65 articles from THURSDAY 26.12.2019
Europe's Mars lander passes parachute test
Previous problems appear to have been ironed out in craft’s essential landing equipmentGround tests designed to validate the deployment of the parachutes that will be used on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars lander next year have started well at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California. ESA’s ExoMars 2020 mission consists of the UK-built Rosalind Franklin rover,...
Fiji braces for Cyclone Sarai
Tropical Cyclone Sarai was brewing off the coast of Fiji Friday, threatening the plans of thousands of tourists who flock to the South Pacific island nation over the Christmas-New Year holiday period.
Brain tumor organoids may be key to time-sensitive treatments for glioblastomas
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 21:17
Lab-grown brain organoids developed from a patient's own glioblastoma, the most aggressive and common form of brain cancer, may hold the answers on how to best treat it. A new study showed how glioblastoma organoids could serve as effective models to rapidly test personalized treatment strategies.
In vivo imaging of CREB dynamics: Coupling sensory experience to activity
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 21:17
Scientists have designed and developed novel biosensors that allow the simultaneous study of both sensory evoked neuronal activity and transcription factor dynamics.
20 predictions for 2020: Here's what people said would happen by this year
Decades ago, academics, futurists and government agencies predicted what would happen by the year 2020. Here's what...
'This is the farming of the future': the rise of hydroponic food labs
'This is the farming of the future': the rise of hydroponic food labsNeeding no soil or sun, an underground farm in Liverpool challenges traditional...
10 years to save planet Earth: Here are 6 imaginative climate change solutions
Giant ice cubes. Artificial clouds. A planet-size parasol. Could these controversial technological fixes known as geoengineering save...
Standing egg theory goes viral as 'ring-of-fire' eclipse crosses Asia
According to a popular scientific theory, an egg will stand on its narrow end during a solar eclipse due to increased gravity. Social media users put that theory to the test in videos shared online Thursday, when thousands gathered across Asia to witness the "ring-of-fire"...
Baidu has a new trick for teaching AI the meaning of language
Inspired by a difference between Chinese and English, it shows how AI research benefits from diversity.
Facts are misremembered to fit personal biases, study finds
If you're looking for who's responsible for all the misinformation out there, you might want to take a peek in the mirror.
Finally, machine learning interprets gene regulation clearly
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 19:41
A new brand of artificial neural network has solved an interpretability problem that has frustrated biologists. With it, scientists may solve mysteries about gene regulation and drug discovery.
Proton therapy lowers risk of side effects in cancer compared to traditional radiation
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 19:40
Proton therapy leads to significantly lower risk of side effects severe enough to lead to unplanned hospitalizations for cancer patients when compared with traditional radiation, while cure rates between the two groups are almost identical.
West Coast fishery rebounds in rare conservation 'home run'
A rare environmental success story is unfolding in waters off the U.S. West Coast.
NASA satellite tracks tropical storm Phanfone into the South China Sea
Tropical Storm Phanfone brought typhoon-force winds and heavy rains across sections of the Philippines on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Phanfone is known as Ursula in the Philippines. Now the storm has moved into the South China Sea and NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of the tropical cyclone.
A once-depleted fishery is making a comeback in rare conservation 'home run'
After years of fear and uncertainty, bottom trawler fishermen — those who use nets to catch rockfish, bocaccio, sole, Pacific Ocean perch and other deep-dwelling fish — are making a comeback here, reinventing themselves as a sustainable...
'Ring of fire' solar eclipse seen on Boxing Day – video
People gathered across parts of Asia and the Middle East to watch a rare annular solar eclipse, also known as a ring of fire. The phenomenon, when the moon covers the centre of the sun, giving the appearance of a shining ring, was first visible above Saudi Arabia, travelling towards southern India, over northern Sri Lanka and ending up above the Pacific OceanRare ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse...
The Northeast warms ahead of rest of USA: 'Our winters now are not like our winters before'
Maps show the Northeast’s coastal states and counties are warming faster than their inland neighbors. A warming Atlantic Ocean may be a...
The Guardian view on car culture: change is coming | Editorial
Over the holiday period the Guardian’s leader column examines the challenges of the future by fathoming out the present. Today we look at the changing shape of car cultureLewis Hamilton’s recent declaration of support for climate action attracted derision as well as plaudits. “I like fuel. Can I say that? I don’t like electric stuff,” was the deliberately provocative response from a...
