321 articles from TUESDAY 9.2.2021

Deep Jet Streams in Jupiter’s Atmosphere

Portal origin URL: Deep Jet Streams in Jupiter’s AtmospherePortal origin nid: 468219Published: Tuesday, February 9, 2021 - 16:59Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: This view of Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere from NASA’s Juno spacecraft includes several of the planet’s southern jet streams.Portal...

Can super-Earth interior dynamics set the table for habitability?

New research led by Carnegie's Yingwei Fei provides a framework for understanding the interiors of super-Earths—rocky exoplanets between 1.5 and 2 times the size of our home planet—which is a prerequisite to assess their potential for habitability. Planets of this size are among the most abundant in exoplanetary systems. The paper is published in Nature Communications.

Why does love of bargain hunting run in families?

Headlines like "Black Friday Shoppers Trampled in New York" and popular television shows such as "Extreme Couponing" remind us how crazy consumers can get about retail sales promotions. This enthusiasm for getting bargains has been termed "deal proneness."

Scientists create flexible biocompatible cilia that can be controlled by a magnet

Researchers at the University of Campinas's Chemistry Institute (IQ-UNICAMP) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, have developed a template-free technique to fabricate cilia of different sizes that mimic biological functions and have multiple applications, from directing fluids in microchannels to loading material into a cell, for example. The highly flexible cilia are based on polymer-coated iron...

Not a living fossil: How the Coelacanth recently evolved dozens of new genes

The capture of the first living Coelacanth, a mighty ocean predator, off the coast of South Africa caused quite a stir in 1938, 65 million years after its supposed extinction. It became known as a "living fossil" owing to its anatomy looking almost identical to the fossil record. But while the Coelacanth's body may have changed little, its genome tells another story.

Drug is promising against pancreatic and breast cancers

The drug is effective at treating pancreatic cancer and prolonging survival in mice, according to a new study. A second study shows the drug is also effective against triple-negative breast cancer, a fast-growing and hard-to-treat type of breast cancer that carries a poor prognosis. Clinical trials are set to begin in 2021.

New CRISPR tech targets human genome's complex code

Rice bioengineers harness the CRISPR/Cas9 system to program histones, the support proteins that wrap up and control human DNA, to manipulate gene activation and phosphorylation. The new technology enables innovative ways to find and manipulate genes and pathways responsible for diseases.

The pandemic lockdown leads to cleaner city air across Canada, paper reveals

Researchers found that emission levels dropped dramatically over the course of the pandemic. They measured downtown air quality monitoring station data from eight Canadian cities and compared their concentration levels of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide between February and August 2020 to the figures recorded over the same period in 2018 and 2019. They also used satellite...

Genetic evolution doesn't always take millions of years

Love them or hate them, there's no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study examines this non-native species from the inside out to learn what exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded across North America?

Researchers uncover hidden hunting tactics of wolves in Minnesota's Northwoods

Researchers show that wolves have evolved ambush hunting tactics specifically tailored for catching and killing beavers. The study challenges the classic concept that wolves are solely cursorial predators. Instead, wolf-hunting strategies appear highly flexible, and they are able to switch between hunting modes (cursorial and ambush hunting) depending on their prey.

Shining a light on the true value of solar power

Utility companies have worried that solar panels drive up electric costs for the people who don't have panels. Renewable energy researchers show the opposite is actually true -- grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) owners are actually subsidizing their non-PV neighbors.

The pandemic lockdown leads to cleaner city air across Canada, paper reveals

The COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered cities around the world did not just affect the way we work, study and socialize. It also affected our mobility. With millions of workers no longer commuting, vehicle traffic across Canada has plummeted. This has had a significant impact on the quality of air in major Canadian cities, according to a new study by Concordia researchers.

Starling success traced to rapid adaptation

Love them or hate them, there's no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology examines this non-native species from the inside out. What exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded from just 80 birds released in New York City's Central Park in 1890, peaking at an estimated 200 million breeding adults spread...

Human eye beats machine in archaeological color identification test

A ruler and scale can tell archaeologists the size and weight of a fragment of pottery—but identifying its precise color can depend on individual perception. So, when a handheld color-matching gadget came on the market, scientists hoped it offered a consistent way of determining color, free of human bias.

Deer native to India starve to death amid drought in Hawaii

Axis deer, a species native to India presented as a gift from Hong Kong to the king of Hawaii in 1868, have fed hunters and their families on the rural island of Molokai for generations. But for the community of about 7,500, where self-sustainability is a way of life, the invasive deer are both a cherished food source and a danger to their island ecosystem.

Racism and anti-gay discrimination heighten risk for arrest and incarceration

New research by Morgan Philbin, Ph.D., at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues looks at why Black young men who have sex with men (YMSM) are disproportionately subject to high rates of arrest and incarceration. They find that perceived racial discrimination, sexual orientation discrimination, and HIV-status discrimination are all associated with risk for criminal...

Low carbon transport at sea: Ferries voyage optimization in the Adriatic

Energy efficiency or carbon intensity (defined as CO2 emissions per transport work, ed.) is a possible point of convergence between the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and EU regulations to cut GHG emissions and decarbonize shipping. Short term measures to increase energy efficiency and achieve carbon intensity savings include voyage optimization.

Researchers uncover hidden hunting tactics of wolves in Minnesota's Northwoods

Wolves are arguably the most well-studied large predators in the world, yet new research shows there is still a lot to learn about their hunting tactics. Typically, wolves hunt large mammals like moose, deer, and bison in packs by outrunning, outlasting, and exhausting their prey. However, throughout the dense boreal forests in North America and Eurasia, during the summer wolves often hunt beavers...

Collective worm and robot 'blobs' protect individuals, swarm together

Individually, California blackworms live an unremarkable life eating microorganisms in ponds and serving as tropical fish food for aquarium enthusiasts. But together, tens, hundreds, or thousands of the centimeter-long creatures can collaborate to form a "worm blob," a shape-shifting living liquid that collectively protects its members from drying out and helps them escape threats such as...

UK total of 170 cases of South Africa Covid variant 'reassuring'

Public Health England expert says figure suggests B1351 has not taken hold in Britain Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePublic Health England has uncovered a total of 170 confirmed or probable cases of the South Africa variant of coronavirus that appears less susceptible to vaccines.Routine and surge testing revealed 151 cases in England, six in Scotland and 13 in...

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine reducing viral load, data from Israel suggests

Initial study brings hope vaccine will reduce Covid transmissionCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageData from researchers in Israel, which has inoculated swathes of its population, suggests the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is reducing viral load, a key signal that the intervention could diminish the spread of Covid-19.Evidence that the coronavirus vaccines being deployed...

Covid travel rule-breakers could face 10-year jail terms, says Hancock

Health secretary sets out new measures as Scottish government announces even stricter plansCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTravellers arriving from coronavirus hotspots could face £10,000 fines and jail sentences of up to 10 years under a package of measures designed to stop new variants entering Britain.Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said people who travelled...