150 articles from WEDNESDAY 19.1.2022

Study finds that heavy metal-contaminated leafy greens turn purple

Some might say you look a little green when you are sick. Leafy greens actually turn purple—although not obvious to the human eye, it can be seen through advanced hyperspectral imaging (different than purple varieties of some vegetables). Purdue researchers discovered this color change in kale and basil stressed by cadmium, a heavy metal toxic to human and animal health.

Just what is a 'resilient' forest, anyway?

What does a "resilient" forest look like in California's Sierra Nevada? A lot fewer trees than we're used to, according to a study of frequent-fire forests from the University of California, Davis.

Kombucha water filters can resist clogging better than commercial options

Commercially available ultrafiltration membranes that purify water are expensive and get clogged easily by particles and microorganisms. Recently, living filtration membranes were reported as an alternative sieving material. Grown from kombucha cultures, the filters are dense, stacked sheets of bacterial cellulose. Now, researchers reporting in ACS ES&T Water show that these living membranes are...

New study on freemium marketing strategies demonstrates their limits for creating revenue

Freemium strategies dominate software product markets, with many if not most applications enticing new users with a free version, then requiring payment for more advanced features. The strategy thrives at attracting users, but there's very little empirical evidence showing how it impacts a company's bottom line. New research published in the Strategic Management Journal in November changes that,...

Kombucha water filters can resist clogging better than commercial options

Commercially available ultrafiltration membranes that purify water are expensive and get clogged easily by particles and microorganisms. Recently, living filtration membranes were reported as an alternative sieving material. Grown from kombucha cultures, the filters are dense, stacked sheets of bacterial cellulose. Now, researchers show that these living membranes are more resistant to clogging...

There are 40 billion billions of black holes in the universe

How many black holes are out there in the Universe? A new study has investigated the demographics of stellar mass black holes, which are black holes with masses between a few to some hundred solar masses, that originated at the end of the life of massive stars. According to the new piece of research, a remarkable amount around 1% of the overall ordinary matter of the Universe is locked up in...

The role of ribosomes in age-related diseases

Aging leads to a decline in cellular fitness and loss of optimal protein function. Many age-related ailments, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, are caused by protein aggregation, a result of errors in protein folding. Yet, the mechanisms underlying how aging causes proteins to aggregate has largely remained a black box. In new research published Jan. 19 in Nature, researchers at...

California marijuana growers can't take much to the bank

Legalization of marijuana in California has helped some financial institutions in the state increase their assets at the same time many banks, feeling stifled by federal regulations, deny services to licensed growers, manufacturers and retailers, a new study shows.

Researchers use electrically responsive fluid to make eye-like adaptive lens

Researchers have developed an adaptive liquid lens based on a new electrically responsive fluid called dibutyl adipate (DBA) that changes focal length when a voltage is applied. The lens is lightweight, compact and simple to fabricate, which makes it ideal for mobile phone cameras, endoscopes, eyeglasses and machine vision applications.

A volcanic eruption in 2020 led to hours-long thunderstorm

A study conducted by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Vaisala Inc., published yesterday in the Geological Society of America's journal Geology, discusses how advances in global lightning detection have provided novel ways to characterize explosive volcanism. Lead author Alexa Van Eaton says, "It's the perfect storm—explosive...

New structure prediction model has mapped 500 previously unsolved proteins

Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have recently published work that lays the foundation for new ways of thinking about pathogen evolution. "Our research highlights that template-free modeling that uses machine learning is indeed superior to template-based modeling for the secreted proteins of the destructive fungal pathogen Magnaporthe oryzae," said Kyungyong Seong, first...

Hubble finds a black hole igniting star formation in a dwarf galaxy

Black holes are often described as the monsters of the universe—tearing apart stars, consuming anything that comes too close, and holding light captive. Detailed evidence from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, however, shows a black hole in a new light: Fostering rather than suppressing star formation. Hubble imaging and spectroscopy of the dwarf starburst galaxy Henize 2-10 clearly show a gas...

Weathering rocks hold clues to Earth's Great Oxidation Event

About 2.4 billion years ago, Earth's atmosphere underwent what is called the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). Prior to the GOE, early Earth had far less molecular oxygen than we have today. After the GOE, molecular oxygen began to increase in abundance, eventually making life like ours possible.

Review reports improved transparency in antidepressant drug trials

New research suggests manufacturers of newly developed antidepressant drugs have become more forthcoming about clinical trials that don't pan out. While the new findings are encouraging, they still hint at a fundamental shortcoming in medicine: A reliance of studies selectively reported in scientific literature, as opposed to the unvarnished results of clinical trials reported to the Food and Drug...

