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.
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.
How assigning labels at work can delegitimize employees
Have you or a colleague ever been negatively labeled at work, whether it's based on your gender, age, race or ethnicity? Labels can often be mundane because we use them spontaneously on an everyday basis. But they can also be far from innocuous. Labels convey value judgments and serve to control the behavior of the people they're applied to.
California wants to ban the toxic chemical that gives chrome its classic shine
For decades, hexavalent chromium has provided the silvery showroom finish to countless consumer products, from automobile bumpers and grilles to kitchen faucets and light fixtures. It has also served as an indispensable rust-resistant coating for aviation components, such as airplane landing gear.
Preserving endangered languages as 3D shapes
Half of the world's languages are endangered and more than a thousand are expected to be lost in coming decades. A team at UCL is using animation software to preserve these languages in an entirely new way.
An open-source stopwatch to time interactions between molecules inside living cells
A stopwatch to investigate what happens inside living cells at a thousandth of a millisecond scale: this is the open-source platform BrightEyes-TTM developed by the research team led by Giuseppe Vicidomini at Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology).
Scientists observe 'quasiparticles' in classical systems for the first time
Starting with the emergence of quantum mechanics, the world of physics has been divided between classical and quantum physics. Classical physics deals with the motions of objects we typically see every day in the macroscopic world, while quantum physics explains the exotic behaviors of elementary particles in the microscopic world.
Rapid production of antibubbles with a jet
University of Twente researchers succeeded in the rapid fabrication of microscopic "antibubbles." Previous methods to produce these liquid droplets surrounded by an air layer were either lacked controllability or were prone to clogging and were much slower. The team of researchers recently published their findings in the journal Advanced Materials.
Why do cats and dogs get 'the zoomies'?
Does your cat or dog suddenly get a burst of energy and perform athletic feats around the house that would make even a gold medalist jealous? Welcome to the world of zoomies.
These five spectacular impact craters on Earth highlight our planet's wild history
I think all craters are cool, I'm just going to start with that. I am very biased.
Economists have misunderstood a key indicator—and it's a big problem, says researcher
In studies, forecasts and recommendations to governments, markets are seen as capable of processing so-called rational information. Economists claim that firms' market prices result from rational expectation about their future monetary flows and intangible assets not accounted by bookkeeping, which, however, would enable those future monetary flows to occur.
Fossil teeth reveal how brains developed in utero over millions of years of human evolution
Fossilized bones help tell the story of what human beings and our predecessors were doing hundreds of thousands of years ago. But how can you learn about important parts of our ancestors' life cycle—like pregnancy or gestation—that leave no obvious trace in the fossil record?
Atlanta's BeltLine shows how urban parks can drive 'green gentrification,' inequality
Is Atlanta a good place to live? Recent rankings certainly say so. In September 2022, Money magazine rated Atlanta the best place to live in the U.S., based on its strong labor market and job growth. The National Association of Realtors calls it the top housing market to watch in 2023, noting that Atlanta's housing prices are lower than those in comparable cities and that it has a rapidly growing...
Starbucks fans are steamed: The psychology underlying anger toward changes to a rewards program
Starbucks, the coffee chain giant, is modifying its rewards program, and the news is full of stories of outraged consumers.
The SAT and ACT are less important than you might think, says professor
College admission tests are becoming a thing of the past.
What is blue carbon and how can it help fight climate change?
Blue carbon is becoming an increasingly popular term, but what exactly does it mean? The answer may vary slightly depending on who you ask. But broadly speaking, according to the National Ocean Service, "blue carbon is simply the term for carbon captured by the world's ocean and coastal ecosystems."
NASA's Fermi detects first gamma-ray eclipses from 'spider' star systems
Scientists have discovered the first gamma-ray eclipses from a special type of binary star system using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. These so-called spider systems each contain a pulsar—the superdense, rapidly rotating remains of a star that exploded in a supernova—that slowly erodes its companion.
Mandatory business closures drove the economic decline during COVID-19 pandemic: Study
Involuntary business closures have been the leading cause of a massive decline in U.S. GDP during the COVID-19 pandemic, although personal voluntary behaviors to avoid infection also play a role, according to a new study by USC faculty.
Study finds that eDNA can help detect rainbow smelt
Searun rainbow smelt—a culturally and ecologically valuable fish for New England anglers, consumers and marine ecosystems—is on the decline. Determining the extent of that decline, however, is difficult in Maine. Searun smelt can be easy to miss because they only enter coastal spawning streams from deeper waters during a few cold, wet nights each spring, and they depart the streams by early...
Q&A: Gun violence pressures elected officials to make reforms
With three mass shooting within a week leaving 24 Californians dead, public policy makers are searching for answers.
Asian American shootings: This is 'not an exception' and other issues need to be discussed, says professor
Days after two California massacres involving the Asian American community, many are seeking to understand what drove two men to commit these crimes. Primary among questions are the role of culture and society, and whether mental health is a pressing issue in the Asian American community.
Florida dominates list of most overvalued housing markets
Florida metros make up six of the 10 most overvalued housing markets in the nation, according to the latest report from researchers at Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University.
Rural water infrastructure development research demonstrates ethnically, racially uneven economic outcomes
A research study led by J. Tom Mueller, Ph.D., research assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences at the University of Oklahoma, was published in the first issue of a new journal in the Nature series.