226 articles from FRIDAY 6.3.2020

The impact of energy development on bird populations

The greater sage-grouse is an iconic bird that lives in the western United States, and its populations are in decline. A new study published in the Journal of Wildlife Management reveals that energy development has negative impacts on sage-grouse reproduction.

Thinking in acids and bases

Researchers from the National Institute for Physiological Sciences in Okazaki designed and tested a probe to track brain pH in mice during a visual task. The new proton image sensor has increased spatial and temporal accuracy compared with previous techniques, and revealed distinct patterns of pH changes in the primary visual cortex that were induced by different stimulus patterns, making it a...

Topology protects light propagation in photonic crystal

Researchers of AMOLF and TU Delft have seen light propagate in a special material without it suffering from reflections. The material, a photonic crystal, consists of two parts that each have a slightly different pattern of perforations. Light can propagate along the boundary between these two parts in a special way: it is topologically protected and, therefore, does not bounce back at...

Unwanted behavior in dogs is common, with great variance between breeds

All dog breeds have unwanted behavior, such as noise sensitivity, aggressiveness and separation anxiety, but differences in frequency between breeds are great. Various unwanted behavior traits often occur simultaneously, as indicated by a study recently completed by Professor Hannes Lohi's research group from the University of Helsinki.

What women really want

Earlier research purported to show links between a woman's cycle and how attracted she was to men's behavior. Research at the University of Göttingen questions this. It showed shifts in women's cycles did not affect their preferences for men's behavior. Researchers found, however, that when fertile, women found all men slightly more attractive. Irrespective of their cycle, flirtier men were...

World-first system forecasts warming of lakes globally

Pioneering research led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) has devised the first system that classifies lakes globally, placing each of them in one of nine 'thermal regions.' This will enable scientists to better predict future warming of the world's lakes due to climate change, and the potential threat to cold-water species such as salmon and trout.

'More scary than coronavirus': South Korea's health alerts expose private lives

‘Safety guidance texts’ sent by the authorities contain an avalanche of personal information and are fuelling social stigmaCoronavirus latest updatesAs the number of coronavirus cases in South Korea exceeded 6,000 this week, there was a rise, too, in complaints about information overload in the form of emergency virus text alerts that have included embarrassing revelations about infected...

Coronavirus latest updates: Trump admits outbreak 'might' impact US economy

Pence acknowledges shortage of testing kits; WHO warns of sustained community transmission; first death in UK. Follow live news:Greece shuts schools as WHO warns about local transmissionVietnamese curator dropped because of ‘coronavirus prejudice’Cruise ship held near San Francisco for testing as city confirms two casesHas Covid-19 mutated into a more deadly strain? Busting the mythsTrump...

Coronavirus: cruise ship held near San Francisco as US ramps up response

Pence says 4m test kits will be delivered by next weekWashington state reports 70 casesFollow for live updates on the coronavirus outbreakPassengers on a Grand Princess cruise ship linked to the first death from coronavirus in California remained off the coast on Thursday as the first two cases were confirmed in San Francisco.A coast guard helicopter was delivering test kits to the cruise ship...

One step closer to understanding the human brain

An international team of scientists has launched a comprehensive overview of all proteins expressed in the brain. The open-access database offers medical researchers an unprecedented resource to deepen their understanding of neurobiology and develop new, more effective therapies and diagnostics targeting psychiatric and neurological diseases.

Scientists monitor brains replaying memories in real time

In a study of epilepsy patients, researchers monitored the electrical activity of thousands of individual brain cells, called neurons, as patients took memory tests. They found that the firing patterns of the cells that occurred when patients learned a word pair were replayed fractions of a second before they successfully remembered the pair.