266 articles from WEDNESDAY 7.7.2021

New study helps explain 'silent earthquakes' along New Zealand's North Island

The Hikurangi Margin, located off the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, is partly responsible for the more than 15,000 earthquakes the region experiences each year. Most are too small to be noticed, but between 150 and 200 are large enough to be felt. Scientists have been working to understand why this plate boundary produces both imperceptible silent earthquakes, but also potentially...

New study shows mathematical models helped reduce the spread of COVID-19

Colorado researchers have published new findings in Emerging Infectious Diseases that take a first look at the use of SARS-CoV-2 mathematical modeling to inform early statewide policies enacted to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic in Colorado. Among other findings, the authors estimate that 97 percent of potential hospitalizations across the state in the early months of the pandemic...

New type of massive explosion explains mystery star

Astronomers led by David Yong, Gary Da Costa and Chiaki Kobayashi from Australia's ARC Centre of Excellence in All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) based at the Australian National University (ANU) have potentially discovered the first evidence of the destruction of a collapsed rapidly spinning star - a phenomenon they describe as a "magneto-rotational hypernova".

Next generation cytogenetics is on its way

Dutch-French research shows that Optical Genome Mapping (OGM) detects abnormalities in chromosomes and DNA very quickly, effectively and accurately. Sometimes even better than all existing techniques together, as they describe in two proof-of-concept studies published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. This new technique could radically change the existing workflow within cytogenetic...

Not only humans got talent, dogs got it too!

Some exceptionally gifted people have marked human history and culture. Leonardo, Mozart, and Einstein are some famous examples of this phenomenon.Is talent in a given field a uniquely human phenomenon? We do not know whether gifted bees or elephants exist, just to name a few species, but now there is evidence that talent in a specific field exists, in at least one non-human species: the dog.

Nursing organizations state their positions on systemic racism: JANAC authors analyze themes

The murders of George Floyd and other Black Americans have prompted a national outcry against structural racism and police brutality. How are leading nursing organizations and schools of nursing defining their positions on racism? That's the topic of a special article in the July/August issue of The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC). The official journal of the Association...

NUS researchers bring attack-proof quantum communication two steps forward

Researchers from the National University of Singapore have come up with two new ways to protect quantum communications from attacks - the first is an ultra-secure cryptography protocol, and the other is a first-of-its-kind quantum power limiter device. These two approaches hold promise to ensure information systems used for critical services, such as banking and healthcare, can hold up any...

Protein's 'silent code' affects how cells move

Two forms of the ubiquitous protein actin differ by only four amino acids but are dissimilar in 13% of their nucleotide coding sequences due to silent substitutions. A new study led by the University of Pennsylvania reveals that these supposedly "silent" differences have an impact on how fast actin mRNA gets translated into protein and subsequently on the protein's function in propelling cell...

Public diplomacy by a visiting national leader sways public opinion in host country

When a head of state or government official travels to another country to meet with his/her counterpart, the high-level visit often entails a range of public diplomacy activities as hosting a joint press conference, or attending a sports event, which aim to increase public support in the host country. A new study finds that public diplomacy accompanying a high-level visit by a national leader...

Quantum laser turns energy loss into gain?

Scientists at KAIST have fabricated a laser system that generates highly interactive quantum particles at room temperature. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Photonics, could lead to a single microcavity laser system that requires lower threshold energy as its energy loss increases.

Quantum particles: Pulled and compressed

Only recently researchers have levitated and cooled nanoparticles into the quantum regime. A research team led by Oriol Romero-Isart now proposes a way to harness the quantum properties of such particles before they lose them due to decoherence. To this end, the wave function of the particle is repeatedly expanded and compressed.

Reducing the melting of the Greenland ice cap using solar geoengineering?

Injecting sulphur into the stratosphere to reduce solar radiation and stop the Greenland ice cap from melting. An interesting scenario, but not without risks. Climatologists from the University of Liège (Belgium) have looked into the matter and have tested one of the scenarios put forward using the MAR climate model developed at ULiège. The results are mixed and have been published in the...

Researchers clarify reasons for low rate of employment among people with disabilities

Researchers analyzed responses to an open-ended question about employment in the 2015 Kessler Foundation National Employment and Disability Survey, focusing on 1,254 respondents with disabilities who self-identified as unemployed. The most common reasons related to their perceptions about their medical conditions, functional limitations, or disability, which contributed to concerns about being...

Researchers identify ultrastable single atom magnet

Researchers at the IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience at Ewha Womans University (QNS) have shown that dysprosium atoms resting on a thin insulating layer of magnesium oxide have magnetic stability over days. In a study published in Nature Communications they have proven that these tiny magnets have extreme robustness against fluctuations in magnetic field and temperature and will flip only when...

Scientists home in on recipe for entirely renewable energy

Scientists from Trinity College Dublin are homing in on a recipe that would enable the future production of entirely renewable, clean energy from which water would be the only waste product. Using their expertise in chemistry, theoretical physics and artificial intelligence, the team is now fine-tuning the recipe with the genuine belief that the seemingly impossible will one day be reality.

Scientists show the importance of contact with nature in the city during the lockdown

The measures taken during the COVID-19 pandemic limited the access of citizens to natural objects. It is still unexplored, what consequences this had for the residents and what conclusions should be drawn for more effective urban planning. RUDN University scientists with colleagues from Australia and Germany studied how the restrictions associated with COVID-19 affected the use of blue and green...