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254,479 articles from PhysOrg
Water ATMs were introduced in Ghana, changing the way people access this vital resource
Universal, safe and reliable water access is a pressing need in the global south. One-quarter of the world's population don't currently have access to clean drinking water. In Ghana, about 5 million people out of a total population of about 31 million lack access to clean, safe water. One person in ten has to spend more than 30 minutes to get drinking water.
Plan will put everyone in England within 15 minutes of green space—but what matters is justice not distance
How long does it take you to walk to your nearest park, woodland, lake or river? If it takes more than 15 minutes, according to the UK government's new environmental improvement plan for England, something needs to be done about it. It says 38% people in England don't have a green or blue space within a 15-minute walk of their home.
How legalized sports betting has transformed the fan experience
A couple of days before Christmas, I went to see the NHL's Nashville Predators play on their home ice against the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.
State abortion bans based on sex, disability or race aren't remedies against eugenics, says paper
In his 2019 opinion in Box v Planned Parenthood, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote an impassioned concurrence describing abortions based on sex, disability or race as a form of 'modern-day eugenics.' He defended the challenged Indiana reason-based abortion ban as a necessary antidote to these practices. Inspired by this concurrence, state legislatures have increasingly enacted similar bills and...
New regulations on migrant farm workers should tackle employer/employee power imbalances, say researchers
The government of Canada recently amended the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to include new employer obligations. These amendments are intended to enhance protections for migrant workers and ensure the integrity of the government's temporary foreign worker program.
New method reveals nano-scale drug molecules in cells
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and partners within the Chemical Imaging Infrastructure have produced a method whereby it is possible to see at the nano level where a medicinal drug ends up in the cells and how much of it is needed for optimum treatment. The technique enables the development of new pharmaceuticals and tailored treatments for diseases that have not previously been...
A machine-learning tool that classifies catalytic reactions based on simulated kinetic signatures
A pair of chemists at the University of Manchester has developed a machine-learning tool that can be used to classify reactions based on simulated kinetic signatures of reactions. In their paper published in the journal Nature, Jordi Burés and Igor Larrosa describe combining two deep-learning algorithms to create a system that could speed up the process of new design reactions.
Researchers detect heavy oxygen isotope in Earth's stratosphere
A study of the upper atmosphere's composition has successfully measured an increased presence of 18O, a heavier oxygen isotope with 10 instead of eight neutrons. Helmut Wiesemeyer (MPIfR Bonn) and his colleagues have measured the 18O fraction of the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere for the first time, using the GREAT instrument aboard SOFIA and found that the upper atmosphere has an 18O...
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
How should we live when we know we must die? This question is posed by the first work of world literature, the Gilgamesh epic. More than 4,000 years ago, Gilgamesh set out on a quest for immortality. Like all Babylonian literature, the saga has survived only in fragments. Nevertheless, scholars have managed to bring two-thirds of the text into readable condition since it was rediscovered in the...
UAE 'Sultan of Space' grapples with Ramadan fast on ISS
The second Emirati to journey into space, martial arts enthusiast Sultan AlNeyadi, weighed up Thursday performing Ramadan in orbit—and promised to pack his jiu-jitsu suit for the ride.
Strengthening sorghum against a worldwide fungal threat
A gene discovered by a team of Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Purdue University scientists could help fortify the defenses of sorghum to anthracnose, a disease of the cereal grain crop that can inflict yield losses of up to 50 percent.
Black youth aren't isolated in segregated neighborhoods, says study
A surprising new study has found that urban Black youth living in segregated neighborhoods spent a substantial amount of time in areas with mostly white residents.
Picturing ruins: More than just a morbid fascination
Click on hashtag #abandoned on Instagram and you'll find more than 9 million posts. For hashtag #urbex, there are more than 11 million. It's a seemingly endless supply of haunting photographs of ruins—abandoned houses in the middle of nowhere, crumbling industrial complexes overrun with weeds, ancient graveyards submerged under water.
Noninvasive test can detect even trace elements of prostate cancer
Cedars-Sinai Cancer investigators have developed a new nanotechnology-based test that can detect and profile prostate cancers—even in microscopic amounts. Their work, published in the journal Nano Today, suggests that this "liquid biopsy" test could spare many patients unnecessary treatment-related side effects, directing them instead to effective therapies that could prolong their lives.
An ultra-stable protein nanowire made by electric bacteria provides clues to combating climate change
Accelerated climate change is a major and acute threat to life on Earth. Rising temperatures are caused by microbes producing 50% of atmospheric methane which is 30-times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat. These elevated temperatures are also accelerating microbial growth and thus producing more greenhouse gases than can be used by plants, thus weakening the earth's ability to function as a...
Little evidence that host countries win more Olympic medals
Countries hosting the Olympic Games do not tend win more medals when socioeconomic factors are controlled for, reports a study published in Scientific Reports. The findings dispute the existence of the so-called "host effect"—where hosting countries win more medals than usual—although the authors caution that larger studies involving more editions of the Olympics are needed to confirm these...
Researchers devise a new path toward 'quantum light'
Researchers have theorized a new mechanism to generate high-energy "quantum light," which could be used to investigate new properties of matter at the atomic scale.
Reducing their natural signals: How sneaky germs hide from ants
Pathogens are disease-causing organisms. By natural selection, they develop evasion mechanisms to outsmart the host's immune system and to get the upper hand. One way to support the immune system and fight back is medical intervention. However, this can lead to unwanted adaptions of pathogens as seen in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Unconventional superconductivity found in kagome metal
Physicists using advanced muon spin spectroscopy at Paul Scherrer Institute PSI found the missing link between their recent breakthrough in a kagome metal and unconventional superconductivity. The team uncovered an unconventional superconductivity that can be tuned with pressure, giving exciting potential for engineering quantum materials.
ChatGPT: The AI tech that's revolutionizing teaching
As artificial intelligence-powered chatbots edge into the education sector, UniSA experts are encouraging teachers to take an active role in testing and using these cutting-edge tools to maintain a competitive edge in their profession.
A precise X-ray thermometer for warm dense matter
Warm dense matter (WDM) measures thousands of degrees in temperature and is under the pressure of thousands of Earth's atmospheres. Found in many places throughout the universe, it is expected to have beneficial applications on Earth. However, its investigation is a challenge.
Artificial intelligence can improve efficiency of genome editing
Researchers at the University of Zurich have developed a new tool that uses artificial intelligence to predict the efficacy of various genome-editing repair options. Unintentional errors in the correction of DNA mutations of genetic diseases can thus be reduced.
Genes decide the willow warbler's migration routes, finds study
Since antiquity, humans have been fascinated by birds' intercontinental migratory journeys. A new study from Lund University in Sweden shows that two areas in their genome decide whether a willow warbler flies across the Iberian Peninsula to western Africa, or across the Balkans to eastern and southern Africa.
Researchers observe exotic bound states in ultracold polar molecules for the first time
A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics (MPQ) in Garching has for the first time observed evidence of a phenomenon that had previously only been suspected: a theory predicts that exotic bound states can arise when ultracold polar molecules collide.
Researchers create first supermode optical resonator
What does it take for scientists to push beyond the current limits of knowledge? Researchers in Federico Capasso's group at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed an effective formula.