172 articles from WEDNESDAY 1.12.2021

We won’t know how bad omicron is for another month

The discovery of the omicron variant of covid-19 in southern Africa shows how sequencing the genes of a virus can give an early alert to dangerous-looking changes in its genome. Omicron has more than 30 mutations, some of which have previously been seen in other variants and are thought to make viral transmission faster. Others are alarming because researchers have no idea what they mean. The...

South Africa's cave-dwelling bats need more protection, which will keep people safe too

Caves are overlooked but essential parts of the natural world. Many animals use caves for shelter and for raising their young—bats among them. Caves are often home to multiple bat species. Bats may also use different caves for specific reasons; some travel to particular selected caves, known as maternity caves, just to have their pups. This means that large populations of bats rely on a small...

Atomic force microscope measures adhesion energy of the coronavirus

A study by Department of Energy researchers detailed a potential method to detect the novel coronavirus on surfaces. Scientists from Pacific Northwest, Oak Ridge, Sandia and Ames national laboratories used an atomic force microscope to measure how easily particles of the virus's spike protein attached to surfaces, a property called adhesion energy.

COVID has had an impact on academics' well-being

The COVID pandemic has had a considerable impact on academics' work and well-being. They have had much less time to spend on their research. The Young Academy and the Dutch Network of Women Professors have conducted research into how the situation has been for academics. The two organizations have recommendations on how to mitigate potential adverse effects of the pandemic.

Climate change increasingly a bipartisan issue in Florida

Belief in climate change among Florida Republicans has climbed to nearly 9 out of 10 adults, apparently trending upwards, according to a new analysis of five sequenced surveys since 2019 conducted by researchers at Florida Atlantic University. The climate change issue may therefore no longer be an effective campaign trail theme for the state's party leaders as both parties gear up for the mid-term...

Particle accelerator magnet sets record using high-temperature superconductor

Cost- and energy-efficient rapid cycling magnets for particle accelerators are critical for particle physics research. Their performance determines how frequently a circular particle accelerator can receive a bunch of particles, propel them to higher energy, send them to an experiment or target station, and then repeat all over again.

Arecibo data still has astronomers in a spin

Data collected by the Arecibo Radio Telescope before it collapsed late last year will help astronomers better understand how our local neighbourhood of galaxies formed. Arecibo was the world's largest single-dish radio telescope until it was surpassed in 2016 by China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). At the end of 2020, Arecibo's 900-ton receiver platform suddenly and...

Thriving in non-equilibrium

Researchers used the Frontera supercomputer to explore light-induced superconductivity a pulsed laser, which is believed to be a promising route to room-temperature superconductors. They found that d-wave superconductivity can be enhanced by a pulsed laser, but the light-enhanced superconductivity may be of fluctuating nature. The project applied a recently developed exact diagonalization method...

Footprints from site a at Laetoli, Tanzania, are from early humans, not bears

The oldest unequivocal evidence of upright walking in the human lineage are footprints discovered at Laetoli, Tanzania in 1978, by paleontologist Mary Leakey and her team. The bipedal trackways date to 3.7 million years ago. Another set of mysterious footprints was partially excavated at nearby Site A in 1976 but dismissed as possibly being made by a bear. A recent re-excavation of the Site A...

When variations in Earth's orbit drive biological evolution

Coccolithophores are microscopic algae that form tiny limestone plates, called coccoliths, around their single cells. They are responsible for half of the limestone produced in the oceans and therefore play a major role in the carbon cycle and in determining ocean chemistry. A team of scientists show that certain variations in Earth's orbit have influenced the evolution of coccolithophores.

Deep learning dreams up new protein structures

Using artificial intelligence and deep learning, researchers have developed a neural network that 'hallucinates' the structures of new protein molecules. The scientists made up completely random protein sequences and introduced mutations into them until the neural network predicted they would fold into stable structures. The software was not guided toward a particular outcome; the proteins were...

Researchers unlock biogeographical secrets of deep-sea limpets

Researchers have decoded for the first time the demographic history, genetic structure, and population connectivity of a deep-sea limpet widely distributed in vent and seep ecosystems in the Northwest Pacific. This study not only enhances our knowledge of the historical population divergence and contemporary gene flow of deep-sea organisms under the intricate interactions amongst local habitats,...

Covid limits migration despite more people displaced by war and disasters

IOM report finds 9m more people displaced globally but mobility restricted due to pandemic, with vaccination proving a key factorThe coronavirus pandemic had a radical effect on migration, limiting movement despite increasing levels of internal displacement from conflict and climate disasters, the UN’s International Organization for Migration said in a report on Wednesday.Though the number of...

Covid-19 variants may not evolve to be less dangerous, says Neil Ferguson

Senior UK scientist says extent of threat posed by Omicron will not be clear until end of year Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coveragePeople should not assume that Covid will evolve to become a milder disease, a senior scientist has warned, adding that the threat posed by the Omicron coronavirus variant will not be clear until the end of December.Prof Neil Ferguson, head of...

Eruption of Vesuvius on Herculaneum ‘like Hiroshima bomb’

Archaeologist compares eruption at Roman town close to Pompeii to dropping of WW2 atomic bombAn Italian archaeologist has compared the impact of the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius on Herculaneum – the ancient Roman beach town close to Pompeii – to the dropping of an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during the second world war.Such was the heat of the pyroclastic surge produced by...

Africa's growing road network may affect ecosystems

The mission to integrate African economies relies on the development and construction of major infrastructure, from roads to railways and ports across the continent. For instance, the 1,900km Nacala corridor aims to connect the landlocked regions of Zambia and Malawi, as well as the interior of Mozambique, to the Nacala port on the Indian Ocean.