planet as never before, setting the stage for returning pristine samples to Earth — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Ditt klassursprung, men också den sociala miljö du växer upp i, spelar roll i om du skaffar dig en högre utbildning. I alla fall om du kommer från Landskrona. Hur viktiga är barndomens grannar när du växer upp? Är barn från familjer med låg socioekonomisk status mer sårbara mot att bo utsatta grannskap jämfört med andra barn? Påverkas även mer privilegierade barn av de grannskap de växer upp i? D
The news: A group of 239 scientists from 32 countries have written an open letter to the World Health Organization arguing that covid-19 can be transmitted through the air. You might think we know that already, but most current guidance is based on the idea that covid-19 is transmitted via droplets expelled from an infected person's nose or mouth. The thought is that these larger respiratory drop
Saskia Popescu's phone buzzes throughout the night, waking her up. It had already buzzed 99 times before I interviewed her at 9:15 a.m. ET last Monday. It buzzed three times during the first 15 minutes of our call. Whenever a COVID-19 case is confirmed at her hospital system, Popescu gets an email, and her phone buzzes. She cannot silence it. An epidemiologist at the University of Arizona, Popesc
239 scientists signed their name to a letter calling for governments—including international bodies like the World Health Organization—to acknowledge and plan for COVID-19's airborne spread. (Unsplash/) Virologists and other scientific experts still know relatively little about SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But the ever-growing body of evidence about how the virus is transmitted sug
Different mammals demonstrate common patterns in brain connections. But our own species has a few twists of its own — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Adam Kucharski wrote The Rules of Contagion before Covid-19. He talks about misinformation, bank failures, and coming up with hypotheses during a crisis.
The sirens have quieted in New York City. Each week, my husband, a nurse practitioner, reports fewer patients coming in for COVID-19 tests. We watch in horror as Arizona, Texas, and Florida experience the consequences of squandering the time they had to prevent an outbreak. Again, ICU beds fill. In the Northeast, by contrast, case counts are falling . On June 30, Massachusetts reported zero COVID
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology researchers have developed a robust and efficient method of examining the interactions between cells using fluorescent tagging, simultaneously analyzing multiple cell populations, and speeding up a once tedious and limiting process. The new assay also has applications in studying cellular processes in inflammation or cancer cell metastasis and in
On March 12th 2020 a space telescope called Swift detected a burst of radiation from halfway across the Milky Way. Within a week, the newly discovered X-ray source, named Swift J1818.0–1607, was found to be a magnetar, a rare type of slowly rotating neutron star with one of the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe.
Microalgae could provide an alternative source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids for humans while also being more environmentally friendly to produce than popular fish species. This is the result of a new study by scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The study was recently published in the Journal of Applied Phycology and offers an initial indication of the environmental e
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology researchers have developed a robust and efficient method of examining the interactions between cells using fluorescent tagging, simultaneously analyzing multiple cell populations, and speeding up a once tedious and limiting process. The new assay also has applications in studying cellular processes in inflammation or cancer cell metastasis and in
Enligt FN:s klimatpanel IPCC står lantbruket för en stor del av världens utsläpp av växthusgaser och ses därför av många som en klimatbov. Den slutsatsen bygger dock på ett paradigm som kan ifrågasättas, skriver LiU-forskaren Per Frankelius i en artikel publicerad i Agronomy Journal. Lantbruk bygger på storskalig fotosyntes där koldioxid binds i grödorna samtidigt som syre produceras. En del av k
It's known as the "curse of dimensionality," and it's why our estimates of how a disease will behave will always have imprecision — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Microalgae could provide an alternative source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids for humans while also being more environmentally friendly to produce than popular fish species. This is the result of a new study by scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The study was recently published in the Journal of Applied Phycology and offers an initial indication of the environmental e
PLUS. I et forlig har et konsortium accepteret at betale 600 mio. euro som dækning for skader, efter byarkivet i Køln kollapsede i 2009 i forbindelse med anlæg af en undergrundsbane og kostede to mennesker livet.
Scientists studying the moon have long puzzled over the low metal content of Earth's satellite. After all, if the moon formed from fragments of Earth, shouldn't it have similar metal content? NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) might finally have found an explanation for this apparent discrepancy : the metal might be buried deep below the surface. No one knows exactly how the moon formed, b
Different mammals demonstrate common patterns in brain connections. But our own species has a few twists of its own — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Different mammals demonstrate common patterns in brain connections. But our own species has a few twists of its own — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
According to findings published this week in mBio, Nissle, a strain of Escherichia coli, is harmless to intestinal tissue and may protect the gut from enterohemorrhagic E. coli, a pathogen that produces Shiga toxin.
There's an old expression wryly deployed across the South: Thank God for Mississippi or we'd be last in everything . Donald Trump is now behind even Mississippi. Last week, Governor Tate Reeves signed into law a measure that will remove the Confederate battle flag from the state flag. It was the last state flag in the country to include the Confederate design, though others retain references. The
Det som sker utanför nätet beskrivs ofta som IRL – in real life, vilket kan leda till uppfattningen att allt som sker på internet är mindre verkligt. För barn som utsätts för sexualbrott via internet är dock både traumat och konsekvenserna högst verkliga, visar forskning från Göteborgs universitet. – Synen på sexualbrott som sker via internet verkar vara att de är mindre allvarliga och mindre sex
When you think of valuable items to steal, you might imagine cash, cars, or jewelry. But what about journals? That's what my colleagues and I from Disseropedia, the journals project of Dissernet, which was created to fight plagiarism in Russia, recently found. The story begins when my Dissernet colleague Andrei Rostovtsev discovered several cases of … Continue reading
On April 17, Texas became one of the first states to relax social distancing mandates. Now, the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in Houston has quadrupled since Memorial Day. Messages sent between doctors and hospital staff show alarm as the large hospital network in Houston begins to fill.
Emergency services in western Japan were "racing against time" Tuesday to rescue people stranded by devastating floods and landslides that have killed at least 50, as the country braced for more torrential downpours.
UC Riverside scientists have found the first substance capable of controlling Citrus Greening Disease, which has devastated citrus farms in Florida and also threatens California.
UC Riverside scientists have found the first substance capable of controlling Citrus Greening Disease, which has devastated citrus farms in Florida and also threatens California.
Brazil is second only to the United States in virus cases, and its leader had come under fire for his handling of the pandemic. The U.S. will pay a company $1.6 billion for vaccine development.
Fifteen years ago a large population study from Denmark found a significantly increased risk of cerebral palsy in infants born as a result of assisted reproduction. Although the absolute risk was small, such studies at this time made cerebral palsy the greatest developmental birth defect risk associated with IVF, and a concern in its overall safety profile.
AI is on the march in the movie industry – but what would an android-written film actually look like? And will it be any good? A few years ago I moved to San Francisco, and almost everybody I met there immediately told me they were working on a startup. These startups all had the same innocent names – Swoon, Flow, Maker – and the same dreadful mission: to build AIs that automated some unfortunate
People's immune systems seem to have a lasting response to the new coronavirus. This makes a vaccine more likely, but also brings complications with "immunity passports" and herd immunity canards
Nature Communications, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17156-x STING is considered central to antiviral immunity via induction of type 1 interferons, but can also activate autophagy. Here the authors made two mice with different STING mutations that differentially affect these antiviral responses, and surprisingly show that inhibiting STING-dependent type 1 interferon produ
Nature Communications, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17215-3 Designing energy efficient and scalable artificial networks for neuromorphic computing remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate online learning in a monolithically integrated 4 × 4 fully memristive neural network consisting of volatile NbOx memristor neurons and nonvolatile TaOx memristor synapses.
Nature Communications, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17069-9 Defects in DNA single-strand break repair are associated with neurodegenerative disease. Here the authors reveal that mutations in ARH3 interfere with the catabolism of mono-(ADP-ribose) and lead to its accumulation on core histones following repair of endogenous or exogenous DNA single-strand breaks.
Nature Communications, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17088-6 Meiotic cell division in oocytes is asymmetric and requires microtubule spindle migration after anaphase-onset. Here, the authors show that Nampt, an enzyme of the Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) biosynthetic pathway, contributes to post-anaphase spindle migration and oocyte division asymmetry by control
Nature Communications, Published online: 07 July 2020; doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17095-7 Immunoglobulin (Ig) rearrangement and translocation information are usually obtained by targeted sequencing of the respective loci. Here, the authors present the IgCaller algorithm, which extracts Ig heavy and light chain genetic properties from short-read whole-genome sequencing results to provide a feasible al
Family violence increases in places that have been severely burned in bushfires, Australian research finds. The isolation and financial stress of COVID-19 appear to be exacerbating the problem. (Image credit: Meredith Rizzo/NPR)
Your questions answered on what type of mask to wear to cut the risk of getting Covid-19 Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Yes. Different types of mask offer different levels of protection. Surgical grade N95 respirators offer the highest level of protection against Covid-19 infection, followed by surgical grade masks. However, these masks are costly, in limited supply
Over 200 forskere fra hele verden har skrevet et åbent brev, hvor de opfordrer Verdenssundhedsorganisationen til at erkende, at coronasmitten er luftbåren.
An increase in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 5 million cars a year has been caused by the loss of seagrass meadows around the Australian coastline since the 1950s.
An increase in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 5 million cars a year has been caused by the loss of seagrass meadows around the Australian coastline since the 1950s.PhD student Cristian Salinas from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Western Australia calculated that around 161,150 hectares of seagrass have been lost from Australian coasts since the 1950s. This has resulte in a 2 per cent incr
Microalgae could provide an alternative source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids for humans while also being more environmentally friendly to produce than popular fish species. This is the result of a new study by scientists from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). The study was recently published in the Journal of Applied Phycology and offers an initial indication of the environmental e
An increase in carbon dioxide emissions equivalent to 5 million cars a year has been caused by the loss of seagrass meadows around the Australian coastline since the 1950s.
