142 articles from TUESDAY 17.8.2021

Apple says researchers can vet its child safety features. But it’s suing a startup that does just that.

When Apple announced new technology that will check its US iCloud service for known child sexual abuse material, it was met with fierce criticism over worries that the feature could be abused for broad government surveillance. Faced with public resistance, Apple insisted that its technology can be held accountable. “Security researchers are constantly able to introspect what’s happening...

'Connection with the past': AI to find and preserve Europe's historical smells

There's no sense quite like smell to trigger an emotional response. One whiff of a damp basement, a dusty blanket, a ripe strawberry, or a steaming bowl of pasta can instantly evoke feelings and memories that have their roots in the distant past. Yet when it comes to learning about bygone times, we barely give a thought to the vapors that once prevailed—galleries and museums are the domain of...

Study examines how to use your team's emotions to boost creativity

If you're putting together a team for a project, you might be inclined to pick people with cheerful, optimistic dispositions and flexible thinking. But a new management study indicates your team might also benefit from people who are exactly the opposite, according to experts at Rice University, the University of Western Australia, Bond University and the University of Queensland.

Study: As cities grow in size, the poor 'get nothing at all'

Cities are hubs of human activity, supercharging the exchange of ideas and interactions. Scaling theory has established that, as cities grow larger, they tend to produce more of pretty much everything from pollution and crime to patents and wealth. On average, people in larger cities are better off economically. But a new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface builds on...

Humans vs. automation: Service center agents can outperform technology, study shows

In the digital age, service center operations, including call centers and help desks, are increasingly important as main channels for organizations to interact with their customers. Companies are looking for ways to manage service centers more efficiently—including routing calls to appropriate representatives—because service centers have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and firm...

Free electron laser insight: laser-beam interaction in a dipole magnet

Researchers contributed to a deeper understanding of free electron laser physics by evaluating the interaction between an ultraviolet laser and a relativistic electron beam in a pure dipole magnet. The team used a 266-nm laser at the soft x-ray FEL test facility to modulate an 800-MeV electron beam....The results showed that a short dipole magnet can serve as an effective tool for introducing...

Tennessee: fired vaccine expert denies sending dog muzzle to herself

Dr Michelle Fiscus says muzzle was sent anonymously, perhaps as a warning, before she was fired over efforts to vaccinate teenagersA former Tennessee government official who was fired amid controversy over vaccine access for teenagers has denied sending herself a dog muzzle she told authorities was delivered anonymously, possibly as a warning to be quiet, after investigators determined it was...

On the road to faster and more efficient data storage

How do magnetic waves behave in antiferromagnets and how do they spread? What role do "domain walls" play in the process? And what could this mean for the future of data storage? These questions are the focus of a recent publication in the journal Physical Review Letters from an international research team led by Konstanz physicist Dr. Davide Bossini. The team reports on magnetic phenomena in...

Dieting: Villain or scapegoat?

For decades, there has been an accepted definition of dieting in academia, and in society as a whole. Researchers recently reevaluated the decades of dieting research to redefine the way researchers and the public define -- and therefore understand - dieting and the culture of weight loss.

New simulation shows how galaxies feed their supermassive black holes

While other simulations have modeled black hole growth, new model is the first single computer simulation powerful enough to comprehensively account for the numerous forces and factors that play into the evolution of supermassive black holes. Simulation shows that galaxies' spiral arms 'put the brakes on gas,' enabling it to fall into the black hole and as gas heats up while falling into a black...

Fast changes between the solar seasons resolved by new sun clock

Violent activity on our Sun leads to some of the most extreme space weather events on Earth, impacting systems such as satellites, communications systems, power distribution and aviation. The roughly 11 year cycle of solar activity has three 'seasons', each of which affects the space weather felt at Earth differently: (i) solar maximum, the sun is active and disordered, when space weather is...

How microbes can exacerbate cognitive decline

Recent research has found that changes in the gut microbiota -- the trillions of bacteria and other microbes that live in the intestines -- can alter the brain and behavior. A new study could elucidate how and why that phenomenon occurs.

