Cool Science

[GTX]

Just a thread for cool science, not necessarily related to military or aerospace projects. For example:

View: https://youtu.be/6qZWMNW7GmE

 

[jsport]

Scientists Discover Leak in the Bottom of the Ocean

It may be more likely than ever that the next mega-earthquake is going to happen in the PNW — and a hole in the bottom of the sea may provide clues.

futurism.com

 

[Nik]

Isn't that facing the segment that seems 'stalled' ? IIRC, the coast is currently at a 'high-stand', so now has a lot of low-lying coastal plains that are likely to drop a bunch of metres when mega-thrust cuts loose.
And, to add injury to insult, there'll be a prompt tsunami, its wash-up height augmented by that coast's drop.
So, park facing exit, keep track of signed escape route to higher ground, or be not there....

 

[jsport]

The stereotypical ways zombies defeat the military in cinema

Despite the military’s epic arsenal, it never seems to be enough to stop a zombie plague.

www.militarytimes.com

 

[martinbayer]

Zombies are just about the most ridiculous imaginary threat ever - at their geezer ambling speed, they're a lead pipe cinch to outrun. I for one would discount any halfway sentient human who watches that kind of crap show, but then again, some people voted for (fill in the blank)...

 

[publiusr]

Zombies?

Child’s play. Here in the States, during the time of the equinoxes—we have kaiju descend from the sky:

Man Records While His Car Flips In Tornado - Videos from The Weather Channel

See what it looked like from the inside when Zack Means’ car was lifted into the air and flipped over. His dog Marlin was there, too. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com

weather.com

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JR9S6EN7pGk


Dominator inside an F-4
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/nextfuckinglevel/comments/12a07r0/what_it_likes_to_be_inside_of_an_ef_4_i_think_i/
History of an F-5

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s1sAmhefgBk&embeds_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.trekbbs.com%2F&embeds_origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trekbbs.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo
Behold THE DUNWICH HORROR made real—

“All made of squirming ropes:”

Tornadoes with Tentacle Like External Vortices!!

Ok, we've all seen the dramatic Tuscaloosa tornado with it's squid like external 'tentacle' vortices. That tornado IMO looks incredible as tornadoes goes and likely ranks amongst the very top, but what are those freaking War of the Worlds like tentacles? I don't remember seeing tornadoes...

stormtrack.org

 

[martinbayer]

Yep - we're increasingly getting them here in SoCal as well. Could climate change actually be happening???

 

[publiusr]

An increase in storms overall-but there is something spectral about what are called 'dead man walking tornadoes."

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pvg-JQwnqXA

New Documentary Details Life and Career of Ted Fujita, “Mr. Tornado”

The world's most famous tornado scientist had a legendary knack for detail and groundbreaking ideas.

www.wunderground.com

Dead Man Walking Tornadoes

What Tornadoes were the so call (Dead man walking) type?To be called a Dead man walking tornado it needs to be 3 things A:It should appear to be walkingB:It has to at least have 1 fatalityC:It…

joshnaturaldisasterinfo.home.blog

Recent interception

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mRw_I-PyUHw&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.trekbbs.com%2F&embeds_referring_origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.trekbbs.com&source_ve_path=Mjg2NjY&feature=emb_logo

 

[jsport]

We Pumped So Much Water Out of the Ground That We Tilted the Earth, Researchers Suggest

Over less than 20 years, humans extracted so much groundwater that it changed the tilt of the entire planet.

futurism.com

 

[publiusr]

Maybe an explanation for ball lightning:

Tempest in a teacup: Physicists make breakthrough in creating turbulence

Turbulence is all around us. It's in the swirl of coffee and milk in a latte, unfurling along the wings of airplanes and the sides of cars, churning the blood in your heart after the valve snaps closed. Yet we still don't fully grasp all of its rules.

phys.org

Lasers

A micro-ring resonator with big potential: Hybrid device significantly improves laser technology

The team at EPFL's Photonic Systems Laboratory (PHOSL) has developed a chip-scale laser source that enhances the performance of semiconductor lasers while enabling the generation of shorter wavelengths.

phys.org

On Greens

Green Energy Breakdown / Animal Communications | Coast to Coast AM

Researcher Steve Goreham warned of a green energy breakdown. Followed by medium Susan Allen on her animal communications.

www.coasttocoastam.com

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/business/energy-environment/two-three-wheel-electric-vehicles.html

Wha?

12/8/23: ARTIFICIAL CREATIONISM - MORE HUMAN THAN HUMAN W/ CHRISTOPHER JORDAN AND MATTHEW JAMES BAILEY

Human development is already changing because of Artificial Intelligence and it appears that those who have created it are acting pretty bizarre, as if they have somehow created a God of some kind…

groundzeromedia.org

Kiernan notes on evolution https://greygirlbeast.livejournal.com/1817434.html

Odd

Podcast explores abandoned compound in Alabama called the Devil’s Playground

Four episodes have been released in a podcast investigation of an abandoned compound in Hayden, Ala. Speculation has swirled around the abandoned houses, including rumors or abuse and experimentation.

www.al.com

We Spent a Weekend With Dozens of Vacuum Enthusiasts. Here’s What We Learned.

After spending time with a group of passionate vacuum enthusiasts, we’ve got five takeaways on vacuum ownership to share.

www.nytimes.com

Optical racetracks

Conjoined 'racetracks' make new optical device possible

When we last checked in with Caltech's Kerry Vahala three years ago, his lab had recently reported the development of a new optical device called a turnkey frequency microcomb that has applications in digital communications, precision time keeping, spectroscopy, and even astronomy.

phys.org

Genes from nowhere

New genes found that can arise 'from nothing'

The complexity of living organisms is encoded within their genes, but where do these genes come from? Researchers at the University of Helsinki resolved outstanding questions around the origin of small regulatory genes, and described a mechanism that creates their DNA palindromes. Under suitable...

phys.org

Animals

New research discovers adult Komodo teeth are surprisingly similar to those of theropod dinosaurs

Kilat, the largest living lizard at the Toronto Metro Zoo, like other members of his species (Varanus komodoensis), truly deserves to be called the Komodo dragon. His impressive size and the way he looks at you and tracks your every move makes you realize that he is an apex predator, not unlike...

phys.org

Act of altruism observed in bull elephant seal

A trio of ecologists has observed for the first time, an act of altruism performed by a bull elephant seal. In their paper published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, Sarah Allen, Matthew Lau, and Sarah Codde offer photographic evidence and describe the events they observed.

phys.org

New species of 65 million year old fossil shark discovered in Alabama

A team of scientists has discovered a new fossil shark species from Alabama. The shark is a new species of Palaeohypotodus, which means "ancient small-eared tooth," in reference to the small needle-like fangs present on the sides of the teeth.

phys.org

Dinosaurs' success helped by specialized stance and gait, study finds

Dinosaurs' range of locomotion made them incredibly adaptable, University of Bristol researchers have found. In a new study, published today in Royal Society Open Science, findings show that the first dinosaurs were simply faster and more dynamic than their competitors, and it's why they were...

