305 articles from THURSDAY 10.6.2021

New family of atomic-thin electride materials discovered

An exploratory investigation into the behavior of materials with desirable electric properties has resulted in the discovery of a structural phase of two-dimensional (2D) materials. The new family of materials are electrides, wherein electrons occupy a space usually reserved for atoms or ions instead of orbiting the nucleus of an atom or ion. The stable, low-energy, tunable materials could have...

Butterflies and moths have difficulty adjusting to a rapidly changing climate

Climate change exerts great pressure for change on species and biodiversity. A recent study conducted by the University of Helsinki and the Finnish Environment Institute indicates that the few moth and butterfly species (Lepidoptera) capable of adjusting to a changing climate by advancing their flight period and moving further north have fared the best in Finland. In contrast, roughly 40% of...

How do plants balance microbial friends and foes?

Plants are constantly exposed to microbes: Pathogens that cause disease, commensals that cause no harm or benefit, and mutualists that promote plant growth or help fend off pathogens. For example, most land plants can form positive relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to improve nutrient uptake. How plants fight off pathogens without also killing beneficial microbes or wasting energy on...

Butterflies and moths have difficulty adjusting to a rapidly changing climate

Climate change exerts great pressure for change on species and biodiversity. A recent study indicates that the few moth and butterfly species (Lepidoptera) capable of adjusting to a changing climate by advancing their flight period and moving further north have fared the best in Finland. In contrast, roughly 40% of Lepidoptera species have not been able to respond in either way, seeing their...

Study sheds light on treatment options for devastating childhood brain cancer

Research suggests that children with average risk medulloblastoma can receive radiation to a smaller volume of the brain at the end of a six-week course of treatment and still maintain the same disease control as those receiving radiation to a larger area. But the dose of preventive radiation treatments given to the whole brain and spine over the six-week regimen cannot be reduced without reducing...

Forget me not: Novel target shows promise in treating Alzheimer's and related dementias

Researchers have identified a previously unknown early driver of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). They report high levels of cis P-tau, a pathogenic protein, in human AD and VaD brains as well as preclinical disease models. Treatment with an antibody to the toxic protein prevented disease progression and reversed disease symptoms and restored cognitive function in older mice.

Music listening near bedtime disruptive to sleep

Most people listen to music throughout their day and often near bedtime to wind down. But can that actually cause your sleep to suffer? When a sleep researcher realized he was waking in the middle of the night with a song stuck in his head, he saw an opportunity to study how music -- and particularly stuck songs -- might affect sleep patterns.

Machine learning model doubles accuracy of global landslide 'nowcasts'

Every year, landslides—the movement of rock, soil, and debris down a slope—cause thousands of deaths, billions of dollars in damages, and disruptions to roads and power lines. Because terrain, characteristics of the rocks and soil, weather, and climate all contribute to landslide activity, accurately pinpointing areas most at risk of these hazards at any given time can be a challenge. Early...

Novel liquid crystal metalens offers electric zoom

Researchers from Cornell University's School of Applied and Engineering Physics and Samsung's Advanced Institute of Technology have created a first-of-its-kind metalens—a metamaterial lens—that can be focused using voltage instead of mechanically moving its components.

Study shows how permafrost releases methane in the warming Arctic

Researchers from Skoltech have designed and conducted experiments measuring gas permeability under various conditions for ice-containing sediments mimicking permafrost. Their results can be useful both in modeling and testing techniques for gas production from Arctic reservoirs and in tracing methane emission in high latitudes. The paper was published in the journal Energy & Fuels.

Printing flexible wearable electronics for smart device applications

The demand for flexible wearable electronics has spiked with the dramatic growth of smart devices that can exchange data with other devices over the internet with embedded sensors, software, and other technologies. Researchers consequently have focused on exploring flexible energy storage devices, such as flexible supercapacitators (FSCs), that are lightweight and safe and easily integrate with...

Vanadium-dependent nitrogenase can bind two CO molecules simultaneously

Through the biological fixation of the element nitrogen by the enzyme nitrogenase, organisms gain access to molecular nitrogen (N2) in the Earth's atmosphere, which is essential for building cellular structures. In addition, a vanadium-dependent variant of nitrogenase can reduce the toxic gas carbon monoxide (CO) to hydrocarbons. These reductions of N2 and CO are among the most important processes...

Searching for heavy new particles with the ATLAS Experiment

Since discovering the Higgs boson in 2012, the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN has been working to understand its properties. One question in particular stands out: why does the Higgs boson have the mass that it does? Experiments have measured its mass to be around 125 GeV—yet the Standard Model implies it has much larger mass and requires a very large correction to the mathematics in order to align...

Cause, scope determined for deadly winter debris flow in Uttarakhand, India

The Uttarakhand region of India experienced a humanitarian tragedy on Feb. 7, 2021, when a wall of debris and water barreled down the Ronti Gad, Rishiganga and Dhauliganga river valleys. This debris flow destroyed two hydropower facilities and left more than 200 people dead or missing. A self-organized coalition of 53 scientists came together in the days following the disaster to investigate the...

World-first discovery could fuel the new green ammonia economy

Scientists have developed a new technique using phosphonium salts that can help drive the future production of green ammonia. This process could reduce the impact of ammonia production on global carbon emissions. Each metric ton of ammonia produced today contributes to roughly 1.9 metric tons of greenhouse emissions.

Pinpointing how cancer cells turn aggressive

As deadly as it is, cancer metastasis is a poorly understood process. A new study describes a cutting-edge tool for tracing the lineage and gene expression of thousands of individual metastatic cancer cells. Their findings open new angles for investigating the processes that drive metastasis.

Printing flexible wearable electronics for smart device applications

With the increase in demand for flexible wearable electronics, researchers have explored flexible energy storage devices, such as flexible supercapacitators, that are lightweight and safe and easily integrate with other devices. Printing electronics has proved to be an economical, simple, and scalable strategy for fabricating FSCs. Researchers provide a review of printed FSCs in terms of ability...

More sustainable mortars and concrete with optimal thermal and mechanical efficiency

The consumption of raw materials has increased notably in industry in general, and in the construction industry in particular, amidst growing concerns over sustainability issues. Concrete and mortar are the most commonly used materials in construction, and many studies are currently underway to try to reduce the harmful effects of their manufacture. Concrete and mortar are made by mixing water,...

Combating maritime litter: Innovative solutions for fighting pollution in the oceans

Plastic bottles drifting in the sea; bags in the stomachs of turtles; COVID-19 masks dancing in the surf: Few images are as unpleasant to look at as those that show the contamination of our oceans. And few environmental issues are as urgent and as present in the public awareness. "Most people have an emotional connection to the sea. They think of ocean pollution as an attack on a place they long...

Fast heart, slow heart: Changes in the molecular motor myosin explain the difference

The human heart contracts about 70 times per minute, while that of a rat contracts over 300 times; what accounts for this difference? In a new study publishing 10th June in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, led by Michael Geeves and Mark Wass of the University of Kent and Leslie Leinwand from the University of Colorado Boulder, reveal the molecular differences in the heart muscle protein beta...