185 articles from FRIDAY 17.4.2020

Up to 4% of Silicon Valley is already infected with coronavirus

Results from surveys tracking the true spread of the coronavirus are all over the map—but one done in the heart of the technology sector says the germ is more widespread, and less deadly, than widely believed. The new survey looked for antibodies to covid-19 in the blood of 3,300 residents of Santa Clara County, which is home to Palo Alto, top venture capital firms, and the headquarters of...

California nebula stars in final mosaic by NASA's Spitzer

Five days before NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope ended its mission on Jan. 30, 2020, scientists used the spacecraft's infrared camera to take multiple images of a region known as the California Nebula—a fitting target considering the mission's management and science operations were both based in Southern California at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech. This mosaic is made from those...

A date with history: NASA and SpaceX schedule first crewed Dragon mission for May 27 launch

NASA and SpaceX have set a date for the first crewed space mission to be launched into orbit from U.S. soil since the space shuttle fleet's retirement nearly nine years ago. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is due to launch NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley inside a SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship at 4:32 p.m. ET (1:32 p.m. PT) May 27, sending them to the International Space Station for an...

How the pandemic makes the case for a “public Venmo”

Ron Kim was already convinced that money should be redesigned. Now that the coronavirus epidemic has hit, he’s doubling down.  Before covid-19 started spreading in the United States, Kim, a New York assemblyman who represents a district in Queens, had been pushing for the state to create a publicly run digital payment system. He and other proponents described the concept as a sort of...

NASA Announces Date for the First Crewed American Space Launch in Nearly a Decade

(Bloomberg) — Elon Musk’s SpaceX will fly American astronauts to the International Space Station on May 27, according to National Aeronautics and Space Administration Administrator Jim Bridenstine, setting an official launch date for the mission. The launch, which Bridenstine announced in a tweet on Friday, will mark the first for NASA astronauts from American soil to the orbiting lab...

New discovery settles long-standing debate about photovoltaic materials

Scientists have theorized that organometallic halide perovskites— a class of light harvesting "wonder" materials for applications in solar cells and quantum electronics— are so promising due to an unseen yet highly controversial mechanism called the Rashba effect. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have now experimentally proven the existence of the effect in bulk...

Art of printing extremely hard steels flawlessly

For millennia, metallurgists have been meticulously tweaking the ingredients of steel to enhance its properties. As a result, several variants of steel exist today; but one type, called martensitic steel, stands out from its steel cousins as stronger and more cost-effective to produce. Hence, martensitic steels naturally lend themselves to applications in the aerospace, automotive and defense...

NASA and SpaceX's first crewed flight is set for May 27th

Today, NASA announced that its crewed SpaceX flight will launch on May 27th, The Washington Post reports. The flight will mark the first astronaut launch from US soil since 2011, and it will be the first SpaceX flight carrying passengers, not just...

Nanoparticles: Acidic alert

Researchers have synthesized nanoparticles that can be induced by a change in pH to release a deadly dose of ionized iron within cells. This mechanism could potentially open up new approaches to the targeted elimination of malignant tumors.

New discovery settles long-standing debate about photovoltaic materials

Scientists have theorized that organometallic halide perovskites -- a class of light harvesting 'wonder' materials for applications in solar cells and quantum electronics -- are so promising due to an unseen yet highly controversial mechanism called the Rashba effect. Scientists have now experimentally proven the existence of the effect in bulk perovskites.

Nanoparticles: Acidic alert

Researchers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich have synthesized nanoparticles that can be induced by a change in pH to release a deadly dose of ionized iron within cells. This mechanism could potentially open up new approaches to the targeted elimination of malignant tumors.

Machine learning could check if you’re social distancing properly at work

Andrew Ng’s startup Landing AI has created a new workplace monitoring tool that issues an alert when anyone is less than the desired distance from a colleague. Six feet apart: On Thursday, the startup released a blog post with a new demo video showing off a new social distancing detector. On the left is a feed of people walking around on the street. On the right, a bird’s-eye diagram...

Researchers uncover the art of printing extremely hard steels flawlessly

For millennia, metallurgists have been meticulously tweaking the ingredients of steel to enhance its properties. As a result, several variants of steel exist today; but one type, called martensitic steel, stands out from its steel cousins as stronger and more cost-effective to produce. Hence, martensitic steels naturally lend themselves to applications in the aerospace, automotive and defense...

Dissecting the mechanism of protein unfolding by SDS

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have used molecular dynamics simulations to understand how sodium dodecyl sulfate causes protein unfolding. SDS is commonly used in labs to separate proteins and determine their molecular weights. However, it is still unclear how SDS influences protein structure.

Mutual funds with lower tax burdens have higher returns

After a wild couple of months of equity market volatility, many mutual fund investors are now cautiously exploring how best to rebalance their portfolios. As they do so, new research from the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin says they should keep an important factor in mind: taxable capital gains.

Under pressure: New bioinspired material can 'shapeshift' to external forces

Inspired by how human bone and colorful coral reefs adjust mineral deposits in response to their surrounding environments, Johns Hopkins researchers have created a self-adapting material that can change its stiffness in response to the applied force. This advancement can someday open the doors for materials that can self-reinforce to prepare for increased force or stop further damage. A report of...

New UK taskforce to help develop and roll out coronavirus vaccine

Government bodies, industry and charities including AstraZeneca and Wellcome Trust to collaborate in coordinating effortsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageCoronavirus vaccine – when will we have one?The government has announced a new vaccines taskforce to help the development of a vaccine for Covid-19 and ensure its rapid production and rollout if one arrives.The...