A new way to identify stresses in complex fluids
Fluid dynamics researchers use many techniques to study turbulent flows like ocean currents, or the swirling atmosphere of other planets. Arezoo Adrekani's team has discovered that a mathematical construct used in these fields provides valuable information about stress in complex flow geometries.
ChatGPT: Study shows AI can produce academic papers good enough for journals—just as some ban it
Some of the world's biggest academic journal publishers have banned or curbed their authors from using the advanced chatbot, ChatGPT. Because the bot uses information from the internet to produce highly readable answers to questions, the publishers are worried that inaccurate or plagiarized work could enter the pages of academic literature.
First observation of de Broglie-Mackinnon wave packets achieved by exploiting loophole in 1980s theorem
University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics researchers achieved the first observation of de Broglie-Mackinnon wave packets by exploiting a loophole in a 1980s-era laser physics theorem.
European farms mix things up to guard against food-supply shocks
Greater diversification could help agriculture withstand climate, economic and geopolitical crises.
Growing borrowing costs offset easing inflation, finds consumer survey
Consumer sentiment lifted for the second straight month in January, rising 9% above December but remaining about 3% below a year ago, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.
UV lamps used for disinfection may impair indoor air quality
Using ultraviolet germicidal radiation (UVGI) to disinfect indoor spaces is a demonstrably effective way of deactivating various pathogens (including the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus). It deactivates bacteria and viruses by exposing them to high-energy UV radiation through the use of UV lamps.
Newly-named species of tree-dwelling snakes threatened by mining
Five new tree-dwelling snake species were discovered in the jungles of Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. Conservationists Leonardo DiCaprio, Brian Sheth, Re:wild, and Nature and Culture International chose the names for three of them in honor of loved ones while raising awareness about the issue of rainforest destruction at the hands of open-pit mining operations. The research was conducted by...
Instrument on JWST has gone offline
The JWST is having a problem. One of its instruments, the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS), has gone offline. The NIRISS performs spectroscopy on exoplanet atmospheres, among other things.
Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown
On Oct. 5, 2020, the rapidly rotating corpse of a long-dead star about 30,000 light years from Earth changed speeds. In a cosmic instant, its spinning slowed. And a few days later, it abruptly started emitting radio waves.
Environmentalists to file lawsuit over Illinois' Bell Bowl Prairie, home to the endangered rusty patched bumblebee
The fight to preserve Bell Bowl Prairie in Rockford, Illinois, where federally endangered rusty patched bumblebees have been found, ramped up this week, with environmentalists saying they intend to return to federal court.
An AI bot passed this Wharton professor's exam. Here's why he's not concerned
Wharton professor Christian Terwiesch was sitting with his grown children around the dinner table when the subject of artificial intelligence came up. Both of his kids had been experimenting with the nascent technology in their respective fields: "one of them is interested in design...and the other one is interested in computer science."
Looking back at the Tonga eruption
A new analysis of seismic data recorded after the massively violent eruption of the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, on January 15, 2022, has revealed new and useful information on the sequence of events. Kotaro Tarumi and Kazunori Yoshizawa at Hokkaido University discuss their methods and findings in an article in Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
Movements in proteins reveal information about antibiotic resistance spreading
Researchers at Umeå University have discovered how a certain type of protein moves for DNA to be copied. The discovery could have implications for understanding how antibiotic resistance genes spread between bacteria.
Hubble views bright variable star V 372 Orionis and a smaller companion star
The bright variable star V 372 Orionis takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which has also captured a smaller companion star in the upper left of this image. Both stars lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1,450 light-years from Earth.
Research reveals how redlining grades influenced later life expectancy
Research from Washington University in St. Louis exposes the deadly legacy of redlining, the 1930s-era New Deal practice that graded neighborhoods by financial risk and solidified the notion that an area's property value was proportional to its racial composition.
Perseverance takes a selfie to show off some of its samples
One of the main jobs for the Perseverance Mars rover past few weeks has been collecting carefully selected samples of Mars rock and soil. These samples have been placed and sealed in special sample tubes and left in well-identified places so that a future sample return mission can collect them and bring the Martian samples back to Earth.
Four possible consequences of El Niño returning in 2023
Every two to seven years, the equatorial Pacific Ocean gets up to 3°C warmer (what we know as an El Niño event) or colder (La Niña) than usual, triggering a cascade of effects felt around the world. This cycle is called the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) because every El Niño is naturally followed by a La Niña and vice versa, with some months of neutral conditions in between events. The...
It'll take 150 years to map Africa's biodiversity at the current rate, say researchers
The African continent is bursting with biodiversity. In a 2016 report, the United Nations Environment Program wrote: "Africa's biomes extend from mangroves to deserts, from Mediterranean to tropical forests, from temperate to sub-tropical and montane grasslands and savannas, and even to ice-capped mountains."
Large number of animal skulls found in Neanderthal cave
A team of researchers affiliated with a host of institutions across Spain, working with one colleague from Portugal and another from Austria, has discovered a large number of animal skulls placed by Neanderthals in Spanish cave more than 40,000 years ago.
Restoring land for livelihoods can have ecological benefits, study suggests
Small-scale restoration efforts that aim to help meet livelihood needs have the potential to contribute to ecological goals in the central Indian landscape, according to a new study published in Restoration Ecology.
Machine learning approach may aid water conservation push in the Colorado River basin
The Colorado River basin, which supplies water to 40 million people in the Western United States, is threatened by historic drought, a changing climate and water demands from growing cities. One potential response involves encouraging individuals to conserve water, and a new study may help identify those most likely to change their behaviors to contribute, according to scientists.
New model effectively predicts consumers' retail shopping mobility during a pandemic
COVID-19 forced people to contend with travel bans, stay-at-home orders and closure of nonessential businesses. A new study in the Journal of Business Research reveals how this significant event affected consumer mobility and shopping habits. And the results are hardly what one might predict.
Rosy finches are Colorado's high-alpine specialists, and researchers want to know why
Mountaineers who venture high into the Colorado Rockies have likely spotted medium-sized, brown-and-pink birds rummaging around on snow patches for insects and seeds. These high-elevation specialists are rosy finches, a type of bird that's evolved to survive in some of the most rugged places in North America.
Development of machine vision system capable of locating king flowers on apple trees
A machine vision system capable of locating and identifying apple king flowers within clusters of blossoms on trees in orchards was devised by Penn State researchers—a critical early step in the development of a robotic pollination system—in a first-of-its-kind study.
Disabled people were Holocaust victims, excluded from German society and murdered by Nazi programs
When Dominic Perrottet admitted to wearing a Nazi uniform to his 21st birthday party, he apologized to Jews and veterans—but not to the other groups who were persecuted by the Nazis, including disabled people.