97 articles from FRIDAY 27.11.2020

How epithelial cells ward off viruses

A team led by LMU's Veit Hornung has shown that a protein found in skin cells recognizes a specific nucleic acid intermediate that is formed during virus replication. This recognition process subsequently induces a potent inflammatory response.

Earth faster, closer to black hole in new map of galaxy

Earth just got 7 km/s faster and about 2000 light-years closer to the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. But don't worry, this doesn't mean that our planet is plunging towards the black hole. Instead the changes are results of a better model of the Milky Way Galaxy based on new observation data, including a catalog of objects observed over the course of more than 15...

Galaxy's brightest gamma-ray binary system may be powered by a magnetar

A team of researchers led by members of the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) has analyzed previously collected data to infer the true nature of a compact object—found to be a rotating magnetar, a type of neutron star with an extremely strong magnetic field—orbiting within LS 5039, the brightest gamma-ray binary system in the Galaxy.

A cold-health watch and warning system for cold waves in Quebec

A team from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) and the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), led by Professor Fateh Chebana, has recently developed a cold-health watch and warning system for cold waves, a first in the world. Their results were published in November 2020 in the journal Science of the Total Environment.

Alpha animals must bow to the majority when they abuse their power

Many animal groups decide where to go by a process similar to voting, allowing not only alphas to decide where the group goes next but giving equal say to all group members. But, for many species that live in stable groups—such as in primates and birds—the dominant, or alpha, group members often monopolize resources, such as the richest food patches and access to mates. Scientists at the Max...

Lanthanide nanocrystals brighten molecular triplet excitons

NUS scientists have developed an approach to improve the generation and luminescent harvesting of molecular triplets by coupling them with lanthanide-doped nanoparticles. This innovation provides new insights on lanthanide nanocrystal-molecule interaction in the optoelectronic field.

'The buck stops with her': June Raine to make call on UK's Covid vaccines

Head of MHRA has ‘devoted whole life to public health’, says former colleagueCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageIn the summer of 2019, Dr June Raine seemed close to finally putting her feet up. At 67, she was director of the vigilance and risk management of medicines at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, a role that is roughly as important and...

Scientists claim controversial results of comet observations are consistent

Astrophysicists from Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) joined the international research team for explaining the difference in the results of observation of the comet 41P/ Tuttle—Giacobini—Kresak. Researchers believe that data obtained by three independent teams are complementary and its complex analysis helps to unravel the mystery of dust chemical composition of comet 41P and other...

Researchers compile world's largest inventory of known plant species

Researchers at Leipzig University and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) have compiled the world's most comprehensive list of known plant species. It contains 1,315,562 names of vascular plants, thus extending the number by some 70,000—equivalent to about 20%. The researchers have also succeeded in clarifying 181,000 hitherto unclear species names. The data set has...

We are all Johnson's exes now, led on by false hope and dishonesty

You’d be forgiven for thinking we would exit lockdown into something better, but the prime minister’s harsh tier system was our destiny“Now is not the time,” gibbered the prime minister, “to take our foot off the throat of the beast.” Its throat? A lot of people feel like they’ve been living in the beast’s colon for most of the year. Still, see you guys in tier 4 in...

Study of threatened desert tortoises offers new conservation strategy

A new study supports a new conservation strategy. Climate change increasingly makes relocating threatened species necessary, despite the frequently low success rate. The study found tortoises with lots of genetic variation were much more likely to survive after their relocation. The research supports this fast, inexpensive conservation tool, and upends the conventional wisdom suggesting that...

Irreversible hotter and drier climate over inner East Asia

Researchers warn that heatwaves and concurrent droughts of Mongolia's semi-arid plateau have increased significantly during the past two decades, with troubling implications for the future. The change also has ramifications for atmospheric conditions across the Northern Hemisphere.

BioNTech's Covid vaccine is a triumph of innovation and immigration | Hans-Werner Sinn

Pioneered by a Turkish-German couple, its significance exceeds its practical valueThe world took note when the German startup BioNTech announced its breakthrough in the development of a new type of vaccine to combat Covid-19. After testing tens of thousands of people, BioNTech’s vaccine has been shown to be 95% effective in providing protection for those who would otherwise have been infected....