phys.org

Researchers discover key to molecular mystery of how plants respond to changing conditions

A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published a pioneering study that answers a central question in biology: How do organisms rally a wide range of cellular processes when they encounter a change—either internally or in the external environment—to thrive...

phys.org

Looking into the possibility of volcanic lightning being the spark that ignited life on Earth

An international team of geologists, Earth scientists and mineralogists has found evidence suggesting that volcanic lightning may have fixed huge amounts of atmospheric nitrogen, allowing life on Earth to get its start.

phys.org

A new virus-like entity has just been discovered—'obelisks' explained

Biological entities called obelisks have been hiding—in large numbers—inside the human mouth and gut. These microscopic entities, which were recently discovered by a team at Stanford University, are circular bits of genetic material that contain one or two genes and self-organize into a rod-like...

phys.org

It's award season: Let's celebrate microbes in movies

Usually, show business depicts viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms as one of the worst menaces to humankind. Entertainment movies influence the way audiences understand and perceive these topics. Yet, few films accurately portray the science of microbiology and its social implications.

phys.org

geology

Geoscientists find Pacific plate is scored by large undersea faults that are pulling it apart

A team of geoscientists from the University of Toronto is shedding new light on the century-old model of plate tectonics, which suggests the plates covering the ocean floors are rigid as they move across the Earth's mantle.

phys.org

A new origin story for deadly Seattle fault

The Seattle fault zone is a network of shallow faults slicing through the lowlands of Puget Sound, threatening to create damaging earthquakes for the more than four million people who live there.

phys.org

Earth's billion-year balancing act

Branding seems like it's everywhere today. And it's not just the swoosh on your Nikes or the bitten apple icon on your laptop anymore. Social media influencers craft their personal brands. But is there even branding in science? You bet there is.

phys.org

Human interests

Mystery of novel clove-like off-flavor in orange juice solved

A research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich has solved the mystery of a novel clove-like off-flavor in orange juice, the cause of which was previously unknown.

phys.org

Anticoagulants fail to prevent unexplained strokes, clinical trial finds

A common practice of prescribing anticoagulants to people who have had unexplained strokes should stop, according to a study led by researchers at Columbia, Weill Cornell Medicine, and the University of Washington and published in JAMA.

medicalxpress.com

Research reveals the key to an irresistible online dating profile

In writing a good online dating profile, the average love-seeker will likely fill it up with all the appealing qualities and interests that make them special. They paraglide and do hot yoga on the weekends, enjoy Riesling on the beach or seeing indie bands in basements, are a Libra with Scorpio...

phys.org

Researchers discover one million new components of the human genome

Researchers at the University of Toronto's Donnelly Center for Cellular and Biomolecular Research have found nearly one million new exons—stretches of DNA that are expressed in mature RNA—in the human genome.

medicalxpress.com

Harnessing human evolution to advance precision medicine

Humans are still evolving, and Tatum Simonson, Ph.D., founder and co-director of the Center for Physiological Genomics of Low Oxygen at University of California School of Medicine, plans to use evolution to improve health care for all.

medicalxpress.com

Pioneering technique reveals new layer of human gene regulation

A technique can determine for the first time how frequently, and exactly where, a molecular event called "backtracking" occurs throughout the genetic material (genome) of any species, a new study shows.

phys.org

Painkiller or pleasure? First conclusive evidence found for intentional use of black henbane in the Roman world

A team of archaeologists led by Dr. Maaike Groot from Freie Universität Berlin has provided the first firm evidence that the Romans deliberately collected and used the poisonous seeds of the black henbane plant.

phys.org

Does your community have a personality type?

Geographic sorting along ideological lines is on the rise. Counties and regions of the United States differ in political ideology. But do they differ in personality as well? Further, are people who 'fit' their communities healthier, happier, or more highly achieving than those who do not?

phys.org

Is there a typical rate of cultural evolution?

Are cultural evolution rates similar across human societies? The emerging field of Cliodynamics uses mathematical models to study history.

phys.org

Innovation in stone tool technology involved multiple stages at the time of modern human dispersals, study finds

A study led by researchers at the Nagoya University Museum in Japan may change how we understand the cultural evolution of Homo sapiens at the time of their dispersal across Eurasia about 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. These findings challenge traditional beliefs about the timing and nature of...

phys.org

New study identifies gene believed to be responsible for ALS and dementia

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have discovered why a gene, when mutated, is a common cause of two debilitating brain diseases: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

medicalxpress.com

Researchers create a new tool to rapidly diagnose genetic mutations

Dr. Pierre Billon, Ph.D., was frustrated with the time it took to get genetic analysis done at specialized private labs. The results of the DNA samples that he needed for his research weren't available for weeks and sometimes months. Outsourcing to genome facilities was also expensive.

medicalxpress.com

Study reveals significant discrepancies in common poverty measurement approaches

Methods commonly used to measure poverty can lead to vastly different conclusions about who actually lives in poverty, according to a new Stanford University-led study. Based on household surveys in sub-Saharan Africa, the first-of-its-kind analysis, published in Proceedings of the National...

phys.org

Childhood trauma study uncovers brain rewiring

A brain study of childhood trauma has revealed how it affects development and rewires vital pathways.

medicalxpress.com

Narcissistic CEOs are bad for share value but good for company inertia, says study

Narcissistic leaders are bad for share value, unless they are seen to stimulate innovation and growth at companies suffering from corporate inertia, according to research that analyzed how CEO narcissism affects stock recommendations from securities analysts.

phys.org

Bullied teens' brains show chemical change associated with psychosis

Researchers have found that adolescents being bullied by their peers are at greater risk of the early stages of psychotic episodes and in turn experience lower levels of a key neurotransmitter in a part of the brain involved in regulating emotions.

medicalxpress.com

Walking on the move: New insights into the neurology of locomotion

In a new study, scientists from the University of Cologne gained new insights into the mechanism of the rhythmic activation of nerve cells (neurons) in stick insects that control the leg muscles during walking. The researchers showed that the neurons that activate the depressor muscle in the leg...

phys.org

Study visually captures a hard truth: Walking home at night is not the same for women

An eye-catching new study shows just how different the experience of walking home at night is for women versus men.

phys.org

Crime and more

Research highlights new ways to tackle outlaw motorcycle gangs

Deakin University criminology research can provide clues for law enforcement about the relationship between outlaw motorcycle gang (OMCG) clubs and how to combat gang crime.

phys.org

Crime detection and crime hot spot prediction using a deep learning model

Crime is an age-old and never-ending problem for societies worldwide and crime detection and crime fighting have always chased after the criminals who often stay one step ahead.

techxplore.com

Analysis shows lone actors more likely to commit terrorist acts than US extremist groups

Extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Proud Boys have long been an ugly undercurrent of American culture. But despite these groups' hateful rhetoric, their ranks have largely refrained from committing violent acts over the past three decades, according to research conducted by Andrew...