At least four premises say they will shut after staff or customers contract virus Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage At least four pubs in England that reopened their doors for the first time on Saturday have been forced to close again after customers or staff tested positive for Covid-19. The Lighthouse Kitchen and Carvery in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, said a customer h
I och med att ringen är minst 40 år så är det svårt att säga vilka farliga kemikalier den kan tänkas innehålla; det vet endast tillverkaren. Generellt gäller att gummi, som innerslangar tillverkas av, är mycket åldersbeständigt och det är säkert en av anledningarna till att innerslangen fortfarande är mjuk.
Temperatures soared 10 degrees Celsius above average in June across much of permafrost-laden Siberia, with last month in a dead heat for the warmest June on record globally, the European Union's climate monitoring network said Tuesday.
International students will be forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall, under new guidelines issued Monday by federal immigration authorities.
Strømmen af sygdomme, der springer fra dyr til mennesker, vil stige hvis vi ikke sætter ind over for bl.a. stadigt mere intensivt landbrug og udnyttelse af vilde dyr.
One of the critically endangered gorillas in the New Orleans' zoo is expecting her first baby, and already is being trained with a "doll" to hold her future offspring.
Til trods for store investeringer i udrulning af fibernet, har over 100.000 boliger og virksomheder i Danmark stadig dårlig bredbåndsdækning, og Energistyrelsen forventer at op mod 90.000 adresser fortsat har dårlig bredbåndsdækning i 2023.
One of the critically endangered gorillas in the New Orleans' zoo is expecting her first baby, and already is being trained with a "doll" to hold her future offspring.
Microplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development, according to new research. A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals' feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood.
The average pay package for CEOs at top U.S. companies surpassed $12 million last year, according to the latest Associated Press survey, as boards attempted to keep pace in the labor market for CEO talent.
The shrine of Saint Thomas Becket, the most important pilgrimage destination in medieval England—visited for hundreds of years by pilgrims seeking miraculous healing—has been digitally reconstructed for the public, according to how experts believe it appeared before its destruction.
The reniform nematode is one of the most commonly found pests of cotton, with the ability to cause severe economic damage. In order to assess exactly how much damage the reniform nematode can cause, plant pathologists at Auburn University conducted a field trial comparing a clean field to a reniform-infested field.
The reniform nematode is one of the most commonly found pests of cotton, with the ability to cause severe economic damage. In order to assess exactly how much damage the reniform nematode can cause, plant pathologists at Auburn University conducted a field trial comparing a clean field to a reniform-infested field.
Proposed £3bn environmental funding for UK contrasts with Germany's £36bn investment Environmental groups have reacted with disappointment to details of the government's Covid-19 economic rescue package released by the Treasury. On Monday night the government announced some details of the announcement expected on Wednesday, including a £1bn energy efficiency upgrade for public buildings and insul
President of science body issues call amid evidence coverings protect wearer as well as others Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Refusing to wear a mask in public during the Covid-19 epidemic should become as socially unacceptable as drink-driving or not wearing a seatbelt, the president of the Royal Society has said. He spoke as new research emerges suggesting the UK'
Goyt valley, Derbyshire: Wych elms have been pleasingly resilient to the fungal infection that has decimated populations across Europe, and this area boasts hundreds My interest in elm trees was piqued this spring when someone happened to mention on social media that there were probably no more than 100 mature examples left in England. This instantly had the whiff of urban legend because just tha
Microplastic fiber pollution in the ocean impacts larval lobsters at each stage of their development, according to new research. A study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin reports that the fibers affect the animals' feeding and respiration, and they could even prevent some larvae from reaching adulthood.
Research published in the journal Microbial Genomics describes how national surveillance systems can be linked with the UK Biobank. This pooled data could then be used to understand how genetics and other epidemiological factors impact risk of developing severe infection.
A simple measuring tape could be the key to identifying which children could developneurological and developmental abnormalities from Zika virus exposure during gestation.This is according to an invited commentary published July 7 in JAMA Network Open andwritten by Sarah Mulkey, M.D., Ph.D., prenatal-neonatal neurologist in the Division ofPrenatal Pediatrics at Children's National Hospital.
Weeks and months after having a confirmed or suspected Covid-19 infection, many people are finding they still haven't fully recovered. Emerging reports describe lingering symptoms ranging from fatigue and brain-fog to breathlessness and tingling toes. So why does Covid-19 cause lasting health problems? Ian Sample discusses some of the possible explanations with Prof Danny Altmann, and finds out h
Weeks and months after having a confirmed or suspected Covid-19 infection, many people are finding they still haven't fully recovered. Emerging reports describe lingering symptoms ranging from fatigue and brain-fog to breathlessness and tingling toes. So why does Covid-19 cause lasting health problems? Ian Sample discusses some of the possible explanations with Prof Danny Altmann, and finds out ho
Melbourne is undergoing a suburban testing blitz after Victorian premier Daniel Andrews revealed hotspots in suburbs were largely caused by extended families Follow live updates in Tuesday's Australia coronavirus blog What we know about the public housing tower 'hard lockdowns' All our coverage of Victoria's 'hard lockdown' Australia hotspots map, stats and active cases On 2 July a stay at home o
This article on Reddit caught my attention earlier . It claims that the United States is losing its dominance because people don't like to learn math or are not effective at lowering math, we will lose in the end when it comes to artificial intelligence. The reason for this is very simple, and I know it because of first-hand experience. We are teaching math completely wrong. We don't believe that
Early on in the pandemic, it seemed as if kids were spared the worst effects of the coronavirus. But in May, a mysterious illness that affected children and appeared to be linked to the virus emerged. As parents now look to send kids back to school and day care, how should they think about these risks? What do we now know about this new syndrome? James Hamblin and Katherine Wells are joined on th
A medication used as a second line of defense against tuberculosis could enhance therapy for fear and anxiety disorders, according to a new clinical study. D-cycloserine (DCS) has landed itself on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines for its abilities to stop the growth of bacterial cell walls. In recent decades, however, mental health researchers have taken note of the ant
There may be a connection between your genes and feeling insecure in romantic relationships, according to a new study. Each day for about three weeks, close to 100 heterosexual couples in Montreal tracked their feelings during daily interactions with their romantic partners. Researchers were interested in whether a fairly common genetic variant in the opioid system, seen in about a quarter of the
Never bike without one. (Victor Xok via Unsplash/) Biking is looking ever-more like an efficient, healthy, and sustainable way to travel. With a two-wheeler, you can freely and quickly get around without coming into close contact with other people. But for any bike journey, most experienced riders will tell you that a helmet is essential to ensure your safety. Whether you're a commuter or leisure
Everything where you need it to be. (American Heritage Chocolate via Unsplash/) Baking is an art form so, fittingly, it requires very specialized sets of tools. Keeping it all organized and neat can be as challenging as whipping up the perfect meringue, however, as anyone with a cabinet full of loose sprinkles and randomly, half-filled tins of baking powder can attest. Keeping your baking accesso
Åben kildekode kan give øget tillid til appen, der skal hjælpe Danmark med at håndtere corona, anerkender Sundhedsministeriet. Både EU og WHO anbefaler open source.
Religious people tend to have more children than secular people, but why remains unknown. A new study suggests that the social circles provided by regular church going make raising kids easier. Conversely, having a large secular social group made women less likely to have children. When you think about it, religious ritual is kind of strange. People invest time, energy, and resources into pageant
Old, big trees are dying faster than in the past, leaving younger, less biodiverse forests that store less carbon worldwide. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Hundreds of distinctive flint objects from a Stone Age village in Jordan seem to have been a form of symbolic communication – perhaps even figurines of people
Old, big trees are dying faster than in the past, leaving younger, less biodiverse forests that store less carbon worldwide. — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox . SHUTTERSTOCK / NIH / THE ATLANTIC With confirmed cases again on the rise— this time like never before —Americans can feel justified in their coronavirus angst. But who should be the target of the
Atlanta mayor tests positive for Covid-19 ; Kenya emerges from lockdown ; Israel reimposes restrictions . Follow the latest updates US cases near 3m as White House claims country is a "leader" in global fight against virus Fury as Boris Johnson accuses care homes over high Covid-19 death toll Global report: India sees record daily rise as capital opens giant hospital World map: which countries ha
A common inherited genetic variant is a frequent cause of deafness in adults, meaning that many thousands of people are potentially at risk, reveals research published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics.
Controversial restrictions brought in to ease strain on quarantine system after rush of New Zealanders arriving at the border Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage New Zealanders could be blocked at their own border after the government moved to slow the pace of international arrivals due to Covid-19. Mounting pressure on New Zealand's Covid-19 border regime has forced the
Officials across state lines are acknowledging that reopening too soon likely contributed to the spike in caseloads and are finding themselves right back where they started in March. (Pexels/) As we head into the dog days of summer, life in various states across the country feels starkly different.The New York City metro area and its neighboring states New Jersey and Connecticut are now experienc
Fool Me Once Last month, San Diego's police department tapped video footage from the city's smart streetlight cameras in order to identify and spy on Black Lives Matter protestors. It's a chilling use of the technology: Using cameras ostensibly installed as a public safety and transit analytics tool to instead surveil protestors exercising their First Amendment rights. But the police requests may
The reniform nematode is one of the most commonly found pests of cotton, with the ability to cause severe economic damage. In order to assess exactly how much damage the reniform nematode can cause, plant pathologists at Auburn University conducted a field trial comparing a clean field to a reniform-infested field.
The active agents of many drugs are natural products, so called because often only microorganisms are able to produce the complex structures. Similar to the production line in a factory, large enzyme complexes put these active agent molecules together. Biologists have now succeeded in investigating the basic mechanisms of one of these molecular factories.
The brain has a high energy demand and reacts very sensitively to oxygen deficiency. Neurobiologists have now succeeded for the first time in directly correlating oxygen consumption with the activity of certain nerve cells.
