272 articles from TUESDAY 28.7.2020

How covid-19 conspiracy videos keep getting millions of views

The ongoing battle between social-media companies and covid-19 misinformation pushers—including US president Donald Trump—stepped up again this week thanks to a new viral video. And it has exposed, once again, how difficult addressing conspiracy theories is for Facebook, Twitter, and others. The latest video comes from a group called America’s Frontline Doctors, which is sponsored by the...

France's global nuclear fusion device a puzzle of huge parts

A hugely ambitious project to replicate the energy of the sun is entering a critical phase, as scientists and technicians in southern France begin assembling giant parts of a nuclear fusion device, an international experiment aimed to develop the ultimate clean energy source.

Solving materials problems with a quantum computer

Quantum computers have enormous potential for calculations using novel algorithms and involving amounts of data far beyond the capacity of today's supercomputers. While such computers have been built, they are still in their infancy and have limited applicability for solving complex problems in materials science and chemistry. For example, they only permit the simulation of the properties of a few...

Text messaging: The next gen of therapy in mental health

In the US, approximately 19% of all adults have a diagnosable mental illness. Clinic-based services may fall short of meeting patient needs. In the first randomized controlled trial of its kind, a team investigated the impact of a texting intervention as an add-on to a mental health treatment program versus one without it. A new study finds that a text-messaging-based intervention can be a safe,...

Covid-19 test a week after UK arrival 'could halve quarantine time'

Scientific modelling shows different approaches to testing could catch up to 94% of casesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTesting travellers a week after their arrival in the UK could catch 94% of coronavirus cases and halve quarantine times, scientific modelling has suggested, as ministers consider proposals to reduce the 14-day self-isolation for those coming from...

Research could save years of breeding for new Miscanthus hybrids

As climate change becomes increasingly difficult to ignore, scientists are working to diversify and improve alternatives to fossil-fuel-based energy. Renewable bioenergy crops, such as the perennial grass Miscanthus, show promise for cellulosic ethanol production and other uses, but current hybrids are limited by environmental conditions and susceptibility to pests and diseases.

Quest advances to recreate sun's energy on earth

Fourteen years after receiving the official go-ahead, scientists on Tuesday began assembling a giant machine in southern France designed to demonstrate that nuclear fusion, the process which powers the sun, can be a safe and viable energy source on Earth.

Biologists zero in on cells' environmental sensing mechanism

Evolutionary and developmental biologist Craig Albertson and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report that they have identified a molecular mechanism that allows an organism to change the way it looks depending on the environment it is exposed to, a process known as phenotypic plasticity.

Migratory river fish populations down 76% since 1970

Populations of migratory river fish collapsed by 76 percent on average in the last 50 years, according to a report by conservation groups Tuesday, warning the "catastrophic" declines could impact people and ecosystems around the world.

Climate change-influenced refugee crisis may lead to long-term settlement issues

While many models suggest that climate change will prompt a substantial number of people to leave their homes, not all research so clearly finds this is the case. Investigating cases where computer models seemed to indicate only limited impacts of climate change on people leaving rural areas, a team of researchers now suggest that the models may reveal a more nuanced circular migration pattern in...

Discovery will allow more sophisticated work at nanoscale

The movement of fluids through small capillaries and channels is crucial for processes ranging from blood flow through the brain to power generation and electronic cooling systems, but that movement often stops when the channel is smaller than 10 nanometers. Researchers have reported a new way to stimulate the fluid flow by using a small increase in temperature or voltage.