346 articles from THURSDAY 1.10.2020
Potty training: ISS crew to give Nasa’s first new space toilet in decades a go
The new $23m loo better accommodates women with a tilted seat, new shape and redesigned funnels for urinationNasa’s first new space potty in decades – a $23m titanium toilet better suited for women – is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon.It’s packed inside a cargo ship set to blast off late Thursday from Wallops Island,...
P.E.I.-based company wins $25K to develop hull coating made of fish waste
A company based out of Canoe Cove, P.E.I., just won some funding to continue development of a protective coating for boats made from fish...
Nasa's Dragonfly mission to Saturn's Titan moon delayed
Covid pandemic sets back exploration that aims to shed light on origin of life on EarthCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageNasa has delayed the launch of its Dragonfly rotorcraft by 12 months. Citing budget pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the agency’s planetary science division will now target 2027 to launch the mission to Titan, Saturn’s mysterious...
Pain relief caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection may help explain COVID-19 spread
- ScienceDaily
- 20/10/1 21:59
Research shows SARS-CoV-2 promotes pain relief through the receptor neuropilin-1, which gives scientists a new target for non-opioid pain therapeutics and offers one possible explanation for the unrelenting spread of COVID-19.
Ice discharge in the North Pacific set off series of climate events during last ice age
- ScienceDaily
- 20/10/1 21:59
Repeated catastrophic ice discharges from western North America into the North Pacific contributed to, and perhaps triggered, hemispheric-scale changes in the Earth's climate during the last ice age.
Chemical innovation stabilizes best-performing perovskite formulation
- ScienceDaily
- 20/10/1 21:59
Researchers have successfully overcome a limiting problem with stabilizing the best-performing formulation of metal-halide perovskite films, a key player in a range of applications, including solar cells.
'Echo mapping' in faraway galaxies could measure vast cosmic distances
When you look up at the night sky, how do you know whether the specks of light that you see are bright and far away, or relatively faint and close by? One way to find out is to compare how much light the object actually emits with how bright it appears. The difference between its true luminosity and its apparent brightness reveals an object's distance from the observer.
AI is helping scientists discover fresh craters on Mars
Sometime between March 2010 and May 2012, a meteor streaked across the Martian sky and broke into pieces, slamming into the planet's surface. The resulting craters were relatively small—just 13 feet (4 meters) in diameter. The smaller the features, the more difficult they are to spot using Mars orbiters. But in this case—and for the first time—scientists spotted them with a little extra...
Ice discharge in the North Pacific set off series of climate events during last ice age
Repeated catastrophic ice discharges from western North America into the North Pacific contributed to, and perhaps triggered, hemispheric-scale changes in the Earth's climate during the last ice age, new research published online today in Science reveals.
Venom glands similar to those of snakes are found for first time in amphibians
A group led by researchers at Butantan Institute in Brazil and supported by FAPESP has described for the first time the presence of venom glands in the mouth of an amphibian. The legless animal is a caecilian and lives underground. It has tooth-related glands that, when compressed during biting, release a secretion into its prey—earthworms, insect larvae, small amphibians and snakes, and even...
New research explores how multinational firms can manage corruption
For many developing countries, it is difficult to break the cycle of corruption on their own. Historically, multinational firms have assumed that they have two options available when dealing with corruption in developing countries: "play the game," meaning pay bribes or engage in corrupt activities, or "leave the table" by avoiding investing in countries where corruption is widespread. New...
Recipe is different but Saturn's moon Titan has ingredients for life
Catherine Neish is counting the days until her space launch. While the Western planetary geologist isn't space-suiting up for her own interstellar voyage, she is playing a key role in an international mission—dispatching a robotic drone to Saturn's moon Titan—set to blast-off in 2027.
Firefighters brace for violent winds in Northern California
Firefighters were warily watching for "violent" winds expected in California's wine country Thursday that could fan the flames of a massive blaze that has destroyed more than 140 homes and is threatening thousands more in a small town known for hot springs, mud baths and wineries.
Potty training: NASA tests new $23M titanium space toilet
NASA's first new space potty in decades—a $23 million titanium toilet better suited for women—is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon.
Pearl Jam concerts drive tourism, hotel demand
You could say Seattle came alive with more than an even flow of tourism dollars from a pair of highly-anticipated Pearl Jam concerts, according to rockin' new research by West Virginia University economists.
