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278,967 articles from PhysOrg

Scientists flying to the rescue of bees

A world without bees? Don't even consider it! Of course we would miss the products of the hive, such as honey, pollen and beeswax.  But most of all, these super-pollinators are essential to agriculture.  In terms of tonnage, then 35% of what we eat is directly dependent on their silent efforts.  As for diversity, then 84% of cultivated species in Europe, and more than 80% of wild species, make...

Danish DNA could be key to happiness

(Phys.org) —Economists at the University's Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE) have looked at why certain countries top the world happiness rankings. In particular they have found the closer a nation is to the genetic makeup of Denmark, the happier that country is. The research could help to solve the puzzle of why a country like Denmark so regularly tops the world...

Development of an automatic system for translating biomedical patents in real time

The Center for Language and Speech Technologies and Applications (TALP) of the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech (UPC), a member of CIT UPC, has developed the prototype of an automatic translation system for patents in the biomedical area. The system can be used to create multilingual documents with the same structure as the original patents, including images, formulae and...

Duck migration study reveals importance of conserving wetlands, researchers find

During the 2011 and 2012 migration seasons, University of Missouri researchers monitored mallard ducks with new remote satellite tracking technology, marking the first time ducks have been tracked closely during the entirety of their migration from Canada to the American Midwest and back. The research revealed that mallards use public and private wetland conservation areas extensively as they...

Estimating earthquake frequency and patterns in the Puget Lowland

The hazard posed by large earthquakes is difficult to estimate because they often occur hundreds to thousands of years apart. Because written records for the Puget Lowland of northwestern Washington cover less than 170 years, the size and frequency of the largest and oldest earthquakes on the Seattle and Tacoma faults are unknown. Past earthquakes can only be estimated through geologic studies of...

Experiments show disproportionately large number of big boulders on asteroids likely due to Brazil-nut effect

(Phys.org) —A team of researchers led by Soko Matsumura of Dundee University in Scotland has found evidence that appears to explain the inordinately large numbers of big boulders found on the surface of asteroids. In their paper uploaded to the preprint server arXiv, the team describes lab experiments they conducted that show the Brazil-nut effect is likely responsible for the seemingly odd...

Maths can make the internet 5-10 times faster

Mathematical equations can make Internet communication via computer, mobile phone or satellite many times faster and more secure than today. Results with software developed by researchers from Aalborg University in collaboration with the US universities the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) are attracting attention in the international...

NASA rover's images show laser flash on martian rock (w/ Video)

(Phys.org) —Flashes appear on a baseball-size Martian rock in a series of images taken Saturday, July 12 by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover. The flashes occurred while the rover's Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument fired multiple laser shots to investigate the rock's composition.

National Xenopus resource at the MBL innovates new way to study proteins

Proteomics, the study of large groups of proteins, can enhance our understanding of a wide range of organisms, with applications in medicine and developmental biology. Such analyses traditionally require a complete genome for the organism being studied in order to obtain a reference set of proteins. However, many organisms that hold potential for proteomic analysis do not yet have completely...

Russian meteorite sheds light on dinosaur extinction mystery

A long-standing debate about the source of the asteroid that impacted the Earth and caused the extinction of the dinosaurs has been put to rest thanks to the Chelyabinsk meteorite that disintegrated over Russia in February 2013, a new paper published in the journal Icarus shows.

Scientists sleuth out proteins involved in Crohn's disease

(Phys.org) —University of Delaware researchers have identified a protein, hiding in plain sight, that acts like a bodyguard to help protect and stabilize another key protein, that when unstable, is involved in Crohn's disease. The fundamental research points to a possible pathway for developing an effective therapy for the inflammatory bowel disease.

Study shows how effects of starvation can be passed to future generations

(Phys.org) —Evidence from human famines and animal studies suggests that starvation can affect the health of descendants of famished individuals. But how such an acquired trait might be transmitted from one generation to the next has not been clear. A new study, involving roundworms, shows that starvation induces specific changes in so-called small RNAs and that these changes are inherited...

The rate at which groundwater reservoirs are being depleted is increasing

In what parts of the world and to what degree have groundwater reservoirs been depleted over the past 50 years? The Frankfurt hydrologist Prof. Petra Döll has been researching this using the global water model WaterGAP. She has arrived at the most reliable estimate to date by taking into consideration processes which are important in dry regions of the world. The values calculated were compared...