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53 articles from PhysOrg

Great timing and supercomputer upgrade lead to successful forecast of volcanic eruption

In the fall of 2017, geology professor Patricia Gregg and her team had just set up a new volcanic forecasting modeling program on the Blue Waters and iForge supercomputers. Simultaneously, another team was monitoring activity at the Sierra Negra volcano in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. One of the scientists on the Ecuador project, Dennis Geist of Colgate University, contacted Gregg, and what...

Novel method for early disease detection using DNA droplets

Aqueous droplet formation by liquid-liquid phase separation (or coacervation) in macromolecules is a hot topic in life sciences research. Of these various macromolecules that form droplets, DNA is quite interesting because it is predictable and programmable, which are qualities useful in nanotechnology. Recently, the programmability of DNA was used to construct and regulate DNA droplets formed by...

Saving an endangered breed of donkey

Nothing I've read about the Baudet du Poitou donkeys prepares me for my first sight of them. They are girthy, with massive round bellies and oversized ears that swoop forward and back, sometimes independently of one another. They are covered in thick hair that hangs in shaggy tufts, "like mammoth fur," says my companion on this adventure in equine medicine, Public Affairs senior photographer...

Researchers find large cost benefits for companies with Machiavellian CEOs

Narcissism, psychopathy and Machiavellianism are ubiquitous among CEOs, despite ample evidence that these dark personality traits pose financial and managerial risks to organizations. Their prevalence on corporate boards—nearly three times the general population—suggests that on some levels anti-social behavior may benefit business management. A new study published in the Strategic Management...

In first year of COVID-19 pandemic and after George Floyd's death, rates of some crimes rose while others fell

The year 2020 was marked by lockdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police and ensuing protests across the United States. A new study analyzed the effect of these events on crime rates in many of the largest U.S. cities. The study found that the pandemic and the protests were associated with significant changes in urban crime, but the...

For a smooth-running economy, rule of law matters

Countries in which courts more easily enforce contracts see less economic volatility overall than nations that don't adhere as well to the rule of law. That's the finding from a study by a finance researcher at The University of Texas at Austin.

Newly discovered coronavirus common in bank voles

Researchers from the Zoonosis Science Center at Uppsala University have identified a new coronavirus. Their study of approximately 260 bank voles caught around Grimsö, Örebro County, shows that the virus is well established in Sweden's red-backed voles.

Genetic paparazzi are right around the corner, and courts aren't ready to confront the legal quagmire of DNA theft

Every so often stories of genetic theft, or extreme precautions taken to avoid it, make headline news. So it was with a picture of French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting at opposite ends of a very long table after Macron declined to take a Russian PCR COVID-19 test. Many speculated that Macron refused due to security concerns that the Russians would take and...

Farm shops and agricultural cooperatives waste up to 80% less fruit and vegetables than supermarkets 

Food wastage in farm shops, agricultural cooperatives and farmers' stalls is between 1% and 2%, a much lower percentage than in supermarkets, where 5% to 10% of fruits and vegetables end up in the rubbish bin. This is the result of a study by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) carried out as part of a project that aims to...

Using digital solutions to reduce food waste by tracking and predicting transport conditions

On the way from the place of production to the consumer's plate, about one third of all food worldwide spoils. One reason is unfavorable storage conditions along production and supply chains, including suboptimal storage at home. Researchers at Empa's Biomimetical Membranes and Textiles laboratory in St. Gallen have been working for some time on digital solutions that could reduce this food waste....

Online instruction blended with face-to-face time is best strategy for students recovering from COVID-19 setbacks

Students are most likely to benefit from online credit recovery when it blends online instruction with face-to-face time, rather than being conducted fully online, according to research published by Carolyn J. Heinrich, chair of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations and Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy and Education at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and...