165 articles from WEDNESDAY 3.8.2022

Does China's research and development funding reach the right firms?

Chinese investments in research and development (R&D) have burgeoned since the turn of the century, increasing more than tenfold in absolute terms since 2000 and reaching a high of 2.4 percent of GDP in 2020. As the world's second biggest spender on R&D after the United States, China is certainly a force to be reckoned with on the global innovation landscape. Its fresh push toward innovation-led...

Understanding cooperation and conflict in plant symbionts

The traditional idea of symbiosis—long-term interactions between two organisms—is that the participants mutually benefit each other. However, researchers have debated whether the interests of the symbionts always line up with the hosts they inhabit, or whether genes that benefit symbionts might come at the expense of their hosts. A new study investigates this question through genomic...

Highest coral cover in central, northern Reef in 36 years

The northern and central Great Barrier Reef have recorded their highest amount of coral cover since the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) began monitoring 36 years ago. However, average coral cover in the southern region decreased due to ongoing crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. While the Reef experienced its fourth major bleaching event in the past seven years this year, it didn't...

Newly developed COVID-19 test detects and identifies specific variants with 100% accuracy

University of California, Irvine researchers have developed a COVID-19 test that detects and identifies specific SARS-CoV-2 variants with 100% accuracy. In a study, the RNA-encoded viral nucleic acid analytic reporter correctly determined the Alpha, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Omicron genetic mutations in nasopharyngeal clinical samples. This ability could enable healthcare providers to make...

NASA's PUNCH mission announces rideshare with SPHEREx and new launch date

NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission will share a ride to space with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Re-ionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission. The missions will launch no earlier than April 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9.

Scientists identify key mechanism controlling skin regeneration

The outer layer of skin, the epidermis, is constantly turning over to replace dead or damaged cells throughout our lifetime. Skin stem cells need to continuously make decisions: either make more copies of themselves (self-renewal) or switch their fate towards differentiation. The molecular mechanisms controlling this process remain poorly understood. Now a research team has identified a molecular...

A nutrition solution can help heat-stressed cows as US warms

Rising temperatures pose major challenges to the dairy industry—a Holstein's milk production can decline 30 to 70% in warm weather—but a new Cornell-led study has found a nutrition-based solution to restore milk production during heat-stress events, while also pinpointing the cause of the decline.

Giant viruses build a cell nucleus surprisingly like our own

Humans aren't the only targets for viruses. Like us, bacteria become infected by many types of viruses. In fact, across billions of years, bacteria and viruses have engaged in a non-stop evolutionary arms race for survival that includes countless innovations and counter-adaptations.

Machine learning enables optimal design of anti-biofouling polymer brush films

Polymer brush films consists of monomer chains grown in close proximity on a substrate. The monomers, which look like "bristles" at the nanoscale, form a highly functional and versatile coating, such that it can selectively adsorb or repel a variety of chemicals or biological molecules. For instance, polymer brush films have been used as a scaffold to grow biological cells and as protective...

A better way to quantify radiation damage in materials

Researchers find much of the damage inside nuclear reactors is so small that it has eluded previous tests. Their new tool provides a way to directly measure this damage, potentially opening a path for the safe operation of nuclear power plants far beyond their present licensed lifetimes.

Driest July in memory imperils Europe's crops

As much of Europe bakes in a third heatwave since June, fears are growing that extreme drought driven by climate change in the continent's breadbasket nations will dent stable crop yields and deepen the cost-of-living crisis.

New global map of ant biodiversity reveals areas that may hide undiscovered species

They are hunters, farmers, harvesters, gliders, herders, weavers, and carpenters. They are ants, and they are a big part of our world, comprising over 14,000 species and a large fraction of animal biomass in most terrestrial ecosystems. Like other invertebrates, ants are important for the functioning of ecosystems. They play vital roles from aerating soil and dispersing seeds and nutrients, to...

Gesture-based communication techniques may ease video meeting challenges

Researchers have developed and demonstrated the potential benefit of a simple set of physical gestures that participants in online group video meetings can use to improve their meeting experience. Paul D. Hills of University College London, U.K., and colleagues from University College London and the University of Exeter, U.K., present the technique, which they call Video Meeting Signals (VMS), in...

A better way to quantify radiation damage in materials

It was just a piece of junk sitting in the back of a lab at the MIT Nuclear Reactor facility, ready to be disposed of. But it became the key to demonstrating a more comprehensive way of detecting atomic-level structural damage in materials—an approach that will aid the development of new materials, and could potentially support the ongoing operation of carbon-emission-free nuclear power plants,...

NASA Team Troubleshoots Asteroid-Bound Lucy Across Millions of Miles

Portal origin URL: NASA Team Troubleshoots Asteroid-Bound Lucy Across Millions of MilesPortal origin nid: 481724Published: Wednesday, August 3, 2022 - 14:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: After the launch of NASA’s Lucy spacecraft, data indicated that a solar array powering the spacecraft’s systems hadn’t fully opened and latched, and the team...

Hot, dry summer: Dutch government declares water shortage

The Dutch government declared a national water shortage Wednesday caused by the hot, dry summer that is parching much of Europe, and formed a national team to draw up measures to manage supplies, while asking the public to also chip in with savings.

Calm the farm: foot and mouth disease is a threat, but it shouldn’t be used as a political weapon

When the CEO of the Australian Meat Industry Council is urging politicians to keep calm and stick to the science, we should all listenSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityYou may have missed the quiet war waged by farmer groups to end foot in mouth disease.Yes, I mean foot in mouth disease. Continue...