Scientists identify live immune cells in a coral and sea anemone for the first time

A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and the Ben Gurion University of the Negev has identified specialized immune cells in the cauliflower coral and starlet sea anemone that can help fight infection. The findings are important to better understand how reef-building corals and other reef animals protect themselves from...

Indigenous territories fight climate change

In a recent study in PLOS ONE, researchers from 6 different countries, including Camilo Alejo and Catherine Potvin of the Department of Biology at McGill University, examined the importance of Indigenous Territories in climate change mitigation across Panama and the Amazon Basin. They found that Indigenous Territories represent effective natural solutions to meet the Paris Agreement by protecting...

Astronomers find a 'break' in one of the Milky Way's spiral arms

Scientists have spotted a previously unrecognized feature of our Milky Way galaxy: A contingent of young stars and star-forming gas clouds is sticking out of one of the Milky Way's spiral arms like a splinter poking out from a plank of wood. Stretching some 3,000 light-years, this is the first major structure identified with an orientation so dramatically different than the arm's.

Mosquito larvae are surprisingly complex

Mosquito larvae are surprisingly complex, with a sophisticated sense of smell that enables them to find food, avoid predators and thus become healthy adult mosquitoes with greater ability to transmit disease to humans.

Fast changes between the solar seasons resolved by new sun clock

Violent activity on our Sun leads to some of the most extreme space weather events on Earth, impacting systems such as satellites, communications systems, power distribution and aviation. The roughly 11-year cycle of solar activity has three 'seasons', each of which affects the space weather felt at Earth differently: (i) solar maximum, the sun is active and disordered, when space weather is...

Q&A: Gassy cows, leaking wells and other adventures in measuring methane

Last week, a landmark climate report from the United Nations gave the sobering consensus of decades of international climate change research: "It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land," causing "widespread and rapid changes" in the air, seas, once-frozen places and plant and animal life that have touched every region on Earth.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Explores a Changing Landscape

Portal origin URL: NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover Explores a Changing LandscapePortal origin nid: 473285Published: Tuesday, August 17, 2021 - 11:43Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: A new video rings in the rover’s ninth year on Mars, letting viewers tour Curiosity’s location on a Martian mountain.Portal image: 360-degree view of Mars on July 3,...

Benefits of time-restricted eating depend on age and sex

Time-restricted eating (TRE), a dietary regimen that restricts eating to specific hours, has garnered increased attention in weight-loss circles. A new study further shows that TRE confers multiple health benefits besides weight loss. The study also shows that these benefits may depend on sex and age.

Wash your hands for 20 seconds: Physics shows why

Researchers describe a simple model that captures the key mechanics of hand-washing, estimating the time scales on which particles, like viruses and bacteria, were removed. Particles are trapped on the rough surfaces of the hand in potential wells, as though they are at the bottom of a valley and the energy from the water flow must be high enough to get them up and out of the valley.

Combining perovskite with silicon, solar cells convert more energy from sun

To fully harness the potential of sunlight, scientists have been trying to maximize the amount of energy that can be extracted from the sun. Researchers now describe how pairing metal halide perovskites with conventional silicon leads to a more powerful solar cell that overcomes the 26% practical efficiency limit of using silicon cells alone. Perovskites fulfill all the optoelectronic requirements...

Building bonds between males leads to more offspring for chimpanzees

If you're a male chimp looking for love -- or offspring -- it pays to make friends with other males. A study examined why male chimpanzees form close relationships with each other, and found that male chimpanzees that build strong bonds with the alpha male of the group, or with a large network of other males, are more successful at siring offspring.

Gender revolutions in who holds the purse strings

New research has uncovered considerable class differences in the gender revolution of who holds the purse strings among British couples. Low-earning and high-earning women are taking more control of the finances in their relationships, but in different ways, says the research.

Brain organoids develop optic cups that respond to light

Human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be used to generate brain organoids containing an eye structure called the optic cup, according to a new study. The organoids spontaneously developed bilaterally symmetric optic cups from the front of the brain-like region, demonstrating the intrinsic self-patterning ability of iPSCs in a highly complex biological process.