323 articles from WEDNESDAY 29.7.2020

Nasa moon mission asks US universities to develop technology

Fund will offer up to $2m to rapidly find ways of locating water or building power systemsNasa has asked American universities to propose new technologies that will help the space agency conduct sustainable exploration of the moon. Successful applicants will receive up to $2m (£1.5m) from the newly inaugurated lunar surface technology research (Lustr) opportunity to rapidly develop technology in...

First results of an upgraded device highlight lithium's value for producing fusion

Lithium, the silvery metal that powers smart phones and helps treat bipolar disorders, could also play a significant role in the worldwide effort to harvest on Earth the safe, clean and virtually limitless fusion energy that powers the sun and stars. First results of the extensively upgraded Lithium Tokamak Experiment-Beta (LTX-β) at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics...

Study sheds light on the evolution of the earliest dinosaurs

The classic dinosaur family tree has two subdivisions of early dinosaurs at its base: the Ornithischians, or bird-hipped dinosaurs, which include the later Triceratops and Stegosaurus; and the Saurischians, or lizard-hipped dinosaurs, such as Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus.

A neural network that spots similarities between programs could help computers code themselves

Computer programming has never been easy. The first coders wrote programs out by hand, scrawling symbols onto graph paper before converting them into large stacks of punched cards that could be processed by the computer. One mark out of place and the whole thing might have to be redone. Nowadays coders use an array of powerful tools that automate much of the job, from catching errors as you...

The Guardian view on Covid-19's resurgence: we can make ourselves safer | Editorial

The picture in Europe and further afield is grim. But we must not resign ourselves to a large-scale recurrence of coronavirus Is the brief respite over? In England, and other European nations hit hard by coronavirus, bars and cafes have reopened, and people have begun to fly abroad again for holidays. Guests have gathered for weddings. Babies have met their grandparents for the first time.Though...

UK health leaders call for government to seek total elimination

Scientists predict 43 to 84 people will still be dying from Covid-19 every day by mid-AugustCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageScientists advising the government have predicted that between 43 and 84 people will still be dying from Covid-19 every day by mid-August, as health leaders called on the government to adopt a “zero Covid” approach and seek total elimination...

Archaeologists discover likely source of Stonehenge's giant sarsen stones

Stones in Wiltshire woodland found to be exact match for majority of site’s sarsensToday West Woods in Wiltshire is a popular spot for hikers, dog walkers and mountain bikers, famed for its bluebells in the springtime. Stick to the footpaths and it is easy to miss the hefty flat stones hidden in the undergrowth.But groundbreaking scientific research published on Wednesday reveals that, 4,500...

Scientists discover the mechanism of competition between mitochondrial genomes coexisting

Research at the Centro Nacional de Investigadores Cardiovasculares (CNIC) has identified the mechanism of competition between distinct mitochondrial genomes coexisting in the same cell. The study, published today in Science Advances, examines why the simultaneous presence of more than one variant of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in a cell is rejected in most cells, which select a single mtDNA variant...

Accelerated bone deterioration in last 70 years at famous Mesolithic peat bog in peril

Alarming results from a 2019 survey of well-known archaeological site Ageröd reveal drastic bone and organic matter deterioration since the site's initial excavations in the 1940s, suggesting action is needed to preserve findings from Ageröd and similar sites, according to a study published July 29, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Adam Boethius from Lund University, Sweden, and...

Imaging technology reveals historical layers of Eyckian Lamb of God

Two non-invasive chemical imaging modalities were employed to help understand the changes made over time to the Lamb of God, the focal point of the Ghent Altarpiece (1432) by Hubert and Jan Van Eyck. Two major results were obtained: a prediction of the facial features of the Lamb of God that had been hidden beneath non-original overpaint dating from the 16th century (and later), and evidence for a...

Researchers find therapeutic targets to fight SARS-CoV-2

Researchers from HSE University have developed new approaches for regulating the expression of ACE2 and TMPRSS2 enzymes, which play a crucial role in cell infection with SARS-CoV-2. The scholars discovered that small non-coding microRNA (miRNA) molecules are capable of performing a targeted decrease in ACE2 and TMPRSS2. The results of the study have been published in PLOS ONE.

Scientists make quantum technology smaller

A way of shrinking the devices used in quantum sensing systems has been developed by researchers at the UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing, which is led by the University of Birmingham.

NASA’s new Mars rover is bristling with tech made to find signs of alien life

Deep down, our drive to explore Mars has always been about figuring out the story of life in our solar system. Are we alone? Were we always? Or is life on Earth descended from Martian progenitors? NASA is now on the verge of launching its most ambitious effort ever to chip away at those questions, in the form of a high-tech rover called Perseverance and a scheme to return some of the samples it...

Breakthrough method for predicting solar storms

Extensive power outages and satellite blackouts that affect air travel and the internet are some of the potential consequences of massive solar storms. These storms are believed to be caused by the release of enormous amounts of stored magnetic energy due to changes in the magnetic field of the sun's outer atmosphere—something that until now has eluded scientists' direct measurement. Researchers...

Healing an Achilles' heel of quantum entanglement

Louisiana State University Associate Professor of Physics Mark M. Wilde and his collaborator have solved a 20-year-old problem in quantum information theory on how to calculate entanglement cost—a way to measure entanglement—in a manner that's efficiently computable, useful, and broadly applicable in several quantum research areas.

COVID-19: Social media users more likely to believe false information

A new study led by researchers at McGill University finds that people who get their news from social media are more likely to have misperceptions about COVID-19. Those that consume more traditional news media have fewer misperceptions and are more likely to follow public health recommendations like social distancing.

Subsidies, weather, and financial education promote agricultural insurance adoption

A new University of Maryland-led study shows that subsidies can help people continually purchase insurance products, but only if they have the financial literacy to understand the benefits of the policy and have the experience of seeing the benefits in action. In a new paper published in American Economic Review, researchers conducted the first ever experimental study to look at the impact of...

High time to open up ecological research

Share the code and data behind the research please. It's easy, but it will have a major positive impact on progress and trust in science. That is the clear message from a new paper in PLOS Biology. An international team of ecologists found that currently, only about a quarter of the scientific papers in their field publicly shares computer code for analyses. "To make the science of ecology more...

Researchers uncover how cells interact with supporting proteins to heal wounds

When we get a wound on our skin, the cells in our bodies quickly mobilize to repair it. While it has been known how cells heal wounds and how scars form, a team led by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis has determined for the first time how the process begins, which may provide new insight into wound healing, fibrosis and cancer metastasis.

Transforming e-waste into a strong, protective coating for metal

A typical recycling process converts large quantities of items made of a single material into more of the same. However, this approach isn't feasible for old electronic devices, or 'e-waste,' because they contain small amounts of many different materials that cannot be readily separated. Now, in ACS Omega, researchers report a selective, small-scale microrecycling strategy, which they use to...

New fabric could help keep you cool in the summer, even without A/C

Air conditioning and other space cooling methods account for about 10% of all electricity consumption in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a material that cools the wearer without using any electricity. The fabric transfers heat, allows moisture to evaporate from the skin and repels...

Butterfly genomics: Monarchs migrate and fly differently, but meet up and mate

Each year, millions of monarch butterflies migrate across eastern North America to fly from as far north as the U.S.-Canadian border to overwinter in central Mexico—covering as much as 3,000 miles. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Rocky Mountains, western monarchs generally fly 300 miles down to the Pacific Coast to spend the winter in California. It was long believed that the eastern and...