95 articles from MONDAY 30.1.2023

Climate tipping: West Antarctica ice sheet collapse may stabilize North Atlantic currents

It has been hypothesized, that the tipping of one element of the Earth's system can catalyze the tipping of others in a cascade. A study gives an example of an alternative option, in which the collapse of one component might in fact make another system tipping less likely. In particular, the study indicates that tipping of the West Antarctica ice sheet may stabilize the important ocean current...

Does failing to detect aliens mean we'll never be contacted?

In a recent paper submitted to The Astronomical Journal in November 2022, a scientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne quantifies how the Earth has not heard a radio signal from an extraterrestrial technological civilization since the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) began listening for such signals 60 year ago. The article also quantifies the potential...

Are Wildfires Getting Worse? – We Asked a NASA Scientist

Are wildfires getting worse? Unfortunately, yes. Changes in our climate, along with other factors, have led to wildfires increasing in intensity, severity, size and duration. NASA climate and wildfire expert Liz Hoy explains how and why NASA studies these events from the ground, air, and space to better understand the impacts they have on both a local and global scale....

Machine learning identifies drugs that could potentially help smokers quit

Medications like dextromethorphan, used to treat coughs caused by cold and flu, could potentially be repurposed to help people quit smoking cigarettes, according to a new study. Researchers developed a novel machine learning method, where computer programs analyze data sets for patterns and trends, to identify the drugs and said that some of them are already being tested in clinical trials.

New insights on why improvements to Chesapeake Bay remain a challenge

A new look at the history of water quality in the Chesapeake Bay sheds light on how the estuary has responded to nutrient reduction efforts and why improvements have remained a major challenge. Environmental science researchers looked at the Bay's historic response to efforts to reduce nutrients to minimize dead zones -- areas with too little oxygen to support marine life -- and found there is a...

Powering wearable technology with MXene textile supercapacitor 'patch'

Researchers are one step closer to making wearable textile technology a reality. Materials scientists have reported a new design of a flexible wearable supercapacitor patch. It uses MXene to create a textile-based supercapacitor that can charge in minutes and power an Arduino microcontroller temperature sensor and radio communication of data for almost two hours.

Rare ‘mother of pearl’ clouds spotted over Scotland

Iridescent clouds formed of ice crystals are usually found in extremely cold air above polar regionsExcited weather watchers have captured stunning images of rare “mother of pearl” clouds, which have formed high up in the atmosphere over Scotland.Such clouds tend to develop in the extremely cold air above polar regions, but were spotted on Sunday evening and Monday morning by BBC weather...