146 articles from TUESDAY 9.5.2023
How the ancient messengers cAMP and cGMP deliver their messages
Two highly similar molecules with essential but often contrasting signaling roles in most life forms exert their distinct effects through subtle differences in their bindings to their signaling partners, according to a new study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Designing cameras for harsh environments? Be sure to account for lens mount details
Cameras used in harsh environments must be designed in a way that prevents temperature swings from influencing their optical performance. New research demonstrates that accounting for the exact lens mounting structure used is a critical step in ensuring that lens systems remain robust to temperature changes.
Researchers switch from helium to hydrogen weather balloons
Hundreds of miles north of the Arctic Circle, Sandia National Laboratories researchers ensure the collection of important weather and climate data. By switching the gas used in their weather balloons, they have reduced their metaphorical footprint on the fragile Arctic ecosystem.
Baby born from three people's DNA in UK first
Most of the baby's DNA comes from their two parents, with a small percentage from a donor.
Astronomers claim to have solved mystery of the runaway supermassive black hole
A mysterious trail of stars formed eight thousand million years ago and recently discovered by the Hubble Space Telescope has been a challenge to a number of research groups. Its size is similar to that of the Milky Way, and this very long narrow structure has given rise to several explanations of its origin.
Gene-edited calf may reduce reliance on antimicrobials against cattle disease
Cattle worldwide face major health threats from a highly infectious viral disease that decades of vaccinations and other precautions have failed to contain. Federal, private-sector and University of Nebraska-Lincoln scientists are collaborating on a new line of defense, by producing a gene-edited calf resistant to the virus.
Fake scientific papers are alarmingly common
When neuropsychologist Bernhard Sabel put his new fake-paper detector to work, he was “shocked” by what it found. After screening some 5000 papers, he estimates up to 34% of neuroscience papers published in 2020 were likely made up or plagiarized; in medicine, the figure was 24%. Both numbers, which he and colleagues report
in a medRxiv preprint
posted on 8 May, are...
Researchers make a 'surprising' discovery on melanin
Jean-Philip Lumb is an associate professor of chemistry at McGill University.
Magnetic tunnel junction device with highest tunnel magnetoresistance developed through precision interfacial control
The National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) has achieved a tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of 631% at room temperature, breaking the previous world record, which had stood for 15 years.
A former firefighter's new tool could help communities plan for wildfires before they start
A new tool, created by University of Alberta's Jen Beverly, could help communities better map out potential wildfire paths and mitigation...
Possible meteorite crashes into New Jersey home, no injuries
A metallic object believed to be a meteorite punched a hole in the roof of a central New Jersey home this week, smashing into a hardwood floor and bouncing around a bedroom. The family who owns the home discovered the black, potato-sized rock in a corner—still warm.
Squeezing rocks for science: The power and potential of the large volume torsion apparatus
Philip Skemer, associate department chair and professor of Earth and planetary sciences, and graduate student Charis Horn, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, have published a study in Geophysical Research Letters that showcases the power and potential of the large volume torsion (LVT) apparatus.
Mexico’s ‘salamander of the gods’ edges toward extinction
Mexico City—
It’s not yet noon on a Wednesday at Lake Xochimilco, a mosaic of ponds and canals to the south of this sprawling metropolis, but revelers on a brightly colored tourist boat have already broken out the beer and are whooping it up. On another boat, a mariachi band tunes up. Carlos Uriel Sumano Arias, paddling a flat-bottomed
chalupa
belonging to...
The UAE’s transition to a net-zero future
As the impacts of climate change like desertification, biodiversity loss, pollution, and severe weather persist, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is approaching the green transition and decarbonization with a great sense of urgency. Between its ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement, its $160 billion investment in renewables over the next 30 years, and its green…
Evolutionary cell biology study shows how energy production can be optimized to ensure rapid growth without respiration
In a paper published today, researchers from the Randall Centre for Cell & Molecular Biophysics and The Crick use an evolutionary cell biology approach in two related fission yeasts, one that acquires energy by respiration and one that doesn't, to find the critical points at which respiration feeds into central carbon metabolism.
Extending the life of a lithium metal anode using a protective layer made of an extremely tough gel electrolyte
- ScienceDaily
- 23/5/9 21:20
A research team has succeeded in substantially improving the cycling performance of a lithium metal battery by developing a mechanically very strong polymeric gel electrolyte and integrating it into the battery as a layer to protect the lithium metal anode. This achievement may greatly facilitate efforts to put lithium metal anodes -- a potentially very high performance anode material -- into...
French felines found to be less responsive to cat calls with faster attraction to visual cues
Researchers Charlotte de Mouzon and Gérard Leboucher of the Laboratoire Ethologie Cognition Développement, Université Paris Nanterre in France, have examined preferred feline etiquette when faced with an unfamiliar human. In the paper, "Multimodal Communication in the Human–Cat Relationship: A Pilot Study," published in Animals, researchers examined four modes of human interactions—vocal,...
NASA’s Plant Science is Rooted in Earth and Shoots for the Stars
NASA supports USDA plant science research that benefits life on our home planet and beyond!
This image shows the USDA Biotechnology Lab at EPCOT, located within Walt Disney World Resort. The two illuminated white squares stacked one over the other above the Biotechnology Lab sign are plant growing chambers developed by NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division at Kennedy Space...