phys.org

Study presents new perspective on morality based on nuances in values among different political ideologies

While social psychology has long been interested in learning more about how one's moral values relate to one's political views, most of the research to date has used quite the same perspective.

phys.org

Why being humble can make you a better leader

When we consider how leaders get to the top, we might think of somebody like Jordan Belfort, the millionaire stockbroker portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the Wolf of Wall Street. And humility is probably not the word that comes to mind.

phys.org

Voices

Low voice pitch increases standing among strangers, cross-cultural study finds

If you're looking for a long-term relationship or to boost your social status, lower your pitch, according to researchers studying the effects of voice pitch on social perceptions. They found that lower voice pitch makes women and men sound more attractive to potential long-term partners, and...

phys.org

Blue-berry

Scientists reveal why blueberries are blue

Tiny external structures in the wax coating of blueberries give them their blue color, researchers at the University of Bristol can reveal. This applies to a lot of fruits that are the same color including damsons, sloes and juniper berries.

phys.org

 

[jsport]

Scientists Intrigued by "Gravity Hole" at Bottom of Ocean

Below the Indian Ocean, there's a giant "gravity hole" over one million square miles in size. Scientists may have figured out why it exists.

futurism.com

 

[martinbayer]

Scientists Intrigued by "Gravity Hole" at Bottom of Ocean

Below the Indian Ocean, there's a giant "gravity hole" over one million square miles in size. Scientists may have figured out why it exists.

futurism.com

Potential ocean launch site location?

 

[Hobbes]

I estimate that the change in gravity is on the order of 0.01%. Not worth bothering.

 

[jsport]

Scientists Discover Mysterious Radioactive Rock on the Far Side of the Moon

A large, radioactive hunk of granite was discovered beneath the lunar surface, a surprising discovery that speaks to the Moon's volcanic past.

futurism.com

 

[jsport]

Harvard/MIT Scientists Claim New "Chemical Cocktails" Can Reverse Aging

Researchers pinpointed six chemical cocktails that can reverse aging in cells and turn them into a more "youthful state."

futurism.com

 

[jeffb]

Sabine Hossenfelder's science news yuotube series has some really interesting stuff this week. Computing fans should pay particular attention to the new resistance based computer memory and faster data transfer tech mentioned.

View: https://youtu.be/eYloDIO1kdg

 

[publiusr]

Metal being cut

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grKfYgEyjEs&t=1s

Staying sharp: Researchers turn to an everyday shop tool to study how materials behave

Researchers at Texas A&M University are taking a traditional manufacturing tool—metal cutting—and developing a more accessible method for understanding the behavior of metals under extreme conditions.

phys.org

Metal that heals

'Stunning' discovery: Metals can heal themselves

Scientists for the first time have witnessed pieces of metal crack, then fuse back together without any human intervention, overturning fundamental scientific theories in the process. If the newly discovered phenomenon can be harnessed, it could usher in an engineering revolution—one in which...

phys.org

new super capacitor

Researchers achieve milestone in energy capacity of supercapacitors

In a new landmark chemistry study, researchers describe how they have achieved the highest level of energy storage—also known as capacitance—in a supercapacitor ever recorded.

techxplore.com

Spallation Neutron Source accelerator achieves world-record 1.7-megawatt power level

The Spallation Neutron Source at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory set a world record when its particle accelerator beam operating power reached 1.7 megawatts, substantially improving on the facility's original design capability.

phys.org

New sensor breakthrough and computing

Software system can find, track moving objects as small as a pixel

Remember what it's like to twirl a sparkler on a summer night? Hold it still and the fire crackles and sparks but twirl it around and the light blurs into a line tracing each whirl and jag you make.

techxplore.com

Shrinking light: Waveguiding scheme enables highly confined subnanometer optical fields

Imagine shrinking light down to the size of a tiny water molecule, unlocking a world of quantum possibilities. This has been a long-held dream in the realms of light science and technology. Recent advancements have brought us closer to achieving this incredible feat, as researchers from Zhejiang...

phys.org

The present and future of computing get a boost from new research

The world's computing needs have grown exponentially in recent years due to an explosion of technology. To meet the needs for the next technological leap, the scientific community is working to improve current processing capabilities and simultaneously develop entirely new computing methods.

techxplore.com

New wind tunnel

NASA's first new wind tunnel in 40 years will turn science fiction to fact

Flying cars. Space tourism. Safe reentry for astronauts coming back from Mars.

phys.org

Robot fabric

Scientists develop stretchable robotic fabrics that enable error-prone robotic modules to march in formation

Robotic fabrics that can shrink, grow in size and move with precision are becoming a reality, thanks to new research from scientists at the University of Sheffield.

techxplore.com

clean nano-storage

New storage technology keeps nanosurfaces clean

Rice University engineers have created containers that can keep volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from accumulating on the surfaces of stored nanomaterials.

phys.org

Plants use ethylene

Ethylene boosts plant yield and vigor, study shows

Exposing seedlings to ethylene in darkness increases size and vigor, in a finding with implications for agriculture. Farmers have worked to increase crop yields for millennia, and the quest remains urgent as the human population continues to grow. Increases in yield often come at a price...

phys.org

A treasure trove of knowledge: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew digitizes 1 million specimens in groundbreaking project

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has hit a momentous milestone in its mission to digitize its entire collection of plant and fungal specimens. RBG Kew's Digitization Project has reached the one millionth specimen scanned, marking a major achievement in an ambitious four-year initiative.

phys.org

Problems publishing

The cost of being a non-native English speaker in science

English serves as a convenient, common language for science. However, this practice poses insurmountable barriers to those whose first language is not English—the majority of people around the world.

phys.org

Rare Esther Inglis manuscript unveiled

A never-before seen manuscript by Scottish-based artisan Esther Inglis, dating back to the early 1600s, was unveiled at The University of St Andrews this week at The International Conference on Medieval and Renaissance Scottish Languages, Literature and Culture.

phys.org

AI

Human-aware AI helps accelerate scientific discoveries, new research shows

A new study explores how artificial intelligence can not only better predict new scientific discoveries but can also usefully expand them. The researchers, who published their work in Nature Human Behaviour, built models that could predict human inferences and the scientists who will make them.

techxplore.com

Of interest:

'Evolving' and 3D printing new nanoscale optical devices

A new technology being pioneered at Caltech is allowing researchers to "evolve" optical devices and then print them out using a specialized type of 3D printer. These devices are made of so-called optical metamaterials that derive their properties from structures so small they are measured in...

phys.org

"What we are trying to investigate here is what is possible if we make three-dimensional structures smaller than the wavelength of light that we are trying to control."

A glance at these devices reveals something rather unexpected. Whereas most optical devices are smooth and highly polished like a lens or prism, the devices developed by Faraon's lab look organic and chaotic, more like the inside of a termite mound than something you would see in an optics lab.

