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1,472 articles from PhysOrg

NASA confirms heavy rainfall, strengthening of tropical storm Marie

Tropical Storm Marie has formed in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and NASA satellite data helped confirm the strengthening of the storm. In addition, using a NASA satellite rainfall product that incorporates data from satellites and observations, NASA estimated Marie's rainfall rates the provided more clues about intensification.

Disease-spreading ticks keep marching north as weather stays warmer

Ticks are among nature's most hardy survivors. They've been around for at least 100 million years and used to feast on dinosaur blood. Their bodies contain anti-freeze to help them survive cold weather and their two front legs have carbon dioxide and infrared sensors to help detect when a warm-blooded mammal is approaching. Tiny hairs on their legs increases friction and allows ticks to latch onto...

Developing the fastest and most sensitive graphene microwave bolometer

Bolometers are devices that measure the power of incident electromagnetic radiation thru the heating of materials, which exhibit a temperature-electric resistance dependence. These instruments are among the most sensitive detectors so far used for infrared radiation detection and are key tools for applications that range from advanced thermal imaging, night vision, infrared spectroscopy to...

Millions of Latinos at risk of job displacement by automation

The potential acceleration of job automation spurred by COVID-19 will disproportionately affect Latinos in U.S. service sector jobs, according to a new UCLA report, which also urges state and local officials to start planning now to implement programs to support and retrain these workers.

Stellar explosion in Earth's proximity

When the brightness of the star Betelgeuse dropped dramatically a few months ago, some observers suspected an impending supernova—a stellar explosion that could also cause damage on Earth. While Betelgeuse has returned to normal, physicists from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have found evidence of a supernova that exploded near the Earth around 2.5 million years ago.

Pandemic provides unique opportunity for atmospheric chemists

As the COVID-19 pandemic slowed travel and business around the world, pollution emission rates dropped in response. With fewer cars on the road and clearer skies, atmospheric chemists jumped at the opportunity to study the impact of reduced emissions outside the lab. A news story in Chemical & Engineering News, the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, details early findings, which...

Problems with reproduction in birds

In birds and other species alike, pairs can face considerable difficulties with reproduction. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen have now shown in an extensive analysis of 23,000 zebra finch eggs that infertility is mainly due to males, while high embryo mortality is more a problem of the females. Inbreeding, age of the parents and conditions experienced when...

Scientists synthesise a material capable of degrading nerve agents in water

A team from the Institute of Molecular Science (ICMol) of the University of Valencia has succeeded in synthesizing a new porous material that enables and guides the degradation of compounds analogous to nerve agents used in chemical warfare. This material will make it possible to capture and degrade this type of compounds that until now could not be eliminated. The work has been published in...

Ceramics uncovered in 3000-year-old trading network

The tiny island of Tavolara off the coast of Sardinia may have been a trading place in the Early Iron Age (9th to 8th centuries BCE) where the original inhabitants of Sardinia, the Nuragic people, exchanged goods with people from the central Italian mainland—members of the Villanova culture. Archaeometric analyses of 3000-year-old pottery from the archaeological site of Spalmatore di Terra on...

Biodiversity: where the world is making progress–and where it's not

The future of biodiversity hangs in the balance. World leaders are gathering to review international targets and make new pledges for action to stem wildlife declines. Depending on whether you are a glass half-full or half-empty person, you're likely to have different views on their progress so far.