143 articles from WEDNESDAY 4.1.2023
Breakthroughs made as scientists sequence the genomes of endangered sharks
The first chromosome level genome sequences for great hammerhead and shortfin mako sharks have shown that both species have experienced major population declines over a 250,000-year history. Low genetic diversity and signs of inbreeding are concerning for Critically Endangered great hammerhead sharks, whose overfished populations have plummeted. With higher levels of genetic diversity, shortfin...
Here today, gone tomorrow: How humans lost their body hair
Orangutans, mice, and horses are covered with it, but humans aren't. Why we have significantly less body hair than most other mammals has long remained a mystery. But a first-of-its-kind comparison of genetic codes from 62 animals is beginning to tell the story of how people—and other mammals—lost their locks.
Researchers reveal how geminiviruses cause devastating disease in worldwide crops
Geminiviruses are a group of single-stranded circular plant DNA viruses that cause devastating diseases in many economically important crops including tomato, tobacco, cotton, corn, wheat, beans, and cassava worldwide. Due to their small genome size and limited coding capacity, geminiviruses rely heavily on host plants to complete their life cycle by exploiting/manipulating host components at...
Consumer preferences for sustainably produced meat and meat substitutes in Japan
Meat has multiple nutritional benefits and is consumed as the primary source of protein by an increasing segment of the world's population. However, there have been significant environmental costs associated with the growing demand for meat. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported in 2013 that livestock production accounts for 14.5% of all greenhouse gas...
Nutrients of the Changjiang river system linked to the land-use changes and climate variability
This study examines the state changes of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon) from one of the ten largest river systems in the world, the Changjiang, based on field expeditions and time-series data since early 1980s. The study covers an area of ~80% of the whole drainage basin (i.e., 1.8×106 km2) and 70% of water course, including main streams and 15 major tributaries.
Climate warming reduces organic carbon burial beneath oceans
An international team of scientists painstakingly gathered data from more than 50 years of seagoing scientific drilling missions to conduct a first-of-its-kind study of organic carbon that falls to the bottom of the ocean and gets drawn deep inside the planet.
Climate risk insurance can effectively mitigate economic losses
Global warming is expected to lead to an accumulation of particularly intense hurricanes in the United States. This may substantially increase the economic losses caused by these storms. Better insurance could effectively mitigate the climate change-induced increase in economic losses. This is shown in a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research examining the effectiveness of...
Enabling nanoscale thermoelectrics with a novel organometallic molecular junction
The Seebeck effect is a thermoelectric phenomenon by which a voltage or current is generated when a temperature difference exists across a conductor. This effect is the basis of established and emerging thermoelectric applications alike, such as heat-to-electricity energy harvesters, sensing devices, and temperature control.
Extensive testing shows dogs' tails are not used for stabilization
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Friedrich-Schiller-University, and the Georgia Institute of Technology has found that contrary to prior research results, dogs do not use their tails to help stabilize their movements. Instead, as they explain in their paper posted on the arXiv preprint, the tails are used as a communications device.
Stem cell model allows researchers to explore the earliest stages of sex determination in mice and humans
During embryonic development, two different cascades of genetic signals determine whether the embryo's primordial gonad will become testes or ovaries, and thus whether the embryo will develop into a male or a female. Disruptions in this process cause disorders in sexual development characterized by a mismatch between sex-determining chromosomes, gonads (ovaries or testicles) and the anatomy of the...
How climate change impacts the Indian Ocean dipole, leading to severe droughts and floods
With a new analysis of long-term climate data, researchers say they now have a much better understanding of how climate change can impact and cause sea water temperatures on one side of the Indian Ocean to be so much warmer or cooler than the temperatures on the other—a phenomenon that can lead to sometimes deadly weather-related events like megadroughts in East Africa and severe flooding in...
New type of entanglement lets scientists 'see' inside nuclei
Nuclear physicists have found a new way to use the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC)—a particle collider at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory—to see the shape and details inside atomic nuclei. The method relies on particles of light that surround gold ions as they speed around the collider and a new type of quantum entanglement that's never been seen...