The construct looks a bit like a Borg cube.

Biology

Living species of daddy longlegs has two additional sets of underdeveloped eyes as embryos

While some people may first associate daddy longlegs with, well, their long legs, researchers Guilherme Gainett and Prashant Sharma have been especially focused on the arachnids' eyes. In their paper published last week in the journal Current Biology, the researchers found that a living species...

phys.org

Slimming down a colossal fossil whale

A 30 million year-old fossil whale may not be the heaviest animal of all time after all, according to a new analysis by paleontologists at UC Davis and the Smithsonian Institution. The new analysis puts Perucetus colossus back in the same weight range as modern whales and smaller than the...

phys.org

Predatory fish use rapid color changes to coordinate attacks, scientists discover

Striped marlin are some of the fastest animals on the planet and one of the ocean's top predators. When hunting in groups, individual marlin will take turns attacking schools of prey fish one at a time. Now a new study reported in the journal Current Biology helps to explain how they might...

phys.org

How molecular 'handedness' emerged in early biology

Molecules often have a structural asymmetry called chirality, which means they can appear in alternative, mirror-image versions akin to the left and right versions of human hands. One of the great mysteries about the origins of life on Earth is that virtually all of the fundamental molecules of...

phys.org

Research team uncovers universal code driving the formation of all cell membranes

Researchers at the University of Alberta have uncovered what they say has been the missing puzzle piece ever since the genetic code was first cracked.

phys.org

A 12 mm fish produces 140-decibel sound to communicate in turbid waters

An international research team, along with Senckenberg scientist Dr. Ralf Britz, has studied Danionella cerebrum, a small species of fish with a length of no more than 12 millimeters. Despite its diminutive size, the fish can produce sounds close to its body of over 140 decibels—comparable to a...

phys.org

Researchers discover a new plant species whose name tells a story

A new species and genus of fairy lantern, tiny glass-like white plants that feed on fungi, has been discovered in Japan. In a country known for its extensive flora research, the discovery of a new plant genus is extremely rare and has not occurred in almost 100 years.

phys.org

Drying without dying: Tracing water scarcity coping mechanisms from mosses to flowering plants

Imagine you find the dried-up remains of a once green and lush philodendron on your bookshelf and realize you can't remember the last time you watered your houseplants. You soak the soil with water, hoping you can breathe life back into its desiccated husk, but it is futile. The plant has been...

phys.org

Novel RNA- or DNA-based substances can protect plants from viruses, scientists show

Individually tailored RNA or DNA-based molecules are able to reliably fight off viral infections in plants, according to a new study by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

phys.org

Blindness from some inherited eye diseases may be caused by gut bacteria, news study suggests

Sight loss in certain inherited eye diseases may be caused by gut bacteria, and is potentially treatable by antimicrobials, finds a new study in mice co-led by a UCL and Moorfields researcher.

medicalxpress.com

Field trials reveal crushed rock boosts carbon removal and improves crop yields

Crushed rock can remove about 3–4 metric tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) per hectare per year and improve crop yields, results of a pioneering study have shown.

phys.org

Researchers reveal mechanism of how the brain forms a map of the environment

When you walk into your kitchen in the morning, you easily orient yourself. To make coffee, you approach a specific location. Maybe you step into the pantry to grab a quick breakfast and then head to your car to drive to your workplace.

medicalxpress.com

Researcher proposes paradigm shift in enzyme biochemistry

Although you may never have heard of the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes, these proteins play diverse and critical roles in humans through the metabolic processing of drugs, pesticides, fatty acids, fat-soluble vitamins, and chemical carcinogens and the biosynthesis of essential steroids...

phys.org

Disinfection tech uses low-temperature plasma to remove E. coli from hydroponically grown crops

A group led by researchers at Nagoya University and Meijo University in Japan has developed a disinfection technology that uses low-temperature plasma generated by electricity to cultivate environmentally friendly hydroponically grown crops. This innovative technology sterilizes the crops...

phys.org

Scientists propose new method for tracking elusive origins of CO₂ emissions from streams

A team of researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst that specializes in accounting for the carbon dioxide release by streams, rivers and lakes has recently demonstrated that the chemical process known as "carbonate buffering" can account for the majority of emissions in highly...

phys.org

Could tardigrades have colonized the moon?

Just over five years ago, on 22 February 2019, an unmanned space probe was placed in orbit around the moon. Named Beresheet and built by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries, it was intended to be the first private spacecraft to perform a soft landing. Among the probe's payload were...

phys.org

 

[jsport]

There's Something Weird Going on With the Sun

Current observations suggest we could see a solar maximum as early as 2024, not 2025, defying our predictions.

futurism.com

 

[jsport]

Bizarre Two-Faced Star Seems to Be Different on Each Side

Astronomers have spotted a two-faced, white dwarf star that appears to be made of hydrogen on one side and helium on the other.

futurism.com

 

[publiusr]

On lasers

Spectrally combining lasers could unleash the potential of laser-plasma accelerators

A team of researchers from the Accelerator Technology & Applied Physics (ATAP) Division at Berkeley Lab has developed a new technique for combining fiber lasers operating at different wavelengths to produce ultrashort laser pulses. The research was published in the journal Optics Express.

phys.org

Scientist develop a broadband quantum-dot frequency-modulated comb laser

Since the conception of the laser frequency comb in the late 1990s, it has revolutionized the precise measurement of frequency and time. Beyond their initial use in optical clocks and precision spectroscopy, optical frequency combs (OFCs) have exhibited strong potential for various applications...

phys.org

Laser treatment found to boost battery performance

As the world transitions to renewable power sources such as solar and wind, there is a growing need for high-performance rechargeable batteries to store the energy generated by this intermittent energy source. Today's lithium-ion batteries are good, but their performance still needs to be...

phys.org

AWAKE introduces a stronger wave to accelerate particles

"Plasma wakefield acceleration is like surfing," says Edda Gschwendtner, leader of the AWAKE accelerator R&D project at CERN.

phys.org

Fabrication of nanoscale photonic crystals with an ultrafast laser

The light control performance of photonic crystals is closely related to their lattice constant, which typically requires the lattice constant to be in the same order of magnitude as the working wavelength. In crystal materials, the photonic crystal structure is formed by the periodic...

phys.org

Asia's tallest tree

102.3 meters: Research team finds Asia's tallest tree in China's Xizang

If you look up "the tallest tree in Asia" on the internet, it may mention Menara, a yellow meranti (Shorea faguetiana) tree with a height of 100.8 meters found in Malaysia. The record, however, has now been broken.

phys.org

Researchers suggest use of natural fermentation may have led to early human brain size increase

A trio of researchers with varied backgrounds is suggesting in an article published in the journal Communications Biology that eating naturally fermented foods may have led to an increase in brain size for early humans. In their paper, Katherine Bryant, an evolutionary neuroscientist at...

phys.org

Identifying vintage wines by their chemical signature

Does every wine carry its own chemical signature and, if so, can this be used to identify its origin? Many specialists have tried to solve this mystery, without fully succeeding. By applying artificial intelligence tools to existing data, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in...

phys.org

How are toxic brown carbon nitroaromatics produced in biomass smoke?

