114 articles from MONDAY 16.5.2022
Seeing through the fog: Pinpointing young stars and their protoplanetary disks
Imagine walking through a dense, hazy fog in the middle of the night, seeing patches of light from cars and towns shimmering in the distance. It's nearly impossible to tell if the lights are deep in the fog or beyond it. Astronomers trying to find young stars face a similar problem: the light from stars they're hunting is shimmering through great big regions of hazy gas and dust in space, called...
New NSF program hopes to rev the nation’s ‘engines’ of innovation
Regional centers would get $160 million each to translate research into high-tech jobs and boost local economies
New method melds data to make a 3-D map of cells' activities
Just as it's hard to understand a conversation without knowing its context, it can be difficult for biologists to grasp the significance of gene expression without knowing a cell's environment. To solve that problem, researchers at Princeton Engineering have developed a method to elucidate a cell's surroundings so that biologists can make more meaning of gene expression information.
Majority of Detroiters report stable, improved financial situation compared to a year ago
Two years into the pandemic, 72% of Detroit residents say their financial situation has stabilized or improved compared to a year ago, and there's evidence that stimulus checks and the expanded Child Tax Credit played a role in reducing Detroiters' experiences of economic hardship.
Big tractors, now heavier than many dinosaurs, can damage deep soil
Intense mechanization is efficient, but may crush the root zone and lessen harvests
Unraveling the genetic keys to improve canola crop yield
An international team of researchers, including one from The University of Western Australia (UWA), has successfully unraveled the genomes of 418 unique samples of rapeseed from across the globe to identify traits that breeders can use to improve crop yield.
Research team improves gene editing with chemical process
The gene-editing technique known as CRISPR has accelerated biological and medical research in the last decade by allowing scientists to repair the DNA of human cells almost as simply as using a pair of scissors.
Whale carcass proves tasty snack for beetles
A total of 21 new beetle species were discovered in the whale carcass that washed ashore at the Rottumerplaat in 2020. The creatures are experts in consuming meat, skin and bones.
New theory promises to reshape how we think about polymer superstructures
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 22:36
Polymer scientists recently announced that they have solved a longstanding mystery surrounding a nanoscale structure, formed by collections of molecules, called a double-gyroid. This shape is one of the most desirable for materials scientists, and has a wide range of applications; but, until now, a predictable understanding of how these shapes form has eluded researchers.
Shaping the future of light through reconfigurable metasurfaces
The technological advancement of optical lenses has long been a significant marker of human scientific achievement. Eyeglasses, telescopes, cameras, and microscopes have all literally and figuratively allowed us to see the world in a new light. Lenses are also a fundamental component of manufacturing nanoelectronics by the semiconductor industry.
New theory promises to reshape how we think about polymer superstructures
Polymer scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently announced in the journal Nature Communications that they have solved a longstanding mystery surrounding a nanoscale structure, formed by collections of molecules, called a double-gyroid. This shape is one of the most desirable for materials scientists, and has a wide range of applications; but until now, a predictable...
Archaeology illuminates Chinese businesses in Eugene, Oregon
Uncovering the past of historically under-represented communities sometimes means having to do a little digging, through newspapers, archives and even the ground.
How hybrid plant varieties could address the challenges of food security and climate change
Hybrid agricultural and horticultural crops can play an important role in supporting global food security. They produce higher yields and are often more resistant than non-hybrid varieties to diseases and climate stress. But for many crops, no hybrid varieties are available. Why is that?
Shaping the future of light through reconfigurable metasurfaces
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 21:15
Harnessing the power of 'phase-change' materials, researchers have demonstrated how reconfigurable metasurfaces -- artificial materials with extraordinary optical properties -- are crucial to the future of nanotechnology.
Stimulating brain circuits promotes neuron growth in adulthood, improving cognition and mood
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 21:02
Targeting specific brain cells modulated memory retrieval and altered anxiety-like behaviors in mice. Essentially, scientists boosted the electrical activity between cells in the hypothalamus and the hippocampus to create new neurons -- an important process called neurogenesis.
Scientists provide more than 50K camera trap images for massive study on Amazon wildlife
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 21:02
Scientists working in the vast Amazon Basin have contributed more than 57,000 camera trap images for a new study.
Scientists provide more than 57,000 camera trap images for massive study on Amazon wildlife
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists working in the vast Amazon Basin have contributed more than 57,000 camera trap images for a new study published in the journal Ecology by an international team of 120 research institutions.
