157 articles from MONDAY 14.11.2022
Crypto company's collapse strands scientists
- ScienceNOW
- 22/11/14 23:30
Last week’s collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX is sending aftershocks through the scientific community. An undergraduate physics major at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who founded FTX and quickly became a billionaire, 30-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried began to back philanthropic organizations that supported a wide variety of science-related causes, most designed...
Researchers identify SARS-CoV-2 variant in white-tailed deer, evidence of deer-to-human transmission
In the summer of 2020, months after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, Samira Mubareka and her colleagues began testing wildlife in Ontario and Quebec for the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.
Biden tells skeptical UN summit US is 'unwavering' on climate aid
President Joe Biden pressed his "unwavering" commitment to combating climate change and said the U.S. is on track to achieve its Paris Agreement goals as he sought to allay concerns the country's efforts would backslide after the midterm elections.
Activists push for reparations at COP27 climate summit
Hundreds of activists marched on the U.N. Climate Change Conference in the Egyptian town of Sharm El-Sheikh on Saturday, demanding reparations for damage caused by climate change in poor regions.
The UN's climate change conference COP27: Topics on the agenda
The UN's annual climate change conference is currently ongoing in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. Over the course of two weeks, representatives of the world's nations will gather to discuss how to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement and contribute to the climate transition.
Children's songs: A link to one's inner self and to others
Singing can be a real health boost. Song involves your emotions, thoughts and body; the feelgood hormone oxytocin surges and the stress hormone cortisol declines. Singing accompanies us from the cradle to the grave, and binds us together as human beings. But what do kids sing in school, how much, and in what way? David Johnson, researcher at the Malmö Academy of Music, investigates this in his...
Largest known manta ray population is thriving off the coast of Ecuador, new research shows
Scientists have identified off the coast of Ecuador a distinct population of oceanic manta rays that is more than 10 times larger than any other known subpopulation of the species.
New review examines the structural diversity of the endoplasmic reticulum
A new review in Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Biology from the Lippincott-Schwartz Lab at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus examines the diverse endoplasmic reticulum structures that have been described by light and electron microscopy.
Why go back to the Moon?
On September 12, 1962, then US president John F. Kennedy informed the public of his plan to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.
New experiment measures decay time for exotic nuclei
A new study led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has measured how long it takes for several kinds of exotic nuclei to decay. The paper, published today in Physical Review Letters, marks the first experimental result from the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by Michigan State University.
Final preparations underway for NASA's Moon rocket launch
After two failed attempts this summer, NASA was busy Monday completing final preparations for the launch of its new mega Moon rocket, now scheduled for early Wednesday from Florida.
Study shows the power of 'thank you' for couples
Gratitude has been a trendy sentiment in recent years—sparking an industry of journals, knickknacks and T-shirts touting thankfulness as a positive force in individuals' lives.
Fort McKay: where Canada's boreal forest gave way to oil sands
The acrid stench of gasoline permeates the air. And the soot coats everything in sight: the trees, the bushes, even the snow in winter. And all day long, explosions send the birds soaring to safety.
Giant satellite outshines stars, sparking fresh concerns for astronomers
- ScienceNOW
- 22/11/14 22:15
Since launching in September, the communications satellite BlueWalker 3 has orbited Earth, curled up as if in a cocoon. Now, it has hatched, unfurling an antenna array as big as a highway billboard, its maker, Texas-based AST SpaceMobile,
announced today
. Astronomers say the satellite’s brightness has spiked by a factor of 40, rivaling the brightest stars in the sky....
'Devastatingly cute' bats look for bugs in forest clearings and corridors
Forest managers cut down trees, but their ultimate goal is to keep forests healthy and growing. Bats might help with that, according to recent University of Illinois research, thanks to their appetite for bugs that could otherwise destroy tree seedlings.
Team analyzes interactions between black hole-dominated galactic nucleus and surrounding star-forming regions
First in line to receive data transmissions from the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of astronomers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions is using the unprecedentedly clear observations to reveal the secret inner workings of galaxies.
