166 articles from MONDAY 15.11.2021

Help Us Track Winter Storms. Join NASA’s Latest Citizen Science Project: Mountain Rain or Snow.

Have you ever noticed snow falling when the air temperature is above freezing? Your eyes aren’t deceiving you! Temperatures near freezing can bring rain or snow, posing a real challenge for water managers who need to know how much precipitation falls as what type. More accurately predicting rain vs. snow is important for understanding our snowpack and year-round water availability. You...

Can startups be the vessel for solving climate change?

Entrepreneurs in the business of protecting the environment may be more effective at addressing climate change than sweeping policies or legacy companies trying to go green, according to a new study out of CU Boulder's Leeds School of Business.

Parent empowerment—not regulatory overreach—key to private school choice accountability, report argues

The disruption to K-12 education in the United States caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred a flurry of legislative and executive actions favoring parental choice. Already, 2021 has been the single most successful year in the history of the private school choice movement, with 21 states voting to create, expand or improve their school choice programs. But who holds these programs accountable?

Can we tell someone’s cultural group from the way they laugh?

Can we infer someone's cultural group from their laugher, even when we do not know what they are laughing at? And what kind of laughter do we find most positive? A new study shows that our laughter gives us away. The study included Dutch and Japanese producers of laughter and listeners. Listeners could detect whether a laughing person is from their own or another cultural group by only hearing a...

What Europe’s new covid surge means—and what it doesn’t

Germany’s coronavirus cases have reached their highest levels since the early days of the pandemic, with warnings that covid is “spreading dramatically” and requires a “quick and unified response”. At the same time, the Netherlands is imposing partial restrictions to control rising cases, including an 8pm curfew on stores and restaurants, and empty stadiums for professional sports....

Understanding how pathogenic fungi build their carbohydrate armor

In a new study published in Nature Communications, Associate Professor Tuo Wang and his research team from the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University revealed the molecular architecture of fungal cell walls and the structural responses to stresses, aiding the development of antifungal drugs targeting cell wall components.

Who bought firearms during 2020 purchasing surge?

A new Rutgers study has found that people who bought firearms during the COVID-19 pandemic and national surge in firearm sales tend to be more sensitive to threats and have less emotional and impulse control than firearm owners who did not make a purchase during this time

How the secret world of soil microbes helps keep carbon in the ground

The largest terrestrial carbon sink on earth is the planet's soil. One of the fears that many scientists have is that a warming planet will liberate significant portions of the soil's carbon, turning it into carbon dioxide (CO2) gas, and so further accelerate the pace of planetary warming. One of the key players in this story is the microbe: Invisible, and yet the predominant form of life on...

'Mountain Rain or Snow' project seeks citizen scientists and winter storm reports

During the winter, a few degrees can make all the difference between digging your car out of a snowbank and rushing rivers overtopping their banks. Why? Winter storms at near-freezing temperatures have notoriously fickle precipitation, with mixes of rain and snow. While the air temperature difference between the two may be slight, the real-world consequences can be huge.

Carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon are confirmed for the first time

After decades of uncertainty, researchers have confirmed the existence of lunar carbon dioxide cold traps that could potentially contain solid carbon dioxide. The discovery will likely have a major influence in shaping future lunar missions and could impact the feasibility of a sustained robot or human presence on the moon.

Capitalizing on the data economy

Data is growing at a meteoric rate. In fact, the total amount of data generated by 2025 is set to accelerate exponentially to 175 zettabytes.1 And over the next two years, enterprise data is expected to increase at a 42% annual growth rate.  Hidden within these vast volumes of data are insights into consumer behavior, emerging market trends, even predictors of the future. For...

As we develop, the brain connects lessons learned differently

A new study of brain activity patterns in people doing a memory task finds that the way we make inferences -- finding hidden connections between different experiences -- changes dramatically as we age. The study's findings might one day lead to personalized learning strategies based on a person's cognitive and brain development. The researchers found that whereas adults build integrated memories...

Africa's 'Green Wall' also makes economic sense

Fifteen years ago, the African Union decided on an ambitious program: degraded ecosystems in parts of the Sahel are to be successively restored in order to secure food for the people living there and to protect the soil against further degradation. At the same time, the African Great Green Wall is an important contribution to combating climate change. A study now shows that it also makes economic...