Biomass burning from wildfires puts large amounts of aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere every year, which are thought to convert into more light-absorbing and toxic nitroaromatics.

phys.org

Scientists discover plant hormone that boosts growth by 30%

Scientists from NUS and the Singapore Center for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) have uncovered one of nature's most potent tools in an arsenal to combat today's agricultural challenges: agro-microbials—or agro-chemicals of natural origin—that can enhance the synergy between...

phys.org

Three benefits of genetically improved Christmas trees

Christmas trees are the centerpiece of the holiday season. But the fear of needles falling can deter shoppers from buying real trees from local growers.

phys.org

Researchers discover plant diversity stabilizes soil temperature

A new study has revealed a natural solution to mitigate the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather events. Researchers from Leipzig University, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv) and other research...

phys.org

More than 100 'magic mushroom' genomes point the way to new cultivars

Scientists have amassed genome data for dozens of "magic mushroom" isolates and cultivars, with the goal to learn more about how their domestication and cultivation has changed them. The findings, published December 4 in the journal Current Biology, may point the way to the production of...

phys.org

Deep sea sensor reveals that corals produce reactive oxygen species

Just like us, corals breathe in oxygen and eat organic carbon. And just like us, as a byproduct of converting energy and oxygen in the body, corals produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), a family of chemical compounds that are naturally made by cells during cell division, while fighting off...

phys.org

Math and memory

New math approach provides insight into memory formation

The simple activity of walking through a room jumpstarts the neurons in the human brain. An explosion of electrochemical events or "neuronal spikes" appears at various times during the action. These spikes in activity, otherwise known as action potentials, are electrical impulses that occur when...

phys.org

Brain implants revive cognitive abilities long after traumatic brain injury in clinical trial

In 2001, Gina Arata was in her final semester of college, planning to apply to law school, when she suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident. The injury so compromised her ability to focus she struggled in a job sorting mail.

medicalxpress.com

Biology and medicine

Study reveals genes that set humans apart from other primates in cognitive ability

An international team led by researchers at the University of Toronto has uncovered over 100 genes that are common to primate brains but have undergone evolutionary divergence only in humans—and which could be a source of our unique cognitive ability.

phys.org

First map of human limb development reveals unexpected growth processes and explains syndromes found at birth

Human fingers and toes do not grow outward; instead, they form from within a larger foundational bud, as intervening cells recede to reveal the digits beneath. This is among many processes captured for the first time as scientists unveil a spatial cell atlas of the entire developing human limb...

medicalxpress.com

A mathematical model connects the evolution of chickens, fish and frogs

One of the most enduring, basic questions of life is: How does it happen? For instance, in human development, how do cells self-organize into skin, muscles or bones? How do they form a brain, a finger, a spine?

phys.org

'Limbless' creature found digging beneath rotten tree in Vietnam: It's a new species

In Vietnam's driest and hottest region, a limbless forest creature took refuge under a rotten log, scrounging around for termites to eat. Suddenly, something lifted the nearly-blind animal into the air. It tried to defend itself, but to no avail.

phys.org

Parasitic creature with unique teeth found in forests of Asia: It's a new species

In a forest in southern China, a parasitic creature flew through the air. Suddenly, a net enveloped the animal. Scientists looked at their successful catch—and discovered a new species.

phys.org

Fire ants are on the march—here's what happens when they sting

Red imported fire ants are a particularly nasty type of ant because they are aggressive, and inflict painful stings that may be life threatening. That's in addition to being a serious threat to agriculture and biosecurity.

phys.org

Large-scale DNA sequence resource reveals new regions of the human genome under natural selection

Every human's genome has millions of genetic variants, but most have little to no effect, making it difficult for clinicians to make medical diagnoses based on genetic differences.

medicalxpress.com

Structure of a central component of the human immune system revealed

A central component of the human immune system, the NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in fighting off infections. However, its chronic activation is also implicated in a variety of common diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis, gout, and type II...

phys.org

New 'dictionary' of immune responses reveals far more complexity in the immune system than previously thought

The immune system can carry out many biological processes, from killing viruses to fighting cancer, thanks in large part to approximately 100 key cell-signaling proteins called cytokines, which instruct immune cells what to do. Cytokines are also targeted by drugs for many diseases such as...

medicalxpress.com

Knocking out part of the innate immune system to improve cancer therapy

Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China, have discovered that shutting down part of the innate immune system increases anti-tumor activity.

medicalxpress.com

Bacteria's mucus maneuvers: Study reveals how snot facilitates infection

Sniffles, snorts and blows of runny noses are the hallmarks of cold and flu season—and that increase in mucus is exactly what bacteria use to mount a coordinated attack on the immune system, according to a new study from researchers at Penn State. The team found that the thicker the mucus, the...

phys.org

Under-the-skin implant could treat type I diabetes

A collaboration between researchers from Cornell and University of Alberta, Edmonton, has created a new technique to treat type 1 diabetes: implanting a device inside a pocket under the skin that can secrete insulin while avoiding the immunosuppression that typically stymies management of the...

medicalxpress.com

Medicare is overpaying for generic drugs: Study

Medicare is the single largest provider of health insurance in the United States, serving 63.8 million senior citizens as of 2022. Three-quarters of these recipients are enrolled in optional Medicare Part D plans, which provide outpatient prescription drug coverage to seniors through private...

medicalxpress.com

New protein linked to early-onset dementia identified

Most neurodegenerative diseases, including dementias, involve proteins aggregating into filaments called amyloids. In most of these diseases, researchers have identified the proteins that aggregate, allowing them to target these proteins for diagnostic tests and treatments.

medicalxpress.com

Engineers design a robotic replica of the heart's right chamber

MIT engineers have developed a robotic replica of the heart's right ventricle, which mimics the beating and blood-pumping action of live hearts.

medicalxpress.com

Researchers find a way to predict which of our organs will fail first

Like any typical car or house or society, the pace at which parts of our bodies fall apart varies from part to part. A study of 5,678 people, led by Stanford Medicine investigators, has shown that our organs age at different rates—and when an organ's age is especially advanced in comparison with...

medicalxpress.com

New study concludes finding cure for malaria may be even more challenging than thought

Researchers who have studied malaria for decades, hoping to find a cure, long thought they'd identified a type of blood that seemed to defend against the disease.

medicalxpress.com

New cause of diabetes discovered, offering potential target for new classes of drugs to treat the disease

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals have identified an enzyme that blocks insulin produced in the body—a discovery that could provide a new target to treat diabetes.

medicalxpress.com

Race doesn't impact cardiovascular risk calculations, study finds

Removing race information from cardiovascular risk calculators—which predict the probability of developing heart disease—doesn't affect patients' risk scores, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators.

