139 articles from WEDNESDAY 24.11.2021
Adding mineral to irrigation may lower toxic elements in soils
Arsenic, uranium and other trace elements naturally occur in topsoil across the U.S. Corn Belt, including the Cornhusker State. Crops grown in soils containing elevated levels of those trace elements can absorb them through roots, potentially curbing growth and threatening the health of those who regularly consume them.
Synchrotron analysis contributes to more effective pancreatic cancer research
By using the synchrotron at Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, the team were able to complete sophisticated examinations of the characteristics of cell structures at a nano level and even at an atomic scale and to investigate how cells and materials interact with each other.
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The Flame Nebula, also called NGC 2024, is a large star-forming region in the constellation Orion that lies about 1,400 light-years from Earth.Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and N. Da Rio (University of Virginia); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
Are you interested in starting your own citizen science project? NASA's Citizen Science Seed Funding Program (CSSFP) can...
Nuclear Fusion Finally Finds Its Place in the Sun
One of my favorite bar signs is the one that promises “Free beer tomorrow.” That’s how I’ve always thought of nuclear fusion—a (theoretically) cheap, pollution-free and inexhaustible energy source, the promise of which has pretty much been a decade away ever since the technology was first tested 70 years ago.
When “nuclear energy” is discussed,...
Novavax expected to be approved as fourth Covid vaccine in UK
Trials show the protein-based jab causes fewer side-effects – and hundreds of British jobs depend on itCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna. Britons have become so accustomed to the three Covid vaccines available in the UK that most have forgotten about another jab, Novavax – even though the government has ordered 60m doses and hundreds of...
When police forces grow, homicides drop and low-level arrests increase
What happens when a city increases the size of its police force?
Lightwave-driven scanning tunneling spectroscopy of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons
When physicist Tyler Cocker joined Michigan State University in 2018, he had a clear goal: build a powerful microscope that would be the first of its kind in the United States.
Benthic metabolism linking to algal community metrics responds to environmental attributes
Benthic algae play a vital role in element and energy cycling, because they are the most important primary producers, and they are also sensitive to the environmental parameters in watershed.
Machine learning improves Arabic speech transcription capabilities
Thanks to advancements in speech and natural language processing, there is hope that one day you may be able to ask your virtual assistant what the best salad ingredients are. Currently, it is possible to ask your home gadget to play music, or open on voice command, which is a feature already found in some many devices.
If you speak Moroccan, Algerian, Egyptian, Sudanese, or any of the other...
New findings about ions around comets
Sofia Bergman, Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) and Umeå University, will defend her doctoral thesis on low-energy ions around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 26 November. Observing low energy ions is notoriously difficult because their properties are affected greatly by the spacecraft which observes them. Sofia has developed new methods to do this. Using her work, scientists can study...
Salvaging rare earth elements from electronic waste
Manufacturers rely on rare earth elements, like neodymium, to create strong magnets used in motors for electronics including hybrid cars, aircraft generators, loudspeakers, hard drives and in-ear headphones. But mineral deposits containing neodymium are hard to reach and are found in just a few places on Earth.
Preserved baby Neanderthal milk tooth shows earlier emergence than in humans
An international team of researchers studying a recovered Neanderthal milk tooth has found evidence of baby teeth growing faster and emerging earlier in the extinct human species than in modern humans. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the group describes their study.
Himalayan bats are functionally less diverse at high than at lower elevations, but show the same evolutionary diversity
Million years of evolution have produced a dazzling variety of species, each uniquely adapted to its environment. A straightforward way to measuring biodiversity is by the number of species (taxonomic diversity). Recently, there is growing emphasis to quantify diversity also in other ways: a) functional diversity, which is the diversity of phenotypic traits that allow organisms to perform their...
Mapping lithium evolution of giant stars with LAMOST-Kepler data
Based on LAMOST and Kepler data, a new study led by astronomers from National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has revealed evolutionary features of lithium for evolved stars, which updates our understanding about the theory of stellar structure and evolution.
Modeling carbon capture via mineral trapping
Scientists at the University of Tsukuba used a sophisticated set of experimental tests, including synchrotron X-ray scattering and quantum computer modeling, to study the effect of temperature on the structure of magnesium carbonate. This work may lead to more efficient carbon capture technologies that lock carbon dioxide inside rocks as a way to combat climate change.
Energy transition in an artificial atom attained using laser light
Researchers from Basel and Bochum have succeeded in addressing an apparently unattainable energy transition in an artificial atom using laser light. Making use of the so-called radiative Auger process, they were the first team to specifically excite it. In this process, an electron falls from a higher to a lower energy level and, as a result, emits its energy partly in the form of light and partly...
Ethnic stacking keeps dictators in power
New research led by the University of St Andrews reveals how ethnic stacking in African countries helps keep authoritarian leaders in power.
Modulating the covalency and ionicity distributions in the electron localization function map
It is well known that most structure features and properties of NLO materials are governed by the distributions of ionic and covalent units in their structures, which can be described in details by electron localization function (ELF) map.
Scientists reveal linear law between surface charge density and reaction current in photoelectrocatalysis
Surface charges play an important role in the catalytic reaction in photoelectrochemistry. However, the spatial heterogeneities of charge transfer sites and catalytic sites at the electrode/electrolyte interface obscures the surface reaction process.
New technique for breaking open cells in order to screen for helpful enzymes
The natural world is a treasure trove of potentially useful enzymes, hidden in microorganisms living all around us. But finding them is tricky. A team of researchers at NTNU have developed a new method to break open cells that could help in the quest.
Delhi to reopen schools as smog goes from worse to bad
India's polluted capital will reopen schools on Monday, one week after it announced a partial shutdown over dangerous air pollution levels, authorities said Wednesday.
Hubble Spots a Swift Stellar Jet in Running Man Nebula
Portal origin URL: Hubble Spots a Swift Stellar Jet in Running Man NebulaPortal origin nid: 475523Published: Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - 09:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: A jet from a newly formed star flares into the shining depths of reflection nebula NGC 1977 in this Hubble image.Portal image: Hubble image of a reddish-orange stellar...
Hubble Witnesses Shock Wave of Colliding Gases in Running Man Nebula
Portal origin URL: Hubble Witnesses Shock Wave of Colliding Gases in Running Man NebulaPortal origin nid: 475514Published: Wednesday, November 24, 2021 - 09:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: Mounded, luminous clouds of gas and dust glow in this Hubble image of a Herbig-Haro object known as HH 45.Portal image: Hubble image of elongated rusty and...
Fishing nations agree better protection for mako shark
North Atlantic fishing nations have pledged to better protect the endangered shortfin mako shark by ending overfishing from 2022 and helping stocks to rebound over the next 50 years.