Fish invasions follow Panama and Suez canal expansions
World maritime trade grows each year, aided by canal waterways that connect oceans and reduce shipping time, energy consumption and carbon emissions. Following recent expansions of the Panama and Suez canals, non-native fish species are invading new habitats according to a new report in Nature Ecology and Evolution by researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and...
Can sunlight convert emissions into useful materials?
Shaama Sharada calls carbon dioxide—the worst offender of global warming—a very stable, "very happy molecule."
Brazilian Amazon fires near level of 2019 crisis
The number of fires in the Brazilian Amazon last month was the second-highest in a decade for August, nearing the crisis levels that unleashed a flood of international condemnation last year, official figures showed Tuesday.
Eye of a fly: Researchers reveal secrets of fly vision for rapid flight control
By examining how fruit flies use eye movements to enhance flight control with a staggeringly fast reaction speed—about 30 times faster than the blink of an eye—Penn State researchers have detailed a framework to mimic this ability in robotics.
As rural western towns grow, so do their planning challenges
Nestled among state parks, red rock buttes and breathtaking mountain vistas, Sedona, Arizona, is one of the most popular resort towns in the American West.
Study identifies effective linguistic styles for restaurant crowdfunding
Online crowdfunding is a multibillion dollar industry, but crafting a compelling pitch that stands out among thousands of projects and lands investors is challenging. This is especially true for small-scale independent restaurant concepts where, due to intense industry competition, risk is high. Kickstarter's food category can have about 30,000 active pitches at any given time, but only about 25%...
Differing diets of bonobo groups may offer insights into how culture is created
Human societies developed food preferences based on a blend of what was available and what the group decided it liked most. Those predilections were then passed along as part of the set of socially learned behaviors, values, knowledge, and customs that make up culture. Besides humans, many other social animals are believed to exhibit forms of culture in various ways, too.
NASA-NOAA satellite provides a nighttime view of new Atlantic tropical depression
NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided a nighttime view of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season's latest tropical cyclone off the coast of North Carolina. Ocean swells from the depression are affecting coastal North Carolina today, Sept. 1.
Small fish populations accumulate harmful mutations that shorten lifespan
Population bottlenecks contribute to the accumulation of several harmful mutations that cause age-related illnesses in killifish—a finding that may help answer a key question about aging.
Scientists discover earliest fossil evidence of an insect lichen mimic
Scientists have uncovered the earliest known evidence of an insect mimicking a lichen as a survival strategy, according to new findings published today in eLife.
Scientists shed new light on pollen tube growth in plants
New insight on how an enzyme ensures the correct growth of pollen tubes in flowering plants has been published today in the open-access journal eLife.
Aluminum recycling technology boosted by crystallization research
An innovative method for aluminum recycling has been boosted by research showing the microscopic changes that take place when molten alloys cool.
Researchers predict location of novel candidate for mysterious dark energy
Astronomers have known for two decades that the expansion of the universe is accelerating, but the physics of this expansion remains a mystery. Now, a team of researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa have made a novel prediction—the dark energy responsible for this accelerating growth comes from a vast sea of compact objects spread throughout the voids between galaxies. This conclusion...
New research provides solution for the 'Dust Bowl paradox'
Almost 100 years ago, there was a strange, slow-motion takeover of the Great Plains. During the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, as a historic heatwave and drought swept the middle of the United States, there was a dramatic shift in the types of plants occupying the region.
Memory in a metal, enabled by quantum geometry
The emergence of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques is changing the world dramatically with novel applications such as internet of things, autonomous vehicles, real-time imaging processing and big data analytics in healthcare. In 2020, the global data volume is estimated to reach 44 Zettabytes, and it will continue to grow beyond the current capacity of computing and storage...
Notice me! Neglected for over a century, Black Sea spider crab re-described
Even though recognised in the Mediterranean Sea, the Macropodia czernjawskii spider crab was ignored by scientists (even by its namesake Vladimir Czernyavsky) in the regional faunal accounts of the Black Sea for more than a century. At the same time, although other species of the genus have been listed as Black Sea fauna, those listings are mostly wrong and occurred either due to historical...
