137 articles from FRIDAY 22.10.2021
Study says tech firms underreport their carbon footprint
Large technology companies such as SAP, IBM and Google are underreporting their greenhouse gas emissions at a time of heightened scrutiny over the role of corporations in driving climate change, a study released Friday claimed.
Big tech data centers spark worry over scarce Western water
Conflicts over water are as old as history itself, but the massive Google data centers on the edge of this Oregon town on the Columbia River represent an emerging 21st century concern.
NASA targeting Feb. 2022 to launch new lunar program Artemis
NASA said Friday it is now targeting February 2022 for the uncrewed lunar mission Artemis 1, the first step in America's plan to return humans to the Moon later this decade.
How can lizards adapt to a changing climate?
Researchers at the University of Toronto and Ohio Wesleyan University are collaborating in a quest to find out how lizards can adapt to the world's changing climate.
Seamless wayfinding by a deafblind adult on an urban college campus: A case study
Portland State University researchers Martin Swobodzinski and Amy Parker, with student co-authors Julie Wright, Kyrsten Hansen and Becky Morton, have published a new article in Frontiers in Education: "Seamless Wayfinding by a Deafblind Adult on an Urban College Campus: A Case Study on Wayfinding Performance, Information Preferences, and Technology Requirements."
Nature-inspired coatings could power tiny chemistry labs for medical testing and more
A newly developed coating that allows for certain liquids to move across surfaces without fluid loss could usher in new advances in a range of fields, including medical testing.
Astronomers discover infant planet
One of the youngest planets ever found around a distant infant star has been discovered by an international team of scientists led by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa faculty, students, and alumni.
Infant planet discovered
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:15
One of the youngest planets ever found around a distant infant star has been discovered by an international team of scientists.
Machine learning predicts antibiotic resistance spread
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:15
Genes aren't only inherited through birth. Bacteria have the ability to pass genes to each other, or pick them up from their environment, through a process called horizonal gene transfer, which is a major culprit in the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Experiments confirm a quantum material’s unique response to circularly polarized laser light
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:15
Scientists are probing topological insulators with circularly polarized light to reveal their many secrets. These exotic materials have potential for quantum computing and other technologies. They discovered that high harmonic generation produces a unique signature from the topological surface.
Controlling light with a material three atoms thick
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:15
Thin structures made of black phosphorus can tune the properties of light, with implications for science and technology.
Specific molecular mechanism that controls the transition from acute to chronic pain
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:15
A new study reveals the specific molecular mechanism that controls the transition from acute to chronic pain, and identifies this mechanism as a critical target for disease-modifying medicines.
A diet of essential amino acids could keep dementia at bay
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:14
Protein intake is known to be vital for maintaining brain function in older individuals. Now, using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, researchers have shown that the intake of a specific set of amino acids can inhibit the death of brain cells, protect the connections between them, and reduce inflammation, preserving brain function. Their research suggests that this amino acid combination...
Machine learning predicts antibiotic resistance spread
Genes aren't only inherited through birth. Bacteria have the ability to pass genes to each other, or pick them up from their environment, through a process called horizonal gene transfer, which is a major culprit in the spread of antibiotic resistance.
Mechanism behind ineffective psoriasis drugs identified
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 23:14
Interleukin-12 -- a messenger molecule of immune cells -- was long considered to trigger the development of psoriasis. Now, researchers have shown that interleukin-12 does not actually cause the skin disease but protects against it. This also explains why common psoriasis drugs that block the messenger show insufficient treatment efficacy.
Controlling light with a material three atoms thick
Most of us control light all the time without even thinking about it, usually in mundane ways: we don a pair of sunglasses and put on sunscreen, and close—or open—our window blinds.
With more humpback whales in B.C. waters, entanglements are on the rise, too
A team of highly specialized professionals take on the task of disentangling whales — but rely on the eyes and ears of the community to find animals that have been caught up in fishing...
Record 21 humpback calves spotted in Salish Sea over feeding season as whale numbers rebound
A record number of humpback whale calves have been documented swimming off the coast of Washington State and British Columbia this summer and...
The climate project that changed how we understand extreme weather
When a handful of scientists tried to publish rapid research into the role of climate change in record rainfall that lashed Britain in 2015, they were told their high-speed approach was "not science".
Discovery of ancient Peruvian burial tombs sheds new light on Wari culture
A team of archeologists in northern Peru discovered the remains of 29 people, including three children, that could help experts rewrite the history of the pre-Incan Wari civilization, the lead researcher said on Friday.
Experiments confirm a quantum material's unique response to circularly polarized laser light
When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down experiments at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory early last year, Shambhu Ghimire's research group was forced to find another way to study an intriguing research target: quantum materials known as topological insulators, or TIs, which conduct electric current on their surfaces but not through their interiors.
Chemists discover mechanism in controlled growth of tetrahedron-shaped nanoparticles
Nature clearly likes symmetry. Look at your own hands, for example. But sometimes nature produces asymmetric things, and the reasons aren't always clear.
A national network examining Earth's planetary limits
University of California San Diego Physics Professor Tom Murphy is among five authors of an essay, appearing in the November 2021 issue of the journal Energy Research & Social Science, that cautions current levels of worldwide economic growth, energy use and resource consumption will overshoot Earth's finite limits.
Bringing new life to ATLAS data
The ATLAS collaboration is breathing new life into its LHC Run 2 dataset, recorded from 2015 to 2018. Physicists will be reprocessing the entire dataset—nearly 18 PB of collision data—using an updated version of the ATLAS offline analysis software (Athena). Not only will this improve ATLAS physics measurements and searches, it will also position the collaboration well for the upcoming...