Potty training: NASA tests new $23M titanium space toilet
NASA’s first new space potty in decades — a $23 million titanium toilet better suited for women — is getting a not-so-dry run at the International Space Station before eventually flying to the moon. It's more camper-size to fit into the NASA Orion capsules that will carry astronauts to the moon in a few years. If the shakedown goes well, the toilet will be open for regular...
Chemical innovation stabilizes best-performing perovskite formulation
Perovskites are a class of materials made up of organic materials bound to a metal. Their fascinating structure and properties have propelled perovskites into the forefront of materials' research, where they are studied for use in a wide range of applications. Metal-halide perovskites are especially popular, and are being considered for use in solar cells, LED lights, lasers, and photodetectors.
How scientific leaders can enact anti-racist action in their labs
A new paper provides 10 steps that principal investigators (PIs) and research group leaders can follow to help cultivate anti-racist professional and learning environments. V. Bala Chaudhary of DePaul University, Chicago, and Asmeret Asefaw Berhe of U.C. Merced present these guidelines in the open-access journal PLOS Computational Biology.
Amazon study shows big conservation gains possible for imperilled freshwater ecosystems
A new study by an international team of environmental scientists in the Brazilian Amazon shows that redesigned conservation projects could deliver big gains for critical freshwater ecosystems—raising hopes for the futures of thousands of species.
Key control mechanism allows cells to form tissues and anatomical structures in the developing embryo
Under a microscope, the first few hours of every multicellular organism's life seem incongruously chaotic. After fertilization, a once tranquil single-celled egg divides again and again, quickly becoming a visually tumultuous mosh pit of cells jockeying for position inside the rapidly growing embryo.
Larger bottoms are key to male sprinting success, study finds
Researches find that athletes with larger gluteus maximus are more likely to be faster sprintersA large gluteus maximus - the muscle that forms the bottom - is key to athletes achieving top speeds on the track, according to a study.After examining the anatomy of elite athletes, researchers discovered that a large bottom is key for sprint performance. Continue...
Forest darkness helps stave off effects of nitrogen pollution – but this is set to change
Europe's forests are sitting on a pollution timebomb which could rewrite their ecology when it explodes, say researchers.
Covid-19: Funding crisis threatens zoo conservation
As Covid-19 threatens conservation work, Whipsnade Zoo is hoping for rhino breeding success.
Ice Age manatees may have called Texas home
Manatees don't live year-round in Texas, but these gentle, slow-moving sea cows are known to occasionally visit, swimming in for a "summer vacation" from Florida and Mexico and returning to warmer waters for the winter.
Fires spike in Brazil's Amazon, scientists say
The number of forest fires in Brazil's Amazon increased sharply in September, figures released Thursday show, fueling growing criticism of President Jair Bolsonaro's environmental policies.
NASA finds Hurricane Marie rapidly intensifying
NASA infrared imagery revealed that Hurricane Marie is rapidly growing stronger and more powerful. Infrared imagery revealed that powerful thunderstorms circled the eye of the hurricane as it moved through the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Our health: New focus on the synergy effect of nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are used in a wide range of products and manufacturing processes because the properties of a material can change dramatically when the material comes in nano-form.
New research sheds light on the reluctance of farmers to adopt new technologies
Research from the University of Kent's School of Economics sheds new light on a long-standing obstacle to improving agricultural productivity in developing countries: the reluctance of small-scale farmers to adopt modern technologies because of the risks associated with them.
Rise of the mutants: New research to improve enzyme design methodologies
A group of researchers at the University of Ottawa has been looking for ways to improve enzyme design methodologies and recently published their findings in Nature Communications.
How Steak-umm became a social media phenomenon during the pandemic
A new analysis by North Carolina State University and Arizona State University outlines how a brand of frozen meat products took social media by storm—and what other brands can learn from the phenomenon.
A high-performance solid-state electrocaloric cooling system
Electrocaloric (EC) cooling is an emerging technology that has broad potential to disrupt conventional air conditioning and refrigeration as well as electronics cooling applications. EC coolers can be highly efficient, solid state, and compact; have few moving parts; and contain no environmentally harmful or combustible refrigerants. We report a scalable, high-performance system architecture,...
A latent lineage potential in resident neural stem cells enables spinal cord repair
Injuries to the central nervous system (CNS) are inefficiently repaired. Resident neural stem cells manifest a limited contribution to cell replacement. We have uncovered a latent potential in neural stem cells to replace large numbers of lost oligodendrocytes in the injured mouse spinal cord. Integrating multimodal single-cell analysis, we found that neural stem cells are in a permissive...