New trait-based approach to global change ecology moves from description to prediction
It's not enough to understand what the effects of climate change are. Society needs ways to get ahead of these changes, to predict them before they actually happen. And when it comes to conservation, the approach scientists use to study species in the wild could be critical to these predictions, according to a recent research review led by biologist Stephanie Green and published in Proceedings of...
Study sheds new light on the mechanism of individual cell memory, using yeast as a model
Whi3 is a mnemon (Whi3mnem), or in other words, a protein that stores information in individual cells by forming stable super-assemblies. This memory state is then inherited by only one individual daughter cell at mitosis (individual memory). For example, when facing an uncommitted mating partner, budding yeast cells coalesce the G1/S inhibitor Whi3 into a dominant mnemon super-assembly that...
'Homo sapiens is too arrogant: Call us Homo faber, the toolmaker'
We need to dispel the arrogant and misguided idea that modern humans are superior to earlier human species. It is thanks in part to all our predecessors such as Neanderthals that we are who we are today. This is according to Marie Soressi, Professor of Hominin Diversity Archaeology.
New drought benchmark reached in Europe between 2018 and 2020
These were days, months and years that many will come to remember: the drought from 2018 to 2020. An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) has succeeded in categorizing the historical dimensions of this event. Based on their findings, no drought covering such a large area for an extended period and coinciding with warmer...
Policymakers underestimate methane's climate and air quality impacts, says a new study
Methane emissions have been increasing rapidly in recent years, contributing significantly to global warming. Despite this, methane is not adequately treated within existing national and international governance frameworks. Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) researchers highlight the urgent need for action in a new study published in Environmental Science & Policy.
Nanobiotics: New machine learning model predicts how nanoparticles interact with proteins
With antibiotic-resistant infections on the rise and a continually morphing pandemic virus, it's easy to see why researchers want to be able to design engineered nanoparticles that can shut down these infections.
Heavy metal pollution can increase antibiotic resistance in rivers
Scientists have shown that elevated heavy metal levels in rivers can lead to higher levels of antibiotic resistance.
'Coarse-graining' can help scientists understand complex microbial ecosystems, theory suggests
Microbial communities shape our health and the health of our planet. Some are familiar to humans, like the microbes that reside in the gut, known as our microbiome. Others keep fermenting along mostly under the radar.
Boost in nerve-growth protein helps explain why running supports brain health
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 19:50
Exercise increases levels of a chemical involved in brain cell growth, which bolsters the release of the 'feel good' hormone dopamine, a new study shows. Dopamine is known to play a key role in movement, motivation, and learning. Experts have long understood that regular running raises dopamine activity in the brain and may protect nerve cells from damage. In addition, past research has tied...
Departmental policies key to police officers' decisions to activate body-worn cameras
Body-worn cameras (BWCs) have become increasingly common in U.S. police departments, but we know little about their use in the field, including the factors related to whether and why police activate them. A new study examined the prevalence and correlates of BWC activation in Phoenix, Arizona. The study found that departmental policy may be the most important factor in determining BWC activation,...
Tall, dense trees identified as effective weapon against traffic's toxic nanoparticles
Toxic airborne nanoparticles from vehicles on our roads, which enter our bodies and lungs and damage human health, can more effectively be screened out by tall, dense trees than other "green infrastructure," finds a new study from the University of Surrey.
'This is our forest': Climate change means uncertain future for maple trees, syrup season
For centuries, the Abenaki people of the northeastern U.S. and Canada looked at maple sap as a gift from their creator, arriving at a time just before spring when their ancestors' food reserves were low.
Assessing the impact of loss mechanisms in solar cell candidate
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
The superconductor antimony sulfide selenide is a potential candidate for solar materials, but this depends on understanding how to boost its efficiency.
Studying the pseudogap in superconducting cuprate materials
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Despite being vital to the study of superconductivity in cuprate materials the physical origins of the pseudogap remain a mystery.
The way of water: Making advanced electronics with H2O
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
The market for expensive fabrication methods in electronics manufacturing could soon dry up after a high-performance material was created via solution processing.
New micro device injects a boost to IVF success
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
A research team has delivered a ground-breaking new micro-device to streamline the only fertility treatment procedure available for men with low sperm counts.
Policymakers underestimate methane's climate and air quality impacts
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Methane emissions have been increasing rapidly in recent years, contributing significantly to global warming. Despite this, methane is not adequately treated within existing national and international governance frameworks. Researchers now highlight the urgent need for action in a new study.
