304 articles from MONDAY 21.9.2020

Fightback against rise in Covid cases thrashed out at No 10 summit

Boris Johnson held lengthy meeting with scientists about bringing down UK infection rateCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageDeep into Sunday night, a debate was playing out in the heart of Downing Street. The prime minister had gathered the UK’s most eminent scientists – and was learning that “follow the science” is not as simple as it sounds.After more than a...

Marine sponges inspire the next generation of skyscrapers and bridges

Researchers are using the glassy skeletons of marine sponges as inspiration for the next generation of stronger and taller buildings, longer bridges, and lighter spacecraft. The researchers showed that the diagonally-reinforced square lattice-like skeletal structure of Euplectella aspergillum, a deep-water marine sponge, has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than the traditional lattice designs...

Nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 model may speed drug discovery for COVID-19

Scientists have developed a new tool that mimics how the virus that causes COVID-19 infects a cell, potentially speeding the search for treatments against the disease. The tool is a fluorescent nanoparticle probe that uses the spike protein on the virus surface to bind to cells and trigger the process that pulls the virus into cells. The probe could be used to rapidly gauge how drugs and compounds...

E. coli bacteria offer path to improving photosynthesis

Cornell University scientists have engineered a key plant enzyme and introduced it in Escherichia coli bacteria in order to create an optimal experimental environment for studying how to speed up photosynthesis, a holy grail for improving crop yields.

40 percent of O'ahu, Hawai'i beaches could be lost by mid-century

The reactive and piecemeal approach historically used to manage beaches in Hawai'i has failed to protect them. If policies are not changed, as much as 40% of all beaches on O'ahu, Hawai'i could be lost before mid-century, according to a new study by researchers in the Coastal Geology Group at the University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

Marine sponges inspire the next generation of skyscrapers and bridges

When we think about sponges, we tend to think of something soft and squishy. But researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) are using the glassy skeletons of marine sponges as inspiration for the next generation of stronger and taller buildings, longer bridges, and lighter spacecraft.

Southern hemisphere could see up to 30% less rain at end of the century

Projections based on climate models for the mid-Pliocene Warm Period (about 3 million years ago) suggest that countries in the tropical and subtropical southern hemisphere, including Brazil, may face longer droughts in the future. Annual rainfall may decrease as much as 30% compared with current levels.

New research shows international support for simple climate policy funding plans

For decades, scientists have urged policymakers to take prompt action to address climate change, but their calls have largely gone unanswered. Now, as wildfires ravage the west and hurricanes batter the Atlantic and Gulf coasts with greater intensity, a new study involving Washington University in St. Louis researchers finds consumers across the United States and in some European countries are...

Donald Trump’s Campaign Crafted a Careful Climate Message. Trump Ignored It

For months, the Trump campaign’s public statements and the President’s prepared remarks have repeated a message on climate change carefully calibrated not to alienate Republicans worried about the health of the planet: regardless of the science, Democratic plans to address the issue are too expensive. Last week, President Trump disregarded his own campaign’s meticulous...

Fierce, frequent, climate-fueled wildfires may decimate forests worldwide

Wildfires among ponderosa pines and Douglas firs of the U.S. West have long been part of nature's cycle of renewal, as much as the changing of the seasons. Scientists worry the hottest blazes could end up obliterating swathes of some forests forever. "When you get these large areas burned there are no surviving trees to reseed these areas," said Jon Keeley, a research scientist with the U.S....

Warming shrinks Arctic Ocean ice to 2nd lowest on record

Ice in the Arctic Ocean melted to its second lowest level on record this summer, triggered by global warming along with natural forces, U.S. scientists reported Monday. The extent of ice-covered ocean at the North Pole and extending further south to Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Russia reached its summertime low of 1.4 million square miles (3.7 million square kilometers) last week before starting...

‘A Climate Emergency Unfolding Before Our Eyes.’ Arctic Sea Ice Has Shrunk to Almost Historic Levels

From the bridge of the Arctic Sunrise, an old ice-breaking fishing trawler turned research vessel now plying the polar waters between Greenland and northern Norway, Laura Meller has an unparalleled view of our planet’s future. It is both gorgeous, and terrifying. The early autumn sunlight bathes the scattered icebergs in soft pink and orange hues that glimmer with the gentle swell....

Climate: Support for simple funding plans -- even if costs are high

There is growing demand for countries to take aggressive action to combat climate change, but less consensus on how to fund it. In a new study, researchers asked more than 10,000 people from the US, UK, Germany and France to weigh in. The majority preferred a constant-cost plan - even if costs are high. The finding surprised researchers, but provides valuable insight for policymakers.

The Search for Life on Venus Could Start With This Private Company

Elon Musk wants to settle humans on Mars with his rocket company SpaceX. Amazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, wants a trillion people living in space. But the chief executive of one private space company is approaching space exploration differently, and now aims to play a part in the search for life on Venus.Last week, scientists announced the astonishing discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of...

Israel fish deaths linked to rapid warming of seas

Bacterial infection alongside speed of temperature rise may have triggered mortality, suggests studyHigh temperatures and the persistent warming of oceans have triggered profound changes in marine ecosystems, but a new study suggests that the rate of onset of warming – rather than the peak – could also play a key role in the damage fuelled by climate change.In early July 2017, researchers were...

Tree planting has potential to increase carbon sequestration capacity

USDA Forest Service scientists have published an in-depth study on the value of tree planting as a means of offsetting carbon emissions in the United States. An analysis based on publicly available data from more than 130,000 forested plots in the Forest Service's Forest Inventory & Analysis Program found that fully stocking non-stocked and poorly stocked forests would result in an annual increase...

Biodiversity hypothesis called into question

Biologists have long considered the origins and continued coexistence of the immense diversity of species found in our environment. How can we explain the fact that no single species predominates? A generally accepted hypothesis is that there are trade-offs, which means that no organism can do best in all conditions. One trade-off that is commonly assumed is that between gleaner organisms —which...

Strontium-iridium oxide used for customization as an electronic material

PSI scientists have gained a fundamental understanding of a highly promising material that could be suited to future data storage applications. Their experiments with strontium-iridium oxide, Sr2IrO4, investigated both the magnetic and electronic properties of the material as a thin film. They also analyzed how these properties can be systematically controlled by manipulating the films. This study...

Colloidal dispersions of nanosheets for catalysis

Researchers from the ICN2 Nanostructured Functional Materials Group, in collaboration with other institutions, have used a liquid phase exfoliation process to obtain nanosheets with enhanced electrocatalytical properties. The work is published in Ultrasonics Sonochemistry.

Mixed-species tree stands adapt better than pure stands

Firs and spruces dominate the tree population of the Black Forest with a share of 80 percent. However, such predominantly pure stands are particularly vulnerable to extreme events caused by climate change, such as storm damage, heat waves, and bark beetle infestations. In Baden-Württemberg, on average, every third tree is already sick. A conversion from pure to mixed stands could increase the...