202 articles from MONDAY 4.1.2021
Reawakened geyser does not foretell Yellowstone volcanic eruptions
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 23:01
Geyser eruptions, like volcanic eruptions, are a mystery, so the reactivation of Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone in 2018 provided an opportunity to explore why geysers turn off and on, and what determines their periodicity. Researchers found little evidence of magma moving below the geyser, meaning no sign of imminent hydrothermal eruptions, but did discover a relationship between the height of...
Study resolves long-running controversy over critical step in gene silencing
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 23:01
Researchers have identified a molecular 'address' that explains how the cancer-related protein PRC2 binds to RNA to silence genes. The study resolves a longstanding debate about the contradictory behavior between PRC2 and RNA. The findings could have important implications for development of drugs to treat cancer and other diseases.
Scientists develop new approach to understanding massive volcanic eruptions
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 23:00
An international volcanology team has created a first-of-its kind tool that can aid scientists in understanding past explosive eruptions that shaped the earth and improve the way of estimating hazards of future eruptions.
Secrets Behind Sunquakes Could Lurk Beneath the Solar Surface
Portal origin URL: Secrets Behind Sunquakes Could Lurk Beneath the Solar SurfacePortal origin nid: 467347Published: Monday, January 4, 2021 - 16:05Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: A secret behind the workings of sunquakes – seismic activity on the Sun during solar flares – might be hidden beneath the solar surface.Portal image: Satellite...
Scientists develop new approach to understanding massive volcanic eruptions
A geosciences team led by the University of South Florida (USF) has developed a new way to reconstruct the sizes of volcanic eruptions that occurred thousands of years ago, creating a first-of-its kind tool that can aid scientists in understanding past explosive eruptions that shaped the earth and improve the way of estimating hazards of future eruptions.
Uncovering how plants see blue light
Plants can perceive and react to light across a wide spectrum. New research from Prof. Nitzan Shabek's laboratory in the Department of Plant Biology, College of Biological Sciences shows how plants can respond to blue light in particular.
Study resolves long-running controversy over critical step in gene silencing
A long-running debate over how an important gene-silencing protein identifies its targets has been resolved by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Their findings, reported in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, also explain certain mysteries about the behavior of this protein, known as Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2).
Gas pressure depletion and seismicity
Europe's largest gas field, the Groningen field in the Netherlands, is widely known for induced subsidence and seismicity caused by gas pressure depletion and associated compaction of the sandstone reservoir. Whether compaction is elastic or partly inelastic, as implied by recent experiments, is key to forecasting system behavior and seismic hazard.
Traditional stereotypes about masculinity may help explain support for Trump
American politicians have long been expected to uphold a certain veneer: powerful, influential and never vulnerable. New Penn State research has found that these idealized forms of masculinity may also help explain support for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election and in the days leading up to the 2020 election.
Reawakened geyser does not foretell Yellowstone volcanic eruptions, study shows
When Yellowstone National Park's Steamboat Geyser—which shoots water higher than any active geyser in the world—reawakened in 2018 after three and a half years of dormancy, some speculated that it was a harbinger of possible explosive volcanic eruptions within the surrounding geyser basin. These so-called hydrothermal explosions can hurl mud, sand and rocks into the air and release hot steam,...
New study on circadian clock shows 'junk DNA' plays a key role in regulating rhythms
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 20:59
Researchers have been trying to figure out what regulates molecular circadian clocks, in search of new insights into diseases like Alzheimer's, cancer and diabetes. Until now, that research has focused on what is known as clock genes. But new research reveals the discovery of a new cog in the circadian clock - a genome-wide regulatory layer made up of small chains of non-coding nucleotides known...
Uncovering how plants see blue light
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 20:59
Plants can perceive and react to light across a wide spectrum. New research shows how plants can respond to blue light in particular by revealing the structure of cryptochrome-2, the molecule that reacts to blue light.
First glimpse of polarons forming in a promising next-gen energy material
Polarons are fleeting distortions in a material's atomic lattice that form around a moving electron in a few trillionths of a second, then quickly disappear. As ephemeral as they are, they affect a material's behavior, and may even be the reason that solar cells made with lead hybrid perovskites achieve extraordinarily high efficiencies in the lab.
Fluoride to the rescue? Addressing the challenge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Scientists have long been aware of the dangerous overuse of antibiotics and the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant microbes that have resulted. While over-prescription of antibiotics for medicinal use has unsettling implications for human health, so too does the increasing presence of antibiotics in the natural environment. The latter may stem from the improper disposal of medicines, but...
Focusing on diversion yields positive results for kids with behavioral issues
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 20:34
Researchers found that focusing on diversion -- instead of detention -- yields positive results for youth with behavioral health issues.
