117 articles from FRIDAY 8.10.2021
Latest results from cosmic microwave background measurements
The universe was created about 13.8 billion years ago in a blaze of light: the big bang. Roughly 380,000 years later, after matter (mostly hydrogen) had cooled enough for neutral atoms to form, light was able to traverse space freely. That light, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, comes to us from every direction in the sky uniformly ... or so it first seemed. In the last decades...
Studies find mixed results from sage grouse hunting restrictions
A thorough review of the history of sage grouse hunting and populations across the Intermountain West shows that declines in the bird's numbers have prompted significant reductions in hunting opportunities in recent decades—with mixed results for grouse populations.
Italian sailors knew of America 150 years before Christopher Columbus, new analysis of ancient documents suggests
New analysis of ancient writings suggests that sailors from the Italian hometown of Christopher Columbus knew of America 150 years before its renowned 'discovery'.
Levitating particles in a vacuum
Levitation of both large objects and of single atoms has become a widely used technique in science and engineering. In the last years, many researchers have started to explore a new horizon: the levitation of nano- and micro-particles—still smaller than the diameter of a single hair, but composed of billions of atoms—in vacuum.
Astrophysicists explain the origin of unusually heavy neutron star binaries
A new study showing how the explosion of a stripped massive star in a supernova can lead to the formation of a heavy neutron star or a light black hole resolves one of the most challenging puzzles to emerge from the detection of neutron star mergers by the gravitational wave observatories LIGO and Virgo.
New, environmentally friendly method to extract and separate rare earth elements
A new method improves the extraction and separation of rare earth elements—a group of 17 elements critical for technologies such as smart phones and electric car batteries—from unconventional sources. New research led by scientists at Penn State and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) demonstrates how a protein isolated from bacteria can provide a more environmentally friendly...
Unambiguous experimental demonstration of magnon transfer torque effect
Spin torque provides convenient electric means to efficiently control magnetizations. It can usually be produced by spin-polarized current or pure spin current via spin Hall effect. The former and the latter are named as spin transfer torque (STT) and spin orbit torque (SOT), respectively. Utilizing these tools, people have developed the second generation STT-MRAM (Magnetic Random-Access Memory)...
New measurement method enables more precise investigation of ultrafast processes in matter
A team of researchers from Freiburg led by Prof. Dr. Frank Stienkemeier and Dr. Lukas Bruder has succeeded in developing a new measurement method for investigating ultrafast processes in matter. These are processes at the atomic and molecular level that occur within a billionth of a second (10-12 sec). The new method, which combines different spectroscopy techniques, enables, among other things,...
Artificial intelligence suggests a new narrative for the Out of Africa process
Researchers from Estonia and Italy developed an innovative method by combining neural networks and statistics. Using this newly developed method, they refined the "Out of Africa" scenario. The researchers claimed that the African dynamics around the time of the Out of Africa expansion are more complex than previously thought.
Orange County oil spill leaves many clues, dead ends and mysteries, but few answers
Nearly a week after a 13-inch tear in an undersea pipeline resulted in a massive oil spill off the Southern California coast, the clues keep piling up, but the mystery of what caused the rupture and who is ultimately responsible remains unsolved.
Excess deaths in people with mental health conditions increased during the COVID-19 pandemic
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 17:29
The greater number of deaths amongst those with mental health conditions and intellectual disabilities has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic, a study based on more than 160,000 patients has revealed.
Google prohibits ads that promote or make money from climate change denial
Google is cracking down on digital ads that promote climate change denial or make money from that kind of content, hoping to limit revenue for climate change deniers and stop the spread of misinformation on its...
A new method for predicting the response of ecosystems to marine heatwaves developed by international collaboration
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
Marine heatwaves, driven by climate change, are becoming more frequent and intense worldwide. Although we know that heatwaves kill marine organisms and have devastating effects on ecosystems, there is currently no way to predict these effects or help ecosystems adapt.
Using indoor air sampling surveillance to sniff out COVID-19
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
A team of scientists and doctors has developed a capability to detect airborne SARS-CoV-2 RNA -- the nucleic acid coding for the virus that causes COVID-19 -- indoors through air sampling. When trialed in two inpatient wards of a major Singaporean hospital caring for active COVID-19 patients the air surveillance approach produced a higher detection rate of environmental SARS-CoV-2 RNA (72%)...
Stem cell population identified that is key for bone regeneration
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
Researchers have identified a subpopulation of mesenchymal stem cells in the bone marrow that express the marker CD73. These cells have a higher potential for proliferation and differentiation, and play a significant role in bone healing, migrating to the site of a fracture and developing into cartilage and bone cells as part of the repair process. These cells have potential for regenerative...
A better black hole laser may prove a circuitous 'Theory of Everything'
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
Researchers propose quantum circuit black hole lasers to explore Hawking radiation.
What makes us human? The answer may be found in overlooked DNA
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
Our DNA is very similar to that of the chimpanzee, which in evolutionary terms is our closest living relative. Stem cell researchers have now found a previously overlooked part of our DNA, so-called non-coded DNA, that appears to contribute to a difference which, despite all our similarities, may explain why our brains work differently.
Ruling electrons and vibrations in a crystal with polarized light
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
The quantum behavior of atomic vibrations excited in a crystal using light pulses has much to do with the polarization of the pulses, say materials scientists. The findings from their latest study offer a new control parameter for the manipulation of coherently excited vibrations in solid materials at the quantum level.
Psychiatric disorders in teenage years associated with social exclusion in later life
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
Adolescents who had received a mental health disorder diagnosis were often excluded from the labor market and education as young adults. This particularly applied to adolescents who had been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder or psychosis. The results were found out in a birth cohort study of people born in Finland in 1987.
Understanding how a crab’s complex life cycle will respond to climate change
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
A team researchers looked at the Pacific Northwest portion of the Dungeness crab fishery, which spans from Alaska down to Southern California. They determined which life stages are most vulnerable, and to which stressors.
Charting hidden territory of the human brain
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
Neuroscientist shave discovered a novel, non-invasive imaging-based method to investigate the visual sensory thalamus, an important structure of the human brain and point of origin of visual difficulties in diseases such as dyslexia and glaucoma. The new method could provide an in-depth understanding of visual sensory processing in both health and disease in the near future.
Physics meets democracy in this modeling study
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:57
A study leverages concepts from physics to model how campaign strategies influence the opinions of an electorate in a two-party system.
Low-cost, continuous seismic monitoring system to support emission reduction efforts
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/8 16:56
Researchers have developed a continuous seismic monitoring system that could monitor multiple geothermal or carbon storage reservoirs over a relatively large area in real time. A small seismic source generates repeated 'chirps,' which can be detected by fiber-optic cables within a radius of 80 km from the source. Field experiments showed that temporal changes in monitored reservoirs were captured...
Stress in Earth's crust determined without earthquake data
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method to determine the orientation of mechanical stress in the earth's crust without relying on data from earthquakes or drilling. This method is less expensive that current approaches, could have broad applicability in geophysics and provide insight into continental regions lacking historical geologic information.