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62 articles from PhysOrg

Syncing NASA laser, ESA radar for a new look at sea ice

With a small nudge to a satellite's orbit, scientists will soon have simultaneous laser and radar measurements of ice, providing new insights into Earth's frozen regions. On July 16, the European Space Agency (ESA) begins a series of precise maneuvers that will push the orbit of its radar-carrying CryoSat-2 satellite about half a mile higher—putting it in sync with NASA's laser-carrying Ice,...

Chemists develop bioinspired strategy for the controlled synthesis of polyenes

They occur in nature, are reactive and play a role in many biological processes: polyenes. It is no wonder that chemists have for a long time been interested in efficiently constructing these compounds—not least in order to be able to use them for future biomedical applications. However, such designs are currently neither simple nor inexpensive and present organic chemists with major challenges....

Pioneering method reveals dynamic structure in HIV

Viruses are scary. They invade our cells like invisible armies, and each type brings its own strategy of attack. While viruses devastate communities of humans and animals, scientists scramble to fight back. Many utilize electron microscopy, a tool that can "see" what individual molecules in the virus are doing. Yet even the most sophisticated technology requires that the sample be frozen and...

Principles to enhance research integrity and avoid 'publish or perish' in academia

Amid growing criticism of the traditional "publish or perish" system for rewarding academic research, an international team has developed five principles that institutions can follow to measure and reward research integrity. Publishing on July 16, 2020 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, the team believes that applying these principles in academic hiring and promotion will enhance scientific...

Membrane technology could cut emissions and energy use in oil refining

New membrane technology developed by a team of researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Imperial College London, and ExxonMobil could help reduce carbon emissions and energy intensity associated with refining crude oil. Laboratory testing suggests that this polymer membrane technology could replace some conventional heat-based distillation processes in the future.

'Proofreading' proteins stop and reel in DNA to correct replication errors

On the DNA assembly line, two proofreading proteins work together as an emergency stop button to prevent replication errors. New research from North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill shows how these proteins—MutL and MutS—prevent DNA replication errors by creating an immobile structure that calls more proteins to the site to repair the error. This...

New study sheds light on how nutrient-starved cells recycle internal components

The idea of the cell as a city is a common introduction to biology, conjuring depictions of the cell's organelles as power plants, factories, roads, libraries, warehouses and more. Like a city, these structures require a great deal of resources to build and operate, and when resources are scarce, internal components must be recycled to provide essential building blocks, particularly amino acids,...

A population of asteroids of interstellar origin inhabits the Solar System

A study conducted by scientists at São Paulo State University's Institute of Geosciences and Exact Sciences (IGCE-UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil, has identified 19 asteroids of interstellar origin classified as Centaurs, outer Solar System objects that revolve around the Sun in the region between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune.

Revealing Brazil's rotten agribusinesses

Following reports that Brazil's current deforestation rate—1 million hectares—is the highest in a decade, a peer-reviewed study published in Science today finds that 18-22%, and possibly more, of Brazil's annual exports to the European Union are potentially contaminated with illegal deforestation, while identifying for the first time the specific producers of soy in Brazil responsible for...

Tuning frontal polymerization for diverse material properties

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have improved the technique of frontal polymerization, where a small amount of heat triggers a moving reaction wave that produces a polymeric material. The new method enables a wider range of materials with better control over their thermal and mechanical properties.

Does "naming and shaming" of colleges with large tuition increases make a difference?

Since 2011 the U.S. Department of Education has published two annual lists of higher education institutions with the highest percentage changes in tuition and fees and average net price. A study published today found that inclusion in either of these College Affordability and Transparency Center (CATC) lists does not affect institutional pricing policies or students' enrollment decisions. The...

Sea turtles' impressive navigation feats rely on surprisingly crude 'map'

Since the time of Charles Darwin, scientists have marveled at sea turtles' impressive ability to make their way—often over thousands of kilometers—through the open ocean and back to the very places where they themselves hatched years before. Now, researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on July 16 have evidence that the turtles pull off these impressive feats of navigation with...

Timing key in understanding plant microbiomes

Oregon State University researchers have made a key advance in understanding how timing impacts the way microorganisms colonize plants, a step that could provide farmers an important tool to boost agricultural production.

National abortion study finds out-of-touch labels, knowledge gaps, appetite for moral discussion

To read American polling statistics and social media rhetoric on abortion is to witness a nation evenly, loudly and politically divided, but new research from the University of Notre Dame finds that ordinary Americans do not actually talk much about abortion, do not fit within binary position labels, have significant knowledge gaps on the topic and—across the board—do not regard abortion in...

Water expert discusses slowdown in federal regulation of drinking water

It didn't grab headlines, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision last month to back away from regulating a rocket fuel ingredient in drinking water points to a dramatic shift in federal oversight. The decision was followed by a proposal to slow the process for reviewing chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and delayed action on hazardous...

How energy-intensive economies can survive and thrive as the globe ramps up climate action

Today, Russia's economy depends heavily upon its abundant fossil fuel resources. Russia is one of the world's largest exporters of fossil fuels, and a number of its key exporting industries—including metals, chemicals, and fertilizers—draw on fossil resources. The nation also consumes fossil fuels at a relatively high rate; it's the world's fourth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide. As the...

Estimating the maximum number of hot dogs that can possibly be eaten in 10 minutes

James Smoliga, a physical therapist at High Point University, has developed a computer model that not only shows the rate of improvement in hot dog eating contestants, but provides a number for the limit on the number of hot dogs a person could possibly eat. In his paper published in the journal Biology Letters, Smoliga describes the factors that went into building his model and other possible...