278 articles from TUESDAY 10.3.2020

Some domesticated plants ignore beneficial soil microbes

A review by biologists finds that plant domestication has often had a negative effect on plant microbiomes, making domesticated plants more dependent on fertilizer and other soil amendments than their wild relatives. To make crops more productive and sustainable, the authors recommend reintroduction of genes from the wild relatives of commercial crops that restore domesticated plants' ability to...

Second patient has been cured of HIV, study suggests

A study of the second HIV patient to undergo successful stem cell transplantation from donors with a HIV-resistant gene, finds that there was no active viral infection in the patient's blood 30 months after they stopped anti-retroviral therapy, according to a case report.

Feeding fusion: hydrogen ice pellets prove effective for fueling fusion plasmas

Researchers have found that injecting pellets of hydrogen ice rather than puffing hydrogen gas improves fusion performance at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which General Atomics operates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The studies by physicists based at DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) compared the two methods, looking ahead...

Bank of England must issue firm instructions to soften the coronavirus fallout

It’s nice of a few high street banks to offer repayment holidays but it’s a piecemeal approach. Threadneedle Street must step upThe Italian view of mortgages in the age of the coronavirus is big, bold and serious: payments can be suspended, says the government in Rome. So what about the UK? Where are our equivalent emergency measures, should they be needed?Well, there was a flurry of...

Leaf-inspired surface prevents frost formation

Northwestern University researchers discovered a new way to significantly reduce frost formation on any surface. The finding could help decrease the amount of energy needed for de-frosting and could potentially result in fewer canceled flights, which can be grounded by even the slightest layer of frost.

Finding the Invisible

Video Length: 4:31Scientists are using AMS-02 on the Space Station to study fundamental particles originating from sources up to billions of light years away. These particles may hold the key to understanding both the composition and history of our universe. Read this story Video Links: Finding the Invisible -...

Chemists create new artificial enzyme

Enzymes are nature's powerhouses. Found in the cells of all animals, plants, and every other living organism, they accelerate the chemical reactions that trigger thousands of biological functions—from forming neurons to digesting food.

'We're a bit shocked': Italians on life under coronavirus lockdown

From Milan to Palermo in Sicily, few people are even venturing out for a coffee in the local barCoronavirus latest | At a glanceBar Il Sant’Andrea is something of a barometer for the liveliness of Orvieto, a hilltop town of about 4,000 people in Italy’s central Umbria region. On a typical morning, it would be buzzing with customers having coffee, chatting or reading the newspapers.On Tuesday,...

God, science, Mendel and Freeman Dyson | Letter

Brendan O’Brien points out that science and religion are not incompatibleIt is rather ironic that, in an editorial honouring the physicist Freeman Dyson, you should refer to another scientist, Gregor Mendel, as having “left science for God”, as if science and religion were incompatible (Thinkers make progress by getting things wrong as well as getting them right, Journal, 9 March).Your...

Severe storms to come with added danger Tuesday night

As a disturbance rolls across the southern Plains, locally severe thunderstorms, some capable of spawning large hail, may pummel portions of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas.The storms are forecast to ramp up into the Tuesday evening hours and then remain active through much of Tuesday night. The storms will be fed by a stream of moist air from Texas and will move southeastward along a...

Johnson's majority slashed as 38 Tory rebels fire warning shot over Huawei's involvement in 5G - as it happened

MPs vote down Iain Duncan Smith’s amendment by 306 votes to 282, cutting Boris Johnson’s working majority of 87Government majority cut as almost 40 Tories rebel over Huawei 5.45pm GMT Related: Coronavirus live updates: number of deaths outside China passes 1,000 as Italy records highest one-day toll 5.20pm GMT The official division list for the Huawei vote is now up.Some 38 Tory MPs actively...

These self-appointed coronavirus experts really need to pipe down | Eleanor Margolis

Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and the Twitterati should leave the public announcements to the epidemiologistsI’m no financial expert, but – if you ask me – why not withdraw every last penny from your bank account, head to your nearest casino and put it all on red? You could literally double your money. Sure, something else could happen entirely. But all investments are risky, right? And, like I...