Hubble finds that ghost light among galaxies stretches far back in time
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/4 19:56
In giant clusters of hundreds or thousands of galaxies, innumerable stars wander among the galaxies like lost souls, emitting a ghostly haze of light. These stars are not gravitationally tied to any one galaxy in a cluster. The nagging question for astronomers has been: how did the stars get so scattered throughout the cluster in the first place? Several competing theories include the possibility...
Map of ancient ocean 'dead zones' could predict future locations, impacts
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/4 19:56
Researchers have created a map of oceanic 'dead zones' that existed during the Pliocene epoch, when the Earth's climate was two to three degrees warmer than it is now. The work could provide a glimpse into the locations and potential impacts of future low oxygen zones in a warmer Earth's oceans.
High-performance visible-light lasers that fit on a fingertip
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/4 19:56
Researchers have created visible lasers of very pure colors from near-ultraviolet to near-infrared that fit on a fingertip. The colors of the lasers can be precisely tuned and extremely fast -- up to 267 petahertz per second, which is critical for applications such as quantum optics. The team is the first to demonstrate chip-scale narrow-linewidth and tunable lasers for colors of light below red...
A three-dose malaria vaccine shows safety, efficacy in West African adults
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/4 19:56
A three-dose regimen of a whole-parasite vaccine against malaria -- called Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) vaccine -- demonstrated safety and efficacy when tested in adults living in Burkina Faso, West Africa, which has endemic malaria.
Researchers reveal an added layer of nuance in our sense of smell
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/4 19:56
The delicate fragrance of jasmine is a delight to the senses. The sweet scent is popular in teas, perfumes and potpourri. But take a whiff of the concentrated essential oil, and the pleasant aroma becomes almost cloying. Indeed, part of the flower's smell comes from the compound skatole, a prominent component of fecal odor.
Here today, gone tomorrow: How humans lost their body hair
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/4 19:56
Orangutans, mice, and horses are covered with it, but humans aren't. Why we have significantly less body hair than most other mammals has long remained a mystery. But a first-of-its-kind comparison of genetic codes from 62 animals is beginning to tell the story of how people -- and other mammals -- lost their locks.
Microwave imaging of quasi-periodic pulsations at flare current sheet
Quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs; also known as quasi-periodic oscillations, i.e., QPOs) are electromagnetic emission phenomena that vary quasi-periodically with time. They appear in celestial transient events with different temporal/spatial scales, such as stellar flares, gamma ray bursts and fast radio bursts.
Rate of scientific breakthroughs slowing over time: Study
The rate of ground-breaking scientific discoveries and technological innovation is slowing down despite an ever-growing amount of knowledge, according to an analysis released Wednesday of millions of research papers and patents.
Skimming stones? Try a heavier, curvier rock, scientists say
Want to make an impression the next time you're trying to skim a stone off water? Ignore the usual thin, flat candidates and try a fatter, curvier rock to get the biggest possible bounce, scientists said Wednesday.
Hard to bear: UK's only panda pair to return to China
It was supposed to be a match made in heaven that would produce a cub but after years of trying, Edinburgh Zoo said on Wednesday it is now sending its breeding pair of giant pandas back to China.
Bionic penis: Synthetic tissue restores erections in pigs
Researchers in China have used artificial tissue to restore erectile function in pigs, a promising development for repairing penile damage in humans.
New spectroscopy technique improves trace element detection in liquid
Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a rapid chemical analysis technology that has been well developed for trace element analyses in gases, liquids, and solids. It uses a high-power laser pulse to elicit short-lived, high-temperature plasma in a sample. As the plasma cools, it emits spectral peaks that correspond to elements in the periodic table. Recent exploration has extended LIBS via...
High-performance visible-light lasers that fit on a fingertip
As technologies keep advancing at exponential rates and demand for new devices rises accordingly, miniaturizing systems into chips has become increasingly important. Microelectronics has changed the way we manipulate electricity, enabling sophisticated electronic products that are now an essential part of our daily lives. Similarly, integrated photonics has been revolutionizing the way we control...