323 articles from WEDNESDAY 29.7.2020

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...

How a crystalline sponge sheds water molecules

How does water leave a sponge? In a new study, scientists answer this question in detail for a porous, crystalline material made from metal and organic building blocks -- specifically, cobalt(II) sulfate heptahydrate, 5-aminoisophthalic acid and 4,4'-bipyridine. Using advanced techniques, researchers studied how this crystalline sponge changed shape as it went from a hydrated state to a...

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 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 water.

Healing an Achilles' heel of quantum entanglement

Researchers 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.