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89 articles from PhysOrg

Some drought-imposed fishing limits lifted on Colorado River

Colorado lifted some fishing restrictions along a stretch of the Colorado River on Tuesday, but biologists warn that historically low water flows caused by a drought in the U.S. West, high water temperatures and wildfire sediment that all starve trout of oxygen could force future bans.

Signs of life on Mars? Perseverance rover begins the hunt

NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has begun its search for signs of ancient life on the Red Planet. Flexing its 7-foot (2-meter) mechanical arm, the rover is testing the sensitive detectors it carries, capturing their first science readings. Along with analyzing rocks using X-rays and ultraviolet light, the six-wheeled scientist will zoom in for closeups of tiny segments of rock surfaces that...

Researchers develop novel method for glucagon delivery

For children with Type 1 diabetes, the risk of experiencing a severe hypoglycemic episode is especially common—and for parents, the threat of that happening in the middle of the night is especially frightening. Sudden and critical drops in blood sugar can go undetected overnight when the child is asleep, resulting in coma and death—an event known as "dead in bed syndrome."

COVID-19 shutdowns reveal racial disparities in exposure to air pollution

A new study of COVID-19 shutdowns in the United States reveals pronounced disparities in air pollution—with disenfranchised, minority neighborhoods still experiencing more exposure to a harmful air pollutant compared to wealthier, white communities. This first-of-a-kind study published today by researchers at the George Washington University looks at how air pollution changed after schools and...

Using snakes to monitor Fukushima radiation

Ten years after one of the largest nuclear accidents in history spewed radioactive contamination over the landscape in Fukushima, Japan, a University of Georgia study has shown that radioactive contamination in the Fukushima Exclusion Zone can be measured through its resident snakes.

New insight into 'training' highly reactive chemical compounds

Highly reactive molecules cannot survive for long in nature. If researchers want to study them more closely, they must produce them under very specific laboratory conditions. Compared to "normal" molecules, many of these tiny particles have a distinguishing feature: They simply bind with everything around them and are therefore very difficult to direct.

DNA assay aids in identifying and protecting North American wolves, coyotes

Forensics specialists can use a commercial assay targeting mitochondrial DNA to accurately discriminate between wolf, coyote and dog species, according to a new study from North Carolina State University. The genetic information can be obtained from smaller or more degraded samples, and could aid authorities in prosecuting hunting jurisdiction violations and preserving protected species.

15,000-year-old viruses discovered in Tibetan glacier ice

Scientists who study glacier ice have found viruses nearly 15,000 years old in two ice samples taken from the Tibetan Plateau in China. Most of those viruses, which survived because they had remained frozen, are unlike any viruses that have been cataloged to date.

SARS-CoV-2: Achilles' heel of viral RNA

When SARS-CoV-2 infects a cell, it introduces its RNA into it and re-programs it in such a way that the cell first produces viral proteins and then whole viral particles. In the search for active substances against SARS-CoV-2, researchers have so far mostly concentrated on the viral proteins and on blocking them, since this promises to prevent, or at least slow down, replication. But attacking the...

Review evaluates the evidence for an intensifying Indian Ocean water cycle

The Indian Ocean has been warming much more than other ocean basins over the last 50-60 years. While temperature changes basin-wide can be unequivocally attributed to human-induced climate change, it is difficult to assess whether contemporary heat and freshwater changes in the Indian Ocean since 1980 represent an anthropogenically-forced transformation of the hydrological cycle. What complicates...

A foot tumor and two tail fractures complicated the life of this hadrosaur

When it was discovered in the 1980s in Argentina, this hadrosaur was diagnosed with a fractured foot. However, a new analysis now shows that this ornithopod commonly known as the duck-billed dinosaur actually had a tumor some 70 million years ago, as well as two painful fractures in the vertebrae of its tail, despite which, it managed to survive for some time.

Exoplanet discovery tool begins its mission

The NEID spectrometer, a new tool for the discovery of planets outside of our solar system, has now started its scientific mission at the WIYN 3.5m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona.

Capturing electrons in space

Interstellar clouds are the birthplaces of new stars, but they also play an important role in the origins of life in the Universe through regions of dust and gas in which chemical compounds form. The research group, molecular systems, led by ERC prize winner Roland Wester at the Institute for ion physics and applied physics at the University of Innsbruck, has set itself the task of better...

Economical synthesis of polyacrylates and polymethacrylates from biobased materials

Despite the best efforts of industry to work towards sustainability, most plastics (or polymers) are still made using non-renewable fossil fuels. However, researchers have now found an economical method for producing biobased acrylate resins. The study, published in the journal Angewandte Chemie, shows how all the synthesis steps, from initial building blocks right up to polymerization, can be...

Long-period oscillations of the Sun discovered

A team of solar physicists led by Laurent Gizon of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) and the University of Göttingen in Germany has reported the discovery of global oscillations of the Sun with very long periods, comparable to the 27-day solar rotation period. The oscillations manifest themselves at the solar surface as swirling motions with speeds on the order of 5...

Shoppers' mobility habits: Retailers overestimate car use

Retail traders often fear that reducing the amount of urban space made available for parking private vehicles would have a negative effect on their businesses. A survey conducted by researchers from the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) on two shopping streets in Berlin shows that traders have a skewed perception of their customers' mobility habits. The findings of this research...

A new method for uninterrupted monitoring of solid-state milling reactions

A team of chemists from the Croatian Ruđer Bošković Institute (RBI) described a new, easy-to-use method for uninterrupted monitoring of mechanochemical reactions. These reactions are conducted in closed milling devices, so in order to monitor the reaction one has to open the reaction vessel, thus interfering with the process. The new method uses Raman spectroscopy to get deeper insight into...

Exploring how organs develop

Scientists from the department of Anatomy and Embryology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tsukuba created a computer model to simulate the development of complex structures based on the Delta-Notch signaling pathway. This work may lead to a more comprehensive picture of the process that results in the formation of organs and other physiological systems.