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1,450 articles from PhysOrg

Scientists reveal secret of material for promising infrared cameras

Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the RAS Institute for Theoretical and Applied Electromagnetics have discovered what makes vanadium dioxide films conduct electricity. Published in Physical Review B, their findings will enable thermal imaging devices with a sensitivity and reaction rate superior to those of the currently existing analogs.

Discovery of an ancient dog species may teach us about human vocalization

In a study published in PNAS, researchers used conservation biology and genomics to discover that the New Guinea singing dog, thought to be extinct for 50 years, still thrives. Scientists found that the ancestral dog population still stealthily wanders in the Highlands of New Guinea. This finding opens new doors for protecting a remarkable creature that can teach biologists about human vocal...

Researchers develop molecule to store solar energy

Researchers at Linköping University, Sweden, have developed a molecule that absorbs energy from sunlight and stores it in chemical bonds. A possible long-term use of the molecule is to capture solar energy efficiently and store it for later consumption. The current results have been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).

Demonstrating the dynamics of electron-light interaction originating from first principle

With the highest possible spatial resolution of less than a millionth of a millimeter, electron microscopes make it possible to study the properties of materials at the atomic level and thus demonstrate the realm of quantum mechanics. Quantum-physical fundamentals can be studied particularly well by the interactions between electrons and photons. Excited with laser light, for example, the energy,...

Bamboozling the bark beetles

The forest is struggling to cope with the largest bark beetle plague in 70 years. While the trees are suffering due to the heat and the drought, the pests are proliferating rampantly in the warm weather: A pair of European spruce bark beetles, for example, can produce up to 30,000 offspring. Starting in 2004 and most recently in the joint project "bioProtect" (2015-2020), Professor Michael...

Study advances research of cycads as an ecotoxin

University of Guam research has revealed that younger cycad seeds pose a greater risk for toxicity when consumed than more mature seeds, bringing the scientific community one step closer to understanding the origins of a neurodegenerative disease prevalent on Guam in World War II and closer to understanding related neurological disorders elsewhere. The research was the cover story of the June 2020...

Hots dogs, chicken wings and city living helped wetland wood storks thrive

Natural wetlands continue to disappear due to city and human development and are being replaced with manmade swales, ponds and canals. This degradation and replacement of natural wetlands suggest that urban areas may be imperative to wetland species, especially when natural conditions are unpredictable. Wetland birds are often seen in and around cities; however, they have been largely ignored in...

How weather affects crawfish harvests

The life cycle of a crawfish can be fairly straight forward. In the summer months, crawfish reproduce in underground mud burrows with a plug of mud on top of the burrow to protect them from predators. In late summer and early fall, rain softens the mud plugs so the crawfish can push their way out of the burrows and enter ponds, where they feed, molt and grow throughout Louisiana's typically mild...

True holographic movies are within grasp

Holographic movies, like the one R2D2 projected of Princess Leia in "Star Wars: A New Hope," have long been the province of science fiction, but for most of us, the extent of our experience with holograms may be the dime-sized stamps on our passports and credit cards. By using 'metasurface' materials that can manipulate light in ways that natural materials cannot, researchers reckon they have...

Citizen scientists bring surprising insights into cowslip mating system

About half of the individuals of cowslip (Primula veris) have flowers with a short style, while the other half of individuals produce flowers with a long style. Recent discoveries have suggested that the loss and fragmentation of habitats may shake this optimal balance of morphologically different plants. This, in turn, decreases the reproductive success of plants and jeopardizes their future...

Eating your vegetables is easier said than done

"Food systems have the potential to nurture human health and support environmental sustainability; however, they are currently threatening both." This sentence, the opening statement of the EAT-Lancet Report published last year, reflects a growing consensus among global experts on food, nutrition and the environment: Our food system is broken and we need to fix it, fast.

Serengeti leopard population densities healthy but vary seasonally, study finds

A study of camera-trap data from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania found that leopard population densities in the 3.7-million-acre park are similar to those in other protected areas but vary between wet and dry seasons. The fluctuations appear to be driven by the abundance of prey and how this affects interactions with other large carnivores like lions, researchers report.

Does a black hole fire up cold heart of the Phoenix?

Radio astronomers have detected jets of hot gas blasted out by a black hole in the galaxy at the heart of the Phoenix Galaxy Cluster, located 5.9 billion light-years away in the constellation Phoenix. This is an important result for understanding the coevolution of galaxies, gas, and black holes in galaxy clusters.

Ancient sloth found to have been bitten by ancient crocodile

A pair of researchers, one with Instituto Argentino de Nivología, the other Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, has found fossil evidence of an ancient giant ground sloth living in proto-Amazonian swamps. The fossil has shinbone bite marks from a Miocene caiman Purussaurus, a large crocodilian species from the period. In their paper published in the journal Biology Letters, François Pujos and...

Microlensing measurement of a quasar's accretion disk

An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a supermassive black hole residing at the core of a galaxy that is accreting material. The accretion occurs in the vicinity of the hot torus around the nucleus, and it can generate rapidly moving jets of charged particles that emit bright, variable radiation as material ccelertes as it falls inward. Quasars are perhaps the best-known luminous AGN, and their...

NASA selects proposals for new space environment missions

NASA has selected five proposals for concept studies of missions to help improve understanding of the dynamics of the sun and the constantly changing space environment with which it interacts around Earth. The information will improve understanding about the universe as well as offer key information to help protect astronauts, satellites, and communications signals—such as GPS—in space.

Outlook shows bushfire risk for spring

The 2020/21 fire season will be driven by vastly different climate drivers than the previous two fire seasons, according to the Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook: September–November 2020, released today by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Center.