The biggest breakthroughs in space in 2019, from the farthest object ever visited to the first photo of a black hole
Even in our solar system, scientists discovered new moons, violence in planets' pasts, and never-before-seen activity in the sun's...
NASA-NOAA satellite finds development of Tropical Cyclone Sarai
Imagery from NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed that a tropical low-pressure area has consolidated and organized in the Southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
Finally, machine learning interprets gene regulation clearly
In this age of "big data," artificial intelligence (AI) has become a valuable ally for scientists. Machine learning algorithms, for instance, are helping biologists make sense of the dizzying number of molecular signals that control how genes function. But as new algorithms are developed to analyze even more data, they also become more complex and more difficult to interpret. Quantitative...
Paving the way for spintronic RAMs: A deeper look into a powerful spin phenomenon
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 15:43
Scientists explore a new material combination that sets the stage for magnetic random access memories, which rely on spin -- an intrinsic property of electrons -- and could outperform current storage devices. Their breakthrough presents a novel strategy to exploit spin-related phenomena in topological materials, which could spur several advances in the field of spin electronics. Moreover, this...
Development of ultrathin durable membrane for efficient oil and water separation
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 15:43
Researchers have succeeded in developing an ultrathin membrane with a fouling-resistant silica surface treatment for high performance separation of oil from water. Furthermore, this membrane was shown to be versatile; it was able to separate water from a wide variety of different oily substances.
Seeing the new Star Wars? Be careful what you wish for
How much you enjoy the new Star Wars movie will depend a lot on your expectations going in, a new study suggests.
A mysterious crunch in Earth's magnetic field created a new type of aurora borealis. A NASA intern discovered it.
A NASA intern saw the aurora in 3-year-old footage of the Arctic sky. It's the first known aurora caused by Earth's magnetic...
How I changed my mind about the biology of race | Philip Ball
Angela Saini’s book Superior showed me our misconceptions about race and science arise from a habit of the mindIt has been common for several years now to assert that science shows the concept of race has no biological basis, and that we must see it instead as a social construct. That case was argued, for example, by Kenan Malik in his 2008 book Strange Fruit, and it is presented, too, in Angela...
Brain-like functions emerging in a metallic nanowire network
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 14:44
An international joint research team succeeded in fabricating a neuromorphic network composed of numerous metallic nanowires. Using this network, the team was able to generate electrical characteristics similar to those associated with higher order brain functions unique to humans, such as memorization, learning, forgetting, becoming alert and returning to calm. The team then clarified the...
Mosquitoes can sense toxins through their legs
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 14:44
Researchers have identified a completely new mechanism by which mosquitoes that carry malaria are becoming resistant to insecticide.
In leap for quantum computing, silicon quantum bits establish a long-distance relationship
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 14:43
In an important step forward in the quest to build a quantum computer using silicon-based hardware, researchers have succeeded in making possible the exchange of information between two qubits located relatively far apart -- about the length of a grain of rice, which is a considerable distance on a computer chip. Connecting two silicon qubits across this distance makes possible new and more...
Intermittent fasting: Live 'fast,' live longer?
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 14:43
For many people, the New Year is a time to adopt new habits as a renewed commitment to personal health. Newly enthusiastic fitness buffs pack into gyms and grocery stores are filled with shoppers eager to try out new diets.
Seeing the new Star Wars? Be careful what you wish for
- ScienceDaily
- 19/12/26 14:43
How much you enjoy the new Star Wars movie will depend a lot on your expectations going in, a new study suggests. Researchers surveyed 441 people before and after they saw the last episode in the popular franchise, Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi, released in 2017. They wanted to see how audiences' expectations affected their actual enjoyment of the movie.
So you got a new tech device for Christmas? Here's how to keep your info safe
Whether you are installing new security cameras or playing around with VR gaming, experts say it's important to make sure you are protecting your personal...
The 'ring of fire' eclipse witnessed across Asia
Crowds have gathered to watch the 'once in a lifetime' eclipse in a number of countries.
The five biggest space failures of 2019
Between NASA and SpaceX, Earth and Mars, there was plenty to groan about in 2019.