326 articles from THURSDAY 6.2.2020

4 children found alive in remote part of Alaska after being stranded by blizzard for 27 hours

The remote village of Nunam Iqua is located about 160 miles northwest of Bethel. (AccuWeather) Four children between the ages of 2 and 14 were found alive, but suffering from severe hypothermia, on Monday after becoming lost in a blizzard for 27 hours near Nunam Iqua, Alaska, a remote community with a population of less than 200, according to the 2010 census.Alaska State Troopers have...

Researchers study elephants' unique interactions with their dead

Stories of unique and sentient interactions between elephants and their dead are a familiar part of the species' lore, but a comprehensive study of these interactions has been lacking—until now. A recent review of documented field observations of elephants at carcasses reveals patterns of elephants' behavior toward their dead, regardless of the strength of former relationships with the deceased...

Spacewatch: Nasa ends 16-year Spitzer infrared mission

Spitzer became first telescope to directly capture light from planets in orbit around other stars Nasa has ended science operations on its Spitzer infrared space telescope and placed the instrument into safe mode.The mission officially ended at 2230 GMT on 30 January 2020. Spitzer was one of Nasa’s four “great observatories”, alongside the Hubble space telescope, the Chandra X-ray...

How iron carbenes store energy from sunlight—and why they aren't better at it

Photosensitizers are molecules that absorb sunlight and pass that energy along to generate electricity or drive chemical reactions. They're generally based on rare, expensive metals; so the discovery that iron carbenes, with plain old iron at their cores, can do this, too, triggered a wave of research over the past few years. But while ever more efficient iron carbenes are being discovered,...

Beyond Goodfellas and The Godfather: the Cosa Nostra families' rise and fall

Italian American organized crime may conjure images of classic gangster flicks, but as James B. Jacobs explores in the Crime and Justice article "The Rise and Fall of Organized Crime in the United States," its history is unexpectedly nuanced and mutable. The Cosa Nostra families—popularly known as the Mafia—operated, at the height of their power, in at least twenty-four American cities, with...

Storm to usher in more chilly weather and even snow to Southern California, Desert Southwest

A storm forecast to affect the Northwest this weekend will split into two parts -- and one of the pieces will take aim at Southern California and the southwestern United States, dragging chilly air back into the region by early next week.The storm is expected to bring some rain and mountain snow, including at pass levels, to the region. Travel hazards will accompany the beneficial rain and snow...

Majority of US adults believe climate change is most important issue today

As the effects of climate change become more evident, more than half of U.S. adults (56%) say climate change is the most important issue facing society today, yet 4 in 10 have not made any changes in their behavior to reduce their contribution to climate change, according to a new poll by the American Psychological Association.

NASA satellite finds wind shear adversely affecting tropical storm Francisco

Forecasters use a variety of satellite imagery to understand what is happening in a storm, and sometimes just a visible picture can tell a lot. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with a visible image of the Tropical Storm Francisco in the Southern Indian Ocean that showed wind shear was pushing clouds away from the storm's center.

NASA sees tropical storm Damien form off Australia's Pilbara coast

The low-pressure area that formed off Australia's Kimberley coast and lingered there for a couple of days has moved west and developed into Tropical Cyclone Damien off the Pilbara coastline. NASA's Terra satellite passed over the Southern Indian Ocean and provided forecasters with a visible image of the new tropical storm.  The Pilbara Coast is also known as the northwest coast of Western...

Artificial evolution of an industry

A research team from the University of Delaware and the Indian Institute of Management took a deeper look into the newly emerging domain of "forward-looking" business strategies and found that firms have far more ability to actively influence the future of their markets than once thought.

How iron carbenes store energy from sunlight -- and why they aren't better at it

Photosensitizers absorb sunlight and pass that energy along to generate electricity or drive chemical reactions. Scientists watched what happened when light hit an inexpensive photosensitizer, iron carbene, and discovered it can respond in two competing ways, only one only one of which allows electrons to flow into the devices or reactions where they're needed. It took this desired path about 60%...