149 articles from MONDAY 19.9.2022
Human composting: California clears the way for greener burial method
State is the fifth to legalize environmentally friendly process that allows for natural reduction of human remains to soilCalifornia lawmakers have approved a new way of returning those who have died to the earth, after Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill allowing human composting on Sunday.Cremation, which accounts for more than half of burials, is an energy-intensive process that emits...
U.S. math professor gets probation, not prison, in China Initiative case
An applied math professor at Southern Illinois University (SIU), Carbondale, was sentenced today to 1 year of probation—and no prison time—after being found guilty earlier this year of filing incorrect tax returns and failing to report a foreign bank account.
Mathematician Mingqing Xiao was prosecuted under a controversial U.S. law enforcement effort launched in 2018, called...
Why you should pay attention to fly vomit
New research from the University of Massachusetts Amherst concerning "synanthropic" flies—or the non-biting flies that live with us—argues that we need to pay far more attention to them as disease carriers. While epidemiologists have focused their attention on the biting flies that can spread diseases by transferring infected blood from host to host, it turns out that what the non-biting flies...
The aviation industry needs to overhaul its response to climate change
Aviation's growing impact on the climate crisis requires radical solutions that may upend the industry, according to a new Nature commentary article from the University of California San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy.
Elusive atmospheric wave detected during Tonga volcanic eruption
The catastrophic eruption of the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano in 2022 triggered a special atmospheric wave that has eluded detection for the past 85 years. Researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Japan Agency for Marine–Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), and Kyoto University relied on state-of-the-art observational data and computer simulations to discover the...
Brazil reports more Amazon fires so far this year than all of 2021
The number of forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon so far this year has already surpassed that for all of 2021, according to official figures released Monday that triggered new alarm for the world's biggest rainforest.
Research team creates new magnetic quasiparticle
From The City College of New York's Center for Discovery and Innovation and the Physics Department comes news of a new type of magnetic quasiparticle created by coupling light to a stack of ultrathin two-dimensional magnets. This achievement sprouting from a collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin lays the foundation for an emergent strategy to artificially design materials by...
Researchers determine new method for measuring high energy density plasmas and facilitating inertial confinement fusion
An international team of scientists has uncovered a new method for advancing the development of fusion energy through increased understanding of the properties of warm dense matter, an extreme state of matter similar to that found at the heart of giant planets like Jupiter.
Research team looks to past for insights on future of megafauna
Are elephants important? How about rhinoceros? Or lions? What happens if Earth loses its last remaining large animals? New research by Professor of Biology Felisa Smith at the University of New Mexico shows the profound impacts of losing large-bodied mammals, or megafauna, in ecosystems.
A better understanding of crop yields under climate change
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 22:56
Researchers use satellites to measure soil moisture around certain crops to solve a long-standing mystery about how water impacts agricultural production. The researchers found that models using soil moisture explain 30% to 120% more of the year-to-year variation in yield across crops than models that rely on rainfall. The research give scientists a better understanding of how crop yields will...
A better understanding of crop yields under climate change
You don't need a Ph.D. in agriculture to know that water is critical to crop production. But for years, people like Jonathan Proctor, who has a Ph.D. in Agriculture and Resource Economics from the University of California Berkeley, have been trying to explain why the importance of water isn't showing up in statistical models of crop yield.
How many ants are there on Earth?
How many stars are there in our galaxy? How many grains of sand in the Sahara? How many ants live on Earth? These are all questions that seem impossible to answer. However, through intensive and extensive data analysis, science is coming amazingly close to finding the solutions. When it comes to ants, a team led by Würzburg biologists Sabine Nooten and Patrick Schultheiss has done just that.
Amino acid supplement is a key to reproductive health in dairy cows
Lysine is an essential amino acid for dairy cows, helping boost milk production when added to the diet at adequate levels. But could lysine benefit cows in other ways? A new University of Illinois study shows rumen-protected lysine can improve uterine health if fed during the transition period. The study, "Effect of feeding rumen-protected lysine through the transition period on postpartum uterine...
