123 articles from FRIDAY 7.1.2022

Graphene could replace rare metal used in mobile phone screens

Researchers from Paragraf and Queen Mary University of London demonstrated the successful fabrication of an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) with a monolayer graphene anode, replacing ITO in organic light-emitting diodes. The new study is published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.

Updated exascale system for Earth simulations

The Earth—with its myriad interactions of atmosphere, oceans, land and ice components—presents an extraordinarily complex system for investigation. For researchers, simulating the dynamics of these systems has presented a process that is just as complex. But today, Earth system models capable of weather-scale resolution take advantage of powerful new computers to simulate variations in Earth...

Using Squid Game to teach economics

First year business and economics students all over the world may soon be using Netflix's global smash hit series "Squid Game" to learn complex economic theories.

More than 400 weather stations beat heat records in 2021

Maximiliano Herrera, watcher of extreme weather, says last year likely to be in top five or six hottest in historyMore than 400 weather stations around the world beat their all-time highest temperature records in 2021, according to a climatologist who has been compiling weather records for over 30 years.Maximiliano Herrera keeps track of extreme weather around the world, and publishes an annual...

New route to the synthesis of P-chiral compounds

Chiral phosphines are one of the most commonly used ligands in assymetric metal catalysis for the synthesis of various useful drugs and pharmaceuticals. Have you ever wondered how to obtain them? Most of the so-called chiral phosphines are C-stereogenic, which means that the chirality is located at a site other than the P-center. Many of them are currently commercially available. However, the true...

Scientists step up hunt for ‘Asian unicorn’, one of world’s rarest animals

The saola is so elusive that no biologist has seen one in the wild. Now they are racing to find it, so they can save itWeighing 80-100kg and sporting long straight horns, white spots on its face and large facial scent glands, the saola does not sound like an animal that would be hard to spot. But it was not until 1992 that this elusive creature was discovered, becoming the first large mammal new...

Can Nasa persuade Russia to back International Space Station plans?

Biden wants to extend the operation of the ISS to 2030 before replacing it – will Russia approve?The deadline for the decommissioning of the International Space Station (ISS) is worryingly close, and there is a danger that the commercial replacements the US was hoping for will not be ready to launch in time.With that in mind, on New Year’s Eve, Nasa announced that the Biden-Harris...

The world feels fragile, but we can recover from the blows we’ve sustained | Rowan Williams

Science, art – and religion – can all help us build towards a new conception of humanity in the wake of the pandemicRowan Williams is a former archbishop of CanterburyRather more than half of the population of Afghanistan is facing levels of food shortage not seen for decades. Just under 1,500 people died in the Mediterranean during 2021, attempting to flee to a safer environment. The...

Number of adults with dementia to exceed 150m by 2050, study finds

Experts describe data from first study of its kind as shocking and warn of ‘rapidly growing threat’The number of adults living with dementia worldwide is on course to nearly triple to 153 million by 2050, according to the first study of its kind. Experts described the data as shocking and said it was clear that dementia presented “a major and rapidly growing threat to future health and...