95 articles from TUESDAY 4.1.2022

Mass die-off of Magellanic penguins seen during 2019 heat wave

In 2019, researchers witnessed the consequences of an extreme heat event at Punta Tombo in Argentina, one of the world's largest breeding colonies for Magellanic penguins. On Jan. 19, temperatures at the site spiked in the shade to 44 C, or 111.2 F, killing at least 354 penguins. Nearly three-quarters of the penguins that died were adults, many of which likely died of dehydration, based on...

California imposes water restrictions as drought drags on

Californians won't be able to water their lawns for 48 hours after rainstorms or let their sprinklers run onto the sidewalk under mandatory water restrictions state regulators adopted Tuesday as a drought continues despite heavy December rain and snow.

Study finds fertilization affects soil microbial biomass and residue distribution by changing root biomass

Increasing nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) input is one of the major contributors to anthropogenic climate change, which can regulate the sequestration and storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) by changing microbial communities and their residues, the significant component of stable SOC. However, it remains unclear how N and P fertilization influence aggregate-associated microbial communities and...

Parts of NHS may be overwhelmed by Covid wave, admits Boris Johnson

PM says England can ‘ride out’ Omicron without lockdown but acknowledges service is under huge pressureCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageParts of the NHS may be overwhelmed in the coming weeks, Boris Johnson has admitted for the first time as he insisted England can “ride out” its biggest ever Covid wave “without shutting down our country once again”.The...

Researchers identify new bacteria and viruses on human skin

Researchers at EMBL's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), the NIH National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and colleagues have identified new bacterial and fungal species, as well as viruses in the human skin microbiome.

Mass die-off of Magellanic penguins seen during 2019 heat wave

In June 2021, an unprecedented heat wave hit the Pacific Northwest and Canada, killing an estimated 1,400 people. On June 28, Seattle reached 108 F—an all-time high—while the village of Lytton in British Columbia recorded Canada's highest-ever temperature of 121.3 F on June 29, the day before it was destroyed by a heat-triggered wildfire.

Gravitational action of sun and moon influences behavior of animals and plants, study shows

The rhythms of activity in all biological organisms, both plants and animals, are closely linked to the gravitational tides created by the orbital mechanics of the sun-Earth-moon system. This truth has been somewhat neglected by scientific research but is foregrounded in a study by Cristiano de Mello Gallep at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, and Daniel...

Plasma-based engineering creates contact-killing, antifouling, drug-release surfaces

Conventional wet-chemistry methods used to create biocidal materials are complex, time-consuming, and expensive. Researchers present a tutorial in which they explore a promising alternative called plasma-enabled surface engineering. The technology relies on nonequilibrium plasma that produces chemical reactions to change the properties at the material surface. Reactions can be manipulated by...

Custom finger clip offers a new way to measure blood pressure, other vitals

Monitoring a person's blood pressure on a regular basis can help health care professionals with early detection of various health problems such as high blood pressure, which has no warning signs or symptoms. However, many things can alter an accurate blood pressure reading, including a patient's nervousness about having their blood pressure taken at a doctor's office, otherwise known as 'white...

Coughing downward reduces spread of respiratory droplets: study

With many people heading indoors for the winter months and respiratory droplets acting as a major contributor to COVID-19 spread, the scientific community has renewed interest in the dynamics behind how they spread. Modeling such behavior in a variety of scenarios for particles that range from less than 1 micrometer in size to 1,000 micrometers proves challenging.

Orion's fireplace: New image of the Flame Nebula

Orion offers you a spectacular firework display to celebrate the holiday season and the new year with this new image from the European Southern Observatory (ESO). But no need to worry, this iconic constellation is neither exploding nor burning. The "fire" you see in this holiday postcard is Orion's Flame Nebula and its surroundings captured in radio waves—an image that undoubtedly does justice...

Beavers support freshwater conservation and ecosystem stability

One of the most comprehensive studies conducted on beavers has conclusively demonstrated that beavers are essential for freshwater conservation and ecosystem stability by creating and preserving aquatic and wetland environments in Minnesota. This new research from the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) at the University of Minnesota Duluth was recently published in the journal...

Forensic researchers call for proactive efforts to address racism

Forensic researchers are calling for the research community to be more proactive about addressing systemic racism in the sciences—currently and historically—in order to address longstanding issues related to how Black people and their remains are treated by museum collections and society at large.

Exploring the hyperchaos of mid-infrared lasers

Chaos, often popularized as the 'butterfly effect', describes the irregular phenomenon of deterministic systems. Based on the unique features of sensitivity to initial conditions and unpredictability of future evolutions, chaos from laser diodes has found applications in private optical communication links, high-rate random number generations, Lidar systems, and optical computing networks....

Ultrafast imaging of terahertz electric waveforms using quantum dots

Microscopic electric fields govern a remarkable variety of phenomena in condensed matter and their ultrafast evolutions drive plasmonics, phononics and highspeed nanoelectronics. Access to high-frequency electric waveforms is of crucial importance to diverse disciplines in nanoscience and technology, yet, microscopic measurements are still severely limited.

Scientists call for Covid reinfections in UK to be included in case figures

Intervention comes as data shows up to 15% of Omicron cases among those who have had coronavirus beforeCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageReinfections should be included in Covid figures for the UK as soon as possible, scientists have said, amid warnings that up to 15% of Omicron cases could be people who have had coronavirus before.At present, daily Covid case figures...

New gene therapy approach offers a potential long-term treatment for limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2B

Medical experts have developed a new pre-clinical gene therapy for a rare disorder, known as limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) 2B, that addresses the primary cellular deficit associated with this disease. Using a single injection of a low dose gene therapy vector, researchers restored the ability of injured muscle fibers to repair in a way that reduced muscle degeneration and enhanced the...

How plants respond to heat stress

Plants, like other organisms, can be severely affected by heat stress. To increase their chances of survival, they activate the heat shock response, a molecular pathway also employed by human and animal cells for stress protection. Researchers have now discovered that plant steroid hormones can promote this response in plants.

Sustainable silk material for biomedical, optical, food supply applications

Researchers discuss the properties of silk and recent and future applications of the material. It has been used in drug delivery and is ideal for wearable and implantable health monitoring sensors. Silk is also useful in optics and electronics and more recently has come to the forefront of sustainability research. The use of silk coatings may also reduce food waste, which is a significant...