253 articles from TUESDAY 1.9.2020

Finding Magnetic Eruptions in Space, With an AI Assistant

Portal origin URL: Finding Magnetic Eruptions in Space, With an AI AssistantPortal origin nid: 463633Published: Tuesday, September 1, 2020 - 10:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: Artificial Intelligence is now helping MMS scientists make discoveries.Portal image: Animation of MMS in...

Giant leap for molecular measurements

Spectroscopy is an important tool of observation in many areas of science and industry. Infrared spectroscopy is especially important in the world of chemistry, where it is used to analyze and identify molecules. The current state-of-the-art method can make approximately 1 million observations per second. UTokyo researchers have greatly surpassed this figure with a new method about 100 times...

Red fox displaces Arctic fox thanks to littering

Animal species that are at home in the high mountains are finding their habitats reduced and fragmented by roads. In addition, they face competition from scavengers from lower boreal areas that find their way to the mountains.

Researchers track groundwater discharges into salt ponds

The movement of groundwater in aquifers deep beneath the surface often carries with it a variety of contaminants that can be traced to leaking septic systems, damaged underground infrastructure, excessive fertilizer use and other land uses. But where that groundwater and those contaminants end up is often unknown.

Probing the origin of the mantle's chemically distinct 'scars'

The composition of Earth's mantle was more shaped by interactions with the oceanic crust than previously thought, according to work from Carnegie's Jonathan Tucker and Peter van Keken along with colleagues from Oxford that was recently published in Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems.

How regulations meant to increase poor, minority lending ultimately backfire

Over the years, policymakers have enacted consumer protection laws and regulations to ensure better access to credit for low-income and minority consumers at fair lending rates. While these regulations make it illegal for financial institutions to discriminate against borrowers when making loan approval decisions, they do not guarantee equitable outcomes.

The science of healthy eating: Why are we still getting it wrong? - podcast

According to a recent study, obesity increases the risk of dying of Covid-19 by nearly 50%. Governments around the world are now hoping to encourage their citizens to lose weight. But with so much complex and often contradictory dietary advice, as well as endless fads, it can be hard to know what healthy eating actually looks like. How many pieces of fruit and vegetables should you eat a day? Will...

Uncovering the hidden life of 'dead' coral reefs

'Dead' coral rubble can support more animals than live coral, according to researchers trialing a high-tech sampling method. A researcher said that reef rubble habitat was often overlooked as desolate, unattractive and 'dead', however reef rubble was very much alive.

German minister spat at and verbally abused at Covid protest

Jens Spahn subjected to shouts of ‘shame’ and ‘gay pig’ as he confronts crowdCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageGermany’s health minister was jeered, spat at and targeted by homophobic abuse as the countrywide protests of a vocal minority of people against coronavirus restrictions has taken on an increasingly aggressive tone.The Conservative politician Jens...

Measuring adhesion and friction of polymer nanofibers

Using a device small enough to fit on the head of a pin, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign gained new knowledge about the properties of polymer fibers at the nanoscale—knowledge that can inform the design and manufacturing of products made up of random networks of filaments, such as robust filters designed to block foreign particles from entering our lungs.

Nanomaterials— short polymers, big impact

Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have discovered a cost-effective way to significantly improve the mechanical performance of common polymer nanocomposite materials. The discovery could lead to stronger, more durable materials for applications ranging from biomedical devices to automobile tires.

Record-setting rain and heat? This is the new normal

I'm the director of the North Carolina Climate Office, which is the go-to source for expertise in North Carolina's climate. But if you call me to ask if there's a downpour on the way, I probably won't know the answer off the top of my head. That may seem odd, but it's because I'm mostly thinking about the climate—and weather is something a little different.

Don’t be brainwashed – Elon Musk’s ‘bionic pig’ is just a publicity stunt | Arwa Mahdawi

The billionaire entrepreneur loves to make headline-grabbing claims, but behind the hype his innovations are often underwhelmingHere is a philosophical conundrum: if no one is talking about Elon Musk, does he really exist? The entrepreneur needs attention the way mortals need oxygen. If the 49-year-old is not in the news for a couple of days, he finds a way to shoehorn himself back into the...

Astronomers identify 18 metal-poor stars in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) astronomers have detected 18 very metal-poor stars in the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. They found that one of the stars from the sample has an extremely low metallicity, slightly below -3.0. The study was reported in a paper published August 22 on the arXiv preprint repository.