291 articles from TUESDAY 15.9.2020

Theoretically, two layers are better than one for solar-cell efficiency

Solar cells have come a long way, but inexpensive, thin film solar cells are still far behind more expensive, crystalline solar cells in efficiency. Now, a team of researchers suggests that using two thin films of different materials may be the way to go to create affordable, thin film cells with about 34% efficiency.

New research tool tracks political advertising on Facebook

Transparency in political ads is vital to ensuring safe and fair elections, but transparency is difficult if advertisers are not required to disclose details about targeting and sources of funding. While TV broadcasters must disclose information about political ads to the public, Facebook, which is used by nearly 70% of Americans and is a source of news for many users, faces no such federal...

Welsh seagrass meadow sows hope for global restoration

Project to revive climate-boosting wonder plant in Pembrokeshire could spur similar schemesSeagrass is a wonder plant but unrecognised and sorely neglected. This is a flowering plant with long ribbon-like leaves that often grows in the sea in lush underwater meadows.It is an unsung hero in the fight to clean up carbon dioxide and the climate emergency. Its credentials are astonishing: it absorbs...

NASA Missions Spy First Possible ‘Survivor’ Planet Hugging White Dwarf Star

Portal origin URL: NASA Missions Spy First Possible ‘Survivor’ Planet Hugging White Dwarf StarPortal origin nid: 464447Published: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 - 16:22Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: An international team of astronomers using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope has reported what...

Dust may have controlled ancient human civilization

When early humans began to travel out of Africa and spread into Eurasia over a hundred thousand years ago, a fertile region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea called the Levant served as a critical gateway between northern Africa and Eurasia. A new study shows that the existence of that oasis depended almost entirely on something we almost never think about: dust.

Is There a Black Hole in Our Backyard?

What is an astrophysicist to do during a pandemic, except maybe daydream about having a private black hole?Although it is probably wishful thinking, some astronomers contend that a black hole may be lurking in our solar system. They have been arguing over how to find it, if it is there, and what to do about it, proposing plans that are only halfway out of this world.The speculation began in 2016...

The Arctic Is Shifting to a New Climate Because of Global Warming

The effects of global warming in the Arctic are so severe that the region is shifting to a different climate, one characterized less by ice and snow and more by open water and rain, scientists said Monday.Already, they said, sea ice in the Arctic has declined so much that even an extremely cold year would not result in as much ice as was typical decades ago. Two other characteristics of the...

Dust may have controlled ancient human civilization

When early humans began to travel out of Africa and spread into Eurasia over a hundred thousand years ago, a fertile region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea called the Levant served as a critical gateway between northern Africa and Eurasia. A new study, published in Geology, shows that the existence of that oasis depended almost entirely on something we almost never think about: dust.

Did our early ancestors boil their food in hot springs?

Some of the oldest remains of early human ancestors have been unearthed in Olduvai Gorge, a rift valley setting in northern Tanzania where anthropologists have discovered fossils of hominids that existed 1.8 million years ago. The region has preserved many fossils and stone tools, indicating that early humans settled and hunted there.

Mexico identifies submerged wreck of Mayan slave ship

Archaeologists in Mexico said Tuesday they have identified a ship that carried Mayan people into virtual slavery in the 1850s, the first time such a ship has been found. The wreck of the Cuban-based paddle-wheel steamboat was found in 2017, but wasn’t identified until researchers from the National Institute of Anthropology and History checked contemporary documents and found evidence it was the...

COVID-19 virus uses heparan sulfate to get inside cells

A molecule known as ACE2 sits like a doorknob on the outer surfaces of the cells that line the lungs. Since January 2020, researchers have known that SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, primarily uses ACE2 to enter these cells and establish respiratory infections. Finding a way to lock out that interaction between virus and doorknob, as a means to treat the infection, has...

Sub-nanoparticle catalysts made from coinage elements as effective catalysts

Due to their small size, nanoparticles find varied applications in fields ranging from medicine to electronics. Their small size allows them a high reactivity and semiconducting property not found in the bulk states. Sub-nanoparticles (SNPs) have an extremely small diameter of around 1 nm, making them even smaller than nanoparticles. Almost all atoms of SNPs are available and exposed for...

Going small for big solutions: Sub-nanoparticle catalysts made from coinage elements as effective catalysts

'Sub-nanometer' particles (SNPs) are very popular because of their diverse applications, but technical difficulties in their synthesis has hindered research in this field. Scientists used an 'atom-hybridization method' to overcome this barrier they developed to study the reactivity of alloy SNPs made from three coinage metal elements. Their findings are an important step in improving the knowledge...

Signs of Life on Venus Hint at Biology Pretty Much Anywhere in the Universe

To go to Venus is to go to hell. One of the most brilliant and beautiful objects in the night sky, Venus is a near twin of Earth in size and mass but it is radically different in almost every other way. Its surface temperature averages 470º C (880º F), or hot enough to melt lead. Its atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide, with a ground-level pressure 90 times greater than that on...