245 articles from MONDAY 29.6.2020

India bans TikTok—plus 58 other Chinese apps

On Monday, India banned TikTok and dozens of other apps made in China, escalating tension between the countries two weeks after a long-simmering border dispute in the Himalayas turned deadly. The news: In a statement, India said the apps “engaged in activities which [are] prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” Messaging and...

Even when women outnumber men, gender bias persists among science undergrads

Increasing gender diversity has been a long-sought goal across many of the sciences, and interventions and programs to attract more women into fields like physics and math often happen at the undergraduate level. But is representation enough to improve gender diversity in science? In a new study, researchers say there's more to the story: They've found that even when undergraduate women outnumber...

Array of radio telescopes reveals explosion on the surface of a hot dead star

An international group of researchers observed a source of variable gamma rays identified in 2010 by the NASA satellite Fermi. They used a technique called VLBI, that combines data from several radio telescopes on Earth, to produce the sharpest images to date. Surprisingly, the source of gamma rays was a symbiotic nova, a peculiar stellar system known to astronomers as V407 Cyg. The result, with...

Study finds gay and bisexual youth more likely to abandon churchgoing as they reach adulthood

Religious beliefs have shaped societal attitudes toward sexual minorities, with many religious denominations vocally opposing expanded sexual minority rights. Because of this stigmatization, lesbian, gay and bisexual individuals are less likely to affiliate with a religious group—but research from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Old Dominion University suggests they are not abandoning...

Closer threats inspire a more primitive kind of fear

Your brain handles a perceived threat differently depending on how close it is to you. If it's far away, you engage more problem-solving areas of the brain. But up close, your animal instincts jump into action and there isn't as much reasoning. And that is probably what makes it harder to extinguish the fear of a close-up threat and more likely that you'll have some long-term stress from the...

Dinosaurs wiped out by asteroid, not volcanoes, researchers say

Study says surge in volcanic activity could not have caused Cretaceous/Paleogene extinction eventA 66m-year-old murder mystery has finally been solved, researchers say, revealing an enormous asteroid struck the killer blow for the dinosaurs.The Cretaceous/Paleogene extinction event resulted in about 75% of plants and animals – including non-avian dinosaurs – being wiped out. But the driving...

With Flights Banned, Son Sails Solo Across Atlantic to Reach Father, 90

BUENOS AIRES -- Days after Argentina canceled all international passenger flights to shield the country from the new coronavirus, Juan Manuel Ballestero began his journey home the only way possible: He stepped aboard his small sailboat for what turned out to be an 85-day odyssey across the Atlantic.The 47-year-old sailor could have stayed put on the tiny Portuguese island of Porto Santo, to ride...