Consider this scenario: A vaccine for the novel coronavirus has been developed that is 91.27% effective. If public health officials present this information using the specific number, people are likely to think the vaccine is actually less effective than if it is presented as being 90% effective. This concept is a real-life application of recent findings from Gaurav Jain, an assistant professor of
A blender is a must-have kitchen appliance. (Sara Cervera via Unsplash/) Blenders can transform your lifestyle, whether you're whipping up a snack, beverage, or entire meal. With competitive prices and a range of brands, the small workhorses can easily become your most reliable kitchen tool. To maximize your experience with the appliance, you'll want one that has strong design and engineering, in
Three-Legged Race Multiple space agencies around the world are moving to capitalize on some fortunate interplanetary timing as they embark on missions to Mars. The U.S., China, and the United Arab Emirates all plan to send spacecraft to the Red Planet this month, according to The Hill , as the two planets' alignment makes a Mars mission easy. Or, at least, as easy as such a launch could possibly
New research from the University of Notre Dame examines how compensation for incoming chief executives — which serves as a sign of the board's upfront confidence in the CEO's ability — is related to subsequent performance in the years that follow.
Researchers at The University of Texas have created a new liquid battery with components that can remain molten at room temperature. Other liquid batteries must be kept at 240 degrees Celsius for their components to stay molten.
Tents that make a difference. (Cameron Vaughan via Unsplash/) Camping doesn't have to mean roughing it—at least, not where your tent's concerned. Today's tents are spacious enough to sleep multiple people, and they offer a host of features that maximize comfort, like advanced venting, room dividers, and black-out covers. Set up is usually quick and simple thanks to innovative design, and the resu
It images single atoms. It maps atomic-scale hills and valleys on metal and insulating surfaces. And it records the flow of current across atom-thin materials subject to giant magnetic fields. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a novel instrument that can make three kinds of atom-scale measurements simultaneously. Together, these measurements can
1. Clinical Validity of COVID-19 Serum Antibodies ; 2. Qualitative Assessment of Rapid System Transformation to Primary Care Video Visits at an Academic Medical Center ; 3. Obesity and COVID-19 in New York City: A Retrospective Cohort Study ; 4. Regulatory T Cells for Treating Patients With COVID-19 and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Two Case Reports.
Teenagers who prefer to stay up late at night and sleep in late the next day are more likely to develop asthma and allergies than their 'early bird' counterparts, according to new research published today.'Compared to the morning type, those who go to bed late have approximately three times higher risk of developing asthma,' said principal investigator Subhabrata Moitra, a post-doctoral fellow in
Optical amplifiers based on chirped pulse amplification (CPA) are used to generate high intensity pulses. In the CPA scheme, a weak temporally stretched seed pulse is amplified to high energy in a laser amplifier and finally re-compressed resulting in an ultrashort pulse of very high intensity.
According to an investigation by The New York Times , the number of murders has spiked in several larger US cities in the first half of 2020, compared to the same time period in 2019. Gun violence in New York is the highest it's been in 25 years. 14 people were killed and at least 106 shot in just one weekend in Chicago. In Los Angeles, homicides rose 250 percent week over week in June. The numbe
Layered van der Waals materials are of high interest for electronic and photonic applications, according to researchers who provide new insights into the interactions of layered materials with laser and electron beams.
"Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) Culture," just published in Current Anthropology (v61, no. 3 (June 2020): 356-379) studies the Tarahumara Native Americans of northern Mexico.
A giant 70 million year old fossil of a fish that lived amongst dinosaurs has been discovered in Argentine Patagonia, a team of researchers said on Monday.
Currently, low-alloy aluminum is widely used in electrical engineering and machine building. At the same time, it should be noted that modern electrical engineering places very high and in some cases mutually exclusive requirements to aluminum alloys.
Running in Tarahumara (Rarámuri) Culture. The Tarahumara (Rarámuri) are a Native American people from Chihuahua, Mexico, who have long been famous for running, but there is widespread incredulity about how and why they run such long distances. Tarahumara, like many Native American peoples, consider running, along with other endurance-based activities, to have important social dimensions, such as a
A research team from Nanjing University recently demonstrated active manipulation of chromatic dispersion, achieving achromatic focusing within a designated broadband.
Research from UofSC associate professor Saurabh Chatterjee's laboratory in Environmental Health Sciences at the Arnold School of Public Health has revealed the cause behind the previously established link between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and neurological problems.
Power all your devices. (Nicole Wolf via Unsplash/) Odds are you don't worry too much about surge protection unless you've lost a major appliance because you weren't using one. Trust us, losing an expensive fridge because your house has old wiring, or seeing your laptop fried during a lightning storm is not fun. The good news is that preventing these sorts of disasters is actually quite cheap. St
Over the past few years, fuel cells have become a focal point of research in eco-friendly technology because of their superior abilities to store and produce renewable energy and clean fuel. A typical type of fuel cell gaining ground is the proton-conducting fuel cell, which is primarily made of materials through which hydrogen ions (protons: H+), can easily move. Proton-conducting materials provi
Researchers have discovered a new class of pipeline drugs to relieve pain and reduce fever without the danger of addiction or damage to the liver or kidneys.
Researchers demonstrate in an animal model that age-related frailty and immune decline can be halted and even partially reversed using a novel cell-based therapeutic approach.
In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, researchers have made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent.
Protect yourself and others. ( Denis Jung via Unsplash/) Wearing a protective mask is critical for halting the spread of lots of illnesses, so it makes sense people are finding creative ways to cover up their noses and mouths. Some are donning bandanas and others are sewing homemade masks or stocking up on disposables. If your mask of choice puts a strain on your ears, consider a mask extender. T
We are excited to announce: "Share Your Research: How To Give A Good Talk". This new iBiology free 5-week online course is coming July 27th. Hear from practicing scientists and professional science communicators about how to give an engaging talk. Learn more about the course here: https://bit.ly/SYR-July From: iBiology
Layered van der Waals materials are of high interest for electronic and photonic applications, according to researchers who provide new insights into the interactions of layered materials with laser and electron beams.
Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a novel instrument that can make three kinds of atom-scale measurements simultaneously.
With high precision, a new algorithm predicts which patients treated for traumatic injuries in the emergency department will later develop posttraumatic stress disorder.
For all your meal prep. ( Toa Heftiba via Unsplash/) The single most important tool in your kitchen is your knife. Slicing, chopping, skinning, boning—the humble knife can do it all. While many chefs prefer to pick out each of their knives individually, knife sets provide a convenient way to get all the basics at once. Most sets include larger chef's knives, serrated bread knives, paring knives,
J. Paul Taylor has found that some brain diseases, like Alzheimer's and ALS, are linked to a basic process inside brain cells. Scientists hope drugs that tweak the process can treat illnesses.
These packs help you enjoy the great outdoors. (Holly Mandarich via Unsplash/) Hiking is a wonderful way to see the outdoors, whether you're on an epic adventure through the wilderness or a weekend trip with friends. Of all the equipment you'll need, one of the most important is your backpack. Without it, you obviously can't hope to carry any other gear. But choose the wrong one and you'll be in
Our cells are constantly dividing, and as they do, the DNA molecule—our genetic code—sometimes gets broken. DNA has twin strands, and a break in both is considered especially dangerous. This kind of double-strand break can lead to genome rearrangements that are hallmarks of cancer cells, said James Daley, Ph.D., of the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San
Researchers from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Laboratory at Michigan State University (MSU) have taken a major step toward a theoretical first-principles description of neutrinoless double-beta decay. Observing this yet-unconfirmed rare nuclear process would have important implications for particle physics and cosmology. Theoretical simulations are essential to planning and evaluatin
Our cells are constantly dividing, and as they do, the DNA molecule—our genetic code—sometimes gets broken. DNA has twin strands, and a break in both is considered especially dangerous. This kind of double-strand break can lead to genome rearrangements that are hallmarks of cancer cells, said James Daley, Ph.D., of the Long School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San
In a surprise twist, a major group of flowering plants is evolving twice as quickly in temperate zones as the tropics. The finding runs counter to a long-held hypothesis that tropical regions, home to the planet's richest biological diversity, outpace their temperate counterparts in producing new species.
UT Southwestern researchers have identified vast webs of small snippets of the genome that interact with each other and with genes to promote prostate cancer. Their findings, published June 22 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could lead to new ways to treat the most common type of malignancy in American men other than skin cancer.
New research coming out of the University of California, Davis, suggests that people's ideal partner preferences do not reflect any unique personal insight
To make new memories, our brain cells first must find one another. But scientists are still learning just how these connections form in response to new experiences and information. Now, a study by scientists in UC San Francisco's Weill Institute for Neurosciences has identified a surprising new way that the brain's immune cells help out.
Canadian companies that go international are known to be more productive and successful than those that don't. New research has quantified the reasons why.
A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry describes a new way to determine the age of insulin-storage parcels, known as granules, and sheds light on how their age affects their release into the bloodstream. The findings could help experts better understand diabetes and fine-tune therapies for it.
In a surprise twist, a major group of flowering plants is evolving twice as quickly in temperate zones as the tropics. The finding runs counter to a long-held hypothesis that tropical regions, home to the planet's richest biological diversity, outpace their temperate counterparts in producing new species.
A study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry describes a new way to determine the age of insulin-storage parcels, known as granules, and sheds light on how their age affects their release into the bloodstream. The findings could help experts better understand diabetes and fine-tune therapies for it.
Biologists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and HSE University have studied the patterns of flower development in yellow water-lily (Nuphar lutea). They found out that all the floral organs are arranged in cycles (whorls) rather than inserted sequentially in a spiral, as is the case in some other basal angiosperms. The ancestors of yellow pond-lily were among the first to diverge from the ro
As COVID-19 spread across the country earlier this year, forcing schools and universities to close, Jessica L. Malisch began to notice an alarming trend—but not related to the virus.
It lacks the drama of a shape-shifting alien creature, but another threat looms over the prospect of generations-long, interstellar space travel: Explorers arriving on Xanadu could face problems communicating with previous and subsequent arrivals, their spoken language having changed in isolation along the way.