medicalxpress.com

Statins protect against heart disease in high-risk groups, new studies find

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health care system, have found that statins, the most prescribed class of drugs to treat high cholesterol, reduced the risk of heart attack and stroke among two groups at high risk for heart disease...

medicalxpress.com

Study links back pain to a subtype of cells in spinal 'shock absorbers'

A new Cedars-Sinai study might have cracked the mystery surrounding the cause of a specific type of back pain. Almost 40% of the adult population experiences low back pain due to degenerating disks in the spine, but medical science hasn't understood exactly why the disks become painful. In a new...

medicalxpress.com

Brains of newborns aren't underdeveloped compared to other primates, finds new study

Contrary to current understanding, the brains of human newborns aren't significantly less developed compared to other primate species, but appear so because so much brain development happens after birth, finds a new study led by University College London researchers.

phys.org

When do brains grow up? Research shows mouse and primate brains mature at same pace

An Argonne study has revealed that short-lived mice and longer-living primates develop brain synapses on the exact same timeline, challenging assumptions about disease and aging. What does this mean for humans—and yesterday's research?

medicalxpress.com

Comparable memory strategies found in birds and humans

Working memory is a crucial element of higher cognition in both primates—which include humans—and corvids. In their studies, with the help of two jackdaws, researchers at Ruhr University Bochum have now discovered remarkable parallels in the memory optimization of primates and corvids.

medicalxpress.com

In hotter regions, mammals shown to seek forests and avoid human habitats

The cool of the forest is a welcome escape on a hot day. This is especially true for mammals in North America's hottest regions, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study indicates that, as the climate warms, preserving forest cover will be increasingly important...

phys.org

Traffic exhaust could increase blood pressure, study finds

Even brief exposure to highway pollution could cause significant increases in blood pressure, a new study from the University of Washington has found, adding to a growing body of work correlating vehicle exhaust with negative health outcomes.

phys.org

 

[Scott Kenny]

High Temperature Superconductors. How high? Willie Nelson high, 127decC!

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/breaking-superconductor-news

It's a weird crystal of lanarkite (Pb2(SO4)O), and Copper Phosphide (Cu3P). Or rather, those are your starting materials. Put those mixed 1:1 into a sealed vacuum flask and heat to 925degC. Done.

You now have a material that superconducts above the boiling point of water, called LK-99: Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O.

The simplicity of making this stuff should make it really quick to have confirmatory data within the next month or so. Probably later this week, if the usual labs had the raw materials on hand.

Just being able to use that stuff as high tension power cables would be amazing...

 

[BlackBat242]

Isn't that facing the segment that seems 'stalled' ? IIRC, the coast is currently at a 'high-stand', so now has a lot of low-lying coastal plains that are likely to drop a bunch of metres when mega-thrust cuts loose.
And, to add injury to insult, there'll be a prompt tsunami, its wash-up height augmented by that coast's drop.
So, park facing exit, keep track of signed escape route to higher ground, or be not there....

The USMC made me live in Whidbey Island (Puget Sound) WA. for 4 months in 1982-83. It was nice then... I can't see living in Washington or Oregon (or California*) in the current political climate at all, so I'm OK with it.

* MCAS El Toro, (southern) CA. 1983-1989.

 

[martinbayer]

The USMC made me live in Whidbey Island (Puget Sound) WA. for 4 months in 1982-83. It was nice then... I can't see living in Washington or Oregon (or California*) in the current political climate at all, so I'm OK with it.

* MCAS El Toro, (southern) CA. 1983-1989.

As a California resident, I sincerely welcome your commitment to refrain from living here.

 

[Scott Kenny]

High Temperature Superconductors. How high? Willie Nelson high, 127decC!

https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/breaking-superconductor-news

It's a weird crystal of lanarkite (Pb2(SO4)O), and Copper Phosphide (Cu3P). Or rather, those are your starting materials. Put those mixed 1:1 into a sealed vacuum flask and heat to 925degC. Done.

You now have a material that superconducts above the boiling point of water, called Pb-99: Pb10-xCux(PO4)6O.

The simplicity of making this stuff should make it really quick to have confirmatory data within the next month or so. Probably later this week, if the usual labs had the raw materials on hand.

Just being able to use that stuff as high tension power cables would be amazing...

In an update ( https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/room-temperature-superconductor-new-developments ), it looks like substituting gold for the copper in Pb LK-99 would result in even better performance.

Also, it appears that the superconducting behavior only applies along some crystal planes... which sounds weird as hell to me, but this is so far above my physics paygrade that I have no chance of grokking the math in this lifetime.

(edited to fix material name)

 

[jsport]

Professor Says He's Invented a Real-Life "Freeze Ray"

A professor at the University of Virginia claims to have created a "freeze ray"-like device that was apparently inspired by Mr. Freeze.

futurism.com

 

[jsport]

After Seeing This Terrifying Study, We're Never Microwaving Plastic Again

New research has found that microwaving plastic food containers spews out toxic microplastics — and it's freaked out the guy studying it.

futurism.com

 

[jsport]

Scientists Intrigued by Clever Trick That Makes Cancer Cells Self-Destruct

Researchers discovered a new mechanism that could force cancer cells to self-destruct, hijacking their ability to replicate uncontrollably.

futurism.com

 

[jsport]

Man Jumps Into Lake, Dies From Electrocution

A 24-year-old man jumped off a dock for a swim, got electrocuted and died in a bizarre incident at Lake Lanier in Georgia.

futurism.com

 

[publiusr]

A blurb there about an electrocution hazard on the Moon...a Tesla crash...and a woman who only ate fruits and vegetables dying...

Darwin's library

The complete library of Charles Darwin revealed for the first time

Charles Darwin—arguably the most influential man of science in history, accumulated a vast personal library throughout his working life. Until now, 85% of its contents were unknown or unpublished.

phys.org

Biology

Expert on dimorphous expressions explains the term 'cute aggression'

A romantic spark this Valentine's Day could lead to playful bites of a partner, tears of joy at the sight of an engagement ring or the birth of a baby who's so cute you just want to pinch him.

phys.org

Volcanism-induced ozone depletion may have contributed to Permian mass extinction, study finds

The concept of deadly mass extinctions wreaking destruction upon Earth's ecosystems millions of years ago is something that has fascinated the public and scientists alike for decades.

phys.org

Bizarre snake-like worm's secrets revealed in CT scans

Amphisbaenians are strange creatures. Like worms with vertebrae, scales, a large central tooth and sometimes small forearms, these reptiles live underground, burrowing tunnels and preying on just about anything they encounter, not unlike a miniature version of the monstrous sandworms from "Dune."

phys.org

New study suggests birds began diversifying long before dinosaurs went extinct

A multi-institutional, international team of evolutionary biologists, genetics specialists and phylogenomicists has found evidence that bird species began diversifying long before the dinosaurs went extinct.

phys.org

The hidden rule for flight feathers and how it could reveal which dinosaurs could fly