Seeing molecules inside a nanometer-sized 'sardine can'
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Researchers have successfully developed a new technique allowing them to observe gas molecules packing into metal-organic frameworks (MOF) using infrared spectroscopy. Their innovation was to measure polarized light absorption of guest molecules in a MOF film to deduce molecule alignment using this common piece of lab equipment. This method is the first to show guest alignment and does so in...
Electronic skin: Physicist develops multisensory hybrid material
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Recently developed 'smart skin' is very similar to human skin. It senses pressure, humidity and temperature simultaneously and produces electronic signals. More sensitive robots or more intelligent prostheses are thus conceivable.
Heavy metal pollution can increase antibiotic resistance in rivers
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Scientists have shown that elevated heavy metal levels in rivers can lead to higher levels of antibiotic resistance.
The European drought event from 2018 to 2020 was the most intense in over 250 years
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
These were days, months and years that many will come to remember: the drought from 2018 to 2020. An international team of researchers has succeeded in categorizing the historical dimensions of this event. Based on their findings, no drought covering such a large area for an extended period and coinciding with warmer temperature has occurred in Europe since the middle of the 18th century. The...
Study provides long-term look at ways to control wildfire in sagebrush steppe ecosystem
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
New research provides the first long-term study of methods to control the spread of wildfire in the sagebrush steppe ecosystem that dominates parts of the western United States.
Rare genetic variants not the major contributing factors to common diseases, study finds
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Although some rare genetic variants can increase the risk of disease markedly for a few individuals, the genetic contribution to common diseases is mostly due to a combination of many common genetic variants with small effects, according to a new study.
Deaths from alcohol use disorder surged during pandemic, study finds
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:40
Deaths involving alcohol use disorder increased dramatically during the pandemic, according to a new study. The study also found that young adults 25 to 44 years old experienced the steepest upward trend in alcohol use disorder mortality.
Europe and US set for scorching, dry summer, scientists say
Europe and parts of the U.S. are set for a sweltering and dry summer this year, posing risks for crops and boosting demand for energy for cooling at a time when prices of commodities are already running high.
Perception-based nanosensor platform could advance detection of ovarian cancer
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:39
Ovarian cancer kills 14,000 women in the United States every year. It's the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women, and it's so deadly, in part, because the disease is hard to catch in its early stages. Patients often don't experience symptoms until the cancer has begun to spread, and there aren't any reliable screening tests for early detection.
Amazon deforestation threatens newly discovered fish species in Brazil
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:39
Researchers have discovered and described two new species of Amazonian fish -- one with striking red-orange fins and the other so small it is technically considered a miniature fish species. Both species inhabit waters located at the bleeding edge of human encroachment into the Amazon rainforest roughly 25 miles north of the Brazilian city of Apuí. The study's authors said that ongoing...
CRISPR now possible in cockroaches
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:39
Researchers have developed a CRISPR-Cas9 approach to enable gene editing in cockroaches, according to a new study. The simple and efficient technique, named 'direct parental' CRISPR (DIPA-CRISPR), involves the injection of materials into female adults where eggs are developing rather than into the embryos themselves.
From degrowth to a sustainable food system transformation
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:39
Proponents of degrowth have long argued that economic growth is detrimental to the environment. Now, scientists show that concerning the food sector, curbing growth alone would not make our food system sustainable -- but changing what we eat and putting a price on carbon would.
Ethical challenges in microbiome research
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:39
A human rights activist and a group of anthropologists and human biologists are casting a critical lens on the way that microbiome research is conducted with Indigenous peoples.
Precursor of spine and brain forms passively
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:39
Researchers have conducted a detailed study of neurulation -- how the neural tube forms during embryonic development. They conclude that this happens less actively than previously thought. This also has implications for understanding defects such as spina bifida.
Chinese penduline tit buries eggs to prevent them from blowin' in the wind
- ScienceDaily
- 22/5/16 18:38
Many animal species bury their eggs, for a number of different reasons. While it is firmly established that Eurasian penduline tits bury them because of sexual conflict, their Chinese counterparts seem to have an entirely different reason. Experimental manipulations show that for these birds burial prevents the eggs from falling out of the nest in strong winds.
How mental health and disability may sway judgment in the justice system
Gaze aversion, lack of emotional expression, repetitive body movements, or speaking in monolog tone can sway people's judgment of another's credibility and honesty—notably in the criminal justice system.