181 articles from THURSDAY 5.5.2022

How mechanical ventilation affects the trajectories of aerosols that may carry viral particles

We have known for a longtime now that the COVID-19 virus, SARS-CoV-2 is a mostly airborne disease. Ventilation of indoor spaces is therefore one of the most useful ways in which we can keep people safe. Research in the International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling, has investigated the fluid dynamics of how mechanical ventilation affects the trajectories of aerosols that might be...

Scientists reveal the neurocircuitry essential for animals to sense environmental cues of imminent danger

Inborn defensive behaviors, such as flight, freeze and fight, are crucial for animals to survive in a dangerous environment. Neuroscientists from City University of Hong Kong (CityU) recently revealed the essential neurocircuitry that is fundamental for animals to perceive and integrate environmental cues to initiate defensive behavior. The findings suggest a new direction for further...

Scientists invent topological-cavity surface-emitting laser

Semiconductor lasers are the most widely used lasers due to their compact size, high efficiency, low cost and wide spectra. But they suffer low output power and low beam quality—two specifications difficult to improve simultaneously. For example, although a larger cavity increases power, it supports more modes to lase which decreases beam quality.

Hubble Reveals Surviving Companion Star in Aftermath of Supernova

Portal origin URL: Hubble Reveals Surviving Companion Star in Aftermath of SupernovaPortal origin nid: 479361Published: Thursday, May 5, 2022 - 10:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a witness at the scene of a star's explosive death: a companion star previously hidden in the glare of its...

NASA to Discuss Webb Telescope Alignment, Instrument Setup

Portal origin URL: NASA to Discuss Webb Telescope Alignment, Instrument SetupPortal origin nid: 479380Published: Thursday, May 5, 2022 - 09:43Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: NASA will hold a media teleconference at 11 a.m. EDT on Monday, May 9, to discuss progress toward preparing the James Webb Space Telescope for science operations.Portal...

Bolivian river dolphins observed playing with an anaconda

A trio of scientists, one with Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, another from Museo Historia Natural Noel Kempff Mercado and a third independent researcher, report evidence of several Bolivian river dolphins playing with a Beni anaconda in the Tijamuchi River in Bolivia. In their paper published in the journal Ecology, Omar Entiauspe-Neto, Steffen Reichle and Alejandro dos Rios describe...

A thermal superconducting quantum interference proximity transistor

Superconductors are materials that can achieve a state known as superconductivity, in which matter has no electrical resistance and does not allow the penetration of magnetic fields. At low temperatures, these materials are known to be highly effective thermal insulators and, due to the so-called proximity effect, they can also influence the density of states of nearby metallic or superconducting...

New Mexico and Arizona facing a dangerously early fire season

New Mexico and Arizona are facing a dangerously early fire season. It has left neighborhoods in ashes and is having such devastating effects that the governor of New Mexico on May 3, 2022, urged President Joe Biden to issue a disaster declaration. Over 600 fires had broken out in the two states by early May, and large wildfires had burned through hundreds of homes near Ruidoso and Las Vegas, New...

Copper, but not silver, is effective against SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces

As a result of corrosion, copper and silver release positively charged ions into their environment, which are harmful to bacteria in several ways and prevent their growth or kill them completely. This effect has long been exploited, for example by coating implants with these metals to prevent bacterial infections. There are some tricks that can be employed to release even more ions and intensify...

Post-Roe, could states outlaw abortion pills?

This week, we learned that the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that guaranteed a person's right to have an abortion in the United States. If this happens, 23 states could institute bans on abortion, NBC News reports, leaving people in those states with few options.

What cattle conflicts say about identity in South Sudan

In March 2022, violent clashes between farming communities and cattle herders broke out in Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan. It was the latest incident in months of cattle-related violence in the area, which is in the country's southern region.

Sleep neuron activity boosts protective gene expression and safeguards survival

Sleep refreshes the brain and the body by inducing protective changes in gene expression. Sleep disturbance triggers a stress response that also turns on protective genes. It was unclear how sleep or sleep deprivation can lead to these changes in gene expression. Scientists led by Prof. Henrik Bringmann from the Biotechnology Center (BIOTEC) of TU Dresden used the C. elegans worm to show that the...

Asia and Africa have similar aging burden as the West

Researchers have devised a new metric, the 'Health-Adjusted Dependency Ratio' (HADR) as an alternative to the most commonly used aging metric, the old-age dependency ratio (OADR). The research suggests that age-related health burden is distinct from a ratio based exclusively on age and is the first to incorporate dependency associated with ill-health to generate a new metric that represents a more...

How MRI could revolutionize heart failure diagnosis

Until now, the best way of diagnosing heart failure has been an invasive assessment, but it carries risks for patients. Non-invasive echocardiogram, which is based on ultrasound, are usually used instead, but they are wrong in up to 50 per cent of cases. The new study shows how magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is superior to echocardiography for diagnosing heart failure, as well as being a...

'Lost' coral species resurrected

With about one-third of the world's corals currently under threat of extinction due to climate change, researchers have made the encouraging discovery of a 'lost' species of coral that had been hidden for more than 50 years.

Quantum mechanics could explain why DNA can spontaneously mutate

The molecules of life, DNA, replicate with astounding precision, yet this process is not immune to mistakes and can lead to mutations. Using sophisticated computer modelling, a team of physicists and chemist have shown that such errors in copying can arise due to the strange rules of the quantum world.