181 articles from MONDAY 8.11.2021
Earth’s first continents emerged from the ocean 700m years earlier than thought
Ancient rock forms suggest world’s first stable cratons rose above sea level more than 3bn years agoGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingThe Earth’s first continents rose out of the ocean 700m years earlier than previously thought, a new analysis of ancient rocks suggests.Researchers who have studied rock sediments in eastern India believe the discovery could explain an...
New study pinpoints likely path of COVID-related plastic waste in the ocean
Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased demand for single-use plastics such as face masks, gloves, and face shields. The resulting waste, some of which ends up in rivers and oceans, is intensifying pressure on an already out-of-control global plastic problem. While many researchers suspect there will be a massive influx of COVID-related mismanaged plastic waste, a new study...
Soil study shows why nitrous oxide emissions should factor into climate change mitigation
Poorly drained agricultural soils emit enough of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide that the resulting climate change effects could far exceed the benefits of using the same soils as a means of sequestering carbon, according to a recently published scientific study.
Why did glacial cycles intensify a million years ago? Researchers find clues on the bed of the Atlantic Ocean
Something big happened to the planet about a million years ago. There was a major shift in the response of Earth's climate system to variations in our orbit around the Sun. The shift is called the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Before the MPT, cycles between glacial (colder) and interglacial (warmer) periods happened every 41,000 years. After the MPT, glacial periods became more intense—intense...
How studying fossilized parasites can contribute to knowledge of infectious diseases
Over the last decade, John Huntley, a paleontologist and an associate professor of geological sciences at the University of Missouri, has studied the history of parasite-host interactions. These interactions can occur either outside a host's body, such as a tick, or inside a host's body, such as a flatworm.
A new tool for studying COVID's impact on gut health
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:09
New research using an Intestine Chip has recreated viral infection of the human gut in vitro using a coronavirus called NL63, which causes the common cold and is also associated with GI symptoms.
Immunotherapy-chemotherapy treatment coupled with in-depth genomic analyses leads to improved survival for patients with mesothelioma
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:09
Combining the immunotherapy agent durvalumab with the chemotherapy agents pemetrexed and cisplatin or carboplatin may provide a new treatment option for patients who have inoperable pleural mesothelioma, a cancer of the tissues lining the lungs, according to a phase II clinical trial.
Warming temperatures increasingly alter structure of atmosphere
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:09
Climate change is having an increasing impact on the structure of Earth's atmosphere, a new international study shows. The research draws on decades of observations to quantify that warming temperatures are playing a greater role in pushing up the top of the lowest level of the atmosphere by about 50-60 meters per decade.
Study offers insights on why the elderly are more susceptible to COVID-19
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:08
New research reveals the cellular mechanism behind why the elderly, as well as those with certain overlapping diseases, are at risk of infection and death from the virus -- and how this mechanism can potentially be used to protect them.
New insights into the structure of the neutron
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:08
An international research team has measured neutron form factors with previously unattained precision.
Stem cells do not (only) play dice
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:08
In just a few weeks a completely new organism develops from a fertilized egg cell. The real miracle is that a bunch of identical stem cells turns into completely different, specialized cell types. A team has now been able to show that the specialization of individual cells during embryonic development is not, as previously assumed, exclusively left to chance but is rather determined by cell...
Air pollution disproportionally affects people of color, lower-income residents in DC
- ScienceDaily
- 21/11/8 19:02
The rates of death and health burdens associated with air pollution are borne unequally and inequitably by people of color and those with lower household income and educational attainment in Washington, D.C., according to a new study. The study found that while deaths and health burdens associated with PM2.5 halved between 2000 and 2018 in the D.C. area, disparities and geographical segregations...
Air pollution disproportionally affects people of color, lower-income residents in DC
The rates of death and health burdens associated with air pollution are borne unequally and inequitably by people of color and those with lower household income and educational attainment in Washington, D.C., according to a new study.
How win-win narratives stand in the way of effective progress
The success of a global circular economy is critically dependent on effective cooperation between influential countries. A joint Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on circular economy, signed by China and the EU in 2018, attracted high hopes—and corresponding optimistic narratives. A research team led by Anran Luo from the Chair of Social Transformation and Circular Economy at the Institute of...
Peter Pharoah obituary
My father, Peter Pharoah, who has died aged 87 from dementia, was a professor of public health whose work eradicated iodine deficiency in Papua New Guinea and furthered understanding of the causes of cerebral palsy and perinatal death.Peter was son of two teachers, Phyllis (nee Gahan) and Oswald Pharoah. Born in Ranchi, India, he attended schools in Lovedale and Sanawar. After the death of his...
Astronaut crew prepares to return to Earth
Four astronauts were preparing to leave the International Space Station and head back to Earth on Monday after spending six busy months aboard the orbital outpost.
Drones, viral videos help 'Nature' thrive after 40 years
Forty years ago, the programmers at PBS were eager to experiment, so they took a chance and started a new series on animal behavior in the wild called "Nature."
Air-scrubbing machines gain momentum, but long way to go
On a field ringed by rolling green hills in Iceland, fans attached to metal structures that look like an industrial-sized Lego project are spinning. Their mission is to scrub the atmosphere by sucking carbon dioxide from the air and storing it safely underground.
New insights into the structure of the neutron
All known atomic nuclei and therefore almost all visible matter consists of protons and neutrons, yet many of the properties of these omnipresent natural building blocks remain unknown. As an uncharged particle, the neutron in particular resists many types of measurement and 90 years after its discovery there are still many unanswered questions regarding its size and lifetime, among other things....
Bracewell Nulling Interferometry Enables Astronomers to See the Glow of Alien Stardust
PROJECT
Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI)
SNAPSHOT
The search for and characterization of extra-solar planets (‘exoplanets’) that might host life is one of NASA’s highest ambitions. But observing exoplanets and distinguishing them from the scattered light coming from the stars that they orbit is a difficult challenge. Nulling interferometry is a method by which...
October's torrential rains brought some drought relief, but California's big picture still bleak
When a fierce early-season storm drenched parts of Northern California last month, some experts said it was in the nick of time.
Key witness helps scientists detect 'spooky' quantum entanglement in solid materials
Quantum entanglement occurs when two particles appear to communicate without a physical connection, a phenomenon Albert Einstein famously called "spooky action at a distance." Nearly 90 years later, a team led by the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory demonstrated the viability of a "quantum entanglement witness" capable of proving the presence of entanglement between...
Weak coupling shows flaw in strange metal model
Planckian metals have the potential to power high-temperature superconductors, quantum computers and a host of other next-generation technologies. However, these "strange" metals—in which electrical resistance increases linearly with temperature—are notoriously difficult to study, let alone comprehend.