273 articles from MONDAY 24.8.2020
EPA approves a virus-killing coating for American Airlines, studies use by schools
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on Monday it has granted emergency approval for American Airlines to use a disinfectant against the coronavirus on certain surfaces that lasts for up to seven days, and is studying whether it could be effective in places like schools. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler said at a news briefing that SurfaceWise2, made by Allied BioScience Inc, is the...
The US just approved the use of plasma from covid-19 survivors as a treatment
The US has approved wide emergency use of blood plasma from covid-19 survivors as a treatment for coronavirus infection, despite limited evidence it helps.
Blood drug: The therapy, which the White House touted as a “breakthrough,” involves giving plasma from survivors to those battling the infection. It has been tried since early in the year in China, the Netherlands, and also in the US,...
Edam, Sask., woman killed by black bear while on the phone with her father
Hubert Esquirol said he was talking on a satellite phone with his daughter, Stephanie Blais, when the 44-year-old was attacked and killed by a black bear at the family cabin on McKie Lake, near Buffalo Narrows in northern...
Unconventional farming methods could help smallholders fight back against climate change
New research from Ghana shows less popular methods of biochar application are more effective in promoting cowpea growth and yield. The article, "Method of biochar application affects growth, yield and nutrient uptake of cowpea" was published in the De Gruyter open access journal Open Agriculture.
Routing valley exciton emission of a monolayer via in-plane inversion-symmetry broken PhC slabs
The valleys of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) offer a new degree of freedom for information processing and have attracted tremendous interest for their possible applications in valleytronics. To develop valleytronics devices based on TMDCs, effective approaches to separate valleys in the near or far field are indispensable. In recent research, kinds of nanostructures are...
Lensless light-field imaging through diffuser encoding
Microlens array based light-field imaging generally suffers from an intrinsic trade-off between the spatial and angular resolutions. To this end, scientists in China and German jointly proposed a lensless light-field imaging modality by using a diffuser as an encoder. Light rays can be decoupled from a detected image with adjustable spatio-angular resolutions, breaking through the resolution...
Birds of a feather flock together, but timing depends on typhoons
Six black-naped terns—a coastal seabird found in the Pacific and Indian Oceans—have given researchers a glimpse into how they navigate tropical typhoons.
Global stocks rally on US Covid treatment approval
Shares rise in Europe and Asia after Trump allows use of convalescent plasmaCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFinancial markets around the world have rallied strongly after the US government approved a coronavirus treatment using the plasma of recovered patients and hopes rose for the development of a vaccine.Against a backdrop of growing optimism that medical advances...
Wireless device makes clean fuel from sunlight, CO2 and water
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 18:34
Researchers have developed a standalone device that converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into a carbon-neutral fuel, without requiring any additional components or electricity.
Fuel cells for hydrogen vehicles are becoming longer lasting
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 18:34
An international research team has succeeded in developing an electrocatalyst for hydrogen fuel cells which, in contrast to the catalysts commonly used today, does not require a carbon carrier and is therefore much more stable. The new process is industrially applicable and can be used to further optimize fuel cell powered vehicles without CO2 emissions.
Global gut health experts guide growth of synbiotics
- ScienceDaily
- 20/8/24 18:33
Chances are you've heard of probiotics: supplements delivering 'good microbes' to the gut, providing a wide range of health benefits. You may also be aware of prebiotics: supplements designed to fuel the good microbes already living in our guts. The next wave of gut-health supplements, known as synbiotics, essentially combine pre- and probiotics. To keep research and development on the right...
A novel approach produces a completely new kind of dynamic light structure
It is not every day that scientists are able to produce an entirely new kind of light, but when they do the implications can be dramatic. When twisted light beams carrying orbital angular momentum were uncovered in 1992, researchers realized the potential to increase data transmission speeds over current approaches. Separately, in 2005, the Nobel prize in physics was awarded for the invention of...
New studies find agricultural pesticides can affect prawns and oysters
Researchers from the University's National Marine Science Centre have demonstrated that imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, can impact the feeding behavior of prawns in a laboratory environment, leading to nutritional deficiency and reduced flesh quality.
Fossil pollen record suggests vulnerability to mass extinction ahead
Reduced resilience of plant biomes in North America could be setting the stage for the kind of mass extinctions not seen since the retreat of glaciers and arrival of humans about 13,000 years ago, cautions a new study published August 20 in the journal Global Change Biology.
Ecologists put biodiversity experiments to the test
Much of our knowledge of how biodiversity benefits ecosystems comes from experimental sites. These sites contain combinations of species that are not found in the real world, which has led some ecologists to question the findings from biodiversity experiments. But the positive effects of biodiversity for the functioning of ecosystems are more than an artifact of experimental design. This is the...
Punitive sentencing led to higher incarceration rates throughout adulthood for certain birth cohorts in North Carolina
Although U.S. crime rates have dropped significantly since the mid-1990s, rates of incarceration peaked in 2008, and still remain high. The standard explanation for this pattern is that all people exposed to the criminal justice system today are treated more harshly than before. A new study using 45 years of incarceration data from North Carolina suggests an alternative explanation: this pattern...
Ground segment testing a success for James Webb Space Telescope
Testing teams have successfully completed a critical milestone focused on demonstrating that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope will respond to commands once in space.
Crossbreeding of Holstein cows improves fertility without detriment to milk production
Since 1960, Holstein dairy cows have exhibited a substantial decline in fertility, with serious economic consequences for farmers. Genetic selection programs in the United States and elsewhere have emphasized milk production at the expense of other traits. Attention has turned to improving these neglected traits for better overall well-being of cows and to ameliorate dairy producers'...
Tropical songbirds stop breeding to survive drought
Songbirds in tropical rainforests curtail their reproduction to help them survive droughts, according to a study Monday.
COVID-19 pandemic should be a wake-up call for water security
Urgent action on water security is essential to better prepare societies for future global health crises, say experts at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and Northwestern University in the U.S.
Strigolactones increase tolerance to weevils in tobacco plants
A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, has discovered that strigolactones, a class of novel plant hormones, mediate the fine-tuning of the production plant defensive substances in the stem of plants of the wild tobacco species Nicotiana attenuata. In a cooperative project with partners in China and Korea, they found that strigolactones and their...
Six of the most promising treatments for Covid-19 so far
While a cure-all drug or therapy is a long way off, there have been some breakthroughsMany different drugs and therapies are being trialled and used on patients with Covid-19. There are some positive results, which may be beginning to bring the hospital death toll down, but there is still a long way to go towards something that will cure all comers. These are some of the most promising. Continue...
Team warns negative emissions technologies may not solve climate crisis
A team led by researchers at the University of Virginia cautions that when it comes to climate change, the world is making a bet it might not be able to cover.
New research on claims that Asian American students are harmed when they cannot attend their first-choice university
A new study finds evidence that contradicts claims in legal complaints to the U.S. Department of Justice arguing that Asian American students face negative consequences while in college as a result of not being admitted to and not attending their first-choice institution. These complaints led to the Trump administration launching formal investigations into the race-conscious admissions practices...
Hong Kong reports 'first case' of virus reinfection
Experts say no conclusions on immunity can be drawn from one patient - and larger studies are needed.