New software platform advances understanding of the surface finish of manufactured components
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 21:50
The contact.engineering platform enables users to create a digital twin of a surface and thus to help predict, for example, how quickly it wears out, how well it conducts heat, or how well it adheres to other materials.
Researchers create new magnetic quasiparticle
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 21:50
A new type of magnetic quasiparticle has been created by coupling light to a stack of ultrathin two-dimensional magnets. This achievement lays the foundation for an emergent strategy to artificially design materials by ensuring their strong interaction with light.
Scientist helps identify new evidence for habitability in Enceladus's ocean
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 21:50
The search for extraterrestrial life just got more interesting as a team of scientists has discovered new evidence for a key building block for life in the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus. New modeling indicates that Enceladus's ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential ingredient for life.
Heated plot experiments reveal link between warmer early winters and lower crop yields
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 21:50
Innovative experiments using temperature-controlled field plots have helped to explain the link between early winter temperatures and yield in some of our most marketable arable crops.
NASA gears up for Artemis I tanking test for shot to launch next week
The fixes have been addressed, so now it's time to add some stress to ensure NASA's Artemis I mission success.
Undergrad publishes theory on immune dysfunction in space
It's been known for decades that though astronauts' immune systems become suppressed in space, leaving them vulnerable to disease, the exact mechanisms of immune dysfunction have remained a mystery. Now a Cornell undergraduate has found a potential solution.
Researchers transplant the RNA editing machine of moss into human cells
If everything is to run smoothly in living cells, the genetic information must be correct. But unfortunately, errors in the DNA accumulate over time due to mutations. Land plants have developed a peculiar correction mode: They do not directly improve the errors in the genome, but rather elaborately in each individual transcript. Researchers at the University of Bonn have transplanted this...
Wildfire smoke may have amplified Arctic phytoplankton bloom
Smoke from a Siberian wildfire may have transported enough nitrogen to parts of the Arctic Ocean to amplify a phytoplankton bloom, according to new research from North Carolina State University and the International Research Laboratory Takuvik (CNRS/Laval University) in Canada. The work, which appears in Communications Earth & Environment, sheds light on some potential ecological effects from...
Researcher helps identify new evidence for habitability in ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus
The search for extraterrestrial life has just become more interesting as a team of scientists, including Southwest Research Institute's Dr. Christopher Glein, has discovered new evidence for a key building block for life in the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus. New modeling indicates that Enceladus's ocean should be relatively rich in dissolved phosphorus, an essential ingredient for...
Student evaluations show bias against female professors
Despite earning more than half of all doctoral degrees conferred in the U.S., women are significantly underrepresented in faculty positions at colleges and universities. This is particularly true in tenure-track and tenured positions, with women making up just over a third of all full professors. Women are also less likely to receive tenure or be promoted to full professor, a situation known as...
A new genetic sampling technique for salt marsh harvest mice and other small mammals
From species of marmots to moles, shrews and mice, many of the world's endangered mammals are small. Genetic sampling is important for understanding how to conserve and protect their populations. But finding efficient, non-invasive ways to collect genetic samples from small animals can be challenging.
Chinese fossil eggs show dinosaur decline before extinction
Nearly 66 million years ago, a large asteroid hit Earth and contributed to the global extinction of dinosaurs, leaving birds as their only living descendants.
Heated plot experiments reveal link between warmer early winters and lower crop yields
Innovative experiments using temperature-controlled field plots have helped to explain the link between early winter temperatures and yield in some of our most marketable arable crops.
How much (DNA) damage can a cancer cell tolerate?
A new study led by Claus M. Azzalin, group leader at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes- iMM and published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) shows, for the first time, that the cell's telomeres can set the damage threshold a cancer cell can sustain and above which cells cannot continue to divide and die. These results open new possibilities for...
India's history of monsoon droughts revealed by stalagmites and historical documentary sources
Western India was struck by the "Deccan famine" between 1630 and 1632 as crops failed after three consecutive years of Indian monsoon failures. While traveling through the region, Peter Mundy, an English merchant with the East India Company, vividly described the traumatic scenes of starvation, mass mortality, and even cannibalism in his travelog. In fact, such scenes of catastrophic...
