158 articles from MONDAY 1.8.2022
New algorithm helps identify antibody genes
In a study published in the journal Genome Research, investigators in UC San Diego's Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Johns Hopkins University have illuminated the immunoglobulin (antibody) genes in 20 mammalian species, gaining new insights into their targets and evolutionary origins.
Modeling reveals how dwarf planet Ceres powers unexpected geologic activity
For a long time, our view of Ceres was fuzzy, said Scott King, a geoscientist in the Virginia Tech College of Science. A dwarf planet and the largest body found in the asteroid belt—the region between Jupiter and Mars speckled with hundreds of thousands of asteroids—Ceres had no distinguishable surface features in existing telescopic observations from Earth.
Safe steps for using 'probiotics' to revive biodiversity
Time is running out, say researchers who are proposing a framework to guide the safe use of microbes to restore global biodiversity loss.
Nudge theory doesn't work after all, says new evidence review. But it could still have a future
At the end of last year (2021), there was lots of excitement about the first comprehensive analysis of past research on techniques designed to change people's behavior (known as "nudging"), confidently showing that they work. This was great news for researchers, but also for governments across the world who have invested in "nudge units" that use such methods.
Scientists 'spray paint' cells to reveal secret genes
Many of the thousands of proteins that help our cells grow and function remain undiscovered, especially the tiniest ones that occupy what some Yale scientists are calling the "dark matter" of our genome.
Is the James Webb Space Telescope finding the furthest, oldest, youngest or first galaxies? An astronomer explains
We've now seen the first data from the James Webb Space Telescope. It has observed the atmospheres of distant planets, groups of nearby galaxies, galaxy light bent by unseen dark matter, and clouds of gas and dust in stellar nurseries.
Stellar flybys leave a permanent mark on newly forming planetary systems
What do UX Tauri, RW Aurigae, AS 205, Z CMajoris, and FU Orionis have in common? They're young stellar systems with disks where planets could form. It appears those disks were disturbed by stellar flybys or other close encounters in the recent past. Astronomers want to know: did those events disrupt planet formation in the disks? What do they do? Does this happen in other systems? And, did our own...
When stars eat their planets, the carnage can be seen billions of years later
The vast majority of stars have planets. We know that from observations of exoplanetary systems. We also know some stars don't have planets, and perhaps they never had planets. This raises an interesting question. Suppose we see an old star that has no planets. How do we know if ever did? Maybe the star lost its planets during a close approach by another star, or maybe the planets spiraled inward...
Planet 9 is running out of places to hide
We have a pretty good idea of what lurks within our solar system. We know there isn't a Mars-sized planet orbiting between Jupiter and Saturn, nor a brown dwarf nemesis heading our way. Anything large and fairly close to the sun would be easily spotted. But we can't rule out a smaller, more distant world, such as the hypothetical Planet 9 (or Planet 10 if you want to throw down over Pluto). The...
Good news: Highway underpasses for wildlife actually work
Australia's wildlife is increasingly threatened with extinction. One key driver of this is habitat clearing and fragmentation. An associated factor is the expansion of our road network, particularly the upgrade and duplication of our highways.
After floods will come droughts (again). Better indicators will help us respond
Since late 2020, the La Niña climate pattern has led to two years of above-average rainfall across much of Australia, and severe floods in parts of the country.
Robots help farmers say goodbye to repetitive tasks
We do not often think about the labor that goes into bringing our favorite fruits and vegetables to our table. For farmers, growing healthy crops involves repetitive tasks such as weeding and spraying while the crop is growing. These tasks are not only repetitive, they are also costly and time-consuming. Robotic technologies can solve these problems by relieving farmers from work that is mundane,...
Climate change is intensifying the water cycle, bringing more powerful storms and flooding
Powerful storm systems triggered flash flooding across the U.S. in late July, killing at least 28 people in eastern Kentucky as floodwater engulfed homes and set off mudslides. Record rainfall also inundated St. Louis neighborhoods, and another deluge in Nevada flooded the Las Vegas strip.
The Download: fighting fires and the chip industry’s bill boost
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. Wildfires are raging across the US The news: Five large wildfires ignited across the US yesterday, with further outbreaks expected over the next few days, experts have warned. The new fires in California,…
UK farmers count cost as heatwave kills fruit and vegetable crops
Fears of future threats to food security if more extreme heat caused by climate crisis hits productionThe UK heatwave has caused fruit and vegetables to die on the vine as growers fear the drought and further hot temperatures could ruin harvests this year.Fruit and vegetable suppliers have been counting their losses after record temperatures in July caused crops to fail. Continue...
‘Reality is scary’: climate culture war heats up for UK meteorologists
TV forecasters have been targeted by climate deniers during recent extreme temperaturesDiscussing the weather has long been a harmless British pastime, with forecasters relied on to ruin bank holidays with their predictions of drizzle or give good news of some gentle summer sunshine.But now TV meteorologists have found themselves on the frontline of the climate culture war after extreme...
New method to promote biofilm formation and increase efficiency of biocatalysis
Birmingham scientists have revealed a new method to increase efficiency in biocatalysis, in a paper published today in Materials Horizons.
New optical switch could lead to ultrafast all-optical signal processing
Engineers at Caltech have developed a switch—one of the most fundamental components of computing—using optical, rather than electronic, components. The development could aid efforts to achieve ultrafast all-optical signal processing and computing.
New study finds global forest area per capita has decreased by over 60%
Over the past 60 years, the global forest area has declined by 81.7 million hectares, a loss that contributed to the more than 60% decline in global forest area per capita. This loss threatens the future of biodiversity and impacts the lives of 1.6 billion people worldwide, according to a new study published today by IOP Publishing in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Portugal, France battle big forest fires as mercury soars
Portugal and France on Sunday battled major forest fires as temperatures rose sharply this weekend.
Year's largest fire burns through dry terrain to destroy California homes
The largest fire in California this year is forcing thousands of people to evacuate as it destroys homes and rips through the state's dry terrain, whipped up on Sunday by strong winds and lightning storms.
As species recover, some threaten others in more dire shape
Concealed behind trees near Lake Michigan, two scientists remotely manipulated a robotic owl on the forest floor. As the intruder flapped its wings and hooted, a merlin guarding its nest in a nearby pine darted overhead, sounding high-pitched, rapid-fire distress calls.
No reported damage in Philippines from Chinese rocket debris
There was no reported damage in a western Philippine region where debris from a rocket that boosted part of China's new space station reportedly fell, a Filipino official said Monday.
New discovery of panda species which may have been Europe's last
Lumbering through the forested wetlands of Bulgaria around six million years ago, a new species of panda has been uncovered by scientists who state it is currently the last known and "most evolved" European giant panda.