More women embracing 'going flat' after mastectomy
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 20:34
A growing number of women forgoing reconstruction after a mastectomy say they're satisfied with their choice, even as some did not feel supported by their physician, according to a new study.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria: Fluoride to the rescue?
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 20:15
Scientists have long been aware of the dangerous overuse of antibiotics and the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant microbes that have resulted. While over-prescription of antibiotics for medicinal use has unsettling implications for human health, so too does the increasing presence of antibiotics in the natural environment. The latter may stem from the improper disposal of medicines, but...
London hospital halts urgent cancer surgery due to Covid cases
Concern among staff as King’s College postpones operations amid shortage of ICU beds Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageOne of the NHS’s biggest hospitals has had to cancel urgent cancer surgery this week because so many of its intensive care beds are occupied by Covid-19 patients.King’s College hospital in south London called off all “priority two” cancer...
New clues on why pregnancy may increase risk of organ transplant rejection
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
A research study has found that in pregnancy, while the T cell response to a fetus becomes tolerant to allow for successful pregnancy, the part of the immune system that produces antibodies (known as the humoral response) becomes sensitized, creating memory B cells that can later contribute to the rejection of a transplanted organ.
New tool for reconstructing ancient sea ice to study climate change
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
A previously problematic molecule turns out to be a reliable proxy for reconstructing sea ice, a new study by Brown University researchers shows.
Supercapacitors challenge batteries
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
A team has developed a highly efficient supercapacitor. The basis of the energy storage device is a novel, powerful and also sustainable graphene hybrid material that has comparable performance data to currently utilized batteries.
Pandas' popularity not protecting neighbors
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
Doubt is cast on the long-held hope that the conservation protections granted pandas and other adored threatened species extended to their wildlife neighbors, calling for broader conservation efforts.
Single-cell analysis of metastatic gastric cancer finds diverse tumor cell populations associated with patient outcomes
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
Researchers who profiled more than 45,000 individual cells from patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC), a specific form of metastatic gastric cancer, defined the extensive cellular heterogeneity and identified two distinct subtypes correlated with patient survival.
Scientists discover how mother-of-pearl self-assembles into a perfect structure
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
Researchers describe, how structural defects in self-assembling nacre attract and cancel each other out, eventually leading to a perfect periodic structure.
Better together: Scientists discover applications of nanoparticles with multiple elements
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
As catalysts for fuel cells, batteries and processes for carbon dioxide reduction, alloy nanoparticles that are made up of five or more elements are shown to be more stable and durable than single-element nanoparticles.
A robotic revolution for urban nature
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
Drones, robots and autonomous systems can transform the natural world in and around cities for people and wildlife.
Chemists succeed in synthesis of aminoalcohols by utilizing light
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
So-called vicinal aminoalcohols are high-quality organic compounds that are found in many everyday products. However, their production is difficult. In their recent study, scientists have found a solution for the production of a special variant of aminoalcohols.
Fires, flooding before settlement may have formed the Amazon's rare patches of fertility
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
Phosphorous, calcium and charcoal in spotty patches of fertile soil in the Amazon rainforest suggest that natural processes such as fires and river flooding, not the ingenuity of indigenous populations, created rare sites suitable for agriculture, according to new research.
Prediabetes subtypes identified
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
All prediabetes is not the same: in people in the preliminary stages of type 2 diabetes, there are six clearly distinguishable subtypes, which differ in the development of the disease, diabetes risk, and the development of secondary diseases. The new classification can help in the future to prevent the manifestation of diabetes or the development of diabetes complications through targeted...
Astronomers agree: Universe is nearly 14 billion years old
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
From an observatory high above Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers have taken a new look at the oldest light in the universe. Their observations, plus a bit of cosmic geometry, suggest that the universe is 13.77 billion years old - give or take 40 million years.
First glimpse of polarons forming in a promising next-gen energy material
- ScienceDaily
- 21/1/4 19:19
Polarons affect a material's behavior, and may even be the reason that solar cells made with lead hybrid perovskites achieve extraordinarily high efficiencies in the lab. Now scientists have used an X-ray free-electron laser to directly see and measure the formation of these ephemeral atomic lattice distortions for the first time.
Lake Washington sockeye hit record low, another signature Seattle fish at brink of extinction
They are as Seattle as the Space Needle. But Lake Washington sockeye, once the largest run of sockeye in the Lower 48, are failing.
Astronomers agree: Universe is nearly 14 billion years old
From an observatory high above Chile's Atacama Desert, astronomers have taken a new look at the oldest light in the universe.
Experiment to precisely measure electrons moves forward
A new probe of the humble electron may provide insight into the forces at work inside the heart of matter. Now, the MOLLER experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is one step closer to carrying out an experiment to gain that new insight. The experiment has just received a designation of Critical Decision 1, or CD-1, from the DOE, which is a...