In a study of New York state apple orchards, Cornell plant pathologists have identified a new fungal pathogen that causes bitter rot disease in apples. Also, a second related fungus known to cause rot disease in other fruits was found for the first time in apples.
Whether it's on top of a self-driving car or embedded inside the latest gadget, Light Detection and Ranging (lidar) systems will likely play an important role in our technological future, enabling vehicles to 'see' in real-time, phones to map three-dimensional images and enhancing augmented reality in video games.
Lithium is becoming common in our everyday lives. It is the key ingredient in the batteries of our mobile phones and electric vehicles, but have you ever wondered where it comes from?
Biologists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and HSE University have studied the patterns of flower development in yellow water-lily (Nuphar lutea). They found out that all the floral organs are arranged in cycles (whorls) rather than inserted sequentially in a spiral, as is the case in some other basal angiosperms. The ancestors of yellow pond-lily were among the first to diverge from the ro
In a study of New York state apple orchards, Cornell plant pathologists have identified a new fungal pathogen that causes bitter rot disease in apples. Also, a second related fungus known to cause rot disease in other fruits was found for the first time in apples.
There's a fairly large flaw in the way that programmers are currently addressing ethical concerns related to artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Namely, existing approaches don't account for the fact that people might try to use AVs to do something bad.
Life as we know it could not exist without Earth's magnetic field and its ability to deflect dangerous ionizing particles. It is continuously generated by the motion of liquid iron in Earth's outer core, a phenomenon called the geodynamo. Despite its fundamental importance, many questions remain unanswered about the geodynamo's origin. New work examines how the presence of lighter elements in the
Scientists studying the 'near threatened' tequila bat, best known for its role in pollinating the Blue Agave plant from which the drink of the same name is made from, have analyzed its DNA to help inform conservationists on managing their populations.
The biofilms that cling to sewer walls often contain harmful, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and can withstand standard treatment to disinfect sewers, research finds. For the study in the journal Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology , researchers examined the microbe-laden biofilms and built a simulated sewer to study the germs that survive within. Cleaning with bleach can reduce the
Researchers at UT Health San Antonio studied double-strand breaks with complex damage and found that enzyme tools to resect the breaks are highly specific to the type of break to be repaired.
Archaeologists have combined the latest scientific methods to offer new insights into life during the Norman Conquest of England. Until now, the story of the Conquest has primarily been told from evidence of the elite classes of the time. But little has been known about how it affected everyday people's lives.
New research identifies several existing compounds that block replication of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) within human cells grown in the laboratory. The inhibitors all demonstrated potent chemical and structural interactions with a viral protein critical to the virus's ability to proliferate.
Researchers from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) Laboratory at Michigan State University (MSU) have taken a major step toward a theoretical first-principles description of neutrinoless double-beta decay. Observing this yet-unconfirmed rare nuclear process would have important implications for particle physics and cosmology. Theoretical simulations are essential to planning and evaluatin
Puerto Rico's population of African-European hybrid honey bees (AHB) are famously known for being much gentler than their continental counterparts. Now Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and their colleagues have found that this reduced defending of the nest is determined by colony-level genetics as opposed to individual bee's DNA, according to a study just published in the Proceedings
What makes ships mysteriously slow down or even stop as they travel, even though their engines are working properly? This was first observed in 1893 and was described experimentally in 1904 without all the secrets of this "dead water" being understood. A French team has explained this phenomenon for the first time.
Deserts of the US Southwest are extreme habitats for most plants, but, remarkably, microscopic green algae live there that are extraordinarily tolerant of dehydration. After completely drying out, the algae can become active and start photosynthesizing again within seconds of receiving a drop of water. Elena Peredo and Zoe Cardon of the Marine Biological Laboratory provide a genetic explanation fo
In a new paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Gladstone researchers detail how cytomegalovirus enters its dormant state: by varying the levels of some proteins in its viral particles.
Dinosaurs and pterosaurs may be known for their remarkable size, but a newly described species that lived around 237 million years ago suggests that they originated from extremely small ancestors. The fossil reptile, named Kongonaphon kely, or "tiny bug slayer," would have stood just 10 centimeters tall. The study may help explain the origins of flight in pterosaurs, the presence of "fuzz" on both
Study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides first direct evidence for Gulf Stream blender effect, identifying a new mechanism of mixing water across the swift-moving current. The results have important implications for weather, climate and fisheries because ocean mixing plays a critical role in these processes. The Gulf Stream is one of the largest drivers of climate and
Researchers often study the genomes of individual organisms to try to tease out the relationship between genes and behavior. A new study of Africanized honey bees reveals, however, that the genetic inheritance of individual bees has little influence on their propensity for aggression. Instead, the genomic traits of the hive as a whole are strongly associated with how fiercely its soldiers attack.
Angry Mob On Sunday night, a bus driver in Bayonne, France was assaulted by a group of passengers. His offense? He insisted that they wear a face mask. Face masks are required on public transit in Bayonne, Agence France-Presse reports . But that didn't stop the group — which also didn't have tickets, it reported — from turning violent when they were denied entry. Now, as of Monday morning, the dr
Liquid droplets formed from DNA display a peculiar response to enzymes. An international collaboration has now been able to explain the mechanisms behind bubble formation.
Researchers often study the genomes of individual organisms to try to tease out the relationship between genes and behavior. A new study of Africanized honey bees reveals, however, that the genetic inheritance of individual bees has little influence on their propensity for aggression. Instead, the genomic traits of the hive as a whole are strongly associated with how fiercely its soldiers attack.
Deserts of the U.S. Southwest are extreme habitats for most plants, but, remarkably, microscopic green algae live there that are extraordinarily tolerant of dehydration. These tiny green algae (many just a few microns in size) live embedded in microbiotic soil crusts, which are characteristic of arid areas and are formed by communities of bacteria, lichens, microalgae, fungi, and even small mosses
Dinosaurs and flying pterosaurs may be known for their remarkable size, but a newly described species from Madagascar that lived around 237 million years ago suggests that they originated from extremely small ancestors. The fossil reptile, named Kongonaphon kely, or "tiny bug slayer," would have stood just 10 centimeters (or about 4 inches) tall. The description and analysis of this fossil and its
What makes ships mysteriously slow down or even stop as they travel, even though their engines are working properly? This was first observed in 1893 and was described experimentally in 1904 without all the secrets of this 'dead water' being understood. An interdisciplinary team from the CNRS and the University of Poitiers has explained this phenomenon for the first time: the speed changes in ships
New research provides the first direct evidence for the Gulf Stream blender effect, identifying a new mechanism of mixing water across the swift-moving current. The results have important implications for weather, climate and fisheries because ocean mixing plays a critical role in these processes. The Gulf Stream is one of the largest drivers of climate and biological productivity from Florida to
When investors hedge a bet, they divvy their money between risky investments, which might make a large profit, and safe investments, which help ensure that not everything is lost in a market crash. The herpesvirus cytomegalovirus, Gladstone researchers have discovered, takes a similar approach to infecting the human body.
There's a fairly large flaw in the way that programmers are currently addressing ethical concerns related to artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Namely, existing approaches don't account for the fact that people might try to use AVs to do something bad.
Biologists from Lomonosov Moscow State University and HSE University have studied the patterns of flower development in yellow water-lily (Nuphar lutea). They found out that all the floral organs are arranged in cycles (whorls) rather than inserted sequentially in a spiral, as is the case in some other basal angiosperms.
Researchers often study the genomes of individual organisms to try to tease out the relationship between genes and behavior. A new study of Africanized honey bees reveals, however, that the genetic inheritance of individual bees has little influence on their propensity for aggression. Instead, the genomic traits of the hive as a whole are strongly associated with how fiercely its soldiers attack.
Deserts of the U.S. Southwest are extreme habitats for most plants, but, remarkably, microscopic green algae live there that are extraordinarily tolerant of dehydration. These tiny green algae (many just a few microns in size) live embedded in microbiotic soil crusts, which are characteristic of arid areas and are formed by communities of bacteria, lichens, microalgae, fungi, and even small mosses
When investors hedge a bet, they divvy their money between risky investments, which might make a large profit, and safe investments, which help ensure that not everything is lost in a market crash. The herpesvirus cytomegalovirus, Gladstone researchers have discovered, takes a similar approach to infecting the human body.
Liquid droplets formed from DNA display a peculiar response to enzymes. An international collaboration has now been able to explain the mechanisms behind bubble formation.
The program could make it easier to identify the deadly antimicrobial resistant bacteria that exist in the environment. Such superbugs annually cause more than 2.8 million difficult-to-treat pneumonia or bloodstream infections and 35,000 deaths in the US.
Researchers have discovered a protein that drives the progression of esophageal cancer and liver cancer and it could be a promising target for cancer drug development.
Without stem cells, human life would not exist. Due to them, a lump of cells becomes an organ, and a fertilized egg develops into a baby. But what actually makes a stem cell? Are these a stable population of specially gifted cells? Scientists discovered that instead, stem cells might emerge due to the collective behavior of cells within the organs.
By tuning the direction of the external magnetic field with respect to the crystallographic axis of the silicon wafer, an improvement of spin lifetime (relaxation time) by over two orders of magnitude was reported in silicon quantum dots. This breakthrough was carried out by a team led by academician Guo Guangcan from CAS Key Laboratory of Quantum Information, USTC, in which Prof. Guo Guoping, Pro
Human communication has evolved mechanisms that can be observed across all cultures and languages, including the use of communication history and the principle of least effort. These two factors enable us to use shared information about the past and present and to conserve energy, making communications as effective and efficient as possible. Given the remarkable sensitivity of dogs to human vocali
An international team led by physicists from the Ludwig-Maximilians Universitaet (LMU) in Munich realized a novel genuine time-dependent topological system with ultracold atoms in periodically-driven optical honeycomb lattices.
Human communication has evolved mechanisms that can be observed across all cultures and languages, including the use of communication history and the principle of least effort. These two factors enable us to use shared information about the past and present and to conserve energy, making communications as effective and efficient as possible. Given the remarkable sensitivity of dogs to human vocali
It lacks the drama of a shape-shifting alien creature, but another threat looms over the prospect of generations-long, interstellar space travel: Explorers arriving on Xanadu could face problems communicating with previous and subsequent arrivals, their spoken language having changed in isolation along the way. A new paper looks at the issues.
