106 articles from FRIDAY 1.7.2022
Exploring how adding UV treatment to water chlorination can actually increase toxic trihalomethane production
Halobenzoquinones (HBQs), as new emerging disinfection by-products (DBPs), are frequently detected in potable and swimming pool waters. In fact, HBQs are also precursors of other DBPs such as currently regulated trihalomethanes (THMs), which pose a high risk to the public health and the environment. When UV is applied during the chlorination process, the DBPs formation may be quite different from...
Photon-controlled diode: An optoelectronic device with a new signal processing behavior
A photodetector is a kind of optoelectronic device that can detect optical signals and convert them into electrical signals. These devices include photodiodes, phototransistors and photoconductors.
Highly-sensitive SERS probes developed to detect the PD-L1 biomarker
Recently, a team led by Prof. Huang Qing at the Institute of Intelligent Machines, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has reported the fabrication of ultrasensitive biosensors based on Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) to detect the cancer metastasis related programmed death ligand (PD-L1) biomarker.
When ASD occurs with intellectual disability, a convergent mechanism for two top-ranking risk genes may be the cause
- ScienceDaily
- 22/7/1 19:00
Scientists have discovered a convergent mechanism that may be responsible for how two top-ranked genetic risk factors for autism spectrum disorder/intellectual disability (ASD/ID) lead to these neurodevelopmental disorders.
Americans more likely than those in the UK to feel threatened by China's development as a world power, survey shows
Americans were more likely than people living in the UK to feel threatened by China's growth as a world power, a new survey shows.
Scientists are still fleshing out Darwin’s theory of evolution | Letters
There can be no one unifying theory, writes Prof Jonathan Bard, while Nicholas Maxwell looks to the role of purposive actions and Pete Bibby says the fittest theory will surviveStephen Buranyi misses some key points in his article (Do we need a new theory of evolution?, 28 June). Darwin saw novel speciation as resulting from natural selection acting on anatomical variants, but that simple skeleton...
The case is building that colliding neutron stars create magnetars
Magnetars are some of the most fascinating astronomical objects. One teaspoon of the stuff they are made out of would weigh almost one billion tons, and they have magnetic fields that are hundreds of millions of times more powerful than any magnetic field that exists today on Earth. But we don't know much about how they form. A new paper points to one possible source—mergers of neutron stars.
Review of technologies that boost potential for carbon dioxide conversion to useful products
The excessive emission of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, is rapidly raising the average global temperature. Capturing the carbon dioxide and converting it to useful fuels and chemicals can be an ideal way to reduce carbon dioxide concentration and ease this serious environmental problem.
UK bird reserves closed after suspected avian flu outbreak
Seabird reserves in northeast England and Scotland have been closed to visitors after a suspected outbreak of bird flu, officials said on Friday.
New study reveals impact of plastic on small mammals, as four out of seven species identified as 'plastic positive'
Researchers investigating the exposure of small mammals to plastics in England and Wales have found traces in the feces of more than half of the species examined.
Study reveals an unprecedented change in Europe's fire regime
A study reveals an unprecedented change in the fire regime in Europe which is related to climate change. The affected areas are in Southern, Central and Northern Europe but this historical change in Europe's fire regime is more intense in the Mediterranean area. The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is led by Jofre Carnicer, lecturer of Ecology at the Faculty of Biology, and...
Triply eclipsing stellar systems
Stars with the mass of the sun or larger are typically accompanied by one or more orbiting companion stars. The system forms when gravity contracts the gas and dust of an interstellar cloud until clumps develop that are dense enough to coalesce into stars. Multiple stellar systems develop, according to one model, when the cloud has a slight spin. That generates a disk that then fragments to...
A step on the way to better therapies against viruses
Most cells can defend themselves against viruses after they have been activated by the body's own messenger substances (interferons). This happens with the help of proteins that recognize invading virus components and interfere with virus replication. One of these proteins is the myxovirus resistance protein B (MxB). It can inhibit many viruses, for example HIV and herpes viruses. But until now it...
'Not all is lost' in climate change fight after Supreme Court limits EPA's regulatory power
The Supreme Court Thursday issued a ruling limiting the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants.
Scientists investigate temperature effect on semiconductor optical amplifiers
The effect of temperature on the performance of the semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) is an important research point. Amer Kotb and his colleagues from the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have for the first time investigated the effect of high temperatures on the performance of various SOAs, including conventional SOAs, carrier...
Tidal heating could make exomoons much more habitable (and detectable)
Within the solar system, most of our astrobiological research is aimed at Mars, which is considered to be the next-most habitable body beyond Earth. However, future efforts are aimed at exploring icy satellites in the outer solar system that could also be habitable (like Europa, Enceladus, Titan, and more). This dichotomy between terrestrial (rocky) planets that orbit within their a system's...
What the end of Roe v. Wade means for reproductive rights and privacy
On June 24, the Supreme Court released a decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, upholding the constitutionality of a 2018 Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court also ruled 5-4 to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 decision that protects pregnant people's right to privacy without excessive government restriction.
Historical irrigation leaves long-lasting legacies on the prairie
A hallmark of environmental science is understanding how ecosystems respond to global change. Much of this research focuses on short-term ecosystem responses, such as how an ecosystem responds to a sudden onset of drought. But previous conditions can modify that response. In the same way a formative childhood experience might change how an adult responds to stress, legacy effects can change the...
It takes three: The genetic mutations that made rice cultivation possible
Rice has a long history as a staple food in Japan and other parts of Asia. The results of a new study by an international research collaboration suggest that the emergence of cultivated rice from wild rice plants is the result of three gene mutations that make the seeds (i.e. the grains of rice) fall from the plant less easily.
Coronavirus pandemic has led to more 'microworking,' study shows
The coronavirus pandemic has led to more people choosing to become "microworkers," a new study shows.
New sibling diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder
- ScienceDaily
- 22/7/1 17:31
The World Health Organization (WHO) recently listed a new sibling diagnosis for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), termed complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). An international team has now summarized the symptoms of the long-awaited new diagnosis and issued guidelines for clinical assessment and treatment.
Advocating a new paradigm for electron simulations
- ScienceDaily
- 22/7/1 17:31
Researchers improve a widely used simulation method for high-performance computing clusters.
Rare wild ancestors of feral pigeons found living on British and Irish islands
- ScienceDaily
- 22/7/1 17:31
DNA testing reveals that the wild ancestors of the common domestic and feral pigeons, now extinct in many parts of the world, are still living on islands in Scotland and Ireland.
A ceramic aerogel made with nanocrystals and embedded in a matrix for use in thermal insulation applications
A team of researchers at the Harbin Institute of Technology, in China, working with a colleague in the U.S., has developed a new kind of aerogel for use in flexible thermal insulation material applications. In their paper published in the journal Nature, the group describes how they made their aerogel and how well it worked when extreme heat was applied.