Birds can fly—at least, most of them can. Flightless birds like penguins and ostriches have evolved lifestyles that don't require flight. However, there's a lot that scientists don't know about how the wings and feathers of flightless birds differ from their airborne cousins.

phys.org

Morocco dinosaur discovery gives clues on why they went extinct

66 million years ago, the last dinosaurs vanished from Earth. We're still trying to understand why. New fossils of abelisaurs—distant relatives of the tyrannosaurs—from north Africa suggest that African dinosaurs remained diverse up to the very end. And that suggests their demise came suddenly...

phys.org

Scientists identify genetic mechanism responsible for plant leaf diversity

Plant leaves come in many different shapes, sizes and complexities. Some leaves are large and smooth, while others are smaller and serrated. Some leaves grow in single pieces while others form multiple leaflets. These variations in leaf structure play a crucial role in how plants adapt—and...

phys.org

Asexual propagation of crop plants gets closer with new study

When the female gametes in plants become fertilized, a signal from the sperm activates cell division, leading to the formation of new plant seeds. This activation can also be deliberately triggered without fertilization, as UZH researchers have shown. Their findings, published in Science, open...

phys.org

How a wayside weed builds up explosive force to hurl seeds

Hairy bittercress is one of those plants that hurl their seeds in all directions to spread them effectively. A research team has now discovered that to do this, the plant uses a previously unknown mechanism that makes the seed pods contract and snap open, acting almost like a muscle.

phys.org

Environmental news

Mapping how deforested land in Africa is used

Africa's forested areas—an estimated 14 % of the global forest area—are continuing to decline at an increasing rate—mostly because of human activities to convert forest land for economic purposes. As natural forests are important CO2 and biodiversity reservoirs, this development has a...

phys.org

A different picture of the Serengeti: Competition for food drives planet's remaining mass migration of herbivores

Upending the prevailing theory of how and why multi-species mass-migration patterns occur in Serengeti National Park, researchers from Wake Forest University have confirmed that the millions-strong wildebeest population pushes zebra herds along in competition for the most nutrient-dense grasses.

phys.org

Common mineral in red soils tends to lock away trace metals over time, study finds

Trace metals are nutrient elements, like zinc, that animals and plants need in small amounts to function properly. Animals generally get trace metals in their diets or through environmental exposures, while plants take their trace minerals up from soil. If we get too little, we may experience a...

phys.org

Med-watch

New algorithm disentangles intrinsic brain patterns from sensory inputs

Maryam Shanechi and her team have developed a new machine learning method that reveals surprisingly consistent intrinsic brain patterns across different subjects by disentangling these patterns from the effect of visual inputs. The work has been published in the Proceedings of the National...

medicalxpress.com

New toolbox allows engineering of genomes without CRISPR

Belgian researchers from VIB-KULeuven Center for Microbiology and VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology have developed a new toolbox of 16 different short DNA sequences that allow triggering controlled and specific recombination events in any genome.

phys.org

New CRISPR tool accelerates and optimizes genome editing

CRISPR/Cas systems have undergone tremendous advancement in the past decade. These precise genome editing tools have applications ranging from transgenic crop development to gene therapy and beyond. And with their recent development of CRISPR-COPIES, researchers at the Center for Advanced...

phys.org

Scientists develop new technology to identify individual full-length human proteins

In a study published in Nature Nanotechnology, scientists from Delft University of Technology present a new technique to identify proteins. Proteins carry out essential functions in our cells, while playing a crucial role in diseases like cancer and COVID-19 infection. The researchers identify...

phys.org

Superbug killer: New synthetic molecule highly effective against drug-resistant bacteria

A new antibiotic created by Harvard researchers overcomes antimicrobial resistance mechanisms that have rendered many modern drugs ineffective and are driving a global public health crisis.

phys.org

Computer scientists develop model that explains how collective scenarios such as diseases may proceed

It is winter, the typical time for colds. What if you could simulate how the disease may spread? At the Cluster of Excellence Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz, Julia Klein, a doctoral student in computer science, and colleagues investigated how using strict, rule-based methods...

techxplore.com

Detection of a new state in the protein folding process

Scientists have discovered a new, intermediate state in the process of protein folding, showing folding can occur in two stages, one fast and the next found to be much slower. The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

phys.org

Scientists achieve first total synthesis of potentially anti-rheumatic sesquiterpene merillianin

An avenue that scientists are currently exploring for the development of novel pharmaceuticals involves the synthesis of bioactive compounds found in Chinese herbal medicine. This collaborative effort, combining traditional knowledge with modern scientific methods, focuses on pharmaceutically...

phys.org

Neural activity study shows the brain processes direct speech and its echo separately

Echoes can make speech harder to understand, and tuning out echoes in an audio recording is a notoriously difficulty engineering problem. The human brain, however, appears to solve the problem successfully by separating the sound into direct speech and its echo, according to a study published in...

medicalxpress.com

Previously ignored DNA sequence found to play important role in brain development

An international research team has discovered that a previously overlooked repetitive DNA element known as Long Interspersed Nuclear Element (L1) helps maintain neural progenitor cells, and thus plays an important role in mammalian brain development.

phys.org

Researchers design gel from wood pulp to heal damaged heart tissue, improve cancer treatments

You can mend a broken heart this Valentine's Day now that researchers have invented a new hydrogel that can be used to heal damaged heart tissue and improve cancer treatments.

phys.org

Herstory

Written accounts reveal how sexual assault claims were dealt with in the Middle Ages

Written testimonies from the medieval period show sexual assault being successfully reported to the authorities, despite legal, social and even family obstacles. This took place, we must remember, in a society which had next to nothing by way of forensic measures, so reporting a crime of any...

phys.org

Oddities

Researchers think they know why sugar-free candy and gum gives some people gas

Researchers at UC Davis have identified changes in the gut microbiome that can result in an inability to digest sorbitol. Sorbitol, a sugar alcohol, is used in sugar-free gum, mints, candy and other products. It is also found naturally in apricots, apples, pears, avocadoes and other foods. At...

medicalxpress.com

Viagra could help treat oxygen-deprived newborns, clinical trial finds

Treatments to help babies who run out of oxygen during pregnancy or at birth (neonatal encephalopathy) are limited. Therapeutic hypothermia is the only option used to prevent brain damage in such cases, but 29% of babies who receive it still develop significant neurological sequelae. The first...

medicalxpress.com

Gargling away the 'bad' bacteria in type 2 diabetes

There is growing evidence that ongoing inflammation in the mouth, such as that seen in gum disease, in addition to causing bad breath is associated with serious diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or type 2 diabetes. Now, researchers from Osaka University have identified an easy way to fight...

medicalxpress.com

When placed outdoors, female lab mice behave very differently

When you take the lab away, female mice are more likely to play, according to a new Cornell study.

phys.org

Oxytocin: The love hormone that holds the key to better memory

Oxytocin (OXT) is a hormone that is known for its effects on psychological well-being and emotional bonding in animals. Interestingly, research has shown that this natural chemical in the brain plays a crucial role in other cognitive processes as well, including learning and memory.

medicalxpress.com

https://phys.org/news/2024-02-otherworldly-antarctic.html sounds

 

[Scott Kenny]

Man Jumps Into Lake, Dies From Electrocution

A 24-year-old man jumped off a dock for a swim, got electrocuted and died in a bizarre incident at Lake Lanier in Georgia.

futurism.com

Oh, they had a hot ground...