In a study of New York state apple orchards, Cornell University plant pathologists have identified a new fungal pathogen that causes bitter rot disease in apples.
Tiny eye movements can be used as an index of humans' ability to anticipate relevant information in the environment independent of the information's sensory modality.
A new analysis of white dwarf stars supports their role as a key source of carbon in galaxies. Every carbon atom in the universe was created by stars, but astrophysicists still debate which types of stars are the primary source of the carbon in our galaxy. Some studies favor low-mass stars that blew off their envelopes in stellar winds and became white dwarfs, while others favor massive stars that
An international team of experts on heart disease and diet say there's no evidence that a low-saturated fat diet reduces cholesterol in people with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Researchers have further refined the use of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. By accurately localizing electrode placement in the brains of patients, the researchers were able to identify a fiber tract which is associated with the best clinical outcomes following deep brain stimulation.
Drone Show It's a pandemic of global proportions and healthcare officials are desperate to get the word out: social distancing, washing hands, and wearing masks are all proven and effective ways to curb the spread of the coronavirus. And governments are getting more and more creative in the many ways they're trying to get that message out there. Take South Korea, where France 24 reports that offi
On Edge As Tesla shut down stores both before and during the coronavirus pandemic, it created a widespread culture of fear among managers and workers at its network of car dealerships. Current and former Tesla dealership employees told Business Insider that the company failed to update them or share details about how the company's early 2019 transition toward online sales would affect their jobs.
A patient with severe COVID-19 who, despite prolonged unresponsiveness and structural brain abnormalities, demonstrated functionally intact brain connections and later recovered the ability to follow commands.
Archaeologists from Cardiff University and the University of Sheffield have combined the latest scientific methods to offer new insights into life during the Norman Conquest of England.Until now, the story of the Conquest has primarily been told from evidence of the elite classes of the time. But little has been known about how it affected everyday people's lives.
Black patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) are at an increased risk for major adverse outcomes, including death, compared to white patients, according to a study published today in JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions. The study underscores the high rates of cardiovascular disease and risk factors in minorities and continued need for further research on race-based outcomes a
It has taken two decades, but I am finally ready to admit that I was the world's most annoying teenager. My parents are Catholic, and I used to delight in peppering them with trollish questions, preferably several hours into a long car journey. "Why does the Mass service refer to God as 'he' and 'father'?" was a favorite. "Does God have a Y chromosome, then? Does God have, like, testicles ?" I wa
Pork and possibly chicken became more popular in England after arrival of William the Conqueror The Norman conquest led to far-reaching and long-lasting political change across England – and new research suggests it also led to the English eating more pork and chicken. Before 1066, beef, lamb, mutton and goat were among the meats most likely to be served in England, but a study of human and anima
According to one of the world's foremost pandemic experts, everyone will need to stay vigilant for years in order to truly beat the coronavirus. Eric Toner, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security and a prominent government advisor on pandemic preparedness, told CNET that wearing masks and some degree of social distancing will be necessary for years — and that
Researchers are tracking a potential new dialect of bird song that has swept rapidly through sparrows throughout North America. (Scott M. Ramsay/) When ornithologist Ken Otter moved to Prince George in northern British Columbia in 1999, he soon noticed that there was something odd about one of the songs the birds in his new home were singing. Otter was used to hearing male white-throated sparrows
Onsite testing at wastewater treatment plants could aid efforts to monitor for outbreaks of COVID-19 around the world, but such technologies are in the early stages of development.
Archaeologists from Cardiff University and the University of Sheffield have combined the latest scientific methods to offer new insights into life during the Norman Conquest of England.
The 'quasiparticles' defy the categories of ordinary particles and herald a potential way to build quantum computers — Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Spring is a bloody season on American roads. Yearling black bears blunder over the asphalt in search of their own territories. In the West, herds of deer, elk, and pronghorn scamper across highways as they migrate from winter pastures to summer redoubts. A smaller-scale but no less epic journey transpires in the Northeast, where wood frogs, spotted salamanders, and eastern newts emerge from their
The latest coronavirus news updated every day including coronavirus cases, the latest news, features and interviews from New Scientist and essential information about the covid-19 pandemic
En ung stjärnhop håller just nu på att ta form i vår galax Vintergatan. Tack vare mätningar från instrument som Alma och Hubbleteleskopet har astronomerna fått en ny bild av det kosmiska fyrverkeriet – som ger nya insikter om hur stjärnor, som vår sol, föds tillsammans. De flesta stjärnor i universum, inklusive vår sol, föddes in i stora familjer av stjärnor som kallas stjärnhopar. Galaxer är
Visualizing the age of insulin secreting granules in cells allowed researchers to investigate how cells' preference for secreting newer granules is disrupted in diabetes.
Components made of glass- and carbon- fiber reinforced composites, soaring in high-performance applications, can be 3D printed. A team of researchers from NYU Tandon School of Engineering found that the printer head toolpaths are easy to reproduce — and therefore steal — with machine learning (ML) tools applied to the microstructures of the part obtained by a CT scan.
In a new article, a team of 17 faculty members from across the nation, including nine from Texas Tech, examines how the pandemic amplifies gender inequity and proposes novel solutions. The article was published recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically.
Consider this scenario: A vaccine for the novel coronavirus has been developed that is 91.27% effective. If public health officials present this information using the specific number, people are likely to think the vaccine is actually less effective than if it is presented as being 90% effective.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication is disrupted in human diseases and how this can be corrected pharmacologically.
Consider this scenario: A vaccine for the novel coronavirus has been developed that is 91.27% effective. If public health officials present this information using the specific number, people are likely to think the vaccine is actually less effective than if it is presented as being 90% effective. This concept is a real-life application of recent findings from Gaurav Jain, an assistant professor of
The program could make it easier to identify the deadly antimicrobial resistant bacteria that exist in the environment. Such superbugs annually cause more than 2.8 million difficult-to-treat pneumonia or bloodstream infections and 35,000 deaths in the US.
University of South Florida Health (USF Health) Morsani College of Medicine scientists recently worked with colleagues at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy to identify several existing compounds that block replication of the COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) within human cells grown in the laboratory. The inhibitors all demonstrated potent chemical and structural interactions with a viral pr
Currently, low-alloy aluminium is widely used in electrical engineering and machine building. At the same time, it should be noted that modern electrical engineering places very high and in some cases mutually exclusive requirements to aluminium alloys.
Scientists at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), discover a new family of high proton-conducting materials — 'the hexagonal perovskite-related oxides' — and shed light on the underlying mechanisms responsible for their conductivity. Their findings lead the way to uncovering other similar materials, furthering the res
A new analysis of white dwarf stars supports their role as a key source of carbon in galaxies. Every carbon atom in the universe was created by stars, but astrophysicists still debate which types of stars are the primary source of the carbon in our galaxy. Some studies favor low-mass stars that blew off their envelopes in stellar winds and became white dwarfs, while others favor massive stars that
As many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, have been linked to the defective functioning of motor proteins in cell transport systems, understanding the intricacies of how motor proteins work in their native crowded cell environments is essential to understanding what goes wrong when they function incorrectly. Molecular motors are specialized proteins that bind to a
As dying stars take their final few breaths of life, they gently sprinkle their ashes into the cosmos through the magnificent planetary nebulae. These ashes, spread via stellar winds, are enriched with many different chemical elements, including carbon.
Researchers have developed a human cell 'membrane on a chip' that allows continuous monitoring of how drugs and infectious agents interact with our cells, and may soon be used to test potential drug candidates for COVID-19.
Using a small device called the Miniature Radio Frequency (Mini-RF) instrument attached to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, a team of scientists found that there may be vastly more subsurface metals beneath the Moon's surface than previously thought. The discovery could force us to rethink the evolution of the Moon itself. The dominant theory is currently that a collision bet
Researchers have developed a human cell 'membrane on a chip' that allows continuous monitoring of how drugs and infectious agents interact with our cells, and may soon be used to test potential drug candidates for COVID-19.
Harvard University's freshman class will be invited to live on campus this fall, while most other undergraduates will be required to learn remotely from home, the Ivy League school announced Monday.
Country has third highest number of cases in world after 25,000 new infections recorded a day Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage India has overtaken Russia to claim the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the world after recording almost 25,000 new infections a day, mainly clustered in the megacities of Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai. The total number of cases of Co
The latest tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean formed one day ago and was already being battered by wind shear. NASA's Aqua satellite imagery revealed Tropical Storm Edouard's strongest storms were being displaced by strong southwesterly winds.
To weigh in on the 'iron hypothesis' in the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (NEEM) ice core, Cunde Xiao and his colleagues firstly reconstructed the bioavailable Fe data in this deep ice core from the northern Hemisphere over the past 110 kyr B.P., which suggested that the dissolved Fe (DFe) records in NEEM ice core were significantly anti-correlated with the carbon oxide (CO2) concentrations
Scientists have urged people to eat less meat and dairy after finding livestock farming singlehandedly exceeds "planetary boundaries" for nitrogen pollution
Researchers have combined artificial intelligence with systems theory to develop a more efficient way to detect and accurately identify an epileptic seizure in real time. "Our technique allows us to get raw data, process it, and extract a feature that's more informative for the machine learning model to use," says Walter Bomela, a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Jr-Shin Li, professor in the ele
The case was reported in the city of Bayannur, which has issued a level-three plague prevention warning. Modern antibiotics can effectively treat bubonic plague, which spreads mainly by fleas. Chinese health officials are also monitoring a newly discovered type of swine flu that has the potential to develop into a pandemic virus. A man in China's inner Mongolia region was infected with bubonic pl
The active agents of many drugs are natural products, so called because often only microorganisms are able to produce the complex structures. Similar to the production line in a factory, large enzyme complexes put these active agent molecules together. A team of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Goethe University Frankfurt has now succeeded in investigating the basic mechanisms of o
Power-scalable ultrafast laser sources in the midwave-infrared (MWIR) are a key element for basic research and applications in material processing and medicine. Optical amplifiers based on chirped pulse amplification (CPA) are used to generate high intensity pulses, a technique awarded with the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018. In the CPA scheme, a weak temporally stretched seed pulse is amplified t
In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, researchers at the University of Michigan have made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent.
