261 articles from WEDNESDAY 11.3.2020

Report: Amazon and Gates Foundation aim to team up with scientists on home test kits for coronavirus

Amazon Care is offering assistance to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a plan to deliver coronavirus test kits to Seattle homes, CNBC reports. The plan as described would be a grand convergence involving two major players on Seattle's tech scene, plus the University of Washington and the Seattle Flu Study. Amazon Care is an on-demand healthcare clinic that's open on a pilot basis to...

Previous coronavirus daily briefing updates, March 7-8

Current daily briefings on the coronavirus can be found here. Scroll below to read previous reports, listed in eastern time.Eight U.S. states have declared a state of emergency in response to confirmed coronavirus cases as of Sunday evening.Washington state, Florida and California were among the first to declare a state of emergency after confirming the the only fatalities in the U.S. There have...

Budget 2020: UK to launch £800m 'blue skies' research agency

Brainchild of Dominic Cummings will seek to return Britain to its ‘pioneering scientific roots’, says chancellorThe government will pump at least £800m into a new “blue skies” science research agency as part of a series of pro-business measures designed to boost Britain’s competitive edge.The UK agency, the brainchild of Boris Johnson’s closest political adviser, Dominic Cummings,...

Advice from a country with regular shortages: stop hoarding toilet paper, get ready for boredom | Dan McGarry

In Vanuatu, where cyclones regularly interrupt trade, we are watching the west’s collective panic with bemusementI’ve lived in the south Pacific island nation of Vanuatu for 16 years. Tropical weather regularly interrupts trade. Even when they’re hundreds of kilometres away, cyclones wreak havoc on shipping. Isolation and deprivation define our lives. We know better than most how to cope.So...

New flood damage framework helps planners prepare for sea-level rise

Scientists agree that sea levels will continue to rise this century, but projections beyond 2050 are much more uncertain regarding exactly how much higher ocean levels will be by 2100. While actions to protect against 2050 sea-level rise have a secure scientific basis, this range in late-century estimates makes it difficult for coastal communities to plan their long-term adaptation strategies.

Researchers find new minor planets beyond Neptune

Using data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES), researchers have found more than 300 trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), minor planets located in the far reaches of the solar system, including more than 100 new discoveries. Published in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, the study also describes a new approach for finding similar types of objects and could aid future searches for the...

Genetics research sheds light on 'dark' portion of genome

Just as there is a mysterious dark matter that accounts for 85 percent of our universe, there is a "dark" portion of the human genome that has perplexed scientists for decades. A study published March 9, 2020, in Genome Research identifies new portions of the fruit fly genome that, until now, have been hidden in these dark, silent areas.

Magic twist angles of graphene sheets identified

Graphene is 200 times stronger than steel and can be as much as 6 times lighter. These characteristics alone make it a popular material in manufacturing. Researchers have now identified how twisted graphene sheets behave and their stability at different sizes and temperatures.

Bumblebees aversion to pumpkin pollen may help plants thrive

Researchers have found that squash and pumpkin pollen have physical, nutritional and chemical defense qualities that are harmful to bumblebees. The results of their recent study suggest that deterring bumblebees from collecting and eating pollen may provide an evolutionary benefit to cucurbit plants.

New minor planets found beyond Neptune

Using data from the Dark Energy Survey, researchers have found and cataloged more than 300 minor planets beyond Neptune, including more than 100 new discoveries. This updated catalog of trans-Neptunian objects, and the methods used to find them, could aid in future searches for undiscovered planets in the far reaches of the solar system.

Stegosaurus footprints found on Isle of Skye

Grapefruit-sized tracks are first evidence that iconic dinosaurs roamed ScotlandGrapefruit-sized depressions found in rocks on the Isle of Skye have revealed that a type of stegosaurus once wandered the landscape, researchers say.The newly discovered tracks form a single line, a few metres long, with a right-left pattern and two different-sized prints – as would be expected for an animal on all...

Experts skeptical that warm weather will slow COVID-19 outbreak

A man wearing a mask as a precautionary measure against the spread of the new coronavirus gets his temperature taken at a small medical center that specializes in respiratory illnesses in Lima, Peru, Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia) As health officials around the world continue to learn more about the ongoing spread of COVID-19, one of the most pressing questions centers on...

The Guardian view on The Guardian view on Boris Johnson’s budget: we are all Keynesians now | Editorial

The chancellor might claim the Tories are ‘the real workers’ party’ but there’s no sign the state will intervene on the side of labour or redistribute wealthRishi Sunak’s first budget reveals a politician who will not squander the opportunity presented by a crisis. The Conservative chancellor has acted to shore up confidence in the economy by rolling out a series of emergency spending...

Research finds huge impact of interventions on spread of Covid-19

Study suggests number of cases could have been cut by 66% if China had acted a week earlierCoronavirus latest - liveThe rapid spread of coronavirus around the world could have been substantially curtailed if the broad swath of measures China brought in to control the outbreak were introduced just weeks earlier, researchers say.Sophisticated modelling of the outbreak suggests that China had 114,325...

A graphene innovation that is music to your ears

Just over 15 years since a couple of researchers in the U.K. used adhesive tape to isolate single atomic layers of carbon, known as graphene, from a chunk of graphite, their Nobel Prize-winning discovery has fueled a revolution in ultrathin materials R&D.

Intensive management of crops and livestock spurred La Bastida's economic development

A team from the Research Group in Mediterranean Social Archaeology (ASOME) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) has led an international study to reconstruct the diet of the El Argar society of the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula (2220-1550 BCE) and distinguish the subsistence strategies of the populations of this archaeological complex. Published in PLOS ONE, the study was conducted...

Remote South American kelp forests surveyed for first time since 1973

In the kelp forests of Tierra del Fuego, at the southernmost tip of South America, the relative abundance of kelp, sea urchins, and sea stars has not changed significantly since 1973. Alan Friedlander of the National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas project and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on March 11, 2020.

African swine fever destroying small pig farms, as factory farming booms – report

China is worst hit as lack of financial support leaves small-scale farms struggling to survive while big companies continue to expandSmall farmers across the globe are losing out in the aftermath of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak that killed a quarter of the world’s pig population, argues a new report.Nowhere is this more evident than China, where swine fever has hit the country’s...

WHO declares coronavirus pandemic

Director general says his organisation is ‘deeply concerned … by alarming levels of inaction’ Coronavirus latest - live updatesThe World Health Organization has declared a coronavirus pandemic, warning that countries are not doing enough to stop the spread of the virus around the globe.The WHO’s director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “pandemic” was not a word to use...