223 articles from MONDAY 3.2.2020

Green infrastructure provides benefits that residents are willing to work for, study shows

Urban areas face increasing problems with stormwater management. Impervious surfaces on roads and buildings cause flooding, which impacts the water quality of streams, rivers and lakes. Green infrastructure, including features such as rain barrels, green roofs, rain gardens, and on-site water treatment, can provide affordable and environmentally sound ways to manage precipitation.

Death toll rises as public health officials work to combat coronavirus

Days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global public health emergency due to the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, the number of confirmed cases continued to climb.The virus, which was first detected in the Chinese province of Hubei on Dec. 31, 2019, and has shut down the metropolis of Wuhan where more than 11 million reside, has infected over 17,000 in China, and killed...

Researchers find clues to how hazardous space radiation begins

Scientists at the University of New Hampshire have unlocked one of the mysteries of how particles from flares on the sun accumulate at early stages in the energization of hazardous radiation that is harmful to astronauts, satellites and electronic equipment in space. Using data obtained by NASA's Parker Solar Probe (PSP), researchers observed one of the largest events so far during the mission....

Team identifies low-energy solar particles from beyond Earth near the Sun

Using data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe (PSP), a team led by Southwest Research Institute identified low-energy particles lurking near the Sun that likely originated from solar wind interactions well beyond Earth orbit. PSP is venturing closer to the Sun than any previous probe, carrying hardware SwRI helped develop. Scientists are probing the enigmatic features of the Sun to answer many...

Australia's orroral valley fire consumes over 155,000 acres in a week

NASA's Terra satellite saw yet another fire, known as the Orroral Valley Fire, break out in the Canberra region of Australia, specifically in and around the ?Namadgi National Park. In one week, these fires have consumed 62,988 hectares (155,646 acres) according to the Australian Capital Territory Emergency Services Agency as of Feb. 04, 2020 (2:30 am local Australian time). The Department of...

Making high-temperature superconductivity disappear to understand its origin

When there are several processes going on at once, establishing cause-and-effect relationships is difficult. This scenario holds true for a class of high-temperature superconductors known as the cuprates. Discovered nearly 35 years ago, these copper-oxygen compounds can conduct electricity without resistance under certain conditions. They must be chemically modified ("doped") with additional atoms...

Finding the source of chemical reactions

Scientists are constantly searching for the source of things like the origin of the universe, matter or life. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, in a collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and several other universities, have demonstrated a way to experimentally detect the most hidden aspect of all chemical reactions—the...

New quantum switch turns metals into insulators

Most modern electronic devices rely on tiny, finely-tuned electrical currents to process and store information. These currents dictate how fast our computers run, how regularly our pacemakers tick and how securely our money is stored in the bank.

Government grants deliver highest returns for college financing, says study

Merit-based grants are a government's best bet for providing effective student aid for long-term economic growth—increasing both welfare (measured in terms of long-term well-being outcomes) and efficiency, according to a new joint study from the University of British Columbia, Queen's, Princeton and Yale. The study focuses on current education policy in the United States, and finds that the...

US sea-level report cards: 2019 data adds to trend in acceleration

The annual update of their sea level "report cards" by researchers at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science adds evidence of an accelerating rate of sea-level rise at nearly all tidal stations along the U.S. coastline. The latest report cards were published on January 30th.

Scientists listen to whales, walruses, seals in a changing arctic seascape

A year-round acoustic study of marine mammals in the northern Bering Sea is providing scientists with a valuable snapshot of an Arctic world already under drastic pressure from climate change, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), Columbia University, Southall Environmental Associates, and the University of Washington.

Clues to how hazardous space radiation begins

Scientists have unlocked one of the mysteries of how particles from flares on the sun accumulate at early stages in the energization of hazardous radiation that is harmful to astronauts, satellites and electronic equipment. Using data from NASA's Parker Solar Probe, they observed one of the largest events that shows how plasma is released after a solar flare can accelerate and pile up energetic...

Scientists examine bacterial cannibalism

Researchers from Sechenov University and their colleagues summarised the results of various studies devoted to a process that can be described as bacterial cannibalism. Why some microorganisms start to kill their relatives of the same species and whether we can use this phenomenon to combat infectious diseases is explained in the article published in Antibiotics.

Toyota and Panasonic will start producing EV batteries in April

Toyota and Panasonic have announced a new agreement to start jointly developing and manufacturing electric vehicle batteries. The two Japanese companies say they're creating a company called Prime Planet Energy and Solutions that will begin producing square-shaped prismatic cells on April 1st. The company will employ approximately 5,100 people...

The most checked-out book of all time made for 'perfect snowstorm' in Black History

The New York Public Library has been loaning books for more than a century. To celebrate 125 years of inspiring readers of all ages, the library calculated the Top 10 Checkouts of All Time.The most checked-out book of all time is The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. The book has been borrowed 485,583 times as of the latest accounting, besting Dr. Suess' The Cat in the Hat by more than 15,000...

Planned hydropower dams threaten fish in the tropics

Planned hydropower dams will greatly increase threats for freshwater fish species because of habitat fragmentation, especially in the tropics. This was already suspected, but environmental researchers at Radboud University, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Stanford Natural Capital Project and others now provide evidence by mapping how future dams affect the habitats of 10,000 fish...