139 articles from MONDAY 25.5.2020

The evolutionary history of the Milky Way determined in more detail than ever

Thanks to data from the Gaia mission, of the European Space Agency (ESA), and international team led by researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) has presented a study which shows the crucial role of the Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy in the evolution of our galaxy. These results, published in the magazine Nature Astronomy, also hint that the Sun might have been formed due to...

Title: Two-dimensional MXene as a novel electrode material for next-generation display

Researchers in the US and Korea reported the first efficient flexible light-emitting diodes with a two-dimensional titanium carbide MXene as a flexible and transparent electrode. This MXene-based light-emitting diodes (MX-LED) with high efficiency and flexibility have been achieved via precise interface engineering from the synthesis of the material to the application (Advanced Materials,2020,...

Towards visible-wavelength passively mode-locked lasers in all-fibre format

Mode-locked fibre lasers are the fundamental building blocks of many photonic systems, ultrafast lasers in the visible region are costly and challenging to make. Chinese scientists have first demonstrated a visible-wavelength passively mode-locked all-fibre laser. The laser generates picosecond pulses at 635 nm, which represents an essential step towards miniaturized ultrafast fibre lasers in the...

uOttawa researchers discover new sex hormone

When University of Ottawa biologists Kim Mitchell and Vance Trudeau began studying the effects of gene mutations in zebrafish, they uncovered new functions that regulate how males and females interact while mating. They changed the secretogranin-2 genes through specific mutation and found that it affected the ability of females and males to breed. It severely reduced their sexual behaviour.

We need a new approach to UK resilience -- leading Cranfield academics

Leading academics from across Cranfield University are calling for a new approach to UK resilience. Writing in today's Financial Times, the academics believe that as well as lessons learnt from the response to COVID-19 there is a much wider lesson to be learnt about how the UK identifies, prepares and responds to threats and risks, such as to our safety, our national security and from climate...

What information is coded in bird alarm calls -- a new study from Korea

Recordings of the Oriental tit's alarm responses showed that alarm calls to snakes have special acoustic properties different from calls to chipmunks, even though both predators can enter bird's nests and destroy broods. Nestlings escaped from nests (and from the snake) when they heard a recording of the "snake call" but not "chipmunk call" by parents. This suggests that the calls do not carry...

Why are we still failing to stop deforestation?

While national and international efforts to reverse the trend of deforestation have multiplied in recent years, there is still no clear evidence to suggest that these initiatives are actually working. A new paper published in One Earth, calls for a radically different approach that focuses on our understanding of how individuals make their choices about forests and livelihoods.