255 articles from TUESDAY 20.10.2020
Plantwatch: Australia's giant stinging trees – 35m tall with a poison that can last for months
Scientists are hoping that research into Dendrocnide excelsa could lead to new painkillersIt sounds like something out of The Day of the Triffids: a stinging nettle the size of a large tree, with a sting so vicious it inflicts excruciating pain that can last for days, weeks or even months. But this is no science fiction, these are the stinging trees of Australia.Dendrocnide excelsa can grow up to...
The myth of the immortal Twinkie is dead, thanks to a new analysis of moldy snack cakes
After eight years, a Twinkie in Colin Purrington's basement "was chewy, unsweet, and smelled like rotting ginkgo fruit," he...
How initiatives empowering employees can backfire
- ScienceDaily
- 20/10/20 22:12
Strategies meant to motivate people in the workplace may have unintended consequences -- depending on who's in charge. Recent research shows that empowerment initiatives aren't necessarily the answer for business leaders hoping to motivate their employees.
Light pollution may increase biting behavior at night in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes
- ScienceDaily
- 20/10/20 22:12
Artificial light abnormally increases mosquito biting behavior at night in a species that typically prefers to bite people during the day, according to new research.
Tradition of petrified birds in the Dome of the Rock
On the southern exterior wall of the Dome of the Rock, a very important Islamic shrine in Jerusalem's Old City, there are two marble slabs, both carved from the same stone and placed side by side to form a symmetrical pattern, that depicts two birds. In a recent article published in the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, "Solomon and The Petrified Birds on the Dome of the Rock," author Elon Harvey...
Window opens for Virgin Galactic's final round of testing
The window for the final round of testing of Virgin Galactic's rocket-powered spacecraft opens later this week as the company inches toward commercial flights.
Peru unveils giant cat etching at famous Nazca site
A giant 2,000-year-old figure of a feline that was on the brink of disappearing will be the new cat's meow when Peru's remarkable Nazca Lines attraction reopens to tourists in November.
Invasive species of jellyfish seen off three North Carolina beaches, experts say
Jellyfish native to the other side of the world have been seen off multiple North Carolina beaches, prompting some experts to tell beachgoers to kill the invasive species if the opportunity arises.
Repairing the photosynthetic enzyme Rubisco
Manajit Hayer-Hartl, head of the research group "Chaperonin-assisted Protein Folding," has a long-standing interest in the central enzyme of photosynthesis called Rubisco. Her team has already reported on many of the interacting partners of Rubisco that are required for the folding and assembly of this highly abundant protein. In the current study, they have elucidated how Rubisco activase works....
Predicting tornadoes on UK cold fronts for the first time
Weather forecasters can more accurately predict when a tornado is likely to hit the UK thanks to a new tool devised in a partnership between the University of Leeds and the Met Office.