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62 articles from PhysOrg

Automated agricultural machinery requires new approaches to ensuring safety, says study

From self-driving tractors to weeding robots and AI-powered data collection, automated machinery is revolutionizing agricultural production. While these technological advancements can greatly improve productivity, they also raise new questions about safety measures and regulations. To address these issues, a recent study from the University of Illinois reviewed current academic literature on the...

Superconductivity with Tc as high as 32K found in borides

Superconductors with high transition temperature (high-Tc SCs) are long-sought targets in the condensed matter physics and materials communities because of significant scientific and application values. Since the discovery of superconductivity in mercury more than one hundred years ago, only a handful of systems show Tc higher than 30 K.

Chemists unravel reaction mechanism for clean energy catalyst

Hydrogen, the simplest element on Earth, is a clean fuel that could revolutionize the energy industry. Accessing hydrogen, however, is not a simple or clean process at all. Pure hydrogen is extremely rare in nature, and practical methods to produce it currently rely on fossil fuels. But if scientists find the right chemical catalyst, one that can split the hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules...

New research maps out exactly what happens when agriculture replaces forestry

Humans first started farming about 12,000 years ago. On the shores of the Euphrates and the Tigris, in what is now Iraq and Syria, small groups of people started to grow peas, lentils and barley independently of each other. They felled trees to make space for fields and animals, and in so doing began to shape nature according to the needs of humans.

How much wood can we expect from European forests?

The energy crisis has shown Europe the need to become more self-sufficient in resources. Wood is one of those resources, used in the construction sector, for example, and is already largely produced in the EU itself. The demand for wood is still increasing. However, a new study shows that the additional potential for wood harvesting is limited, and smaller than previously thought, unless more...

Poor soils lose carbon regardless of crop residue and nitrogen inputs, shows study

Let's say you're a corn grower farming on low-fertility soil. How do you go about making that soil healthier and more fertile? Many farmers think if they add plenty of nitrogen fertilizer, that nutrient, along with carbon, will be stored in the soil as organic matter when microbes decompose crop residue. But new research from the University of Illinois suggests those efforts might not work for...

Tiny proteins found across the animal kingdom may play a key role in cancer spread

Phosphatases of regenerating liver (PRLs) are a family of enigmatic proteins involved in cell growth and metabolism present in various species. From humans to fruit flies, they play a unique role in the growth of cancerous tumors and the spread of cancer throughout the body. New research emerging from McGill University is contributing to what is known about PRLs, which could potentially become an...

NASA's Juno mission nears Jupiter's moon Io

NASA's Juno spacecraft will fly past Jupiter's volcanic moon Io on Tuesday, May 16, and then the gas giant itself soon after. The flyby of the Jovian moon will be the closest to date, at an altitude of about 22,060 miles (35,500 kilometers). Now in the third year of its extended mission to investigate the interior of Jupiter, the solar-powered spacecraft will also explore the ring system where...

Heat-loving marine bacteria can help detoxify asbestos

Asbestos materials were once widely used in homes, buildings, automobile brakes and many other built materials due to their strength and resistance to heat and fire, as well as to their low electrical conductivity. Unfortunately, asbestos exposure through inhalation of small fiber particles has been shown to be highly carcinogenic.

Black holes might be defects in spacetime

A team of theoretical physicists have discovered a strange structure in space-time that to an outside observer would look exactly like a black hole, but upon closer inspection would be anything but: they would be defects in the very fabric of the universe.

AI brings new tool to remote monitoring of global reef health

A new conservation tool in the field of coral reef ecology has been developed by University of Hawai'i (UH) at Mānoa researchers using cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology. By developing novel deep learning algorithms, coral ecologists in the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) are now able to identify and measure reef halos from space.

'Love hormone' guides young songbirds in choice of 'voice coach'

Oxytocin, the so-called "love hormone," plays a key role in the process of how a young zebra finch learns to sing by imitating its elders, suggests a new study by neuroscientists at Emory University. Scientific Reports has published the findings, which add to the understanding of the neurochemistry of social learning.