184 articles from THURSDAY 5.8.2021

NASA’s Juno Celebrates 10 Years With New Infrared View of Moon Ganymede

Portal origin URL: NASA’s Juno Celebrates 10 Years With New Infrared View of Moon GanymedePortal origin nid: 473099Published: Thursday, August 5, 2021 - 17:07Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: The spacecraft used its infrared instrument during recent flybys of Jupiter’s mammoth moon to create this latest map, which comes out a decade after Juno’s...

V404 Cygni: Huge rings around a black hole

This image features a spectacular set of rings around a black hole, captured using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory. The X-ray images of the giant rings reveal information about dust located in our galaxy, using a similar principle to the X-rays performed in doctor's offices and airports.

'Critical situation' as fires rage in Greece

"It's a very sad moment," said a villager in Evia who had to evacuate as a violent fire ravages the Greek island, one of dozens of blazes that have torn through the country this week in the worst heatwave in over three decades.

Decades of research bring quantum dots to brink of widespread use

A new article in Science magazine gives an overview of almost three decades of research into colloidal quantum dots, assesses the technological progress for these nanometer-sized specs of semiconductor matter, and weighs the remaining challenges on the path to widespread commercialization for this promising technology with applications in everything from TVs to highly efficient sunlight...

Control of the US Senate: What does history tell us about how much it affects legislative policymaking?

With the U.S. Senate evenly split between the Republican and Democratic caucuses—something that's only happened three other times—two political science scholars at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences were inspired to study one of those periods. Their research regarding the Senate during the 1953–54 session of Congress, published in the American Political Science Review,...

Research illuminates language of fireflies

A small flickering at dusk near the trees, a pinprick of light rising from the ground—fireflies bring an air of magic and wonder to long summer evenings. The twinkling conversation between beetles is commonly associated with mating patterns; and new data explains how swarms are able to achieve this communication.

Decades of research brings quantum dots to brink of widespread use

A new article gives an overview of almost three decades of research into colloidal quantum dots, assesses the technological progress for these nanometer-sized specs of semiconductor matter, and weighs the remaining challenges on the path to widespread commercialization for this promising technology with applications in everything from TVs to highly efficient sunlight collectors.

Ovarian cancer: Potential therapeutic target identified

A gene called DOT1L appears to play a role in progression and severity of ovarian cancer, and inhibitors of the DOT1L enzyme may offer a new therapeutic approach for the disease, researchers say in a new study. The need is clear -- despite decades of work to develop new treatment modalities, the five-year survival of patients with advanced ovarian cancer is between 10 and 30 percent.

All in your head: Exploring human-body communications with binaural hearing aids

Wearable technology seems all poised to take over next-generation electronics, yet most wireless communication techniques are not up to the task. To tackle this issue, scientists have delved deep into human-body communications, in which human tissue is used as the transmission medium for electromagnetic signals. Their findings pave the way to more efficient and safer head-worn devices, such as...

An action agenda for Africa’s electricity sector

A new scientific article outlines how to undertake the much-needed expansion and modernization of Africa's electricity sector. The article highlights the crucial role that international partnerships such as the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative have to play in achieving this goal.

Corn’s genetic diversity on display in new genome study

A new study details the genomes of 26 lines of corn from across the globe. The genomes can help scientists piece together the puzzle of corn genetics. Using these new genomes as references, plant scientists can better select for genes likely to lead to better crop yields or stress tolerance.

Brain-inspired highly scalable neuromorphic hardware

Researchers fabricated a brain-inspired highly scalable neuromorphic hardware by co-integrating single transistor neurons and synapses. Using standard silicon complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the neuromorphic hardware is expected to reduce chip cost and simplify fabrication procedures.

New findings about cancer cell growth may hold promise for future cancer treatments

For a cell to grow and divide, it needs to produce new proteins. This also applies to cancer cells. Researchers have now investigated the protein eIF4A3 and its role in the growth of cancer cells. The study shows that by blocking or reducing the production of this protein, other processes arise that cause the growth and cell division of cancer cells to cease and eventually die.