Desert dust collected from glacier ice helps document climate change
Researchers from The Ohio State University are using dust trapped in glacier ice in Tibet to document past changes in Earth's intricate climate system—and maybe one day help predict future changes.
The 2023 Innovators Under 35 competition is now open for nominations
You might ask why MIT Technology Review creates a list of 35 Innovators Under 35 every year.
Part of it, of course, is to recognize the good and important work done by people just starting out in their careers—and you can be a part of that process by nominating great candidates right here, starting today and continuing through January 25, 2023.
But there’s a lot more to it than that. By...
Maryland's juvenile rockfish count below average for fourth year, but state says there's no need to panic
For the fourth straight year, juvenile rockfish numbers in Maryland waters were well below the historical average, according to a survey conducted by the state Department of Natural Resources.
Dams could play a big role in feeding the world more sustainably, researchers find
A bogeyman to many environmentalists, dams could actually play a significant role in feeding the world more sustainably, according to new Stanford University research. The study, published the week of Nov. 14 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, quantifies for the first time how much water storage would be required to maximize crop irrigation without depleting water stocks or...
Showing off: Wild chimpanzees show others objects simply to share attention
Researchers have observed a wild chimpanzee showing an object to its mother simply for sharing's sake—social behavior previously thought to be unique to humans.
Cool leaf! Study records chimp showing off object in human-like way
Adult ape sharing information and just wanted mother to look at foliage with no motive otherwise, scientists sayChimpanzees show each other objects just for the sake of it, researchers have found, revealing it isn’t only humans who like to draw attention to items that have captured their interest.As anyone who has spent time with a child knows, even very young humans like to point out objects to...
Mini-engine exploits noise to convert information into fuel
Too much background noise is usually guaranteed to disrupt work. But physicists have developed a micro-scale engine–made from a glass bead–that can not only withstand the distracting influence of noise, but can harness it to run efficiently. Their experiment is reported in the journal Physical Review Letters and was selected by the journal as a research highlight.
Scientists find microplastics in Monterey Bay water, anchovies, and seabirds
A study of microplastic pollution in Monterey Bay has found widespread occurrence of microplastics in the seawater and in the digestive tracts of anchovies and common murres, diving seabirds that feed on anchovies.
Seafood farming's growth rate has already peaked, and now it's in decline
The growth rate of seafood farming worldwide peaked in 1996 according to new UBC research, highlighting the importance of rebuilding wild fish stocks to feed future demand.
Planning on asking for a high salary in a job interview? Think again
A new study conducted by Dr. Yossi Maaravi, dean of Reichman University's Adelson School of Entrepreneurship, and developmental psychologist Sandra Segal, former director of Dr. Maaravi's research lab, examined the psychological and financial consequences of high (but not extreme) demands in salary negotiations.
Researchers produce first-ever 'family tree' for aquarium-bred corals
Corals bred in public aquaria provide novel research opportunities and a healthy stock for outplanting into the wild, essential components of a thriving future for coral reef ecosystems, which support around 25% of all life in Earth's oceans. But the long-term success of such efforts hinges in part on maintaining genetic diversity in aquarium-bred corals which leads to increased resilience to...
Video: Some sugar-free gummy bears are laxatives
Sugar-free gummies are delicious, low on calories and … technically laxatives?
Subtropical clouds key to Southern Ocean teleconnections to the tropical Pacific
The effect of the Antarctic climate change on the changes in the sea surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean has been identified.
Video: Solar snake spotted slithering across sun's surface
Solar Orbiter has spotted a "tube" of cooler atmospheric gases snaking its way through the sun's magnetic field. The observation provides an intriguing new addition to the zoo of features revealed by the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission, especially since the snake was a precursor to a much larger eruption.
