171 articles from WEDNESDAY 4.8.2021

Study sheds more light on the nature of HESS J1857+026

Argentinian astronomers have conducted radio observations of a very-high-energy gamma-ray source known as HESS J1857+026. Results of this study provide new insights into the nature of this mysterious source. The research was detailed in a paper published July 27 on the arXiv pre-print server.

ArtSea Ink: a colorful, seaweed-based ink for 3D printing

Some artists are embracing 3D printing as a new medium, allowing them to create intricate 3D compositions that are difficult to produce in any other way. But the rigid, plastic-based materials used in many 3D printers require high heat for workability. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Omega have developed a colorful new ink for 2D and 3D art made of mica pigments in alginate, a sugar from seaweed...

Study: No evidence that climate change is fueling East African migration

No link currently exists proving climate change is driving migration out of East Africa, despite a widespread acceptance that human mobility is a key impact of climate change, according to research today from a multi-disciplinary Oxford University team, which maintains the factors driving migration are complex.

A dissolvable smartwatch makes for easier electronics recycling

Small electronics, including smartwatches and fitness trackers, aren't easily dismantled and recycled. So when a new model comes out, most users send the old devices into hazardous waste streams. To simplify small electronics recycling, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces have developed a two-metal nanocomposite for circuits that disintegrates when submerged in water. They...

NASA model describes nearby star that resembles early sun

New research led by NASA provides a closer look at a nearby star thought to resemble our young sun. The work allows scientists to better understand what our sun may have been like when it was young, and how it may have shaped the atmosphere of our planet and the development of life on Earth.

Loss of eelgrass beds gives rise to large emissions of carbon and nutrients

Losses of important eelgrass meadows in western Sweden since the 1980s have led to considerable bottom erosion and the release of carbon and nitrogen; substances that contribute to increasing climate change and eutrophication. This is shown in a new study by researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Stockholm University, Åbo Akademi University and the University of Southern Denmark, published...

NASA identifies likely locations of the early molten moon's deep secrets

Shortly after it formed, the moon was covered in a global ocean of molten rock (magma). As the magma ocean cooled and solidified, dense minerals sank to form the mantle layer, while less-dense minerals floated to form the surface crust. Later intense bombardment by massive asteroids and comets punched through the crust, blasting out pieces of mantle and scattering them across the lunar surface.

New findings on the evolution of galaxies

Emirati national Aisha Al Yazeedi, a research scientist at the NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) Center for Astro, Particle, and Planetary Physics, has published her first research paper, featuring some key findings on the evolution of galaxies.

Image: Mediterranean continues to bake

This map shows the temperature of the land surface on 2 August 2021. It is clear to see that surface temperatures in Turkey and Cyprus have reached over 50°C, again. A map we published on 2 July shows pretty much the same situation. The Mediterranean has been suffering a heatwave for some weeks, leading to numerous wildfires. Turkey, for example, is reported to be amid the country's worst blazes...

Dancing ghosts point to new discoveries in the cosmos

Researchers from Western Sydney University and CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have discovered strange clouds of electrons surrounding galaxies deep in the cosmos. The clouds, which are about a billion light years away and never been seen before, resemble two ghosts dancing.

Rate of nuclear reaction in exploding stars

New research by Surrey's Nuclear Physics Group has shown that it's possible to mimic excited quantum states with exotic nuclei, opening up a host of opportunities for next generation radioactive beam facilities, such as the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB).

What it takes to become Australia's first woman astronaut

I'm currently training to become Australia's first woman astronaut. I expect to fly my first suborbital mission sometime in 2023 as a payload specialist on a commercial mission. In other words, I'll be one of few certified crew members who can handle specialized scientific equipment aboard a suborbital spacecraft.

Keeping clubroot in rapeseed in check by using fungi

Teams from the Chair of Plant Physiology at Technische Universität Dresden and the Julius Kühn Institute in Braunschweig have been researching biological methods to better control the widespread plant disease 'clubroot' in rapeseed in a joint project. They were able to observe an increase in fresh weight in infected plants through the addition of the fungus Acremonium alternatum. This is a...

Visualizing stress in plastics

A research team led by Prof. Dr. Michael Sommer, Professorship of Polymer Chemistry at Chemnitz University of Technology, and PD Dr. Michael Walter, project leader at the Cluster Of Excellence Living, Adaptive, and Energy-autonomous Materials Systems (livMatS) at the University of Freiburg, has succeeded in constructing a new dye molecule from the area of so-called mechanophores.

Climate change is already disrupting US forests and coasts, evidence at 5 long-term research sites shows

Record-breaking heat waves and drought have left West Coast rivers lethally hot for salmon, literally cooked millions of mussels and clams in their shells and left forests primed to burn. The extraordinary severity of 2021's heat and drought, and its fires and floods, has many people questioning whether climate change, fueled by human actions, is progressing even faster than studies have predicted...