Novel eremophilane sesquiterpenoids with immunosuppressive activity isolated from Parasenecio albus
Plants of the genus Parasenecio have long been used in traditional Chinese medicine for invigorating the circulation of blood, relieving rheumatic ache, and for the treatment of injures from falls. Previous phytochemical investigations on Parasenecio species demonstrate that sesquiterpenes, especially the eremophilanes, are their characteristic components. Parasenecio albus (P. albus), mainly...
NASA completes mega-moon rocket stacking
NASA has completed stacking of the agency's mega-Moon rocket and spacecraft that will launch the next generation of deep space operations, including Artemis missions on and around the Moon. Engineers and technicians successfully secured the Orion spacecraft atop the fully assembled Space Launch System (SLS) rocket at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida just before midnight Oct. 21.
Want to pitch in to help discover unknown planets?
Bob McDonald's blog: Astronomers with the Next Generation Transit Survey are looking for volunteers to help comb through telescope data looking for the tell-tale light signature of...
Stronger than spider silk: Bagworm silk enables strong conducting fibers
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:38
Researchers have harnessed the strength of bagworm silk to produce a strong conductive fiber. To obtain this novel fiber, the research team combined bagworm silk with polyaniline as a conducting polymer. The composite fibers act as an optical waveguide and are suitable for use in textile transistors. This production of a bagworm silk/polyaniline composite will enable the use of biocompatible...
Traces of an ancient road in a lake
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:38
Eight hundred years of settlement history with land reforms, epidemics and repeated wars are preserved in the sediments of Lake Czechowskie in Poland. The key role was played by the so-called Margrave's Road, the 'Via Marchionis', between the Prussian heartland and the Teutonic Order's castle Marienburg (today Malbork in Poland). The road remained significant for centuries.
No ‘silver bullet’ for UK reaching net zero carbon emissions for electricity
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:38
CO2 emissions from electricity in the UK fell by two thirds in the last decade due to several factors working together, rather than a single panacea.
Quantum battles in attoscience: Following three debates
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:38
The field of attoscience has been kickstarted by new advances in laser technology. Research began with studies of three particular processes. First, 'above-threshold ionization' (ATI), describing atoms which are ionized by more than the required number of photons. Second, 'high harmonic generation' (HHG) occurs when a target is illuminated by an intense laser pulse, causing it to emit...
Black hole thermodynamics: A history from Penrose to Hawking
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:38
An analysis sheds new light on the motivations and methods of Roger Penrose, and explores their historical influence on the groundbreaking discovery of Hawking radiation.
Need for larger space telescope inspires lightweight flexible holographic lens
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:38
Inspired by a concept for discovering exoplanets with a giant space telescope, a team of researchers is developing holographic lenses that render visible and infrared starlight into either a focused image or a spectrum.
Shape of virus may determine RSV infection outcomes
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:37
Using a novel technology, researchers uncovered shape-shifting properties of a common respiratory virus.
Historical analysis finds no precedent for the rate of coal and gas power decline needed to limit climate change to 1.5°C
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:37
Limiting climate change to the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Climate Agreement will likely require coal and gas power use to decline at rates that are unprecedented for any large country, finds an analysis of decadal episodes of fossil fuel decline in 105 countries between 1960 and 2018. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the most rapid historical cases of fossil fuel decline occurred when...
Fighting multiple sclerosis with cold
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:37
In evolutionary biology, the 'Life History Theory,' first proposed in the 1950s, postulates that when the environment is favorable, the resources used by any organism are devoted for growth and reproduction. Conversely, in a hostile environment, resources are transferred to so-called maintenance programs, such as energy conservation and defense against external attacks. Scientists developed this...
Mechanism underlying the emergence of virus variants unraveled
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:37
Scientists have probed the molecular origins of recombination in RNA viruses. Hiccups during the copying process of viruses cause recombination to take place: the exchange of segments of viral RNA. While this can lead to the emergence of new virus variants, the mechanism can also be exploited to induce non-viable defective viruses
Gene therapy shows early promise as angelman syndrome treatment
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:37
Scientists have reported encouraging early tests of a gene therapy strategy against Angelman syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder that features poor muscle control and balance, hard-to-treat epilepsy, and intellectual disabilities.
Innovative design of titanium alloy with exciting properties through 3D printing
- ScienceDaily
- 21/10/22 18:37
Scientists have successfully developed a super-strong, highly ductile and super-light titanium-based alloy using additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing. Their findings open up a new pathway to design alloys with unprecedented structures and properties for various structural applications.
Massachusetts gun-control legislation has had no effect on violent crime
Although many Americans favor expanding background checks for gun purchases, gun-control measures in Congress have failed to garner enough votes to pass. In contrast, some state legislatures have enacted measures to reduce gun violence in their communities. A new study examined the impact changes to background checks and licensing policies has made on different types of violent crime in...
Experiences in prison reduce perceptions of corrections officers' fairness, regardless of time served
Numerous studies have examined the coercive nature of prisons, but few have considered the role of in-prison experiences (e.g., confinement in restrictive housing) and time served in prison in incarcerated people's perceptions of corrections officers' fairness. A new study examined whether in-prison experiences among a nationally representative sample of inmates varied in their effect across...
Stretchy, bendy, flexible LEDs
Sure, you could attach two screens with a hinge and call a cell phone "foldable," but what if you could roll it up and put it in your wallet? Or stretch it around your wrist to wear it as a watch?