The active agents of many drugs are natural products, so called because often only microorganisms are able to produce the complex structures. Similar to the production line in a factory, large enzyme complexes put these active agent molecules together. A team of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Goethe University Frankfurt has now succeeded in investigating the basic mechanisms of o
Led by Nancy Swigonski, MD and Mary Ciccarelli, MD, a team of faculty at Indiana University School of Medicine have developed a statewide early ASD screening and evaluation system in the primary care setting showing success in improving access to evaluations and lowering the age of diagnosis. This study, published July 6 in Pediatrics, is the first of its kind in the U.S. to include health care sy
Life as we know it could not exist without Earth's magnetic field and its ability to deflect dangerous ionizing particles. It is continuously generated by the motion of liquid iron in Earth's outer core, a phenomenon called the geodynamo. Despite its fundamental importance, many questions remain unanswered about the geodynamo's origin. New work examines how the presence of lighter elements in the
The latest tropical storm in the Atlantic Ocean formed one day ago and was already being battered by wind shear. NASA's Aqua satellite imagery revealed Tropical Storm Edouard's strongest storms were being displaced by strong southwesterly winds.
As dying stars take their final few breaths of life, they gently sprinkle their ashes into the cosmos through the magnificent planetary nebulae. These ashes, spread via stellar winds, are enriched with many different chemical elements, including carbon.Findings from a study published today in Nature Astronomy show that the final breaths of these dying stars, called white dwarfs, shed light on carb
In the recent study Macromolecular crowding acts as a physical regular of intracellular transport, published in the journal Nature Physics, lead researcher and Assistant Professor of Physics at NYU Abu Dhabi George Shubeita and his team present the findings that in a native cell environment, which is crowded with a high concentration of macromolecules, the crowding significantly impacts the speed
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have developed and implemented a new way to better understand how human cells communicate with each other, how this communication.
The active agents of many drugs are natural products, so called because often only microorganisms are able to produce the complex structures. Similar to the production line in a factory, large enzyme complexes put these active agent molecules together. A team of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Goethe University Frankfurt has now succeeded in investigating the basic mechanisms of o
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the world into turmoil and disrupted the status quo, but it is also providing opportunities for innovation in the way we live and work. According to the latest report released by The World in 2050 (TWI2050) initiative, the crisis can provide an opportunity to create sustainable societies with higher levels of well-being for all.
A team of Skoltech researchers from the Severinov Laboratory and their colleagues have identified the way in which a component of a two-part bacterial self-defense system from the toxin-antitoxin family works, leading to cell dormancy that helps fight off bacterial viruses, antibiotics and other insults.
Columbia University researchers report that they have observed a quantum fluid known as the fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS), one of the most delicate phases of matter, for the first time in a monolayer 2-D semiconductor. Their findings demonstrate the excellent intrinsic quality of 2-D semiconductors and establish them as a unique test platform for future applications in quantum computing. T
A team of Skoltech researchers from the Severinov Laboratory and their colleagues have identified the way in which a component of a two-part bacterial self-defense system from the toxin-antitoxin family works, leading to cell dormancy that helps fight off bacterial viruses, antibiotics and other insults.
Writing in the leading academic journal, Nature, Cranfield academics are calling for global resilience to be shaped around the 'Five Capitals'—natural, human, social, built and financial. The academics believe that too often silos exist within Government and within organizations and businesses that mean risks are not anticipated quickly enough or prepared for well enough.
National and regional policies aimed at addressing pollution fueled by nitrogen lag behind scientific knowledge of the problem, finds a new analysis by an international team of researchers. Its work, which appears in the journal Nature Sustainability, reveals how governmental regulations favor nitrogen use for commercial enterprise over curbing its environmental impacts.
Stem cells are central to organ development and renewal. In most organs, stem cells are located in specific regions and, in some cases, can be identified through several intrinsic properties, like molecular markers. They can differentiate into various types of cells and divide indefinitely to produce more stem cells. However, does this mean the stem cell at the top is immortal? Or can any cell ove
In physics, a very intuitive way of describing the evolution of a system proceeds via the specification of functions of the spatiotemporal coordinates. Yet, there often exist other degrees of freedom in terms of which the physical entities pertaining to a variety of structures can be seen to evolve and that are not amenable to a description via spatial coordinates.
In human cells, the nucleus is enclosed by a structure called the nuclear pore complex (NPC). It acts as a 'gatekeeper' controlling the transport of molecules between the nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm (the protein-containing solution in the inside of a cell). The NPC consists of proteins known as nucleoporins; some of these, the so-called FG-NUPs, belong to the class of intrinsically disor
Most projections about climate change assume that, as temperatures rise, regions in the north high latitudes may become more suitable for the growth of vegetation, turning into cropland to feed increasing populations while also fixing more carbon dioxide (CO2) and slowing down climate change. Plants require appropriate temperature, water, and light conditions for photosynthesis and growth, so it s
Characteristics of palm trees differ from those of other tropical trees in many ways. In a major new study led by scientists at Uppsala University, Sweden, and University of Campinas, Brazil, they have surveyed the actual numbers of palms in tropical rainforests around the globe. The proportion of palm trees is important to include in calculations of forests' potential carbon storage and in estima
An understanding of climate changes during the past millennia is crucial for the scientific attribution of the current warming and the accurate prediction of future climate change. The proxy-based reconstructions and model simulations that offer insights into past temperature changes, however, are subject to large uncertainties. Large-scale climate reconstructions are always related to the uncerta
A raster expression of a region or one of its eco-environmental properties can be abstracted to a mathematical surface. The mathematical surface is uniquely defined by the intrinsic and extrinsic properties in terms of the fundamental theorem of surfaces. The intrinsic properties can be gathered from local information, which might come from detailed ground observations and spatial sampling. The ex
Cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as blue-green algae, are the first organisms on earth that learned to extract electrons from water and convert sunlight to usable energy through photosynthesis. Using cyanobacteria as a model organism, the details of photosynthesis—the key process that supports all forms of advanced lives on earth—have been studied for many decades. And all studies, despite thei
Stem cells are central to organ development and renewal. In most organs, stem cells are located in specific regions and, in some cases, can be identified through several intrinsic properties, like molecular markers. They can differentiate into various types of cells and divide indefinitely to produce more stem cells. However, does this mean the stem cell at the top is immortal? Or can any cell ove
In human cells, the nucleus is enclosed by a structure called the nuclear pore complex (NPC). It acts as a 'gatekeeper' controlling the transport of molecules between the nucleus and the surrounding cytoplasm (the protein-containing solution in the inside of a cell). The NPC consists of proteins known as nucleoporins; some of these, the so-called FG-NUPs, belong to the class of intrinsically disor
Characteristics of palm trees differ from those of other tropical trees in many ways. In a major new study led by scientists at Uppsala University, Sweden, and University of Campinas, Brazil, they have surveyed the actual numbers of palms in tropical rainforests around the globe. The proportion of palm trees is important to include in calculations of forests' potential carbon storage and in estima
Cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as blue-green algae, are the first organisms on earth that learned to extract electrons from water and convert sunlight to usable energy through photosynthesis. Using cyanobacteria as a model organism, the details of photosynthesis—the key process that supports all forms of advanced lives on earth—have been studied for many decades. And all studies, despite thei
What causes African hybrid honey bees (AHB), also known as killer bees, to be highly defensive and aggressive? York University researchers have found it was the mixing of African and European genetics that led to hyper-aggression in this invasive strain of honey bees.
Organisms capable of photosynthesis—a biochemical process that converts solar energy into chemical energy—consist of special assemblies of proteins and pigments that capture light energy efficiently. These assemblies are known as light-harvesting complexes (LHCs). They not only capture the sunlight but also initiate a series of events wherein energy is transmitted from one molecular complex to ano
The brain has a high energy demand and reacts very sensitively to oxygen deficiency. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich neurobiologists have now succeeded for the first time in directly correlating oxygen consumption with the activity of certain nerve cells.
Liquid droplets formed from DNA display a peculiar response to enzymes. An international collaboration between Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich and UCSB has now been able to explain the mechanisms behind bubble formation.
In an effort to improve large touchscreens, LED light panels and window-mounted infrared solar cells, researchers at the University of Michigan have made plastic conductive while also making it more transparent.
A team of Skoltech researchers from the Severinov laboratory and their colleagues have identified the way in which a component of a two-part bacterial self-defense system from the toxin-antitoxin family works, leading to cell dormancy that helps fight off bacterial viruses, antibiotics and other insults.
What causes African hybrid honey bees (AHB), also known as killer bees, to be highly defensive and aggressive? York University researchers have found it was the mixing of African and European genetics that led to hyper-aggression in this invasive strain of honey bees.
Organisms capable of photosynthesis—a biochemical process that converts solar energy into chemical energy—consist of special assemblies of proteins and pigments that capture light energy efficiently. These assemblies are known as light-harvesting complexes (LHCs). They not only capture the sunlight but also initiate a series of events wherein energy is transmitted from one molecular complex to ano
The applications of topological photonics have been intensively investigated, including one-way waveguide and topological lasers. The topological lasers especially have attracted broad attention in recent years, which have been proposed and demonstrated in various systems, including 1-D edge states in 2-D systems, 0-D boundary states in 1-D lattice, and topological bulk state around band edges. Mo
The first comprehensive worldwide assessment of heatwaves down to regional levels has revealed that in nearly every part of the world heatwaves have been increasing in frequency and duration since the 1950's. The research has also produced a new metric, cumulative heat, which reveals exactly how much heat is packed into individual heatwaves and heatwave seasons. As expected, that number is also on
Researchers have found that dogs adapt their communicative strategies to their environment and that owner behavior influences communicative effort and success. Experimental results found no evidence that dogs rely on communication history or follow the principle of least effort and suggest that owner behavior has a bigger impact on canine communication than previously thought.
