5,670 articles mezi dny 1.3.2020 a 31.3.2020

Whether horseradish flea beetles deter predators depends on their food plant and their life stage

Horseradish flea beetles use glucosinolates from their host plants for their own defense. They have an enzyme which converts glucosinolates into toxic mustard oils. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, found that while glucosinolates are present in all life stages of the beetle, the enzyme required to convert these into toxic substances is not always...

Why is an empty shampoo bottle so easy to knock over?

It becomes annoyingly easy to knock over a shampoo bottle when it's nearly empty. This is an easily observed and annoying phenomenon that, according to Lehigh University physics professor Jerome Licini, yields insights into center-of-mass and impacts. Licini, along with first-year physics major Allen Zijun Yuan, wrote a paper on the phenomenon that was recently published in The Physics Teacher.

Widely used weed killer harming biodiversity

One of the world's most widely used glyphosate-based herbicides, Roundup, can trigger loss of biodiversity, making ecosystems more vulnerable to pollution and climate change, say researchers from McGill University.

Youth exposure to tobacco outlets and cigarette smoking

A new study led by researchers at the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation explores these questions using real time data from 100 youth participants from 16-20 years old to assess the effect of exposure to tobacco outlets on same-day smoking and the number of cigarettes consumed.

NASA wants students' help designing tech for the Moon and Mars

NASA is enlisting whatever help it can get to make sure its crewed Moon and Mars missions go smoothly, and that might include help from schools. The agency is running a new round of its Moon to Mars Exploration Systems and Habitation Academic Innovation Challenge (M2M X-Hab if you want a much shorter name) that encourages university students to study and develop spacefaring tech. The challenge...


SUNDAY 1. MARCH 2020


Coronavirus: Washington state nursing home placed on lockdown

Kirkland facility reports symptoms in residents and staffPence defends Trump Jr claim Democrats want ‘millions’ to dieA nursing home in Washington state was placed on lockdown after a resident and a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus and more than 50 others showed respiratory symptoms, according to state health officials. Related: Coronavirus outbreak: US confirms cases in...

Starwatch: Regulus, the brightest star of Leo the Lion

Watch out later this week as the moon, approaching full, passes the blue-white quadruple star system in the constellation LeoThis coming weekend, keep an eye out for the moon as it passes Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, the Lion. Regulus marks the full stop at the bottom of the backwards question mark of stars, also known as the sickle, that makes up the Lion’s head and...

AI can help find more places to store captured CO2 underground

Scientists dream of storing captured CO2 emissions underground, but it can be tricky to find pockets for storing those emissions -- Earth's seismic "hum" makes it difficult to spot the low-frequency waves that would best help map the subterranean landscape. That might not be a challenge in the future thanks to AI. MIT scientists have developed a machine learning system that uses...

Northeast to ride weather roller coaster for first week of meteorological spring

Spring will feel like it is in full bloom for the first few days of March, but how long with the mild conditions last in the Northeast?With the start of March, comes the hope for a transition into milder conditions, as well as the start of meteorological spring.The first few days of March are forecast to bring a glimpse of warmer weather.The majority of the cold from the final week of February...

From Big Bang to Big Chill, physicist Brian Greene contemplates the beginning (and end) of everything

You might think it's depressing to contemplate the view that the universe is likely to end in everlasting darkness — but that's not how physicist Brian Greene rolls. "I am quite upbeat about the end of everything," he insists. Greene lays out what scientists have learned about the grand sweep of cosmic evolution, and its implications for phenomena ranging from the origin of...

Coronavirus will show us what this government is really made of | John Harris

The challenges of a potential pandemic will test Johnson’s leadership skills like nothing before it – and the early signs aren’t greatGive or take the prime minister’s recent 12-day withdrawal from public life, since his party’s victory at the election the government has largely been trading in performance, rhetoric and intrigue. Running through a great deal of what has happened has been...