303 articles from MONDAY 23.11.2020

Genetics behind deadly oat blight

A multi-institution team has identified the genetic mechanisms that enable the production of a deadly toxin called Victorin - the causal agent for Victoria blight of oats, a disease that wiped out oat crops in the U.S. in the 1940s.

Biden names John Kerry climate czar, in a recommitment to global cooperation

President-elect Joe Biden named John Kerry to the newly created role of climate czar, a move that underscores the incoming administration’s commitment to an international-focused approach to the issue and recognition of its strategic importance. Kerry, the former secretary of state, is a diplomatic heavyweight who helped piece together the landmark Paris climate agreement during the Obama...

China launches Chang'e-5 mission to bring back rocks from moon

Lunar landing is due in about eight days and entire mission is scheduled to last 23 daysChina has launched a robotic spacecraft to bring back rocks from the moon – the first such attempt by any country since the 1970s.The Long March-5, China’s largest carrier rocket, blasted off at 4.30am Beijing time on Tuesday from Wenchang space launch centre on the island of Hainan carrying the Chang’e-5...

China launches its first mission to bring moon rocks back to Earth

China launched its Chang’e 5 mission to the moon early Tuesday morning local time from the country’s launch site on Hainan Island in the South China Sea. The country is seeking to bring soil and rock samples from the lunar surface back to Earth for the first time in its history, for scientific study.  What’s going to happen: Chang’e 5 should make it to the moon on November 27. The...

Studies explore fluids in pancakes, beer, and the kitchen sink

Mechanical engineer Roberto Zenit spent the summer of 2019 trying to solve a problem that now plagues science departments around the world: How can hands-on fluid dynamics experiments, usually carried out in well-stocked lab rooms, be moved off campus? Since the pandemic hit, leading researchers like Zenit have found creative ways for students to explore flow at home.

Researchers record largest aggregation of fishes in abyssal deep sea

The largest aggregation of fishes ever recorded in the abyssal deep sea was discovered by a team of oceanographers from the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa (UH, U.S.), Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI, U.S.) and the National Oceanography Centre (NOC, UK). Their findings were published recently in Deep-Sea Research.

Flow physics could help forecasters predict extreme events

About 1,000 tornadoes strike the United States each year, causing billions of dollars in damage and killing about 60 people on average. Tracking data show that they're becoming increasingly common in the southeast, and less frequent in "Tornado Alley," which stretches across the Great Plains. Scientists lack a clear understanding of how tornadoes form, but a more urgent challenge is to develop...

Nature is widely adapted to current climate -- making it harder to adjust to a new one

To do the right thing at the right time, organisms need to glean cues from their environment. With ongoing climate change, the timing of these cues, like the accumulation of warm days, is rapidly shifting. Now a network of researchers working on an unprecedentedly large dataset of seasonal events has shown that the timing of species' activity fail to keep up with their cues, and that how quickly...

A rich source of nutrients under the Earth's ice sheets

Trace elements such as iron and zinc are essential micronutrients for all kinds of organisms. Below ice sheets, which cover around ten percent of the Earth's land surface, larger quantities of these substances are mobilised than previously assumed. This is shown by new data from Greenland and Antarctica, which were collected and analysed by an international research team.

Measuring risk-taking - by watching people move computer mouses

How you move a computer mouse while deciding whether to click on a risky bet or a safe choice may reveal how much of a risk-taker you really are. Researchers found that people whose mouse drifted toward the safe option on the computer screen - even when they ended up taking the risky bet - may be more risk-averse than their choice would indicate.

New connection between Alzheimer's dementia and Dlgap2

A research team has discovered that Dlgap2, a gene that helps facilitate communication between neurons in the nervous system, is associated with the degree of memory loss in mice and risk for Alzheimer's dementia in humans. When studying post-mortem human brain tissue, the researchers also discovered low levels of Dlgap2 in people experiencing 'poorer cognitive health' and 'faster cognitive...

Galaxy encounter violently disturbed Milky Way

The long-held belief that the Milky Way, the galaxy containing Earth and the solar system, is relatively static has been ruptured by fresh cosmic insight. The spiral-shaped disc of stars and planets is being pulled, twisted and deformed with extreme violence by the gravitational force of a smaller galaxy - the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC).

Unique Schwann cells: the eyes have it

Neuroscience researchers are finding genetic properties of Schwann cells in the cornea that may unlock a better understanding of their role in healing, sensory function, preserving vision, and even nerve regeneration.