163 articles from FRIDAY 17.7.2020

Israel returns to partial lockdown with immediate weekend shutdown

Government unveils measures after marathon emergency cabinet session as infections riseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIsrael has reimposed some lockdown measures following a vigorous second surge in the number of coronavirus infections, putting in place stringent weekend shutdowns in which shops, hairdressers and attractions will be closed.The government announced...

UK coronavirus live: Johnson to unveil £3bn plan to get NHS 'battle ready' for winter

News updates: PM set to make announcement in press conference on FridayPM promises extra £3bn for NHSMinisters urged to rescue Covid-hit early years education providersOxford vaccine team aim to start lab-controlled human trial soonUK government withdraws Randox test kits over safety issuesGlobal coronavirus updates - live 8.05am BST Speaking on BBC Breakfast, security minister James Brokenshire...

Comet Neowise's spectacular journey – in pictures

Comet Neowise was discovered on 27 March by Nasa’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission. Scientists say the comet is about 3 miles across. Its nucleus is covered with sooty material dating back to the origin of our solar system 4.6bn years ago. It is the brightest comet visible from the northern hemisphere in 25 years Continue...

A call to arms: Enlisting private land owners in conservation

In 1872 the United States created Yellowstone, the first National Park in the world. Since then many more parks, monuments, preserves, wildernesses and other protected areas have been created in the USA. Protected areas, like Yellowstone, are invaluable, but are they actually effective at preserving endangered species? And if not, how can future protected areas do better?

A chemical tailor-made suit for Alzheimer's drugs

Over 50 million people worldwide are affected by Alzheimer's disease and it is one of the greatest medical and social challenges of our time. Due to pathological changes in the brain, patients become increasingly forgetful and disoriented as the disease progresses. Alzheimer's is still considered incurable today. Researchers at the University of Göttingen and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell...

Archaeologists use tooth enamel protein to show sex of human remains

A new method for estimating the biological sex of human remains based on reading protein sequences rather than DNA has been used to study an archaeological site in Northern California. The protein-based technique gave superior results to DNA analysis in studying 55 sets of human remains between 300 and 2,300 years old.

Baleen whales have changed their distribution in the Western North Atlantic

Researchers using passive acoustic recordings of whale calls to track their movements have found that four of the six baleen whale species found in the western North Atlantic Ocean -- humpback, sei, fin and blue whales -- have changed their distribution patterns in the past decade. The recordings were made over 10 years by devices moored to the seafloor at nearly 300 locations from the Caribbean...

Cannabis shows potential for mitigating sickle cell disease pain

Cannabis appears to be a safe and potentially effective treatment for the chronic pain that afflicts people with sickle cell disease, according to a new clinical trial co-led by University of California, Irvine researcher Kalpna Gupta and Dr. Donald Abrams of UC San Francisco. The findings appear in JAMA Network Open.

Chemical thermometers take temperature to the nanometric scale

Scientists from the Coordination Chemistry Laboratory and Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems, both of the CNRS, recently developed molecular films that can measure the operating temperature of electronic components on a nanometric scale. These patented temperature-sensitive molecules have the distinctive quality of being extremely stable, even after millions of uses. They were...

Clear strategies needed to reduce bushmeat hunting

Extensive wildlife trade not only threatens species worldwide but can also lead to the transmission of zoonotic diseases. An international research team led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research shed new light on the motivations why people hunt, trade or consume different species. The research shows that more...

Climate-friendly Cooling Could Cut Years of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Save US$ Trillions: UN

Energy-efficient cooling with climate-friendly refrigerants could avoid up to 460 billion tonnes of greenhouse gas equivalent being added to the atmosphere through 2060 - roughly equal to eight years of global emissions at 2018 levels.To meet all needs by 2050, cooling appliances worldwide would almost quadruple in number from 3.6 billion now to 14 billion, contributing greatly to higher world...

CVIA has just published a new issue, Volume 4 Issue 4

Beijing, 10 July 2020: the journal Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications (CVIA) has just published a new issue, Volume 4 Issue 4. This issue brings together important research papers from leading cardiologists in US, China, and Africa, including very important new research on identification of Novel TTN Mutations and discovery of digenic mutation.

Decadal predictability of North Atlantic blocking and the NAO

Decadal predictions are important to study climate evolution on multi-annual to decadal timescales and may represent an unprecedented opportunity for decision-makers to calibrate plans and actions over a temporal horizon of a few years. More insights on this topic may come from a study led by the CMCC Foundation and recently published on NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science.