174 articles from THURSDAY 26.1.2023
Protein decoys for viruses may battle COVID-19 and more
As the fight against COVID-19 wears on and the virus continues to mutate, vaccines and several monoclonal antibody drugs are losing some of their punch. That’s added urgency to a strategy for preventing and treating the disease that, in theory, could stop all variants of SARS-CoV-2. The idea is to flood the body with proteins that mimic the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)...
Iranian researchers fear for science after hardline cleric takes important post
Many Iranian scientists are dismayed about last week’s appointment of a hardline conservative cleric as the new secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (SCCR), a body with considerable power over science, academic life, and culture in Iran.
They worry Abdolhossein Khosropanah, appointed on 17 January by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, will strengthen the...
Retired teacher finds mammoth shoulder blade bone while walking dogs west of Edmonton
A former teacher found a mammoth bone west of Edmonton last year. A local museum has accepted the specimen as a...
Events serve as 'stepping stones' en route to retrieved memories
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
Lost your keys again? You might retrace your steps by scanning your memory using certain event boundaries -- when one event ends (say, walking in the door with your keys) and another begins (checking your phone, turning on the TV).
LiDAR technology could improve safety features in vehicles
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
Dr. Scott Budge and his student Chaz Cornwall published a paper in Optical Engineering where they argue the benefits of LiDAR technology in commercial vehicles.
When should data scientists try a new technique?
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
Researchers created a new measure, called the c-value, that helps statisticians and data scientists choose between estimation techniques based on the chance that a new method is more accurate for a specific dataset and application.
Most U.S. children use potentially toxic makeup products, often during play
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
Scientists found that most children in the United States use makeup and body products that may contain carcinogens and other toxic chemicals.
Quantum physicists make major nanoscopic advance
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
In a new breakthrough, researchers have solved a problem that has caused quantum researchers headaches for years. The researchers can now control two quantum light sources rather than one. Trivial as it may seem to those uninitiated in quantum, this colossal breakthrough allows researchers to create a phenomenon known as quantum mechanical entanglement. This in turn, opens new doors for companies...
Secret recipe for limonoids opens door for bee-friendly crop protection
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
Innovative research has uncovered the secret of how plants make limonoids, a family of valuable organic chemicals which include bee-friendly insecticides and have potential as anti-cancer drugs.
Solar System formed from 'poorly mixed cake batter,' isotope research shows
- ScienceDaily
- 23/1/26 22:19
Earth's potassium arrived by meteoritic delivery service finds new research led by Earth and planetary scientists. Their work shows that some primitive meteorites contain a different mix of potassium isotopes than those found in other, more-chemically processed meteorites. These results can help elucidate the processes that shaped our Solar System and determined the composition of its planets.
Why this woman left a career in architecture to catalogue bird feathers
Instead of designing buildings, Esha Munshi puts her aesthetic skills to use by collecting, photographing, measuring and cataloguing the wings and feathers of India's more than 1,300 bird...
Is your supermarket 'climate-friendly'? Here's how to tell
In this week's issue of our environment newsletter, we look at how grocery story refrigerants are contributing to global warming and how air pollution is changing our...
How Roomba tester’s private images ended up on Facebook
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on social media? This episode we go behind the scenes of an MIT Technology Review investigation that uncovered how sensitive photos taken by an AI powered vacuum were leaked and landed on the internet. Reporting: We meet: Credits: This episode was reported…
Science journals ban listing of ChatGPT as co-author on papers
Some publishers also banning use of bot in preparation of submissions but others see its adoption as inevitableThe publishers of thousands of scientific journals have banned or restricted contributors’ use of an advanced AI-driven chatbot amid concerns that it could pepper academic literature with flawed and even fabricated research.ChatGPT, a fluent but flaky chatbot developed by OpenAI in...
Earthlike planets should readily form around other stars, meteorites suggest
How hard is it to give birth to an Earth? To assemble the right mix of rock, metal, and water, in a balmy spot not too far from a star? For a long time, planetary scientists have thought Earth was a lucky accident, enriched with water and lighter “volatile” elements—such as nitrogen and carbon—by asteroids that had strayed in from the outer edges of the early Solar System,...
News at a glance: HIV vaccine failure, AI meteorite detective, and the Doomsday Clock
GEOLOGY
AI helps find missed meteorites
Antarctica is famously good at preserving meteorites, burying the rocks in snow and ice until they resurface. They often become concentrated in regions of compacted “blue” ice that make up about 1% of the Antarctic surface. But finding the meteorites within those tracts has been an ad hoc affair. Now,...
Heat waves can decrease the biomass of phytoplankton in lakes
A recently published study showed that heat waves reduced the biomass of phytoplankton in a boreal lake. Summertime heat waves will become more frequent and stronger with climate change and can reduce the biomass of phytoplankton in stratified lakes.
Government green heating scheme off to slow start
Take up of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme is lagging behind schedule
A hymn to the stars: What happens when science puts the universe into music?
A little over six months ago, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) delivered its first photographs, dazzling the world as it revealed the cosmos in glorious technicolor. The first picture transmitted in July showed a galaxy cluster located in the Southern hemisphere sky, 5.12 billion light years from Earth. In the words of US president Joe Biden, it represented "the deepest and sharpest...
How rising household debt could slow UK labor strikes this year
After decades of declining real wages and deteriorating working conditions, strike activity has spiked over the last year, particularly in the United Kingdom. From nurses and teachers to railway and postal workers, employees are demanding wage increases and improved working conditions—and walking out if they believe employers' offers won't stave off the rising cost of living.
Deep sea reefs are spectacular and barely explored—researcher says they must be conserved
Sunlit coral reefs are perhaps the most famous marine habitat and many people will have snorkeled over or dived down to one at some point. Home to a quarter of all known ocean life, these "rainforests of the ocean" have been at the forefront of marine research for decades and been featured in documentaries like Blue Planet and animations such as Finding Nemo.