278 articles from WEDNESDAY 14.4.2021

Channel migration plays leading role in river network evolution, study finds

A new study by former University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign graduate student Jeffrey Kwang, now at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Abigail Langston, of Kansas State University; and Illinois civil and environmental engineering professor Gary Parker takes a closer look at the vertical and lateral—or depth and width—components of river erosion and drainage patterns. The study is...

New evidence suggests sexual division of labor as farming arose in Europe

A new investigation of stone tools buried in graves provides evidence supporting the existence of a division of different types of labor between people of male and female biological sex at the start of the Neolithic. Alba Masclans of Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas in Barcelona, Spain, and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on April 14, 2021.

Reliably measuring whether rivers or lakes run out of air

Wastewater carries large quantities of organic substances into the rivers and lakes, leading to heavy growth of bacteria and oxygen deficiency. Measurement methods have so far been incapable of measuring this organic pollution precisely. A new method co-developed by experts from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon should provide a clear image of the water conditions in the future. The work has now been...

To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data

Climate modeling is future facing, its general intent to hypothesize what our planet might look like at some later date. Because the Earth's vegetation influences climate, climate models frequently include vegetation reconstructions and are often validated by comparisons to the past. Yet such models tend to get oversimplified, glossing over or omitting how people affected the land and its cover.

Using sound waves to make patterns that never repeat

Mathematicians and engineers at the University of Utah have teamed up to show how ultrasound waves can organize carbon particles in water into a sort of pattern that never repeats. The results, they say, could result in materials called "quasicrystals" with custom magnetic or electrical properties.

New method measures super-fast, free electron laser pulses

New research shows how to measure the super-short bursts of high-frequency light emitted from free electron lasers (FELs). By using the light-induced ionization itself to create a femtosecond optical shutter, the technique encodes the electric field of the FEL pulse in a visible light pulse so that it can be measured with a standard, slow, visible-light camera.

How we can reduce food waste and promote healthy eating

Food waste and obesity are major problems in developed countries. They are both caused by an overabundance of food, but strategies to reduce one can inadvertently increase the other. A broader perspective can help identify ways to limit food waste while also promoting healthy nutrition, two University of Illinois researchers suggest.

Shape-shifting Ebola virus protein exploits human RNA to change shape

The human genome contains the instructions to make tens of thousands of proteins. Each protein folds into a precise shape—and biologists are taught that defined shape dictates the protein's destined function. Tens of thousands of singular shapes drive the tens of thousands of needed functions.

ER visits for suicidal behavior declined during the first 8 months of pandemic, Michigan study finds

While people may expect suicide rates to rise during a worldwide crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study suggests the onset of the pandemic and state of emergency executive orders likely did not increase suicide-related behavior in the early months of the outbreak. The report found that emergency room visits related to suicide attempt and self-harm decreased by 40 percent during the...

In pig brain development, nature beats nurture

Before humans can benefit from new drug therapies and nutritional additives, scientists test their safety and efficacy in animals, typically mice and rats. But, as much as they've done for biomedical research, rodents aren't always the best research model for studies on neonatal brain development and nutrition. That's where pigs can play an important role.

How we can reduce food waste and promote healthy eating

Food waste and obesity are major problems in developed countries. They are both caused by an overabundance of food, but strategies to reduce one can inadvertently increase the other. A broader perspective can help identify ways to limit food waste while also promoting healthy nutrition, researchers suggest.

Scientists program microalgae's 'oil factory' to produce various oils

By combining the 'chassis' of an oil-producing microalgae with genes from a Cuphea plant, scientists from the Single-Cell Center, Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), can turn the algae into a microbial cell factory that can produce various oils with different properties.

Plasma device designed for consumers can quickly disinfect surfaces

The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a harsh light on the urgent need for quick and easy techniques to sanitize and disinfect everyday high-touch objects such as doorknobs, pens, pencils, and personal protective gear worn to keep infections from spreading. Now scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have...

Surge testing for Covid expanded to two more London postcodes

Households in Southwark and Barnet added to test drive in effort to curb spread of South African variantCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSurge testing has been expanded in London to two further postcodes in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.On Tuesday it was announced that surge testing would be carried out in...

Impacts of coronavirus lockdowns: New study collects data on pollutants in the atmosphere

One consequence of the coronavirus pandemic has been global restrictions on mobility. This, in turn, has had an effect on pollution levels in the atmosphere. Researchers from across the world are using this unique opportunity to take measurements, collect data, and publish studies. An international team led by Forschungszentrum Jülich's Institute of Climate and Energy Research—Troposphere has...