355 articles from THURSDAY 11.2.2021

Facts on the ground: How microplastics in the soil contribute to environmental pollution

Plastic is a major threat to the environment. Of particular ecological risk is its manifestation as microplastics (<5 mm in size) in the agricultural environment. Scientists addressed this issue in a recent study, looking into the levels, shapes, and sizes of microplastics in Korean agricultural soils. They reported new insights on the agricultural sources of microplastics, contributing to a...

Teaching an old spacecraft new tricks to continue exploring the moon

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has far exceeded its planned mission duration, revealing that the Moon holds surprises: ice deposits that could be used to support future lunar exploration, the coldest places in the solar system in permanently shadowed regions at the lunar poles, and that it is an active world that is shrinking, generating moonquakes and changing in front of...

Scientist proposes a new timeline for Mars terrains

A Southwest Research Institute scientist has updated Mars chronology models to find that terrains shaped by ancient water activity on the planet's surface may be hundreds of millions of years older than previously thought. This new chronology for Mars, based on the latest dynamical models for the formation and evolution of the solar system, is particularly significant as the days count down until...

Gender gap: Women represent two-thirds of doctorates, only one-third of academic jobs

Women today represent two-thirds of all Canadian doctorates in archaeology, but only one-third of Canadian tenure-stream faculty. While men with Canadian Ph.D.s have done well in securing tenure-track jobs in Canada over the past 15 years, women have not, according to a new study from McGill University. The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to exacerbate these existing inequalities.

New study reveals biodiversity important at regional scales

New research shows that biodiversity is important not just at the traditional scale of short-term plot experiments—in which ecologists monitor the health of a single meadow, forest grove, or pond after manipulating its species counts—but when measured over decades and across regional landscapes as well. The findings can help guide conservation planning and enhance efforts to make human...

A plant's nutrient-sensing abilities can modulate its response to environmental stress

Understanding how plants respond to stressful environmental conditions is crucial to developing effective strategies for protecting important agricultural crops from a changing climate. New research led by Carnegie's Zhiyong Wang, Shouling, Xu, and Yang Bi reveals an important process by which plants switch between amplified and dampened stress responses. Their work is published by Nature...

Scent detection dogs can identify individuals infected with COVID-19

In a recent article in the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, authors gathered previously published research to summarize current thinking on the feasibility and efficacy of using scent detection dogs to screen for the COVID-19 virus. The researchers report that sensitivity, specificity, and overall success rates reported by the canine scent detection studies are comparable or better than the...

Recommendations for regional action to combat marine plastic pollution

Millions of tons of plastic waste find their way into the ocean every year. A team of researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) in Potsdam has investigated the role of regional ocean governance in the fight against marine plastic pollution, highlighting why regional marine governance should be further strengthened as negotiations for a new global agreement continue.

Scientist proposes a new timeline for Mars terrains

A scientist has updated Mars chronology models to find that terrains shaped by ancient water activity on the planet's surface may be hundreds of millions of years older than previously thought. This new chronology for Mars, based on the latest dynamical models for the formation and evolution of the solar system, is particularly significant as the days count down until NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance...

Tap water access linked to dengue risk

Dengue virus is among growing number of mosquito-borne viruses that have adapted to spread in urban environments and are spreading with the increasing rate of urbanization. Now, researchers have identified tap water access in densely populated neighborhoods as a strong predictor of dengue risk in the city of Delhi.

Most people are naturally armed against SARS-CoV-2, study finds

The majority of the population can produce neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in severe cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), according to a new study. Moreover, the results support the use of combination antibody therapy to prevent and treat COVID-19.

Swirlonic super particles baffle physicists

In recent years, active, self-propelled particles have received growing interest amongst the scientific community. The 'swirlon' - a novel state of active matter - displayed a stunning behavior whereby instead of moving with acceleration, the quasi-particle groups moved with a constant velocity, proportional to the applied force and in the same direction of the force. This conduct seemingly...

Hubble uncovers concentration of small black holes

Scientists were expecting to find an intermediate-mass black hole at the heart of the globular cluster NGC 6397, but instead they found evidence of a concentration of smaller black holes lurking there. New data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope have led to the first measurement of the extent of a collection of black holes in a core-collapsed globular cluster.

Hope for children with bow hunter syndrome

Fusing the neck's top two vertebrae can prevent repeat strokes in children with bow hunter syndrome, a rare condition that affects a handful of U.S. pediatric patients each year, researchers suggest in a recent study. The finding offers a new way to treat these children and protect them from potentially lifelong neurological consequences.