- PhysOrg
- 23/1/25 20:18
Female circumcision is so harmful that it is quite clear that society would be better off without this kind of practice, but so far progress has been slow.
130 articles from WEDNESDAY 25.1.2023
Female circumcision is so harmful that it is quite clear that society would be better off without this kind of practice, but so far progress has been slow.
During the week-long Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, work is suspended, businesses close and nearly three billion people leave cities to join their families in rural areas for traditional gatherings. The holiday is the largest short-term suspension in human activity on Earth and, according to a new study, is associated with lower temperatures in 31 major Chinese cities during...
Grief is a universal emotion. It's something we all feel, no matter where we come from or what we've been through. Grief comes for us all and as humans who form close relationships with other people, it's hard to avoid.
That humans originated in Africa is widely accepted. But it's not generally recognized how unique features of Africa's ecology were responsible for the crucial evolutionary transitions from forest-inhabiting fruit-eater to savanna-dwelling hunter. These were founded on Earth movements and aided physically by Africa's seasonal aridity, bedrock-derived soils and absence of barriers to movements...
A machine-learning analysis has revealed patterns in online hate speech that suggest complex—and sometimes counterintuitive—links between real-world events and different types of hate speech. Yonatan Lupu of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on January 25.
Two sister species of near-primate, called "primatomorphans," dating back about 52 million years have been identified by researchers at the University of Kansas as the oldest to have dwelled north of the Arctic Circle. The findings appear today in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE.
Fertilization is the union of two cells: an egg and a sperm. Before the egg and the sperm fuse, an event known as the "acrosome reaction" needs to occur in the sperm. Now, a team from Osaka University has identified a protein called FER1L5 that is essential for sperm to undergo the acrosome reaction.
Is excitement over meat alternatives overheated? Investors have poured billions of dollars into the sector to kickstart technologies that produce protein with ingredients such as peas, soybeans, mushrooms, and lab-grown animal cells, but they are unlikely to offset livestock agriculture's climate and land use impacts anytime soon, according to Stanford environmental scientist David Lobell. In the...
Microchip fab plants in the United States can cram billions of data processing transistors onto a tiny silicon chip, but a critical device, in essence a "clock," to time the operation of those transistors must be made separately—creating a weak point in chip security and the supply line. A new approach uses commercial chip fab materials and techniques to fabricate specialized transistors that...
In a recent paper accepted to Contemporary Physics, a physicist from Imperial College London uses past missions and recent findings to encourage the importance of searching for life in the atmosphere of the solar system's most inhospitable planet, Venus.
Birds sold in the pet trade are often colorful and charismatic creatures. Some can even be taught to talk, and they often provide owners with much-needed companionship.
UK food prices soared by more than 16% in 2022 as record inflation pushed up the prices of everything from bread to beans.
The two men who shot dead 18 people in separate incidents just days apart in California are the latest perpetrators in America's long history of mass gun violence. But something about these public shootings, and the men held responsible, stands out.
How and with what effort does a bacterium—or a virus—enter a cell and cause an infection? Researchers from Freiburg have now made an important contribution to answering this question.
NHS crisis, withdrawal of tax credits and exit from EU blamed for fall in UK share of R&D marketBig pharma is unhappy about the prices it is being paid in the UK – a state of affairs the rest of us might instinctively regard as welcome, as it suggests the NHS is still world class when it comes to negotiating terms for branded medicines. The UK spends about 9% of its healthcare budget on such...
A team researchers is investigating a new method to monitor underground gas pipelines with high-tech sensors that can make it easier to find weaknesses, discrepancies and even a diversion in residential natural gas lines.
A new technique uses standard chip fab methods to fabricate the building block of a timing device, critical to all microprocessors. Currently, this timing device, known as an acoustic resonator, must be produced separately, often overseas, creating a supply chain and security weakness. The technique would allow for this timing device to be integrated with the microprocessor using standard CMOS...
Researchers have demonstrated for the first time a mechanically flexible silver mesh that is visibly transparent, allows high-quality infrared wireless optical communication and efficiently shields electromagnetic interference in the X band portion of the microwave radio region.
Researchers studying body phenotypes -- the observable characteristics like height, behavior, appearance and more measurables -- found that regardless of the muscle they had, high levels of fat mass in an individual were associated with poorer overall health.
Inspired by sea cucumbers, engineers have designed miniature robots that rapidly and reversibly shift between liquid and solid states. On top of being able to shape-shift, the robots are magnetic and can conduct electricity. The researchers put the robots through an obstacle course of mobility and shape-morphing tests.
The study adds to growing evidence that some often-underappreciated, 'non-essential' amino acids play important roles in the nervous system. The findings may provide a new way to identify people at high risk for peripheral neuropathy, as well as a potential treatment option.
Engineers and physicians have developed a wearable ultrasound device that can assess both the structure and function of the human heart. The portable device, which is roughly the size of a postage stamp, can be worn for up to 24 hours and works even during strenuous exercise.
A team of paleontologists have discovered the first 'unmistakable' Triassic-era caecilian fossil -- the oldest-known caecilian fossils -- thus extending the record of this small, burrowing animal by roughly 35 million years. The find also fills a gap of at least 87 million years in the known historical fossil record of the amphibian-like creature.