A project that will boost Great Lakes shipping in a crucial bottleneck and another intended to protect the lakes from invasive carp will get big funding increases under the Biden administration's infrastructure package, officials said Thursday.

In languages spoken around the world, words describing rough surfaces are highly likely to feature a "trilled /r/" sound—a linguistic pattern that stretches back over 6,000 years, a new study reveals. The international team of researchers from the University of Birmingham, Radboud University, and the University of British Columbia has published its findings in Scientific Reports.

There are more than 9,000 species of marine sponges (Phylum Porifera) worldwide, which are a source of novel natural products. They contain promising chemical agents that may be useful in combatting cancer, COVID-19 and antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus bacteria. These chemicals interact with molecules that have been conserved throughout evolutionary history and are involved in human disease...

Younger travelers in full-time work who feel the pressure to make the most of their holiday time are more likely to engage in activities that make their trips less sustainable, according to research led by Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University.

The world's most commonly used system of measurement, the International System of Units (SI), was redefined in 2019. Since then, units have needed to be defined in terms of the constants of nature—that is, nature's rules that are fixed and of no uncertainty, such as the speed of light—and not in terms of arbitrary references.

Body: Tom Jacobs of Bellevue, Washington, loves treasure hunts. Since 2010, the former U.S. naval officer has participated in online volunteer projects that allow anyone who is interested — “citizen scientists” — to look through NASA telescope data for signs of exoplanets, planets beyond our solar system. Link: Learn...

Tom Jacobs of Bellevue, Washington, loves treasure hunts. Since 2010, the former U.S. naval officer has participated in online volunteer projects that allow anyone who is interested — “citizen scientists” — to look through NASA telescope data for signs of exoplanets, planets beyond our solar system. News Article Type: Homepage ArticlesPublished: Thursday, January 20,...

Inside neurons, motor proteins haul precious cargo, moving essential goods along thread-like roadways called microtubule tracks.

Bioengineers have created a new type of petri dish in the form of microscopic, permeable particles that can dramatically speed up research and development (R&D) timelines of biological products, such as fatty acids for biofuels. Dubbed PicoShells, the picoliter (trillionth of a liter), porous, hydrogel particles can enable more than one million individual cells to be compartmentalized, cultured in...

MRI is a powerful medical tool that provides detailed images of everything from bones and joints to the brain and spinal cord, but millions of patients can't benefit from the improved care it provides. Implanted devices like defibrillators and pacemakers interfere with the MRI's magnetic signal, while obese and claustrophobic patients are often unable to get into the small opening on a traditional...

Researchers propose a novel method of significantly enhancing the catalytic efficiency of materials already in broad commercial usage, a process they have termed 'induced activation.'

Native marine macroalgae, also known as limu, or as seaweed, thrive in environments created by natural groundwater seeps, specifically benefiting from the combined effects of enhanced nutrients despite lowered salinity levels, according to a new review.

Scientists believe they have detected a merger of two black holes with eccentric orbits. This can help explain how some of the previous black hole mergers are much heavier than previously thought possible.

In a new article, experts highlight what is currently known about the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the brain, the importance of increased research into the underlying causes of Long COVID and possible ways to treat its symptoms.

Promising new education interventions are potentially being 'unnecessarily scrapped' because trials to test their effectiveness are insufficiently faithful to the original research, a study warns. Researchers ran a large-scale computer simulation to examine how much 'fidelity' compromises the results of school-based trials of new learning innovations and strategies. 'Fidelity' is the extent to...

Located near Naples, Italy, Vesuvius last had a violent eruption in 1944, towards the end of the Second World War. It could be a few hundred years before another dangerous, explosive eruption occurs, finds a new study by volcano experts at ETH Zurich.

Launching with the Artemis I uncrewed test flight, NASA's shoebox-size Near-Earth Asteroid Scout will chase down what will become the smallest asteroid ever to be visited by a spacecraft. It will get there by unfurling a solar sail to harness solar radiation for propulsion, making this the agency's first deep space mission of its kind.

Inside neurons, motor proteins haul precious cargo, moving essential goods along thread-like roadways called microtubule tracks.

Portal origin URL: NASA to Discuss Webb’s Arrival at Final Destination, Next StepsPortal origin nid: 476762Published: Thursday, January 20, 2022 - 15:58Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: Scientists and engineers operating NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will answer questions about the mission’s latest milestones in a NASA Science Live broadcast...

It's now possible to measure how many plastic particles there are in our food. Chinese scientists and Leiden University professor Willie Peijnenburg applied their new method to lettuce and wheat. Their results were published January 20 in Nature Nanotechnology.

Production of high-energy fats by microalgae may provide a sustainable, renewable energy source that can help tackle climate change. However, microalgae engineered to produce lipids rapidly usually grow slowly themselves, making it difficult to increase overall yields.

A new paper co-written by a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign expert who studies consumer credit issues provides the first comprehensive overview of bankruptcy filers in more than 30 years, shining a spotlight on the economic stressors faced by U.S. debtors.

The way mosquitoes react to predators should be included in disease models, say researchers behind a new study.

Research into engineering techniques that might one day be employed to artificially cool the planet poses some of the thorniest questions facing society today. For climate scientists, that tension is compounded by the lack of a broadly accepted oversight framework to guide their research.