139 articles from WEDNESDAY 24.11.2021
Albatross divorce rates found to climb during times of warm sea surface temperature
A team of researchers from Universidade de Lisboa, the University of Montana, the South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute and Instituto Universitário, Rua Jardim do Tabaco, has found that black-browed albatrosses living on the Falkland Islands see rising divorce rates during times when the sea surface temperatures rise. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, the...
Russia launches new docking module to ISS
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the new Prichal docking module for the International Space Station blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, the Roscosmos space agency said.
La Nina has been declared. Why should we care?
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has just declared a La Niña in the tropical Pacific.
Economics drives migration from Central America to the U.S.
A new report about migration, co-authored by MIT scholars, shows that economic distress is the main factor pushing migrants from Central America to the U.S.—and highlights the personal costs borne by people as they seek to move abroad.
NASA spacecraft en route to smash into asteroid after launch
NASA launched a spacecraft Tuesday night on a mission to smash into an asteroid and test whether it would be possible to knock a speeding space rock off course if one were to threaten...
Protecting the Pacific's endangered marine species using artificial intelligence
The pelagic ocean covers over 50 percent of the planet's surface and many of the species that call it home travel thousands of miles each year, seeking food and suitable nursery grounds. Some of these species end up in your favorite sushi—like Bigeye tuna—while others are some of the most imperiled on the planet, like leatherback sea turtles. Catching one without catching the other has...
Blocking protein interactions inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection of human cells
Viruses invade our cells and turn them into virus factories. Researchers at Uppsala University, together with a network of national and international collaborators, have identified the way SARS-CoV-2 takes control of our cells—and they have found a possible way to inhibit the ravages of the virus.
Endangered ocelots and their genetic diversity may benefit from artificial insemination
The female ocelot lay anesthetized on the exam table, behind the scenes at the Albuquerque Biopark Zoo. As a veterinarian on the team preparing to artificially inseminate this animal, my palms were sweating at the thought of missing a step, dropping the sperm sample, or finding out our sample did not survive freezing. Any of these possibilities would end the procedure.
The world's largest organism is slowly being eaten by deer
In the Wasatch Mountains of the western US on the slopes above a spring-fed lake, there dwells a single giant organism that provides an entire ecosystem on which plants and animals have relied for thousands of years. Found in my home state of Utah, "Pando" is a 106-acre stand of quaking aspen clones.
Q&A: We’ve almost stopped mother-baby HIV transmission
World’s leading epidemiologist says taking science from the lab to the public is central to overcoming pandemics and health crises.
Spotty data and media bias delay justice for missing and murdered Indigenous people
No one knows just how many Indigenous girls or women go missing each year.
Storm washes away areas of Trans-Canada Highway in southwestern Newfoundland
Police and the Department of Transportation are reporting multiple washed out roads in the Codroy Valley area, including the Trans-Canada Highway near Doyles, after a rainstorm pummelled Newfoundland's southwest coast...
Has living through Covid made me a hypochondriac? I asked some experts | Maeve Higgins
I’m doing my best to act normal, but I’ve become incredibly aware of other people’s snuffling, coughing and wheezing. Am I vigilant – or paranoid?Like the unnamed woman Drake sings about in his 2015 hit Hotline Bling, I’ve been wearing less – at least metaphorically – and going out more. Apparently she started to behave that way ever since Drake left the city. Before that, he...
Battery-electric trains can deliver environmental justice, cost savings and resilience to the U.S.
Trains have been on the sidelines of electrification efforts for a long time in the U.S. because they account for only 2% of transportation sector emissions, but diesel freight trains emit 35 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and produce air pollution that leads to $6.5 billion in health costs, resulting in an estimated 1,000 premature deaths each year. What's more, these deaths and...
How molecular clusters in the nucleus interact with chromosomes
A cell stores all of its genetic material in its nucleus, in the form of chromosomes, but that's not all that's tucked away in there. The nucleus is also home to small bodies called nucleoli—clusters of proteins and RNA that help build ribosomes.
How a new global carbon market could exaggerate climate progress
Nations are poised to begin building an international carbon market, after finally adopting the relevant rules at the UN climate conference in Glasgow earlier this month.
Under the COP26 agreement, countries should soon be able to buy and sell UN-certified carbon credits from one another, and use them as a way to achieve greenhouse gas reduction pledges under the Paris climate agreement.
But...
Women at higher risk of miscarriage to be offered hormone drug by NHS
Charities say Nice’s decision to endorse progesterone for some cases in England will help save babies’ lives Women at a higher risk of miscarriage in England are to be offered a hormone drug under new NHS guidelines.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published updated guidance on miscarriage that says certain women can be offered progesterone to help prevent...
Sri Lanka lifts ban on weedkiller linked to cancer cases
Sri Lanka on Wednesday lifted its partial ban of a weedkiller subject to US lawsuits over claims it causes cancer, after abandoning a campaign to become the world's first completely organic farming nation.
How space exploration is advancing remote medicine
As billionaires race to the stars, many have been quick to throw shade on the rich for spending money on joyrides to space instead of solving problems on Earth. But a Canadian astronaut is reminding people that space exploration has the power to contribute to life-changing advances on our...
Nasa launches spacecraft in first ever mission to deflect asteroid
Spacecraft heads off on 6.8m-mile journey to crash into moonlet Dimorphos in test to see if asteroids can be diverted from collision with EarthA spacecraft that must ultimately crash in order to succeed lifted off late on Tuesday from California on a Nasa mission to demonstrate the world’s first planetary defence system.Carried aboard a SpaceX-owned Falcon 9 rocket, the Dart (Double Asteroid...