161 articles from WEDNESDAY 6.7.2022
Climate warming could deepen environmental injustice in urban areas
Extreme heat events could become more intense and frequent both locally and globally, increasing the risk of harm to health and global economies, according to a new study that includes research from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.
'Supergene' wreaks havoc in a genome
The human genome is littered with "selfish genetic elements," which do not seem to benefit their hosts, but instead seek only to propagate themselves.
Shedding new light on coral's Black Band Disease
UNC-Chapel Hill biologists examine the links between microbial mats and a type of coral disease that has become an urgent conservation concern, and they suggest mitigation strategies to help reduce its spread. Coral reefs are valuable to marine ecosystems and the global economy. We talked with Sophie McCoy, assistant professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Ph.D. candidate...
Study explores unusual interaction between viruses, live vaccines
A study of a herpes virus that infects chickens offers new insights into potentially problematic interactions between vaccines made from live viruses and the viruses they are meant to thwart.
Sizing up special light to downsize particle accelerators
Researchers have developed a new technique to better measure special "terahertz" light. This light travels in waves longer than the infrared light that is beyond what the human eye perceives. The new sampling technique preserves the correlations between position and time in a pulse of terahertz light. The technique allows researchers to measure the shape of terahertz "light bullets," focused...
False beliefs about prevalence of crime could influence jury decisions, new study shows
Some juror decisions are influenced by perceptions of the prevalence of crimes which can be incorrect or biased, a new study shows.
Capturing California's biodiversity for the future of conservation
When UC Santa Cruz postdoctoral scholar Merly Escalona assembled the first-ever reference genome for the Stephen Colbert Trapdoor Spider, she was shocked by the dataset's unexpectedly large size. For a small invertebrate, this California native spider's genetic code was very fragmented and consisted of about four billion bases (four gigabases)—larger than the human genome's size of a little more...
Testing the effect of multicolor lighting on improving people's psychological state
As missions for deep space exploration and space habitats are put on the agenda, astronauts need to withstand being tested by multiple stressors in confined and isolated conditions during such long flights, especially because in deep space exploration, problems such as signal delays make astronauts feel the anxiety of being far away from Earth and the psychological fear of deep space.
Predicting the composition of dark matter
A new analysis by a team of physicists offers an innovative means to predict "cosmological signatures" for models of dark matter.
A new role of autophagy in plant cell differentiation revealed
A midlife career change is hard to pull off, because it can involve reinventing yourself and adopting a completely new professional role. Now, researchers from Japan show that some plant cells get a helping hand from autophagy when they switch primary functions partway through their lifespan.
Large Hadron Collider scientists observe new 'exotic' particles
The physics lab that's home to the world's largest atom smasher has announced the observation of three new "exotic particles" that could provide clues about the force that binds subatomic particles...
Solar-powered chemistry uses carbon dioxide and water to make feedstock for fuels, chemicals
Solar-powered synthesis gas could recycle carbon dioxide into fuels and useful chemicals, an international team of researchers has shown.
A potential danger of CRISPR gene editing—and why base editing may be safer
Gene therapy using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing is currently in clinical trials around the world for a variety of diseases. A report from Boston Children's Hospital, published June 27 in Nature Communications, warns of a potential, previously undiscovered danger of CRISPR editing.
Natural selection may be making society more unequal
Contemporary humans are still evolving, but natural selection favors those with lower earnings and poorer education—according to research from the University of East Anglia.
Coastal fishing and farming at risk from climate change
Coastal communities could face losses of food from both fisheries and agriculture as a result of climate change, a study of five Indo-Pacific countries suggests. The research is published in Nature Communications.
Novel imaging method developed for fast-moving objects
A research team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has proposed a new anti-motion blur single-pixel imaging method for fast-moving objects. This method takes advantage of the wide spectrum and high sensitivity of a single-pixel detector and contributes to breaking through the bottleneck of single-pixel imaging of fast-moving objects.
Unrecognized qualifications thwart Australia's skilled migrants
New research by workforce experts at Flinders University and Charles Darwin University shows that efforts by skilled migrants to meet employer demands for Australian qualifications result in only marginal returns for these efforts, at least in the short term.
Fish feed is greatest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in China's aquaculture industry
The term aquaculture describes the breeding, rearing and harvesting of organisms such as fish, shellfish and algae in all types of water. It is becoming an increasingly important source of protein for people in many countries and regions.
What's Up: July 2022 Skywatching Tips from NASA
What are some skywatching highlights in July 2022?
The naked-eye planets of dawn – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – dominate the sky, appearing more spread out each morning. Next, if you're feeling the July heat, note the origin of "the dog days" of summer has to do with the bright star Sirius. Finally, if you can find a certain teapot-shaped pattern of stars in the evening, you'll...
Better estimating the risk of coastal flooding for nuclear power plants
Coastal facilities around the world must be designed to be protected against extreme sea levels. However, according to a team of Quebecois and French researchers from the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), the Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), and the Université Gustave Eiffel, current estimates of coastal flood risks contain biases. The scientists...
A four-stroke engine for atoms
If you switch a bit in the memory of a computer and then switch it back again, you have restored the original state. There are only two states that can be called "0 and 1."
Depths of North Atlantic ocean once as warm as the Mediterranean
A new study of ancient ocean temperatures, published today in Science, shows that the deep North Atlantic Ocean was once 20°C (68 °F)—warmer than the surface of the modern Mediterranean.
Evidence found that insects are possibly able to feel pain
A trio of researchers, two from Queen Mary University of London, the other from the University of Tehran, has found evidence that suggests insects might be able to feel pain. In their paper published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Matilda Gibbons, Lars Chittka and Sajedeh Sarlak, describe issues they encountered in attempting to find out whether insects feel pain, and the logic they used...
Circular RNA found to promote progression of small cell lung cancer
Researchers led by Prof. Lin Wenchu from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have proposed a mechanism by which circular RNA (circRNA) can promote the progression of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in vitro and in vivo. Results were published in Molecular Cancer.