387 articles from THURSDAY 22.4.2021

Mars-Directed CME Erupts from the Sun

Portal origin URL: Mars-Directed CME Erupts from the SunPortal origin nid: 470381Published: Thursday, April 22, 2021 - 16:04Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: NASA and ESA Sun-watching spacecraft see a coronal mass ejection headed for Mars.Portal...

Study paves the way for new photosensitive materials

Photocatalysts are useful materials, with a myriad of environmental and energy applications, including air purification, water treatment, self-cleaning surfaces, pollution-fighting paints and coatings, hydrogen production and CO2 conversion to sustainable fuels.

Ancient Indigenous forest gardens promote a healthy ecosystem, says study

A new study by Simon Fraser University historical ecologists finds that Indigenous-managed forests—cared for as "forest gardens"—contain more biologically and functionally diverse species than surrounding conifer-dominated forests and create important habitat for animals and pollinators. The findings are published today in Ecology and Society.

Scientists uncover structure of light-driven enzyme with potential biofuel applications

Although many organisms capture and respond to sunlight, enzymes—proteins that catalyze biochemical reactions—are rarely driven by light. Scientists have identified only three types of natural photoenzymes so far. The newest one, discovered in 2017, is fatty acid photodecarboxylase (FAP). Derived from microscopic algae, it uses blue light to catalyze the conversion of fatty acids, found in...

Expedition hauls tons of plastic out of remote Hawaii atolls

A crew returned from the northernmost islands in the Hawaiian archipelago this week with a boatload of marine plastic and abandoned fishing nets that threaten to entangle endangered Hawaiian monk seals and other animals on the uninhabited beaches stretching more than 1,300 miles north of Honolulu.

Genetic effects of Chernobyl radiation

Researchers utilized genomic tools to investigate potential health effects of exposure to ionizing radiation, a known carcinogen, as a result of the 1986 Chernobyl accident. One study found no evidence that genetic changes associated with radiation exposure are passed to children, while the second study documented the genetic changes in the tumors of people who developed thyroid cancer after being...

Immune system, not COVID virus, may pose greatest risk to pregnant women

Scientists investigated whether the COVID-19 virus could be affecting placental tissue of infected expectant mothers. Their analysis found that while evidence of the virus in the placenta is rare, the placenta in infected mothers tended to exhibit a much higher level of immune system activity than those of non-infected pregnant women, they report.

Researchers trace spinal neuron family tree

Spinal cord nerve cells branching through the body resemble trees with limbs fanning out in every direction. But this image can also be used to tell the story of how these neurons, their jobs becoming more specialized over time, arose through developmental and evolutionary history. Researchers have traced the development of spinal cord neurons using genetic signatures and revealed how different...

Salad or cheeseburger? Your co-workers shape your food choices

Employees' cafeteria purchases -- both healthy and unhealthy foods -- were influenced by their co-workers' food choices, found a large, two-year study of hospital employees. The study made innovative use of cash register data to gain insights into how individuals' social networks shape their health behavior. The research suggests we might structure future efforts aimed at improving population...

Watch TIME’s Exclusive Footage of NASA’s Most Powerful Rocket Ever Under Construction

Rockets are built slowly—slowly and exceedingly carefully—which is in keeping with giant machines on which humans stake their lives and nations stake their prestige. In NASA’s cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building at Cape Canaveral, America’s next great moon rocket—the Space Launch System (SLS)—is being constructed with all that in mind. It is here too that TIME...