200 articles from FRIDAY 15.5.2020

Further evidence does not support hydroxychloroquine for patients with COVID-19

The anti-inflammatory drug hydroxychloroquine does not significantly reduce admission to intensive care or death in patients hospitalized with pneumonia due to COVID-19, finds a study from France. And a randomized clinical trial from China shows that hospitalized patients with mild to moderate persistent covid-19 who received hydroxychloroquine did not clear the virus more quickly than those...

Persistent inequitable exposure to air pollution in Salt Lake County schools

Salt Lake County, Utah's air pollution varies over the year, and at times it is the worst in the United States. The geography traps winter inversions and summertime smog throughout the Salt Lake Valley, but underserved neighborhoods—and their schools—experience the highest concentrations. Previous research has shown pollution disparities using annual averages of PM 2.5 levels, the tiny...

Online romance scams: A modern form of fraud

Over the last 20 years, the rapid development of digital communication technology has given rise to new forms of social interaction on social media. Digital communication technologies can overcome physical, social and psychological barriers in building romantic relationships. Around 1400, dating sites/chats have been created over the last decade in North America alone. Solely in the UK, 23% of...

Modern sea-level rise linked to human activities

New research reaffirms that modern sea-level rise is linked to human activities and not to changes in Earth's orbit. Surprisingly, the Earth had nearly ice-free conditions with carbon dioxide levels not much higher than today and had glacial periods in times previously believed to be ice-free over the last 66 million years, according to a new article.

Key to preserving The Scream

Moisture is the main environmental factor that triggers the degradation of the masterpiece The Scream (1910) by Edvard Munch, according to new findings using a combination of in situ non-invasive spectroscopic methods and synchrotron X-ray techniques.

Food webs determine the fate of mercury pollution in the Colorado River, Grand Canyon

In the Grand Canyon reach of the Colorado River, two species play an outsized role in the fate of mercury in the aquatic ecosystem, and their numbers are altered by flood events. So reports new research, published in Science Advances, that is among the first to meld ecotoxicology and ecosystem ecology to trace how mercury flows through aquatic food webs and then spreads to land.

NASA analyzes developing System 90L in Straits of Florida

A low-pressure area designated as System 90L appears to be developing in the Straits of Florida, located between Southern Florida and Cuba. NASA's Aqua satellite measured cloud top temperatures within the developing system and found some stronger storms.

Controlling cells with light

Photopharmacology investigates the use of light to switch the effect of drugs on and off. Now, for the first time, scientific teams from Jena, Munich, and New York have succeeded in using this method to control a component of cells that was previously considered inaccessible.

Researchers find the key to preserving 'The Scream'

"The Scream" is among the most famous paintings of the modern era. The familiar image is interpreted as the ultimate representation of anxiety and mental anguish. There are a number of versions of "The Scream," namely two paintings, two pastels, several lithographic prints and a few drawings and sketches. The two most well-known versions are the paintings that Edvard Munch created in 1893 and...

NASA lays out the ‘Artemis Accords’ for international cooperation on moon trips

NASA today unveiled a list of 10 principles for a set of bilateral international agreements for participation in the moon exploration program known as Artemis. The Artemis Accords would apply to missions aimed at sending astronauts to the lunar surface beginning as early as 2024. NASA has been discussing international participation in the Artemis moon program for months. During a conference last...