When AI asks dumb questions, it gets smart fast
If someone showed you a photo of a crocodile and asked whether it was a bird, you might laugh—and then, if you were patient and kind, help them identify the animal. Such real-world, and sometimes dumb, interactions may be key to helping artificial intelligence learn, according to a new study in which the strategy dramatically improved an AI’s accuracy at interpreting novel images. The...
Machine learning generates 3D model from 2D pictures
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 20:40
A neural field network can create a continuous 3D model from a limited number of 2D images, and it does it without being trained on other samples.
New clues into how the circadian clock helps the brain recover after injury
- ScienceDaily
- 22/9/19 20:40
A type of brain cell that can renew itself is regulated by circadian rhythms, providing significant insights into how the body's internal clock may promote healing after traumatic brain injuries (TBI), according to new research.
Genomic analysis reveals true origin of South America's canids
South America has more canid species than any place on Earth, and a surprising new UCLA-led genomic analysis shows that all these doglike animals evolved from a single species that entered the continent just 3.5 million to 4 million years ago. Scientists had long assumed that these diverse species sprang from multiple ancestors.
Quantum light source advances bio-imaging clarity
Texas A&M University researchers accomplished what was once considered impossible—they created a device capable of squeezing the quantum fluctuations of light down to a directed path and used it to enhance contrast imaging.
Mars is mighty in first Webb observations of Red Planet
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope captured its first images and spectra of Mars Sept. 5. The telescope, an international collaboration with ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency), provides a unique perspective with its infrared sensitivity on our neighboring planet, complementing data being collected by orbiters, rovers, and other telescopes.
Hurricane Fiona hits Dominican Republic after ravaging Puerto Rico
Hurricane Fiona slammed into the Dominican Republic on Monday after knocking out power and causing widespread flooding in Puerto Rico.
Lanthanide doping could help with new imaging techniques
X-rays are electromagnetic waves with short wavelengths and strong penetrability in physical matter, including live organisms. Scintillators capable of converting X-rays into the ultraviolet (UV), visible or near-infrared (NIR) photons are widely employed to realize indirect X-ray detection and XEOL imaging in many fields. They include medical diagnosis, computed tomography (CT), space...
Pando in pieces: Understanding the new breach in the world's largest living thing
It's ancient, it's massive, and it is faltering. The gargantuan aspen stand dubbed "Pando," located in south-central Utah, is more than 100 acres of quivering, genetically identical plant life, thought to be the largest living organism on earth (based on dry weight mass, 13 million pounds). What looks like a shimmering panorama of individual trees is actually a group of genetically identical stems...
Design evolution through the martial art of Capoeira
Could an ancient martial art created by African slaves in Brazil unlock new perspectives on design? For his doctoral thesis, defended at Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå University, Nicholas Torretta drew upon his native culture to shine a light on the oppressive and consumeristic power structures that still permeate industrial design thinking. Inspired by the intrinsic decolonial traits within...
Exploring the synergy of westerlies and the monsoon on Mt. Everest, as well as their climatic and environmental effects
In May 2022, a group of monsoon researchers conducted "Earth Summit Mission 2022: Scientific Expedition and Research on Mt. Qomolangma" within the Himalayan Mountains. This mission implemented new advanced weather observation technologies, methods, and means to investigate both the vertical change characteristics and interaction mechanisms of the region's prevailing westerlies and monsoonal flow....
Surface defect engineering of nanowire arrays towards efficient nitrogen reduction for ammonia synthesis
Ammonia is a carbon-neutral energy carrier and potential transportation fuel applied extensively in fertilizers, plastics, and explosives. Conventional ammonia synthesis methods rely primarily on the high-temperature and high-pressure Haber–Bosch process, which leads to considerable energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
When life feels cluttered, a good tarot reading can slow down the rush to quick solutions | Andie Fox
Shuffling and studying the pictures on tarot cards can be like a moment of meditationMy first attempts with tarot readings began on a camping trip with a couple of close friends and their friends. It was Christmas before the pandemic and just before the rains.The ground was so thirsty that the deepest waterholes in the creek were stagnant (and carrying some kind of parasite, we heard later)....