408 articles from THURSDAY 11.3.2021

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Set to Resume Science Operations

Portal origin URL: NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Set to Resume Science OperationsPortal origin nid: 469025Published: Thursday, March 11, 2021 - 17:19Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: NASA is working to return the Hubble Space Telescope to science operations after resolving a problem with a safeguard aboard.Portal image: Hubble Space...

Researchers design a new highly-selective tool to study 'undruggable' proteins through the sugars they depend on

Sugar has been called "evil," "toxic," and "poison." But the body needs sugars, too. Sugar molecules help cells recognize and fight viruses and bacteria, shuttle proteins from cell to cell, and make sure those proteins function. Too much or too little can contribute to a range of maladies, including neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, inflammation, diabetes, and even cancer.

Whooping cranes steer clear of wind turbines when selecting stopover sites

As gatherings to observe whooping cranes join the ranks of online-only events this year, a new study offers insight into how the endangered bird is faring on a landscape increasingly dotted with wind turbines. The paper, published this week in Ecological Applications, reports that whooping cranes migrating through the U.S. Great Plains avoid "rest stop" sites that are within 5 km of wind-energy...

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy innovation enables simultaneous multicontrast imaging

Optical-resolution photoacoustic microscopy (OR-PAM), a new hybrid imaging technique, allows us to listen to the sound of light and see the color of biological tissue itself. It can be used for live, multicontrast functional imaging, but the limited wavelength choice of most commercial lasers and the limitations of the existing scanning methods have meant that OR-PAM can obtain only one or two...

With 'big one' coming, quake alert system launches in Oregon

People in Oregon will be better prepared for earthquakes—particularly important in the Pacific Northwest because experts say "the big one" is coming—as an early warning system launched Thursday, the 10th anniversary of a devastating quake and tsunami in Japan.

Tracking cosmic ghosts

The idea was so far-fetched it seemed like science fiction: create an observatory out of a one cubic kilometer block of ice in Antarctica to track ghostly particles called neutrinos that pass through the Earth. But speaking to Benedickt Riedel, global computing manager at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, it makes perfect sense.

Climate change influences river flow

Climate change is affecting the water balance of our planet: depending on the region and the time of year, this can influence the amount of water in rivers potentially resulting in more flooding or drought. River flow is an important indicator of water resources available to humans and the environment. The amount of available water also depends on further factors, such as direct interventions in...

Superconducting coils for contactless power transmission in the kilowatt range

A team led by Christoph Utschick and Prof. Rudolf Gross, physicists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), has developed a coil with superconducting wires capable of transmitting power in the range of more than five kilowatts contactless and with only small losses. The wide field of conceivable applications include autonomous industrial robots, medical equipment, vehicles and even aircraft.

Hyperpolarized proton MRI used to observe metabolic processes in real time

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is already widely used in medicine for diagnostic purposes. Hyperpolarized MRI is a more recent development and its research and application potential has yet to be fully explored. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and the Helmholtz Institute Mainz (HIM) have now unveiled a new technique for observing metabolic processes in the body. Their...

Cheaper carbon capture is on the way

As part of a marathon research effort to lower the cost of carbon capture, chemists have now demonstrated a method to seize carbon dioxide (CO2) that reduces costs by 19 percent compared to current commercial technology. The new technology requires 17 percent less energy to accomplish the same task as its commercial counterparts, surpassing barriers that have kept other forms of carbon capture...

Microscope helps with dinosaur puzzle

Fossil sites sometimes resemble a living room table on which half a dozen different jigsaw puzzles have been dumped: It is often difficult to say which bone belongs to which animal. Together with colleagues from Switzerland, researchers from the University of Bonn have now presented a method that allows a more certain answer to this question. Their results are published in the journal...

New insight into how cancer spreads

Breast cancer is harmful enough on its own, but when cancer cells start to metastasize -- or spread into the body from their original location -- the disease becomes even more fatal and difficult to treat.