360 articles from THURSDAY 11.6.2020

More than 1000 tons of plastic rains into Western US protected lands annually

Watershed researchers estimate more than 1000 tons of microplastics (equal to more than 123 million plastic water bottles) are deposited in national parks and wilderness areas each year. Researchers used high-resolution atmospheric deposition data and identified samples of microplastics and other particulates collected over 14 months in 11 western U.S. national parks and wilderness areas. They...

Putting 'super' in natural killer cells

Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and deleting a key gene, researchers have created natural killer cells -- a type of immune cell -- with measurably stronger activity against a form of leukemia, both in vivo and in vitro.

‘Superforecasters’ Are Making Eerily Accurate Predictions About COVID-19. Our Leaders Could Learn From Their Approach

When Dr. Anthony Fauci said in late May that there’s a “good chance” a COVID-19 vaccine will be ready by the end of this year, Steve Roth badly wanted to believe him. Roth, a 74-year-old New Yorker who endured fever, pneumonia and anxiety while fighting the virus, wants life to go back to normal as much as anyone. And he respects Fauci, the longtime head of the National...

Scientists detect unexpected widespread structures near Earth's core

A new study has produced the first analysis of seismic echoes from hundreds of earthquakes at once, revealing widespread structures at the core-mantle boundary. Previous studies were limited to analysis of single earthquakes, providing only a narrow window into the structure deep inside the Earth. This study enables a much wider view than ever before, revealing new, unexpected features and...

UK coronavirus: Matt Hancock not ruling out compulsory cooperation with test and trace system – as it happened

UK death toll rises by 151 to 41,279; urgent cancer referrals in England fell by 60% in first month of lockdownNHS unable to trace contacts of 33% of people with coronavirusWho does coronavirus kill in England and Wales?How successful is test and trace? - AnalysisCoronavirus – latest updates 7.15pm BST That’s it from us today on the UK side. If you would like to continue to follow the...

Simulations reveal interplay between scent marking and disease spread

In a new mathematical model that bridges animal movement and disease spread, territorial behaviors decreased the severity of potential disease outbreaks—but at the cost of increased disease persistence. Lauren White of the University of Maryland's National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, Annapolis, MD, and colleagues present these findings in PLOS Computational Biology.

Smallest cavity for light realized by graphene plasmons

Miniaturization has enabled technology like smartphones, health watches, medical probes and nano-satellites, all unthinkable a couple decades ago. Just imagine that in the course of 60 years, the transistor has shrunk from the size of your palm to 14 nanometers in dimension, 1000 times smaller than the diameter of a hair.

Tiny pump builds polyrotaxanes with precision

Northwestern University researchers have developed the most precise way to build polyrotaxanes, a mechanically locked polymer for slide-ring gels, battery electrode materials and drug-delivery platforms.

Scientists detect unexpected widespread structures near Earth's core

University of Maryland geophysicists analyzed thousands of recordings of seismic waves, sound waves traveling through the Earth, to identify echoes from the boundary between Earth's molten core and the solid mantle layer above it. The echoes revealed more widespread, heterogenous structures—areas of unusually dense, hot rock—at the core-mantle boundary than previously known.

Recovery of sea otter populations yields more benefits than costs

Since their reintroduction to the Pacific coast in the 1970s, the sea otters' rapid recovery and voracious appetite for tasty shellfish such as urchins, clams and crabs has brought them into conflict with coastal communities and fishers, who rely on the same valuable fisheries for food and income.

More than 1000 tons of plastic rains into western US protected lands annually

Utah State University Assistant Professor Janice Brahney and her team used high-resolution atmospheric deposition data and identified samples of microplastics and other particulates collected over 14 months in 11 national parks and wilderness areas. The researchers identified plastic and polymers' composition to identify sources of plastic emitted into the atmosphere and track its movement and...

A genetic mechanism for sexual dichromatism in birds

Sexual dichromatism, a difference in coloration between males and females, may be due to sexual selection for ornamentation and mate choice. Here, we show that carotenoid-based dichromatism in mosaic canaries, a hybrid phenotype that arises in offspring of the sexually dichromatic red siskin and monochromatic canaries, is controlled by the gene that encodes the carotenoid-cleaving enzyme...

A noncompeting pair of human neutralizing antibodies block COVID-19 virus binding to its receptor ACE2

Neutralizing antibodies could potentially be used as antivirals against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Here, we report isolation of four human-origin monoclonal antibodies from a convalescent patient, all of which display neutralization abilities. The antibodies B38 and H4 block binding between the spike glycoprotein receptor binding domain (RBD) of the virus and the cellular...

A precise polyrotaxane synthesizer

Mechanically interlocked molecules are likely candidates for the design and synthesis of artificial molecular machines. Although polyrotaxanes have already found niche applications in exotic materials with specialized mechanical properties, efficient synthetic protocols to produce them with precise numbers of rings encircling their polymer dumbbells are still lacking. We report the assembly...