Children's drawings may help with early detection of giftedness
Potential talents of children with characteristics of giftedness are not always seen in mainstream education. Children's drawings, however, can play a role in early detection of their needs and talents, argues psychologist Sven Mathijssen in his dissertation titled "Back to the drawing board: Potential indicators of giftedness in human figure drawings," which he defends on March 22, 2023.
Resistance in tokamak vessel walls can cause disruptive energy loss
Under certain conditions, the fusion devices known as tokamaks can suffer a sudden loss of energy to the vessel walls. Researchers call this energy loss process a disruption. One cause is a magnetohydrodynamic (i.e., conducting plasma in a magnetic field) instability, or mode, coupling to the vacuum vessel.
Research team uses 6-foot 'test tubes' to study red tide
A potential treatment for Florida's devastating red tides has taken another step toward widespread deployment after successful testing in Sarasota Bay.
Powerful solar eruption on far side of sun impacts Earth
A massive eruption of solar material, known as a coronal mass ejection or CME, was detected escaping from the sun at 11:36 p.m. EDT on March 12, 2023.
A non-native tree species reclaims its prominence after extreme weather
The long-term effects on forests of more extreme climate events, plus other drivers of forest change, are highly uncertain. A new study of the tropical forests across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), spanning 19 years, found that after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the total biomass of a fast-growing non-native species, the African tulip Tree (Spathodea campanulata), may again be...
New review of world water resources provides sustainable management strategies
A recent review study led by The University of Texas at Austin provides an overview of the planet's freshwater supplies and strategies for sustainably managing them.
Engineers keep an eye on fuel supply of NASA's oldest Mars orbiter
Measuring the fuel supply on Odyssey, a decades-old spacecraft without a fuel gauge, is no easy task.
Could AI-powered object recognition technology help solve wheat disease?
A new University of Illinois project is using advanced object recognition technology to keep toxin-contaminated wheat kernels out of the food supply and to help researchers make wheat more resistant to fusarium head blight, or scab disease, the crop's top nemesis.
New targeting opportunities discovered against canine distemper virus
The highly contagious canine distemper virus is dangerous to dogs and wild life animals. It is also closely related to the equally highly contagious measles virus. Researchers at the University of Bern and the Zurich University of Applied Sciences have now for the first time determined the structure of the canine distemper virus "docking protein" and depicted it at molecular level. This lays the...
High-loading single cobalt atoms on ultrathin MOF nanosheets for efficient photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction
Using solar energy to convert CO2 into synthetic fuels is currently one of the most promising technologies to achieve carbon neutrality with the embedment of sustainable energy into our modern economy. However, the efficiency of photocatalytic CO2 conversion is greatly limited due to the high thermodynamic stability of CO2 molecules and their multiple-electron-reduction process.
Stock market forces shown to drive cryptocurrency returns
Having examined the impact of various factors on cryptocurrency returns, HSE economists found that fluctuations in cryptocurrency prices can be better explained by equity market risks than by factors specific to the crypto market, suggesting greater linkages between cryptocurrency and equity markets than previously believed. The study is published in a special issue of International Finance Review...
New study suggests a strong link between social entrepreneurship and language
The rise in social entrepreneurship over the last 20 years denotes a major global economic and political movement. Social entrepreneurs generate substantial positive outcomes, but while they make up 2% or more of GDP in countries like Canada, Australia and the UK, many other societies have a shortage of them. A recent study from a special issue of the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal (SEJ)...
The new normal already? Examining the changing probability of a summer-like fall
In October 2021, South Korea experienced a heatwave of an unprecedented magnitude. During the first half of the month, the average temperature was recorded at 19.9 °C, marking a 3.9 °C increase above normal. This event was unparalleled, anticipated to arise only once in thousands of years.
New technology maps where and how cells read their genome
A new study published in Nature reports that a technology known as spatial omics can be used to map simultaneously how genes are switched on and off and how they are expressed in different areas of tissues and organs. This improved technology, developed by researchers at Yale University and Karolinska Institutet, could shed light on the development of tissues, as well as on certain diseases and...
Fundamental constants: Is the universe fine-tuned for life?
Imagine a universe with extremely strong gravity. Stars would be able to form from very little material. They would be smaller than in our universe and live for a much shorter amount of time. But could life evolve there? It took human life billions of years to evolve on Earth under the pleasantly warm rays from the Sun after all.
The multiverse: Our universe is suspiciously unlikely to exist—unless it is one of many, says physicist
It's easy to envisage other universes, governed by slightly different laws of physics, in which no intelligent life, nor indeed any kind of organized complex systems, could arise. Should we therefore be surprised that a universe exists in which we were able to emerge?
Pluto team updates science from the solar system's edge
Nearly eight years after its historic Pluto flyby, NASA's New Horizons probe is getting ready for another round of observations made from the icy edge of the solar system—and this time, its field of view will range from Uranus and Neptune to the cosmic background far beyond our galaxy.
Even the calmest red dwarfs are wilder than the sun, reveals paper
There's something menacing about red dwarfs. Human eyes are accustomed to our benevolent yellow sun and the warm light it shines on our glorious, life-covered planet. But red dwarfs can seem moody, ill-tempered, and even foreboding.
International scientists warn of the serious impact of noise pollution on marine invertebrates
An international scientific study, led by the UPC's Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics (LAB), shows that noise from human operations at sea damages marine invertebrates and ocean ecosystems. Published in Frontiers in Marine Science, the work points out that noise pollution at sea can even cause death in some marine species.
Local supply of managerial skills can impact firm performance
If you think that the executive labor market is a global one, you're not alone. After all, it's pretty common to read about top managers being hired to steer the fate of far-away companies. However, recent research by Julien Sauvagnat (Bocconi Department of Finance) and Fabiano Schivardi (LUISS) highlights that local supply of managerial talent is an underestimated driver of company performance,...
U.S. East Coast landslide impacts from Puerto Rico to Vermont and in between
In the U.S., we may often think of landslides as primarily a West Coast problem, mostly plaguing the mountainous terrain of California, Oregon, and Washington. A technical session at the upcoming GSA 2023 Joint Southeastern & Northeastern Section Meeting in Reston, Virginia, U.S., will highlight the major impacts of landslides on the U.S. East Coast and what is being done to save lives and deal...
Modern glacier remains found near Mars equator suggest water ice possibly present today at low latitudes
In a groundbreaking announcement at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference held in The Woodlands, Texas, scientists revealed the discovery of a relict glacier near the equator of Mars. Located in Eastern Noctis Labyrinthus at coordinates 7° 33' S, 93° 14' W, this finding is significant as it implies the presence of surface water ice on Mars in recent times, even near the equator. This...
Tasmanian devil whiskers may hold the key to protecting these super-scavengers
Despite the damage humans cause to the planet, in some cases wildlife can benefit from the presence of people. The Tasmanian devil, for example, frequently feeds on roadkill left by humans.
Fines for breaking US pollution laws can vary widely among states—the disparity may violate the Constitution
It's expensive to pollute the water in Colorado. The state's median fine for companies caught violating the federal Clean Water Act is over US$30,000, and violators can be charged much more. In Montana, however, most violators get barely a slap on the wrist—the median fine there is $300.
Salmon fishing banned along California coast as population plummets
Fishing boats would normally fan out along the California coast to catch Chinook salmon in the spring, but regulators have announced the fishing season will be shut down this year.