141 articles from MONDAY 24.1.2022

James Webb space telescope takes up station a million miles from Earth

$10bn observatory manoeuvred into position at four times the orbit of the moon, with first images expected in JuneThe world’s largest and most powerful telescope has reached its final destination – an observation post one million miles away from Earth.Nasa’s $10bn James Webb space telescope launched on Christmas Day last year from French Guiana on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe....

James Webb Space Telescope Reaches Final Destination 1 Million Miles From Earth

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The world’s biggest, most powerful space telescope reached its final destination 1 million miles from Earth on Monday, a month after it lifted off on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope fired its rocket thrusters for nearly five minutes to go into orbit around the sun at its designated spot, and NASA confirmed the...

How environment and genomes interact in plant development

A new study could help to breed more resilient crops as well as shed light on mechanisms that play a critical role in plant growth. The study focuses on how phenotypic plasticity, or the way a given trait can differ as a result of environmental conditions, influences the growth of sorghum.

Extraordinary black hole found in neighboring galaxy

At one hundred thousand solar masses, it is smaller than the black holes we have found at the centers of galaxies, but bigger than the black holes that are born when stars explode. This makes it one of the only confirmed intermediate-mass black holes, an object that has long been sought by astronomers.

Women ages 35 and younger are 44% more likely to have an ischemic stroke than male peers

Women ages 35 years and younger were 44% more likely to have an ischemic stroke (caused by blockages of blood vessels in the brain) than their male counterparts, according to a new review of more than a dozen international studies on sex differences in stroke occurrence. This gap narrows between the ages of 35 and 45, and there is conflicting evidence about whether women or men have more ischemic...

Tapirs and large peccaries are key to ecological balance in Neotropical forests, study shows

A study conducted by researchers affiliated with São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil shows that large mammals have a major impact on plant diversity, primary productivity and biomass in the understory of Neotropical forests. Species like the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) and white-lipped peccary (Tayassu peccari) help keep an ecological balance in areas such as the Atlantic...

Extraordinary black hole found in neighboring galaxy

Astronomers have discovered a black hole unlike any other. At one hundred thousand solar masses, it is smaller than the black holes we have found at the centers of galaxies, but bigger than the black holes that are born when stars explode. This makes it one of the only confirmed intermediate-mass black holes, an object that has long been sought by astronomers.

New study calls into question the importance of meat eating in shaping our evolution

Quintessential human traits such as large brains first appear in Homo erectus nearly 2 million years ago. This evolutionary transition towards human-like traits is often linked to a major dietary shift involving greater meat consumption. A new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, however, calls into question the primacy of meat eating in early human...

Team demonstrates molecular electronics sensors on a semiconductor chip

The first molecular electronics chip has been developed, realizing a 50-year-old goal of integrating single molecules into circuits to achieve the ultimate scaling limits of Moore's Law. Developed by Roswell Biotechnologies and a multi-disciplinary team of leading academic scientists, the chip uses single molecules as universal sensor elements in a circuit to create a programmable biosensor with...