Researchers identify a new protein that controls the production of strawberries' red color
A research group at the University of Cordoba characterizes a new transcription factor that regulates, during the ripening of strawberries, the production of anthocyanins responsible for giving them their red hue.
Can a city store as much carbon as a forest?
A team of researchers at Aalto University has developed a new tool to help urban planners keep urban developments in line with climate goals. The tool provides a metric that planners can use to improve carbon-neutral planning of urban growth, which is essential for meeting carbon emission targets.
Study calls for action to explore potential impacts of decommissioned offshore structures
Making uniform decisions to justify the decommissioning of offshore artificial structures at the end of their lives could pose significant environmental challenges, a new study has said.
A new theory of what drives partisan conflict and hostility
Partisan conflict can be largely explained as differing views on two crucial tasks of society, according to a new theory developed by a pair of prominent social scientists.
Using two fiber-optic cables to track whales as they cruise the Arctic
Fiber-optic cables line the coasts of the continents and crisscross the oceans, carrying signals that are the backbone of communication in the modern world. While their main job is telecommunications, researchers have been exploring ways to use this giant network to eavesdrop on everything from storms to earthquakes to whales.
Country of origin, race, politics influence gun violence attitude, poll finds
Attitudes about gun violence and firearm policies are influenced by race more than age, and opinions vary widely based on whether respondents were born in the U.S. and their political affiliation, according to a recent University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll conducted with Ipsos.
'Regenerative agriculture' is all the rage—but it's not going to fix our food system, says researcher
Decades of industrial agriculture have caused environmental and social damage across the globe. Soils have deteriorated and plant and animal species are disappearing. Landscapes are degraded and small-scale farmers are struggling. It's little wonder we're looking for more sustainable and just ways of growing food and fiber.
Scientists streamline a widely used chemical reaction, creating new manufacturing opportunities
A team of scientists from the University of Ottawa has developed an innovative technique to manufacture complex chemical structures from easily accessible substrates, making it one of the simplest and most practical methods for converting alcohols into their arylated equivalents.
Can lions coexist with cattle in Africa?
Protecting lions and the interests of cattle producers in Kenya is a difficult balancing act. In a recent Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution article, Dr. Laurence G Frank, a researcher at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia, Kenya, explored how protecting livestock can help protect endangered lions.
Study: Spanish courts hand down milder sentences for rapes if they are committed by the victim's partner or ex-partner
Just four years ago, the Spanish Supreme Court pointed out in a ruling that there is no such thing as a "conjugal debt." In other words, a woman is not obliged to satisfy her husband's sexual needs. It may come as a surprise that this point still needs to be made, but the statistics speak for themselves. According to a national survey carried out in 2019, 7.5% of Spanish women over 16 years old...
Water warming study shows unexpected impact on fish size
The theory that aquatic animals such as fish will shrink due to global warming has been called into question by a study published today in eLife.
Study: No need for a leaky mode at the picometer level for microtapers
The precision of obtaining abundant light-matter-interact information with a snapshot measurement makes optical spectroscopy indispensable for modern industries and scientific research. The miniaturization of traditionally bulky spectrometers has been strongly motivated by the vast applications, including bio/medical sensing, material analysis, optical communication, and light source...
The impact of thermal drawdown-induced alterations in rock thermal properties on heat recovery
Geothermal energy, found in subsurface hot dry rocks, is a viable option instead of fossil fuels. Enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) enable us to use the plentiful amounts of energy in the hot rocks. The optimization and risk management of this process necessitate the accurate predictions of long-term thermal performance under different scenarios, which are usually done through numerical modeling.
Re‐examining the underground connections between trees
Fungal networks interconnecting trees in a forest is a key factor that determines the nature of forests and their response to climate change. These networks have also been viewed as a means for trees to help their offspring and other tree-friends, according to the increasingly popular "mother tree hypothesis." An international group of researchers re-examined the evidence for and against this...
Fossil pollen helps us understand changes in Asia´s ecosystem over the last 12,000 years
By using a unique set of data researchers at the University of Bergen show that vegetation change in Asia during the last 12,000 years for the most part has been heterogeneous across space and time. But during the recent millennia vegetation on the continent has progressively been turning more homogeneous as result of human activity during the mid-to-late Holocene.
People of color are so used to discrimination in stores they don't always notice bad customer service, finds research
People from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups tend to rate poor customer service less negatively than white people do, according to new peer-reviewed research we co-authored.
LISA will be a remarkable gravitational-wave observatory, but there's a way to make it 100 times more powerful
The first-time detection of Gravitational Waves (GW) by researchers at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) in 2015 triggered a revolution in astronomy. This phenomenon consists of ripples in spacetime caused by the merger of massive objects and was predicted a century prior by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. In the coming years, this burgeoning field will...
HECS for farmers? Nature repair loans could help biodiversity recover—and boost farm productivity
Almost three billion hectares of farmland is in poor condition worldwide—an area the size of Russia. Biodiversity is in freefall. Extinctions are rising. Wild animal populations have fallen almost 70% since 1970.
New method uses engineered bacteria and AI to sense and record environmental signals
Researchers in Biomedical Engineering Professor Tal Danino's lab were brainstorming several years ago about how they could engineer and apply naturally-pattern-forming bacteria. There are many bacteria species, such as Proteus mirabilis (P. mirabilis), that self-organize into defined patterns on solid surfaces that are visible to the naked eye.