Scientists have recently shown that a multitude of high-dimensional synthetic lattices naturally emerge in (abstract) photon-number space when a multiport photonic lattice is excited by N indistinguishable photons.
Nature, Published online: 06 July 2020; doi:10.1038/d41586-020-02029-6 The pandemic is prompting some early-career researchers to rethink their hopes for a university post.
KangHee Kim T here's a certain kind of movie that lets you down not because it's bad, but because it could have been great. One of those movies, for me, is Sliding Doors . The 1998 rom-com has a "philosophical" premise and a double timeline: As its poster asks, "What if one split second sent your life in two completely different directions?" In the first timeline, Helen Quilley (Gwyneth Paltrow)
The composition and function of bacteria in the human intestine — the so-called gut microbiome — changes as the day progresses. This was established by researchers based in Freising at ZIEL – Institute for Food & Health of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) with one of the largest studies related to microbiomes and diabetes comprising more than 4000 participants. These daily variations in
Tiny eye movements can be used as an index of humans' ability to anticipate relevant information in the environment independent of the information's sensory modality.
Researchers at LSU Health New Orleans Neuroscience Center of Excellence and colleagues have discovered a new class of pipeline drugs to relieve pain and reduce fever without the danger of addiction or damage to the liver or kidneys.
Frailty and immune decline are two main features of old age. Researchers from the University of Bern and the University Hospital Bern now demonstrate in an animal model that these two age-related impairments can be halted and even partially reversed using a novel cell-based therapeutic approach.
Ongoing destruction of nature will result in stream of animal diseases jumping to humans, says report Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage The world is treating the health and economic symptoms of the coronavirus pandemic but not the environmental cause, according to the authors of a UN report . As a result, a steady stream of diseases can be expected to jump from animals
Premature babies with serious brain haemorrhage treated with a 'brain washing' technique were twice as likely to survive without severe learning disability when compared with infants given standard treatment.
The authors of a controversial paper on race and police shootings say they are retracting the article, which became a flashpoint in the debate over killings by police, and now amid protests following the murder of George Floyd. [See an update on this post.] The 2019 article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of … Continue reading
Don't let time get away from you. (Luke van Zyl/Unsplash/) Disruption and altered ways of living have become the norm, and it can be difficult to find the structure and routine we once took for granted. But as with many modern problems, it's something your smartphone can help with. With the right selection of apps and techniques, you can make sure the hours don't drift by, and commit to doing som
A new study of prospective teachers finds that they are more likely to interpret the facial expressions of Black boys and girls as being angry, even when the children are not angry. This is significantly different than how the prospective teachers interpreted the facial expressions of white children.
Writing in the leading academic journal, Nature, Cranfield academics are calling for global resilience to be shaped around the 'Five Capitals' – natural, human, social, built and financial. The academics believe that too often silos exist within Government and within organisations and businesses that mean risks are not anticipated quickly enough or prepared for well enough.
Layered van der Waals materials are of high interest for electronic and photonic applications, according to researchers at Penn State and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, in California, who provide new insights into the interactions of layered materials with laser and electron beams.
Chinese researchers discover a deterministic reversal of magnetic vortex circulation in a Ni79Fe21 (NiFe) island on top of a layered-perovskite Bi2WO6 (BWO) thin film using an electric field.
In a new article published in the July issue of Cancer Research, Elsa Flores, Ph.D., and her team discovered a key protein that oscillates its expression through microRNA regulation to facilitate cancer spread to distant organs. This protein is deltaNp63, a member of the p53 family of tumor suppressor genes.
My friend Dick Jefferies, who has died aged 88, was an authority on fossils that are too strange to identify and which are sometimes referred to as "problematica". Central to his work, which he pursued as principal scientific officer in the natural history section of the British Museum, were extinct animals called carpoids. Dick was something of a contrarian in the field of evolutionary biology,
An international team of experts on heart disease and diet say there's no evidence that a low-saturated fat diet reduces cholesterol in people with familial hypercholesterolemia.
Without stem cells, human life would not exist. Due to them, a lump of cells becomes an organ, and a fertilized egg develops into a baby. But what actually makes a stem cell? Are these a stable population of specially gifted cells? Scientists at the Institute of Science and Technology (IST) Austria discovered that instead, stem cells might emerge due to the collective behavior of cells within the
Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Biomaterials a high-speed atomic-force microscopy study of protein filaments in the nuclear pore complex. The visualization in real-time of the filaments' dynamics is an important step in our understanding of molecular transport mechanisms between a cell nucleus and its surrounding medium.
In accordance to rising demand of high-resolution, ultrathin lens device for display panels, the scientists from Korea, UK, and USA have invented an electrically focus-tunable, graphene-based ultrathin subpixel square lens device that demonstrates excellent focusing performance. Such subpixel design is uniquely developed to control the optical path of subpixels of display in visible wavelength, wh
Athletes who play contact sports are being particularly hard-hit by the prolonged restrictions imposed on games and training, according to a new study.
In the recent work, scientists from Max-Born-Institute have shown that a multitude of high-dimensional synthetic lattices naturally emerge in (abstract) photon-number space when a multiport photonic lattice is excited by N indistinguishable photons.
Det finns fem gånger mer palmer i Amazonas och andra amerikanska regnskogar, än i Afrika och Asien, enligt en studie ledd vid Uppsala universitet. Palmer har många egenskaper som skiljer sig från andra tropiska träd. Kunskap om andelen palmer är viktig för att beräkna skogsområdens känslighet för klimatförändringar. Palmer är ikoniska tropiska skogsväxter. Men vykortsbilder av kokospalmer som lut
After years of trying, a group has produced the smell of outer space in a perfume. Astronauts have described the smell of space as similar to "ozone," "gunpowder," and "fried steak." Exactly what causes the scent is still debated. Have you ever watched a sci-fi film and thought, "I wonder what everything smells like in this scene?" If that sounds like you, then you're in luck. A Kickstarter campa
A new study led by Prof. ZHAO Gang and Dr. Yerra Bharat Kumar from National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) provides a fresh understanding of both how lithium is made, and how it is destroyed.
First study on a treatment strategy using a proteomic analysis does not clarify which therapeutic consequence of the test could offer a benefit for people with diabetes and high blood pressure.
A group of researchers from Charité — Universitätsmedizin Berlin have further refined the use of deep brain stimulation in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. By accurately localizing electrode placement in the brains of patients, the researchers were able to identify a fiber tract which is associated with the best clinical outcomes following deep brain stimulation. The researchers' f
Optical amplifiers based on chirped pulse amplification (CPA) are used to generate high intensity pulses. In the CPA scheme, a weak temporally stretched seed pulse is amplified to high energy in a laser amplifier and finally re-compressed resulting in an ultrashort pulse of very high intensity. Applying this concept a new system was developed at MBI delivering few-ps pulses at 2 μm wavelength with
Short, frequent walks in blue spaces–areas that prominently feature water, such as beaches, lakes, rivers or fountains — may have a positive effect on people's well-being and mood, according to a new study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) and published in Environmental Research.
Columbia University researchers report that they have observed a quantum fluid known as the fractional quantum Hall states (FQHS), one of the most delicate phases of matter, for the first time in a monolayer 2D semiconductor. Their findings demonstrate the excellent intrinsic quality of 2D semiconductors and establish them as a unique test platform for future applications in quantum computing.
Medical University of South Carolina researchers have designed a new vitamin K-based compound that shows excellent seizure-control properties, even in preclinical models of medication-resistant seizures. Over 1 million people in the US suffer from medication-resistant epilepsy, contending with poor quality of life due to unpredictable seizures. This vitamin K analog, with its unique structure and
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena have found that dogs adapt their communicative strategies to their environment and that owner behavior influences communicative effort and success. Experimental results found no evidence that dogs rely on communication history or follow the principle of least effort and suggest that
Scientists studying the 'near threatened' tequila bat, best known for its role in pollinating the Blue Agave plant from which the drink of the same name is made from, have analysed its DNA to help inform conservationists on managing their populations. The findings are published in Global Ecology and Conservation.
A new study at Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City has found that follow-up appointments for hospitalized children treated for childhood bronchitis are often not necessary, and that switching from mandatory to 'as-needed' follow-up care can save families from unnecessary medical care and expense – and may help guide treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have developed software to identify cancer-causing mutations lurking in vast regions of the human genome.
A new Columbia Engineering study demonstrates that even when temperatures warm and cold stress is limited, light is still a major factor in limiting carbon uptake of northern high latitudes. The team analyzed satellite observations, field measurements, and model simulations and showed that there is a prevalent radiation limitation on carbon uptake in northern ecosystems, especially in autumn.
A new platform technology can assess water safety and quality with just a single drop and a few minutes. Powered by synthetic biology, when the test detects a contaminant exceeding the EPA's standards, it glows green, providing an easy-to-read positive or negative result.
How the prescription of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to outpatients has changed in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic is examined in this study.
