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267,068 articles from PhysOrg

Negative 'retweets' appear to add to voter fraud conspiracy theories

A team of behavioral scientists using big data and a simulation-based model to analyze social media "tweets" around the 2020 presidential election found that the spread of voter fraud conspiracy theories on Twitter (now called X) was boosted by a negativity bias. Led by Mason Youngblood, Ph.D., a post-doctoral fellow in the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Stony Brook University,...

Q&A: Is hopelessness a US public health crisis?

How can the world's wealthiest country be so poor in hope? It's a question that a University of Maryland economist is asking about the United States, where unprecedented levels of despair have manifested in a national mental health crisis, a surge in opioid abuse and suicide, and increased workforce dropout.

From 'Money Heist' to 'Squid Game': The 'glocal' strategy that keeps Netflix afloat

Money Heist is the most watched Spanish series of all time thanks to Netflix, which launched it internationally after purchasing it from Atresmedia. The last episode premiered in autumn 2021, a few weeks after the North American company began broadcasting Squid Game, the South Korean series that became the most viewed content on the platform. These successes are no coincidence.

Is there more to palm oil than deforestation?

Palm oil is the world's most produced and consumed vegetable oil and everyone knows that its production can damage the environment. But do consumers have the full picture? In fact, replacing palm oil with rapeseed oil would require a four to five-fold increase in the amount of land needed.

How does voltage drive nonmetallic catalysts to perform electrocatalytic reactions?

Understanding how voltage drives nanoscale electrocatalysts to initiate reactions is a fundamental scientific question. This is especially challenging when dealing with non-metallic electrocatalysts due to their low inherent carrier concentration, which leads to poor conductivity. When voltage is applied at the non-metal/solution interface, the situation becomes more complex than in the case of...

Companies in Germany are adapting to the consequences of extreme weather events

German Executives are most concerned about the impact of hot weather and heavy rains on their companies' operations. Apart from this, however, they also have an awareness of the consequences of climate change on their value chains. This is revealed by the current IfM survey of more than 1,300 managing executives on the current Climate Adaptation Week of the Federal Ministry for the Environment.

Gold nanoclusters can improve electrochemical water splitting to produce hydrogen

As energy demand continues to rise, research into new, efficient renewable and clean energy sources is an urgent priority. Currently, renewable energy sources like solar, wind, tide, and geothermal make up less than 40% of the current energy demand. Increasing this percentage and reducing the amount of fossil fuels used will require other, more efficient renewable and clean energy sources.

Generating homozygous mutant populations of barley microspores by ethyl methanesulfonate treatment

A new study combined expertise in barley genetics and genomics from the research group led by Dr. Ping Yang (Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences) and that in barley microspore culturing led by Dr. Chenghong Liu (Biotech Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences), in order to address the time- and space-cost issue in developing homozygous induced...

Study explores supergiant iceberg's huge impact on surrounding ocean surface

The melting of the supergiant iceberg A-68 had a huge impact on the ocean around South Georgia, in sub-Antarctica, and significantly changed the Southern Ocean's temperature and saltiness, with potentially major consequences for this ecologically significant region. These results are published this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

Solar sails could reach Mars in just 26 days

A recent study submitted to Acta Astronautica and currently available on the arXiv preprint server explores the potential for using aerographite solar sails for traveling to Mars and interstellar space, which could dramatically reduce both the time and fuel required for such missions.

International study shows staycations are likely here to stay

An international study by tourism and hospitality experts in the U.S. and China has determined the "staycation phenomenon," which reached prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, is still going strong and is most likely here to stay as part of a new industry normal.

We can't see the first stars yet, but we can see their direct descendants

If you take a universe worth of hydrogen and helium, and let it stew for about 13 billion years, you get us. We are the descendants of the primeval elements. We are the cast-off dust of the first stars, and many generations of stars after that. So our search for the first stars of the cosmos is a search for our own history. While we haven't captured the light of those first stars, some of their...

Improving air quality forecasting with daily update of emission inventory

In the realm of air quality forecasting, the precision of predictions largely hinges on the accuracy of emission inventory data. Traditional methods, which often update only once a year or less, face challenges in keeping pace with the dynamic nature of air pollutant emissions. This issue is particularly significant in China, where rapid changes in atmospheric pollutants demand a more agile...

Smartphone utilizes 3D information encryption with dual-light-emitting materials

Over the past decade, there has been remarkable advancement in state-of-the-art technologies, leading to a profound alteration in the way individuals interact and exchange information, resulting in the emergence of a "hyper-connected community." Nonetheless, this interconnected environment has led to a gradual decline in the security of information, encompassing vital aspects like privacy and...

Climate data product reveals humidity's role in temperature extremes

The UK Met Office Hadley Centre, introduces an innovative data product, HadISDH.extremes, offering invaluable insights into temperature extremes and their humidity characteristics. This globally gridded monitoring product covers the period from January 1973 to December 2022. The findings, along with the dataset description, are published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences.

The fall equinox is here. What does that mean?

Fall is in the air—officially. The equinox arrives on Saturday, marking the start of the fall season for the Northern Hemisphere. But what does that actually mean? Here's what to know about how we split up the year using the Earth's orbit.

Exploring the relationship between thermalization dynamics and quantum criticality in lattice gauge theories

Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China(USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have developed an ultra-cold atom quantum simulator to study the relationship between the non-equilibrium thermalization process and quantum criticality in lattice gauge field theories. The research was led by Pan Jianwei and Yuan Zhensheng, in collaboration with Zhai Hui from Tsinghua...

Unraveling the mysteries of glassy liquids

Glass, despite its apparent transparency and rigidity, is a complex and intriguing material. When a liquid is cooled to form a glass, its dynamics slows down significantly, resulting in its unique properties.