Camels’ noses inspire a new humidity sensor

Researchers describe a humidity sensor inspired by the structure and properties of camels' noses. In experiments, they found this device could reliably detect variations in humidity in settings that included industrial exhaust and the air surrounding human skin.

New sensor grids record human brain signals in record-breaking resolution

A new array of brain sensors can record electrical signals directly from the surface of the human brain in record-breaking detail. The new brain sensors feature densely packed grids of either 1,024 or 2,048 embedded electrocorticography (ECoG) sensors. If approved for clinical use, these sensors would offer surgeons brain-signal information directly from the surface of the brain's cortex in 100...

Bubbles of methane rising from seafloor in Puget Sound

The release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for almost a quarter of global warming, is being studied around the world, from Arctic wetlands to livestock feedlots. A team has discovered a source much closer to home: 349 plumes of methane gas bubbling up from the seafloor in Puget Sound, which holds more water than any other U.S. estuary.

A new approach to a $1 million mathematical enigma

Numbers like pi, e and phi often turn up in unexpected places in science and mathematics. Pascal's triangle and the Fibonacci sequence also seem inexplicably widespread in nature. Then there's the Riemann zeta function, a deceptively straightforward function that has perplexed mathematicians since the 19th century. The most famous quandary, the Riemann hypothesis, is perhaps the greatest unsolved...

New simulations can improve avalanche forecasting

Computer simulations of snow cover can accurately forecast avalanche hazard, according to a new international study. Currently, avalanche forecasts in Canada are made by experienced professionals who rely on data from local weather stations and on-the-ground observations from ski and backcountry ski operators, avalanche control workers for transportation and industry, and volunteers who manually...

Uncovering the underlying patterns in contemporary evolution

Wild populations must continuously adapt to environmental changes or risk extinction. For more than fifty years, scientists have described instances of 'rapid evolution' in specific populations as their traits (phenotypes) change in response to varying stressors. For example, Spanish clover has developed a tolerance for copper from the mine tailings in which it grows, and the horn size of Alberta...

The role of ribosomes in age-related diseases

Research finds that the cellular assembly line that produces proteins can stall with age, triggering a snowball effect that increases the output of misfolded proteins. In humans, clumps of misfolded proteins contribute to age-linked Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

For the first time, scientists rigorously calculate three-particle scattering from theory

The goal of nuclear physics is to describe all matter from its simplest building blocks: quarks and gluons. Found deep inside protons and neutrons, quarks and gluons also combine in less common configurations to make other subatomic particles of matter. For scientists, producing these less-common particles in experiments is an interesting challenge. A new theory method aids in those efforts by...

Bubbles of methane rising from seafloor in Puget Sound

The release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for almost a quarter of global warming, is being studied around the world, from Arctic wetlands to livestock feedlots. A University of Washington team has discovered a source much closer to home: 349 plumes of methane gas bubbling up from the seafloor in Puget Sound, which holds more water than any other U.S. estuary.

Quantum zeta epiphany: Physicist finds a new approach to a $1 million mathematical enigma

Numbers like π, e and φ often turn up in unexpected places in science and mathematics. Pascal's triangle and the Fibonacci sequence also seem inexplicably widespread in nature. Then there's the Riemann zeta function, a deceptively straightforward function that has perplexed mathematicians since the 19th century. The most famous quandary, the Riemann hypothesis, is perhaps the greatest unsolved...

The secrets of ancient Japanese tombs revealed thanks to satellite images

A research group at the Politecnico di Milano analyzed the orientation of ancient Japanese tombs—the so-called Kofun. This study has never been carried out before, due to the very large number of monuments and the fact that access to these areas is usually forbidden. For these reasons, high-res satellite imagery was used. The results show that these tombs are oriented towards the arc of the...

When people 'click' they respond faster to each other

When two people are on the same page in a conversation, sometimes their minds just "click." A Dartmouth study demonstrates that clicking isn't just a figure of speech but is predicted by "response times" in a conversation or the amount of time between when one person stops talking and the other person starts. The findings are published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Semiconductor spin qubits gain further credibility as leading platform for quantum computing

Researchers at QuTech—a collaboration between the Delft University of Technology and TNO—have taken an important step for semiconductor spin qubits by surpassing the 99% barrier for two-qubit gate fidelity. They report on their findings in Nature on 19 January 2021 and are featured on the issue's cover. Two independent works from groups at UNSW Sydney and at RIKEN report similar results in the...