- PhysOrg
- 20/11/5 23:00
Quick flashes of light in the night sky have been linked to the growing mass of satellites and debris zipping around Earth's orbit.
349 articles from THURSDAY 5.11.2020
Quick flashes of light in the night sky have been linked to the growing mass of satellites and debris zipping around Earth's orbit.
How do stars destroy lithium? Was a drastic change in the shape of the Milky Way caused by the sudden arrival of millions of stellar stowaways?
As scientists await the highly anticipated initial results of the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, collaborating scientists from DOE's Argonne National Laboratory continue to employ and maintain the unique system that maps the magnetic field in the experiment with unprecedented precision.
Cases of a mutated strain of Covid-19 have been detected that may undermine future vaccines.
Peter Beck, Rocket Lab's founder and CEO, hopes the planned test on November 15 will help the company turn around missions faster and cut...
Stars are not created equal. They span a broad range of sizes, ages, and temperatures from diminutive red, cool, low-mass stars to opulent blue, hot, massive stars. Our Sun is roughly midway between these populations. Because stars are the universe's LEGO blocks for building immense galaxies, astronomers are always seeking a much better understanding of their birth and death. Stars' behavior over...
Scientists at the University of Cambridge, in collaboration with Justus-Liebig University, Germany, have uncovered how the genome of SARS-CoV-2—the coronavirus that causes COVID-19—uses genome origami to infect and replicate successfully inside host cells. This could inform the development of effective drugs that target specific parts of the virus genome, in the fight against COVID-19.
In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we look at why light pollution is a 'stressor' on the planet and why poppies are a symbol of ecological renewal.
A decade ago, a band of astronomers set out to investigate one of the oldest questions taunting philosophers, scientists, priests, astronomers, mystics and the rest of the human race: How many more Earths are out there, if any? How many far-flung planets exist that could harbor life as we know it?Their tool was the Kepler spacecraft, which was launched in March 2009 on a 3-1/2-year mission to...
Small shifts in ocean temperature can have significant effects on the eating habits of blackfin tuna during the larval stage of development, when finding food and growing quickly are critical to long-term survival, a new study from Oregon State University researchers has found.
With its warm weather and sandy beaches, Hawaii is a magnet for tourists every year. This unique ecosystem also attracts soil scientists interested in what surprises may lie beneath their feet.
Borrowing a page from high-energy physics and astronomy textbooks, a team of physicists and computer scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has successfully adapted and applied a common error-reduction technique to the field of quantum computing.
You probably do not find it surprising that humans, dogs or cats, can adjust their behavior based on the experience. For instance, we all move more slowly after we slide and fall on the ice when we learn ice-skating. A new study shows that water striders can do that too.
A joint-study led by a team of marine ecologists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has found that the eco-engineered tiles can increase habitat complexity on seawalls in Hong Kong, thereby effectively enhancing the marine biodiversity. The Hong Kong study is part of a global research project on the relationship between habitat complexity and marine biodiversity on human-built marine...
Much of what we know regarding how life—as we know it—came into existence is through the recovery of fossils from various sites in the word. The Chengjiang lagerstatte in Yunnan Province, China, is one such unique site containing very well-preserved fossils (also called the "Chengjiang fauna"), which include soft-bodied animals that normally do not get fossilized. Most of these fossils are 520...
Coronavirus lockdowns in Europe have led to some environmental improvements such as better air quality and lower carbon emissions, but they are temporary and coupled with a surge in single-use plastic, the European Environment Agency (EEA) said Thursday.
The world likely can’t keep global warming to a relatively safe minimum unless we change how we grow, eat and throw away our food, but we don’t need to all go vegan, a new study says. Researchers looked at five types of broad fixes to the food system and calculated how much they fight warming. If the world food system keeps on current trajectories, it will produce near 1.5 trillion tons of...
Albanerpetontids, originating possibly 250m years ago, snatched prey with ballistic tongue, say scientistsScientists have uncovered the oldest evidence of a “slingshot” tongue, in fossils of 99m-year-old amphibians.The prehistoric armoured creatures, known as albanerpetontids, were sit-and-wait predators who snatched prey with a projectile firing of their “ballistic tongues”. Continue...
Reducing fossil fuel use is essential to stopping climate change, but that goal will remain out of reach unless global agriculture and eating habits are also transformed, according to new research from the University of Minnesota and University of Oxford.
Fossils of bizarre, armored amphibians known as albanerpetontids provide the oldest evidence of a slingshot-style tongue, a new Science study shows.
In a review paper published in the journal Science, a group of climate experts make the case for including paleoclimate data in the development of climate models. Such models are used globally to assess the impacts of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, predict scenarios for future climate and propose strategies for mitigation.
Using a new large-scale data archive of animal movement studies, an international team including University of Maryland biologists found that animals are responding in unexpected ways to climate change. The archive contains data from studies across the global Arctic and sub-Arctic, an enormous region that is experiencing some of the most dramatic effects of global warming, including animal...
Following the presidential election, a leading group of scientists are making the case that a 'rule reversal' will not be sufficient to allow the Endangered Species Act to do its job. Instead, they're calling for deeper improvements to the rules federal wildlife agencies use to apply the law—aiming to make the Act more effective and to gain bipartisan and industry support in an era of...
With low take-up likely and accuracy an issue, mass testing is not going to be the easy fix everyone is hoping forRapid Covid test missed over 50% of cases in pilotSee all our coronavirus coverageOperation Moonshot, the government’s ambitious plan to deploy exciting new technologies to test the entire population for coronavirus infection, launches in Liverpool on Friday. Yet, even as the army...
As Americans await the results of Tuesday’s federal election, experts say the U.S. needs a president that will not only bring the country back into the Paris climate agreement, but step up the country’s commitments to address climate...
Borrowing a page from high-energy physics and astronomy textbooks, a team of physicists and computer scientists has successfully adapted and applied a common error-reduction technique to the field of quantum computing.
Scientists have uncovered how the genome of SARS-CoV-2 -- the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 -- uses genome origami to infect and replicate successfully inside host cells.
Diverse microbes discovered in the clay-rich, shallow soil layers in Chile's dry Atacama Desert suggest that similar deposits below the Martian surface may contain microorganisms, which could be easily found by future rover missions or landing craft.
Each year, millions of Americans fail to appear in court for low-level offenses, and warrants are then issued for their arrest. In two field studies in New York City, we make critical information salient by redesigning the summons form and providing text message reminders. These interventions reduce failures to appear by 13 to 21% and lead to 30,000 fewer arrest warrants over a 3-year period. In...
The composition of asteroids and their connection to meteorites provide insight into geologic processes that occurred in the early Solar System. We present spectra of the Nightingale crater region on near-Earth asteroid Bennu with a distinct infrared absorption around 3.4 micrometers. Corresponding images of boulders show centimeters-thick, roughly meter-long bright veins. We interpret the veins...
Interactions of transcription factors (TFs) with DNA regulatory sequences, known as enhancers, specify cell identity during animal development. Unlike TFs, the origin and evolution of enhancers has been difficult to trace. We drove zebrafish and mouse developmental transcription using enhancers from an evolutionarily distant marine sponge. Some of these sponge enhancers are located in highly...