225 articles from FRIDAY 16.10.2020

Order up! AI finds the right material

Engineers are always looking for materials with very specific properties for their projects. Unfortunately, there are way too many options for researchers to simply guess-and-check until they find what they're looking for. Even if they were to simulate materials, instead of testing them in the lab, it would take far too long to find a suitable material.

Those funky cheese smells allow microbes to 'talk' to and feed each other

Researchers at Tufts University have found that those distinctly funky smells from cheese are one way that fungi communicate with bacteria, and what they are saying has a lot to do with the delicious variety of flavors that cheese has to offer. The research team found that common bacteria essential to ripening cheese can sense and respond to compounds produced by fungi in the rind and released...

Enzymatic DNA synthesis sees the light

According to current estimates, the amount of data produced by humans and machines is rising at an exponential rate, with the digital universe doubling in size every two years. Very likely, the magnetic and optical data-storage systems at our disposal won't be able to archive this fast-growing volume of digital 1s and 0s anymore at some point. Plus, they cannot safely store data for more than a...

Twitter’s ban almost doubled attention for Biden misinformation

The news: When Twitter banned, and then unbanned, links to a questionably sourced New York Post article about Joe Biden’s son Hunter, its stated intention was to prevent people from spreading harmful false material as America heads into the final stretch of the election campaign. But thanks to the cycle of misinformation—and claims from conservatives that social-media platforms are...

Remdesivir questioned by WHO trial; women take virus more seriously than men

In a blow to one of the few drugs being used to treat COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) said interim trial results suggest that Gilead's remdesivir was no better than a placebo at limiting severely ill patients' need for mechanical ventilation, the length of their hospital stay, or their risk of death. Then, the authors looked at data on nearly 740,000 COVID-19 patients and examined...

Malice leaves a nasty smell

Unhealthy behaviours trigger moral judgments that are similar to the basic emotions that contribute to our ability to survive. Two different hypotheses are to be found in the current scientific literature as to the identity of these emotions. After developing a new approach to brain imaging, a research team shows that unhealthy behaviors trigger brain responses that are similar to those prompted...

A controllable membrane to pull carbon dioxide out of exhaust streams

A system developed by chemical engineers could provide a way of continuously removing carbon dioxide from a stream of waste gases, or even from the air. The key component is an electrochemically assisted membrane whose permeability to gas can be switched on and off at will, using no moving parts and relatively little energy.

Internet connectivity is oxygen for research and development work

Fast and reliable internet access is fundamental for research and development activity around the world. Seamless connectivity is a privilege we often take for granted. But in developing nations, technological limitations can become stumbling blocks to efficient communication and cause significant disadvantages.

Arctic Ocean sediments reveal permafrost thawing during past climate warming

Sea floor sediments of the Arctic Ocean can reveal how permafrost responds to climate warming. Researchers have found evidence of past permafrost thawing during climate warming events at the end of the last ice age. Their findings caution about what could happen in the near future: Arctic warming by only a few degrees Celsius may trigger massive permafrost thawing, coastal erosion, and the release...

Study explains the process that exacerbates MS

People with multiple sclerosis (MS) gradually develop increasing functional impairment. Researchers have now found a possible explanation for the progressive course of the disease in mice and how it can be reversed. The study can prove valuable to future treatments.

Fats fighting back against bacteria

With antibiotic-resistant superbugs on the rise, this research shows a new way that cells are using to protect themselves - using fats as a covert weapon, and giving us new insights into alternative ways to fight infection.