122 articles from FRIDAY 12.8.2022

NASA Satellites Paint Grim Picture For The Future of Antarctica’s Ice Shelves

For the entire 64 years NASA has been around, agency administrators have been forced to answer the dreaded what’s-the-point? question. What’s the point, legislators and taxpayers ask, of spending so much money in space when there are so many problems on Earth? NASA has always had a ready answer, pointing to the generations of Earth-observing satellites it has launched, which have...

Overcoming a major manufacturing constraint

Additive manufacturing (AM) using two-photon polymerization lithography (TPP) has increased in usage in industry and research. Currently, a major constraint of TPP in general and specifically of the material IP-Q (Nanoscribe GmbH, Germany) is the users' limited access to knowledge about material properties. Due to the nature of the process, the elastic properties in particular depend not only on...

Optical microscope strategy allows observers to check electrons moving inside gold

A team led by DGIST professor Seo Dae-ha has developed an experimental strategy to control and observe the chemical reaction of a single nanocatalyst using an optical microscope. The work is expected to contribute to catalyst design based on accurate understanding of the photocatalytic reaction through an analysis method that helps understanding the electron excitation phenomenon and transition...

A review article clarifies genotype-independent plant transformation

Recently, researchers from North Carolina State University and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center published the first review of research progress on genotype-independent plant transformation. In this review, researchers discussed recent advances in the use of regulatory genes in plant transformation and regeneration, as well as their potential to facilitate genotype-independent plant...

New radiolabeling method for personalized cancer treatment

Researchers from TU Delft have found a new method to efficiently make nano carriers loaded with radioactive salts for both imaging and treatment. Because the assembly of these nano carriers is incredibly simple, the innovation is very suitable for clinical research and treatments of cancer patients. The findings are now published in Advanced Therapeutics.

Antarctica's ice shelves could be melting faster than we thought

A new model developed by Caltech and JPL researchers suggests that Antarctica's ice shelves may be melting at an accelerated rate, which could eventually contribute to more rapid sea level rise. The model accounts for an often-overlooked narrow ocean current along the Antarctic coast and simulates how rapidly flowing freshwater, melted from the ice shelves, can trap dense warm ocean water at the...

A fresh look into grasslands as carbon sinks

Grasslands have the capability to store carbon, functioning as an important tool in a battle against climate change. While scientific interest in grassland soil for carbon sequestration is not new, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Colorado State University have provided a fresh analysis of the existing research on soil carbon sequestration in grasslands. According to the...

Researchers fabricate cobalt copper catalysts for methane on metal-organic framework

The world is highly dependent on fossil fuels to power its industry and transportation. These fossil fuels lead to excessive carbon dioxide emission, which contributes to global warming and ocean acidification. One way to reduce this excessive carbon dioxide emission that is harmful to the environment is through the electroreduction of carbon dioxide into value-added fuels or chemicals using...

Cell chatter tells story of arterial thickening

Arteries can become thicker due to high blood pressure. However, the cause of this thickening is unclear. TU/e researchers along with colleagues from Trinity College Dublin in Ireland have developed a new computer model to study the arterial thickening in detail. The model shows that both mechanical changes in the artery due to higher blood pressure and cell communication involving so-called...

A step towards quantum gravity

In Einstein's theory of general relativity, gravity arises when a massive object distorts the fabric of spacetime the way a ball sinks into a piece of stretched cloth. Solving Einstein's equations by using quantities that apply across all space and time coordinates could enable physicists to eventually find their "white whale": a quantum theory of gravity.

First results from the paleomagnetic study of Cumbre Vieja

Josep M. Parés, coordinator of the Geochronology and Geology Program at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), has led the first study of the magnetic properties of the lava and ash produced during the 2021 eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain), which has been published in the journal Geosciences.

Elephant tweets highlight divide on conservation issues

An analysis of social media posts has highlighted how attention on Twitter does not align with the most pressing threats to wild elephants, which may have negative consequences for elephant conservation and lead to resentment from local communities that live with elephants.

Will strong and fast-switching artificial muscle be feasible?

In the American action movie "Pacific Rim," giant robots called "Jaegers" fight against unknown monsters to save mankind. These robots are equipped with artificial muscles that mimic real living bodies and defeat monsters with power and speed. Research is being conducted on equipping real robots with artificial muscles like the ones shows in the movie. However, the powerful strength and high speed...