221 articles from MONDAY 15.2.2021

Greek travel chaos after heavy snowfall

Greek travellers faced major disruption to road and sea transport on Monday after strong winds and heavy snowfall that have made conditions even more miserable in the country's migrant camps.

New surgery may enable better control of prosthetic limbs

Researchers and surgeons have devised a new type of amputation surgery that can help amputees better control their residual muscles and receive sensory feedback. This restored sense of proprioception should translate to better control of prosthetic limbs, as well as reduction of limb pain, the researchers say.

Corn belt farmland has lost a third of its carbon-rich soil

More than one-third of the Corn Belt in the Midwest—nearly 100 million acres—has completely lost its carbon-rich topsoil, according to University of Massachusetts Amherst research that indicates the U.S. Department of Agricultural has significantly underestimated the true magnitude of farmland erosion.

Melting dusty ice may have carved Martian gullies

By analyzing the occurrences of exposed dusty ice on Mars using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ASU planetary scientists Aditya Khuller and Philip Christensen have found the lowest latitude detection of dusty water ice on Mars.

Brock professor lands Mars mission role

When the Perseverance rover lands on Mars this week, Mariek Schmidt will be ready to search for signs of ancient life — albeit from millions of miles away. The Brock University earth sciences professor is a participating scientist with the NASA Mars 2020 Mission scheduled to land at the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater on Thursday, Feb....

Millions without power in Texas as snow storm slams US

A frigid blast of winter weather across the U.S. plunged Texas into an unusually icy emergency Monday that knocked out power to more than 2 million people, closed dangerously snowy and slick highways and put the delivery of new COVID-19 vaccine shipments on hold.

New skin patch brings us closer to wearable, all-in-one health monitor

Engineers have developed a soft, stretchy skin patch that can be worn on the neck to continuously track blood pressure and heart rate while measuring the wearer's levels of glucose as well as lactate, alcohol or caffeine. It is the first wearable device that monitors cardiovascular signals and multiple biochemical levels in the human body at the same time.

New Covid variant with potentially worrying mutations found in UK

Researchers say 32 cases of B1525 in Britain, with other cases in countries including Denmark, US and Australia Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageAnother coronavirus variant with a potentially worrying set of mutations has been detected in the UK and should be targeted in surge testing, experts have said.The variant, known as B1525, is the subject of a report by...

Homeschooling links with inequality are far from new

In 2020, the pandemic has made homeschooling a fact of life. Even before this, though, what was once the obscure choice of a few families has grown in popularity over the past decade. In 2019, the Children's Commissioner for England estimated that around 60,000 children were homeschooled.

Moiré patterns facilitate discovery of novel insulating phases

Materials having excess electrons are typically conductors. However, moiré patterns -- interference patterns that typically arise when one object with a repetitive pattern is placed over another with a similar pattern -- can suppress electrical conductivity, a study by physicists has found.

New immunotherapy target discovered for malignant brain tumors

Scientists say they have discovered a potential new target for immunotherapy of malignant brain tumors, which so far have resisted the ground-breaking cancer treatment based on harnessing the body's immune system. The discovery emerged from laboratory experiments and has no immediate implications for treating patients.

Cheap, potent pathway to pandemic therapeutics

By capitalizing on a convergence of chemical, biological and artificial intelligence advances, scientists have developed an unusually fast and efficient method for discovering tiny antibody fragments with big potential for development into therapeutics against deadly diseases.

Tropical paper wasps babysit for neighbors

Wasps provide crucial support to their extended families by babysitting at neighboring nests, according to new research by a team of biologists from the universities of Bristol, Exeter and UCL published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Moiré patterns facilitate discovery of novel insulating phases

Materials having excess electrons are typically conductors. However, moiré patterns—interference patterns that typically arise when one object with a repetitive pattern is placed over another with a similar pattern—can suppress electrical conductivity, a study led by physicists at the University of California, Riverside, has found.

Wintry 'polar plunge' wallops much of US

An "unprecedented" winter storm system will sweep the United States this week, the National Weather Service warned Monday, with Arctic air driving a "polar plunge" that is expected to break record-low temperatures.