223 articles from MONDAY 9.12.2019
Strategies to lower risk for violent crime and gun violence
With violent crimes and gun violence rising annually and the number of gun deaths in the U.S. surpassing all other nations, researchers at the annual meeting of The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA) present a series of studies during its Study of Violent Crime and Gun Violence symposium which contributes several new frameworks that can be used toward improving laws, civilian strategies, legislation...
Community characteristics shape climate change discussions after extreme weather
Political affiliations, the presence of local environmental organizations and prior local media coverage of climate change play a role in how a community reacts to an extreme weather event, an article published today in Nature Climate Change concludes.
Cities and their rising impacts on biodiversity—a global overview
The rapid expansion of cities around the world is having an enormous impact on biodiversity. To gain a clearer picture of the situation, an international group of scientists, including Professor Andrew Gonzalez from McGill's Biology Department, surveyed over 600 studies on the impacts of urban growth on biodiversity. They published their findings today in Nature Sustainability.
In a split second, clothes make the man more competent in the eyes of others
People perceive a person's competence partly based on subtle economic cues emanating from the person's clothing, according to a study published in Nature Human Behaviour by Princeton University. These judgments are made in a matter of milliseconds, and are very hard to avoid.
Study: Favorable environments for large hail increasing across U.S.
A group of atmospheric scientists have uncovered an environmental footprint that could help explain why the cost of hailstorm damage is rapidly increasing in the United States.
Wing genes responsible for tiny treehopper's extraordinary helmet: study
They sport some of the most impressive headgear in the insect world, yet they're no bigger than a kernel of corn.
Tackling air pollution: researchers present emissions inventory for Nepal
Data on emission amounts and sources have an important role to play in shaping policy on climate protection and air quality. Now, scientists from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam, Germany, have presented the first high-resolution inventory to record emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in Nepal over an extended period of time. Their research reveals...
NASA examines Tropical Cyclone Belna's water vapor concentration
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over the Southern Indian Ocean, water vapor data provided information about the intensity of Tropical Cyclone Belna.
Climate change and the threat to global breadbaskets
Climate change is not just resulting in a steady increase in temperatures, but also in an increased frequency and severity of extreme climatic events, like droughts, heat waves, and floods. These extreme conditions are particularly damaging for agriculture. Climate variability is responsible for at least 30% of the annual fluctuations in worldwide agricultural yield. Under "normal" climatic...
Asian water towers are world's most important and most threatened
Scientists from around the world have assessed the planet's 78 mountain glacier-based water systems. For the first time, they ranked them in order of their importance to adjacent lowland communities while assessing their vulnerability to future environmental and socioeconomic changes. These systems, known as mountain water towers, store and transport water via glaciers, snow packs, lakes and...
How planets may form after dust sticks together
Scientists may have figured out how dust particles can stick together to form planets, according to a Rutgers co-authored study that may also help to improve industrial processes.
Volcano F is the origin of 'floating stones'
Stones do not float in water—this is a truism. But there is hardly a rule without exception. In fact, some volcanic eruptions produce a very porous type of rock with a density so low that it does float: Pumice. An unusually large amount of it is currently drifting in the Southwest Pacific towards Australia. When it was first sighted in the waters around the island state of Tonga at the beginning...
480-million-year-old fossils reveal sea lilies' ancient roots
Sea lilies, despite their name, aren't plants. They're animals related to starfish and sea urchins, with long feathery arms resting atop a stalk that keeps them anchored to the ocean floor. Sea lilies have been around for at least 480 million years—they first evolved hundreds of millions of years before the dinosaurs. For nearly two centuries, scientists have thought about how modern sea lilies...
Aspirin's health benefits under scrutiny
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
Taking a baby aspirin every day to prevent a heart attack or stroke should no longer be recommended to patients who haven't already experienced one of these events, new research suggests.
Wing genes responsible for tiny treehopper's extraordinary helmet
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
Why the treehopper developed the enlarged, three-dimensional hood ornament that distinguishes it from the rest of the insect world remains a mystery to scientists, though it's theorized that mimicry or camouflage designed to protect it from predators is a likely reason. But a study from researchers in UConn's Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, published today in the journal Nature...
New study compares floodplain protection today to predicted future flood losses
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
A new study seeks to answer an important question related to flooding in the United States - pay now to protect undeveloped areas that are likely to flood in the future or allow developments to go ahead and pay for damage when it occurs.
Large atmospheric waves in the jet stream present risk to global food production
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
Researchers have discovered jet stream patterns that could affect up to a quarter of global food production.
How planets may form after dust sticks together
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
Scientists may have figured out how dust particles can stick together to form planets, according to a new study that may also help to improve industrial processes.
A tech jewel: Converting graphene into diamond film
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
Can two layers of the ''king of the wonder materials,'' i.e. graphene, be linked and converted to the thinnest diamond-like material, the ''king of the crystals''? Scientists have reported the first experimental observation of such conversion.
Identification of a key protein linked to aging
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:21
Aging is a dramatic public health issue in the face of the current demographic changes: the proportion of 60 and over in the world's population will almost double by 2050. In this context, a new discovery has just broadened scientific knowledge. Researchers shed light on the mechanisms of senescence, by identifying a key protein associated with aging.
Tackling air pollution: Researchers present emissions inventory for Nepal
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:09
Data on emission amounts and sources have an important role to play in shaping policy on climate protection and air quality. Now, scientists have presented the first high-resolution inventory to record emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in Nepal over an extended period of time. Their research reveals that the air pollution problem is growing at a much faster rate than the economy.
Liquid flow is influenced by a quantum effect in water
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:09
Researchers have discovered that the viscosity of solutions of electrically charged polymers dissolved in water is influenced by a quantum effect. This tiny quantum effect influences the way water molecules interact with one another. Yet, it can lead to drastic changes in large-scale observations. This effect could change the way scientists understand the properties and behavior of solutions of...
Storing data in everyday objects
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:05
Researchers and an Israeli scientist have discovered a new method for turning nearly any object into a data storage unit. This makes it possible to save extensive data in, say, shirt buttons, water bottles or even the lenses of glasses, and then retrieve it years later. The technique also allows users to hide information and store it for later generations. It uses DNA as the storage medium.
Explaining the tiger stripes of Saturn's moon Enceladus
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:05
Slashed across the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus are four straight, parallel fissures or 'tiger stripes' from which water erupts. These fissures aren't quite like anything else in the Solar System. Researchers now think they have a model to explain them.
RNA modification: Methylation and mopping up
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/9 17:05
Researchers have discovered a novel type of chemical modification in bacterial RNAs. The modification is apparently attached to molecules only when cells are under stress, and is rapidly removed during recovery.