This work was published in Physics Review Letter on June 23th, 2020, and was selected as Editors' Suggestion. Also, this work was chosen for "Featured in Physics" and reported online (physics.aps.org) entitled by "Cooling a Spin Relaxation Hot-Spot"
A team of scientists may have finally found a way to replace knee cartilage after injuries or the normal wear and tear of aging. Cartilage can't be grown back , but a new material may be able to take its place. The key is a hydrogel that's both strong and flexible enough to survive the abuse it endures while cushioning your knees, ScienceAlert reports . If the material gets approved for clinical
Some of the most fundamental questions in evolution remain unanswered, such as when and how extremely diverse groups of animals—for example reptiles—first evolved. For seventy-five years, adaptive radiations—the relatively fast evolution of many species from a single common ancestor—have been considered as the major cause of biological diversity, including the origins of major body plans (structur
Some of the most fundamental questions in evolution remain unanswered, such as when and how extremely diverse groups of animals—for example reptiles—first evolved. For seventy-five years, adaptive radiations—the relatively fast evolution of many species from a single common ancestor—have been considered as the major cause of biological diversity, including the origins of major body plans (structur
Zero electrical resistance at room temperature? A material with this property, i.e. a room temperature superconductor, could revolutionize power distribution. But so far, the origin of superconductivity at high temperature is only incompletely understood. Scientists from Universität Hamburg and the Cluster of Excellence "CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter" have succeeded in observing strong evidence
Despite the wide application of radiation in diagnostics and treatments, there is still no magic material to protect people from radiation exposure. Though Amifostine is developed as a radioprotectant, the FDA approved its application only for the protection of salivary glands. Also it requires repetitive injections to be effective and it can pose severe health threats of systemic toxicity and com
The rapid development of renewable energy resources has triggered tremendous demands in large-scale, cost-efficient and high-energy-density stationary energy storage systems.
Local health officials have confirmed an extremely rare case of the bubonic plague, also known as the "black death," which eviscerated populations back in the Middle Ages, in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, The New York Times reports . In equally terrifying news, Florida health officials announced a new, albeit extremely rare, case of a "brain-eating amoeba," an organism that can cause a so
Human noroviruses are a major cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. They cause approximately 200,000 deaths each year in developing countries. However, no effective vaccine or antiviral agent for noroviruses yet exists because cell culture methods to produce noroviruses are very limited and there is a lack of the viral structural knowledge about the virus.
In late March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would stop enforcing many anti-pollution laws because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 31, as the Trump administration recently announced, the EPA is ending its lax enforcement approach. But that might be in the eye of the beholder. If there's been a consistent policy coming out of Washington these past three years, it's the Whi
Humans have manipulated and managed rivers with dams for millennia. The number of river dam projects is predicted to rise sharply in the future, especially in the tropics where demand for hydroelectricity and water is accelerating. What are the long-term impacts of dams on highly biodiverse tropical forests? Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) and collaborating institu
In higher organisms, cells and organelles are surrounded by a membrane, which plays a crucial role in not just creating a barrier from the external environment but also mediating exchange of fluids, electrolytes, proteins, and other useful material. Usually, these membranes are composed of water-repelling layers formed by lipid molecules, with various 'transmembrane' proteins embedded in this doub
Human noroviruses are a major cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks worldwide. They cause approximately 200,000 deaths each year in developing countries. However, no effective vaccine or antiviral agent for noroviruses yet exists because cell culture methods to produce noroviruses are very limited and there is a lack of the viral structural knowledge about the virus.
Citizen science could help track progress towards all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). An IIASA-led study, for the first time, comprehensively analyzed the current and potential contribution of citizen science data to monitor the SDGs at the indicator level.
In late March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would stop enforcing many anti-pollution laws because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Aug. 31, as the Trump administration recently announced, the EPA is ending its lax enforcement approach. But that might be in the eye of the beholder. If there's been a consistent policy coming out of Washington these past three years, it's the Whi
Topological lasers are immune to imperfections and disorder, which are mostly at microscale. The topological nanolaser with small footprint, low threshold and high energy-efficiency has yet to be explored. Scientists in China demonstrated a topological nanolaser utilizing the second-order corner state in 2D photonic crystal slab with a low threshold of about 1 μW and a high spontaneous emission co
Zero electrical resistance at room temperature? A material with this property, i.e. a room temperature superconductor, could revolutionize power distribution. But so far, the origin of superconductivity at high temperature is only incompletely understood. Scientists from Universität Hamburg and the Cluster of Excellence 'CUI: Advanced Imaging of Matter' have succeeded in observing strong evidence
What causes African hybrid honey bees (AHB) or killer bees to be highly defensive and aggressive? York University researchers found it was the mixing of African and European genetics that led to hyper-aggression in this invasive strain of honey bees. Researchers in Brazil imported a honey bee subspecies from South African in the 1950s and bred them with European-derived honey bees, but bees escape
States including Virginia and Texas have set aside significant money to address flooding. Local officials hope it will help pay for flood prevention projects that the federal government won't fund. (Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)
I n early April, Melvin Hector, a geriatrician in Tucson, Arizona, went into Sapphire of Tucson Nursing and Rehabilitation to check on one of his patients, who had been sent to the hospital the previous day. Hector found the woman in her room, wearing a surgical mask. She had been tested for COVID-19, but the results had not yet come back. When Hector asked for a mask for himself, he says a nurse
"Africa is like a sleeping giant," says journalist and satirist Adeola Fayehun at the beginning of this hilarious, incisive talk. "The truth is I am trying to wake up this giant. That's why I air the dirty laundry of those in charge." Follow along as she roasts corrupt African officials and shows why the continent already has all it needs to take its rightful place on the world stage — if only le
The cytosolic iron sulfur assembly (CIA) pathway is required for the insertion of Fe-S clusters into proteins, including many DNA replication and repair factors. Despite its essential cellular function, this pathway remains enigmatic. A new integrative structural and biochemical study from the Thomä group now provides detailed insights into the mechanisms of Fe-S protein biogenesis.
The cytosolic iron sulfur assembly (CIA) pathway is required for the insertion of Fe-S clusters into proteins, including many DNA replication and repair factors. Despite its essential cellular function, this pathway remains enigmatic. A new integrative structural and biochemical study from the Thomä group now provides detailed insights into the mechanisms of Fe-S protein biogenesis.
Proteins play roles by interacting with various other proteins. Therefore, interaction analysis is an indispensable technique for studying the function of proteins. In this research, we have developed a biotinylation enzyme, AirID, using an ancestral enzyme reconstruction algorithm. AirID is a highly active biotinylation enzyme with low toxicity. By using AirID, comprehensive biotinylation of prot
Photosynthesis is one of the most fundamental processes that support life on earth. The mechanistic details of how the energy captured from the sun is transferred within the cellular photosynthetic structures are still not understood well. A group of scientists from Okayama University, Japan, analyzed the structural and spectroscopic data of the 'IsiA-PSI' supercomplex, and have unraveled a part o
Photosynthesis is a biochemical process that converts solar energy into chemical energy, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. This process is highly complex and requires various combinations of proteins that work in tandem. However, details regarding the structures of these molecules in some organisms have remained poorly understood. Now, scientists in Japan have shed light on the structural comp
An international research collaboration, including Professor IIJIMA Kazumoto et al. (of the Department of Pediatrics, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine) has revealed that NPHS1 is a disease-susceptibility gene for steroid-sensitive nephrotic syndrome in children. The NPHS1 gene encodes nephrin, a component protein for the renal glomerulus slit diaphragm, which prevents protein from being
IBS scientists have reported a highly effective and safe nanocrystal to combat dangers doses of radiation by growing manganese oxide (Mn3O4) nanocrystals on top of the Cerium oxide (CeO2) nanocrystals.
As the researcher suggests, the replication of the virus stimulates the development of microdamage on vessel walls. In its response to this, the body releases von Willebrand factor into the blood, trying to 'patch' possible holes. As a result, the risk of thromboses increases.
The first comprehensive worldwide assessment of heatwaves down to regional levels has revealed that in nearly every part of the world heatwaves have been increasing in frequency and duration since the 1950's. The research published in Nature Communications has also produced a new metric, cumulative heat, which reveals exactly how much heat is packed into individual heatwaves and heatwave seasons.
I södra halvan av Sverige kan skogen bli mindre produktiv i ett varmare och torrare klimat, medan den längre växtsäsongen kan öka produktiviteten längre norrut. Det visar en studie från SLU som bygger på satellitdata som speglar växtlighetens fotosyntes och meteorologiska data från 2000-talet. Troligen har skogens tillväxt på många håll i norra Europa redan begränsats av torka under de senaste år
A new algorithm adds a filter to videos and photos to prevent deepfakes, researchers say. In today's complex media environment, people can struggle to separate fact from fiction online. A relatively new phenomenon is making that struggle even harder: deepfakes. Using deep neural networks (a machine learning technique), it's become increasingly easy to convincingly manipulate images and videos of
An international team of scientists has found a new superconducting system in which magnetic flux quanta can move at velocities of 10-15 km/s. This opens access to investigations of the rich physics of non-equilibrium collective systems and renders a direct-write Nb-C superconductor as a candidate material for single-photon detectors.
Researchers are using mini-organs to model the digestive tract in the laboratory. These so-called organoids provide insights into the inflammatory processes that play a role in diseases such Crohn's and ulcerative colitis.
Teenagers who prefer to stay up late and wake later in the morning are more likely to suffer with asthma and allergies compared to those who sleep and wake earlier, according to a new study.
Prospective teachers are more likely to interpret the facial expressions of Black boys and girls as being angry, even when they are not, research on racialized anger bias finds. This is significantly different than how the prospective teachers interpreted the facial expressions of white children. The authors coined the term "racialized anger bias" after an earlier study found similar results in p
Short Shorts Elon Musk-led electric carmaker Tesla has officially started selling "limited edition" red satin short shorts. "Celebrate summer with Tesla Short Shorts," reads a product listing . "Run like the wind or entertain like Liberace with our red satin and gold trim design." At face value, the skimpy shorts that have little to do with electric cars. But context and a close-read of the short
Climate scientists propose new explanation for the rapid changes to the ocean carbon sink in the 1990s. ocean bubbles_2.jpg Image credits: Dean Croshere via Flickr Rights information: CC BY 2.0 Earth Monday, July 6, 2020 – 10:00 Christian Fogerty, Contributor (Inside Science) — As humans pump more and more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the ocean is hard at work absorbing it, buying us mor
An imaging test called coronary calcium scoring can help doctors to make the right recommendation about the use of statin therapy. The test is a 10-minute CT (computed tomography) scan looking for calcium deposits in the arteries supplying blood to the heart. Calcium deposits indicate the presence of coronary plaque, also known as atherosclerosis.