Roche Alzheimer’s antibody fails to slow cognitive decline in major test
- ScienceNOW
- 22/11/14 19:40
The second (and third) time was not the charm for Roche’s experimental antibody drug for Alzheimer’s disease. The company
last night announced gantenerumab had failed
to show a statistically significant benefit in two large, late-stage clinical trials that tested its ability to slow patients’ cognitive decline—echoing a previous failure in another so-called phase 3...
Artemis launch delay is the latest of many NASA scrubs and comes from hard lessons on crew safety
I love a good space launch, and I have been eagerly awaiting NASA's powerful new Space Launch System rocket to take off as the first part of NASA's ambitious Artemis Mission to put U.S. astronauts back on the Moon. But this launch has already been pushed back four times this year—twice due to technical issues and once apiece for a tropical storm and a hurricane.
As the 8 billionth person is born, here's how Africa will shape the future of the planet's population
In mid-November 2022 the eight billionth person will be born, according to the United Nations. In its analysis of this milestone, the UN makes two key observations. The first is that the global population has been expanding at its slowest rate since 1950. The growth rate dropped below 1% in 2020, a trend that is likely to continue.
Mangrove forests won't be able to spread further in South Africa, so protecting them is crucial
Mangrove forests are a common sight in some tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world like Indonesia, Florida in the US, parts of Brazil and Australia. They can also be found on African coasts, including South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces.
Earth's cathedrals: Europe's mountains are cultural heritage, not just natural heritage
In 2019, alpinism was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity and "shared culture made up of knowledge of the high-mountain environment, the history of the practice and associated values, and specific skills." However, alpinism is inextricably linked to mountains—places of extraordinary interest that need to be defended even more. The Alpine landscape protection initiatives...
Research documents rich heritage of Afro-descendant women living in Ecuador
Celebrating and sharing the lived history of Afro-Ecuadorian women, passed down through generations via the spoken word, is the objective of a collaborative research project led by Northumbria University and Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, alongside partners from the Mujeres de Asfalto collective, a Black feminist creative arts organization.
Fish fossils show first cooking may have been 600,000 years earlier than thought
After examining carp remains, researchers claim people who lived 780,000 years ago liked their fish well doneEarly human ancestors living 780,000 years ago liked their fish well done, Israeli researchers have revealed, in what they said was the earliest evidence of fire being used to cook.Exactly when our ancestors started cooking has been a matter of controversy among archaeologists because it is...
New statistical method improves genomic analyzes
- ScienceDaily
- 22/11/14 19:21
A new statistical method provides a more efficient way to uncover biologically meaningful changes in genomic data that span multiple conditions -- such as cell types or tissues.
High-fat diet can provoke pain sensitivity without obesity, diabetes
- ScienceDaily
- 22/11/14 19:21
A new study in mice suggests that a short-term exposure to a high-fat diet may be linked to pain sensations even in the absence of a prior injury or a preexisting condition like obesity or diabetes. The study found that a high-fat diet induced hyperalgesic priming -- a neurological change that represents the transition from acute to chronic pain -- and allodynia, which is pain resulting from...
Fentanyl vaccine potential 'game changer' for opioid epidemic
- ScienceDaily
- 22/11/14 19:21
A breakthrough discovery could have major implications for the nation's opioid epidemic by becoming a relapse prevention vaccine for people trying to quit using opioids.
Power of 'thank you' for couples
- ScienceDaily
- 22/11/14 19:20
Greater levels of perceived gratitude protect couples against common stressors such as financial problems and ineffective arguing and promote relationship stability, according to a new study.
With new heat treatment, 3D-printed metals can withstand extreme conditions
- ScienceDaily
- 22/11/14 19:19
A new way to 3D-print metals makes the materials stronger and more resilient in extreme thermal environments. The technique could lead to 3D printed high-performance blades and vanes for gas turbines and jet engines, which would enable improved fuel consumption and energy efficiency.
Even in kindergarten, gaps seen in extracurricular activities
It doesn't take long for gaps to appear between children who participate in extracurricular activities and kids who don't, a new study found.