Nascent polypeptides stabilize ribosomes for uninterrupted translation

Protein production (translation) is a complex process involving machinery called ribosomes. How do cells counter ribosomal destabilization leading to premature termination of translation? Scientists have uncovered a novel role of nascent protein chains in stabilizing translating ribosomes. They suggest that longer peptide sequences spanning the ribosomal exit tunnel and bulky amino acid residues...

Carbon dioxide cold traps on the moon are confirmed for the first time

After decades of uncertainty, researchers have confirmed the existence of lunar carbon dioxide cold traps that could potentially contain solid carbon dioxide. The discovery will likely have a major influence in shaping future lunar missions and could impact the feasibility of a sustained robot or human presence on the moon.

High impact climate events: Better adaptation through earlier prediction

The prediction of high impact climate phenomena can be substantially improved by a new mathematical approach that analyses the connectivity and patterns between geographical locations, scientists say in a new publication. This can potentially save thousands of lives and avoid billions in economic losses. Prediction times for events like El Niño, monsoons, droughts or extreme rainfall could be...

High impact climate events: Better adaptation through earlier prediction

The prediction of high-impact climate phenomena can be substantially improved by a new mathematical approach that analyzes the connectivity and patterns between geographical locations, scientists say in a new publication. This can potentially save thousands of lives and avoid billions in economic losses. Prediction times for events like El Niño, monsoons, droughts or extreme rainfall could be...

Woodrat microbiomes: It's who you are that matters most

Every mammal hosts a hidden community of other organisms—the microbiome. Their intestines teem with complex microbial populations that are critical for nutrition, fighting disease and degrading harmful toxins. Throughout their lives, mammals are exposed to countless microbes through their food and environment, but only a small subset take up permanent residence in the host. Although scientists...

US investigating ‘debris event in space’ amid reports of Russia anti-satellite weapon test

Nasa has not yet commented and Russia downplayed the incident, which forced ISS crew to prepare for a possible evacuationUS officials are investigating a “debris-generating event in outer space” after astronauts on the International Space Station were forced to prepare for a possible evacuation.The incident came amid unconfirmed reports that Russia had carried out an anti-satellite weapon...

Trees on the move: Researchers reveal how wildfire accelerates forest changes

Refugees are on the move in forests across the western U.S. As climate conditions change, the ranges of tree species are shifting, especially toward cooler or wetter sites. A new Stanford analysis provides some of the first empirical evidence that wildfire is accelerating this process, likely by reducing competition from established species. The study, published Nov. 15 in Nature Communications,...

Early evaporation proven to be responsible for Earth's lack of volatile elements

Volatile elements, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and sulfur (S), are of profound importance for the formation, the differentiation and the habitability of a planet. However, today's Earth, though rich in life, contains relatively little volatile matter. This fact offers numerous insights into the proliferation and the evolution of volatile content in terrestrial planets.

Study reveals first-time data on protection of China's marine habitats

A new study by an international team of scientists led by Ellen Pikitch, Ph.D., of Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), provides the first comprehensive and publicly available database of area-based marine conservation in China's waters. Published in Science Advances, the study provides insight into the country's progress toward meeting global commitments to...

Technology that measures cell-by-cell variation in growth rates could impact many fields

The genomic revolution has enabled researchers to assess cell-by-cell genetic variations, but very few techniques exist to measure cell-by-cell metabolic variations, a more powerful way to understand cell responses to changing environmental conditions. Researchers from Stony Brook University's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), led by Gordon T. Taylor, Ph.D., demonstrated that...

Operational transparency increases trust, support of government

As multiple published reports indicate, trust in government has reached historic lows and frustration with government performance has reached record highs. New research in the journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management finds that in co-productive settings, such as government services, people's trust and engagement levels can be enhanced by increasing operational transparency.

Mimicking a molecule found in poppies

A Rice University undergraduate student's grit and talent paid off in a big way when she introduced the first synthesis of a rare and potentially potent molecule drawn from poppies. 

Combining pressure, electrochemistry to synthesize superhydrides

A new study featured in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences offers a potential alternate approach that combines pressure and electrochemistry to stabilize superhydrides at moderate, perhaps even close to ordinary, pressures. Superhydrides are a materials system where temperature superconductivity has been achieved, but only at very high pressures.