181 articles from TUESDAY 3.9.2019

What drives plate tectonics?

Plate tectonics was founded in the late 1960s, and it concerns the distribution and movements of plates, the uppermost layer of the Earth. Plate movements not only control the distributions of earthquakes, volcanoes, and mineral resources in the crust, but also affect the ocean and atmospheric circulations above the crust. Therefore, plate tectonics has been regarded as the fundamental unifying...

Affordable multiferroic material

Toyohashi University of Technology has developed a novel liquid process for fabrication of an affordable multiferroic nanocomposite film in collaboration with Japan Fine Ceramics Center, National Institute of Technology Ibaraki College, International Iberian nanotechnology Laboratory, Chang'an university and University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. The multiferroic material obtained by the novel process...

A new alphabet to write and read quantum messages with very fast particles

Quantum information relies on the possibility of writing messages in a quantum particle and reading them out in a reliable way. If, however, the particle is relativistic, meaning that it moves with velocities close to the speed of light, it is impossible for standard techniques to unambiguously decode the message and the communication fails. Thanks to a new method to write and read the message...

Biomarker predicts if someone infected with malaria will get sick

Increased p53, the well-known tumor-suppressor protein, can predict whether malaria-infected children will develop fever or other symptoms, suggests a new study. The authors say the findings could lead to new strategies for dampening the harmful inflammatory responses associated with some infections and identifying individuals who might be at risk for such responses.

Why fruit flies eat practically anything

Researchers uncover why some organisms can eat anything -- 'generalists -- and others have strict diets -- 'specialists'. Using different Drosophila species the team found that diversity in diet stems from the flexible response to carbohydrates regulated by the TGF-?/Activin signaling pathway. Specialists accumulated metabolites under high carbohydrate conditions, culminating in reduced...

An astonishing parabola trick: Unusual magnetic behavior

Prospective digital data storage devices rely on novel fundamental magnetic phenomena. The better we understand these phenomena, the better the memory chips and hard drives we can build. Physicists have now completed the essential fundamental work for future storage devices: Using a creative approach of shaping magnetic thin films in curved architectures, they validated the presence of chiral...

ESA re-routes satellite to avoid SpaceX collision risk

The European Space Agency said Tuesday it had altered the trajectory of one of its observation satellites to avoid a possible collision with a craft operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. "@ESA 's #Aeolus Earth observation satellite fired its thrusters, moving it off a collision course with a @SpaceX satellite in their #Starlink constellation," the agency's official Twitter account said. It said its...

Human perception of colors does not rely entirely on language

After patient RDS (identified only by his initials for privacy) suffered a stroke, he experienced a rare and unusual side effect: when he saw something red, blue, green, or any other chromatic hue, he could not name the object's color. Using RDS as a subject, a new study looks at how language shapes human thinking.

Mouthwash use could inhibit benefits of exercise

Scientists have shown that the blood pressure-lowering effect of exercise is significantly reduced when people rinse their mouths with antibacterial mouthwash, rather than water - showing the importance of oral bacteria in cardiovascular health.

Soft drinks, including sugar-free, linked to increased risk of death

Drink more water, say experts as they argue study proves need for curbs on consumptionPeople who regularly consume soft drinks have a higher risk of an early death, researchers have found, with the trend seen for both sugared and artificially sweetened drinks.While experts say the study cannot prove soft drinks are a driver of an increased risk of death, they say the work – which is the largest...

Affordable multiferroic material

Researchers have developed a novel liquid process for fabrication of an affordable multiferroic nanocomposite film. The multiferroic material obtained by the novel process possesses strong correlation between the electric and the magnetic properties, thus various applications such as low-power-consumption large-volume memory, spatial light modulator, and unique sensors, etc. are expected in the...

Agrivoltaics proves mutually beneficial across food, water, energy nexus

Building resilience in renewable energy and food production is a fundamental challenge in today's changing world, especially in regions susceptible to heat and drought. Agrivoltaics, the co-locating of agriculture and solar photovoltaic panels, offers a possible solution, with new University of Arizona-led research reporting positive impacts on food production, water savings and the efficiency of...

Functional changes of thermosensory molecules related to environmental adaptation

Animals have adapted to diverse thermal environments from cold to hot. During the course of thermal adaptation processes, preferred thermal ranges for survival shift among species adapted to different thermal niches. Accordingly, evolutionary changes of thermal perception must be required during thermal adaptation. To understand the molecular basis for the shift in thermal perception, the...