Monitoring and reporting framework to protect World Heritage Sites from invasive species
A team of international scientists have devised a new monitoring and reporting framework to help protect World Heritage Sites from almost 300 different invasive alien species globally including, rats (Rattus spp.), cats (Felis catus), lantana (Lantana camara) and Argentine ants (Linepithema humile).
Study finds gene targets to combat microorganisms binding to underwater surfaces
A group of synthetic biologists at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have identified new genetic targets that could lead to safe, biologically-based approaches to combat marine biofouling—the process of sea-based microorganisms, plants, or algae binding to underwater surfaces. Biofouling continues to present significant challenges for aquaculture and sea-based commercial activities, with one of the most...
Loggerhead turtles record a passing hurricane
In early June 2011, NOAA Fisheries researchers and colleagues placed satellite tags on 26 loggerhead sea turtles in the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The tagging was part of ongoing studies of loggerhead movements and behavior. The Mid-Atlantic Bight, off the U.S. East Coast, is the coastal region from Cape Hatteras, North Carolina to southern Massachusetts. A little more than 2 months later, on August 28,...
Solar telescope GREGOR unveils magnetic details of the sun
The Sun is our star and has a profound influence on our planet, life, and civilization. By studying the magnetism on the Sun, we can understand its influence on Earth and minimize damage of satellites and technological infrastructure. The GREGOR telescope allows scientists to resolve details as small as 50 km on the Sun, which is a tiny fraction of the solar diameter of 1.4 million km. This is as...
Swedish workers among Europe's best-paid in late 1800s
In 19th-century Sweden, workers' wages rose faster than in other European countries. By 1900, they were among the highest in Europe, and the steepest rise of all had been for those who earned least. This is shown by new research at Uppsala University: a study published in he Journal of Economic History.
A small number of self-organizing autonomous vehicles significantly increases traffic flow
With the addition of just a small number of autonomous vehicles (AVs) on the road, traffic flow can become faster, greener, and safer in the near future, a new study suggests.
Indigenous custody reporting made more effective
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited ('ALS') is collaborating with Rapido Social at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to improve its Custody Notification Service (CNS), following project funding from the National Indigenous Advancement Agency (NIAA).
Decorating windows for optimal sound transmission
Glass windows typically offer some amount of soundproofing, sometimes unintentionally. In general, ventilation is required to achieve large sound transmission.
Different responses in individual cells give muscles more control
Minute differences in individual muscle cell contractions allow the entire muscle to flex with greater control and accuracy. Long dismissed as "noise" or error, experts now suspect that biological systems may have evolved to include unavoidable variation as a form of information in their communication channels. A team of experts from the University of Tokyo published these findings in the...
Face shields, masks with valves ineffective against COVID-19 spread: study
If the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines aren't enough to convince you that face shields alone shouldn't be used to stop the spread of COVID-19, then maybe a new visualization study will.
Detecting small amounts of virus in early infections
Diagnostic devices that are used at home or in doctors' offices are often not sensitive enough to detect small amounts of a virus that might be present in samples from asymptomatic patients, which can occur in early stage COVID-19. In Biomicrofluidics,, scientists report a membrane-based invention that can concentrate the virus content of a sample of urine or saliva, allowing it to be detected.
Mastodons took frequent trips north when climate changed
New research suggests that American mastodons were avid travelers, migrating vast distances across North America in response to dramatic climate change during the ice ages of the Pleistocene. The study, conducted by an international team of scientists and published today in the journal Nature Communications, also reveals that mastodon populations that headed northward to the Arctic during warm...
Direct observation of desorption of a melt of long polymer chains
In our everyday life it's not uncommon to see the same material in different states. Take for example water: it's a liquid at ambient temperature, we can convert into ice when cooled below 0°C and it becomes a gas when heated above 100°C. The passages between these different states of matter are called phase transitions.
Additive manufacturing of multi-functional parts
Additive manufacturing is currently one of the most significant trends in industry. Now a team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies and Systems IKTS has developed a Multi Material Jetting system that allows different materials to be combined into a single additively manufactured part. This makes it possible to create products with combined properties or functions. The new system...