Happens fairly regularly on boats.

 

[publiusr]

Walk on water? Fah
Try writing on it.

Writing in water using an ion-exchange bead as a pen

Writing is an age-old cultural technique. Thousands of years ago, humans were already carving signs and symbols into stone slabs. Scripts have become far more sophisticated since then but one aspect remains the same: Whether the writer is using cuneiform or a modern alphabet, a solid substrate...

phys.org

Water walls

Modeling spikes during volcanic tsunami generation

Twenty years ago, when strangers would ask Hermann Fritz about his job and he told them he was a tsunami expert, he got plenty of quizzical looks in response.

phys.org

New model provides real-time, more accurate prediction of tsunami wave patterns

On January 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga exploded, releasing large amounts of energy into the atmosphere and ocean, causing tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean. Scientists from the Shocks, Solitons and Turbulence Unit at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology...

phys.org

Oceanic waves represent fundamental challenges in nonlinear science, say mathematicians

The instability of Stokes waves (steady propagating waves on the surface of an ideal fluid with infinite depth) represents a fundamental challenge in the realm of nonlinear science. A team of researchers recently identified the origin of breaking oceanic waves in a recent publication in the...

phys.org

Gaining time without sacrificing accuracy when predicting typhoon-induced storm surges

A deep learning method developed by RIKEN researchers can accurately predict the destructive power of typhoon-induced storm surges on coastal regions in a fraction of the time of conventional models. It promises to buy precious time for coastal residents without compromising accuracy.

phys.org

Researchers take aim at weather forecasters' biggest blind spot

Anyone who's been caught in an unexpected downpour knows that weather forecasting is an imperfect science. Now, researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology are taking aim at one of meteorologists' biggest blind spots: extremely short-term forecasts, or nowcasts, that predict what will happen...

phys.org

Weathering

Enhanced chemical weathering: A solution to the climate crisis?

Could blending of crushed rock with arable soil lower global temperatures? Researchers of Mainz University have studied global warming events from 40 and 56 million years ago to find answers. Their research paper has recently been published in Nature Geoscience.

phys.org

Ball, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Micro Systems and Spire claim NOAA contracts

Ball Aerospace, Northrop Grumman, Orbital Micro Systems and Spire Global won contracts to design microwave sounders for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

spacenews.com

The outer depths

A new method helps to measure cosmological distances more accurately

After a complex statistical analysis of some one million galaxies, a team of researchers at several Chinese universities, and the University of Cordoba was able to publish the results of the study in the journal Nature Astronomy. For over two years, they had been working on the project, which...

phys.org

Volcanoes and climate

Mercury rising: Study sheds new light on ancient volcanoes' environmental impact

Massive volcanic events in Earth's history that released large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere frequently correlate with periods of severe environmental change and mass extinctions. A new method to estimate how much and how rapidly carbon was released by the volcanoes could improve our...

phys.org

Earthquakes impact forest resilience for decades post-event, research suggests

Earthquake effects are often thought of in terms of the human impact, be that fatalities or destruction to homes and infrastructure. However, the environmental toll can also be damaging, and new research, published in Nature Geoscience, suggests the forest recovery may take even longer than...

phys.org

Scientists create new idea on how to hack a warming planet: drying the upper atmosphere

Government scientists have cooked up a new concept for how to potentially cool an overheating Earth: Fiddle with the upper atmosphere to make it a bit drier.

phys.org

Ice shell thickness reveals water temperature on ocean worlds

Decades before any probe dips a toe—and thermometer—into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space.

phys.org

An 80-mph speed record for glacier fracture helps reveal the physics of ice sheet collapse

There's enough water frozen in Greenland and Antarctic glaciers that if they melted, global seas would rise by many feet. What will happen to these glaciers over the coming decades is the biggest unknown in the future of rising seas, partly because glacier fracture physics is not yet fully...

phys.org

Tsunami on the plains: Researchers find that sea waves once swept Canadian Prairie Provinces

Hundreds of millions of years ago, an earthquake sent a series of massive waves across the ancient sea that covered part of Western Canada and the northern United States.

phys.org

Researchers leverage machine learning to improve space weather predictions

There are three levels of severity for space storms: geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms and radio blackouts. These storms produce different effects on Earth, including satellite, GPS, communications and electrical grid issues, as well as health dangers for astronauts and people on...

phys.org

Study offers improved look at Earth's ionosphere

New measuring techniques will enable improved measurements of the Earth's ionosphere, a key to studying and reducing the impact of space weather.

phys.org

Where does lightning strike? New maps pinpoint 36.8 million yearly ground strike points in unprecedented detail

It's been a warm day, maybe even a little humid, and the tall clouds in the distance remind you of cauliflower. You hear a sharp crack, like the sound of a batter hitting a home run, or a low rumble reminiscent of a truck driving down the highway. A distant thunderstorm, alive with lightning, is...

phys.org

 

[publiusr]

There is a cheap new camera system that can take 4.8 million frames per second (DRUM)...and a non relativistic way to generate terahertz waves. ECDs are in the news for displays.

"Researcher makes sand that flows uphill"
--at phys.org on 09/20/2023.

Others--"Newly discovered deep sea enzyme breaks down PET" (PET46)

Soft color changing system (MoCA).

"Scientists make methanol at room temperature."

"Light and sound waves reveal negative pressure."

"Researcher finds way to get audio from still images" (Side eye)

"New method helps AI navigate 3D space using 2D images."
--this via the "MonoCon technique."

Wonder if that could help complex machining/subtractive manufacturing...

"Next generation printing precise and direct, using optical vortices."

"Using DNA as glue to hold nanostructures together...."

"Impossible millimeter wave sensor has potential" UC Davis

"Instant evolution: AI designs new robot from scratch in seconds"

"New energy storage material could also be used to build electronic gadgets" (structural supercapacitors).

"Awe inspiring science can have a positive mental effect"

Mathematical proof reveals new insights into typhoon dynamics (spherical vortices).

Team discovers thousands of new transformable knots.

Targeted stiffening yields more efficient soft robot arms


AGW

Pioneering scientist says global warming is accelerating. Some experts call his claims overheated

One of modern climate science's pioneers is warning that the world isn't just steadily warming but is dangerously accelerating, according to a study that some other scientists call a bit overheated.

phys.org

Damaging thunderstorm winds rising in central US: Research finds five-fold increase

Destructive winds that flow out of thunderstorms in the central United States are becoming more widespread with warming temperatures, according to new research by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR).

phys.org

A monster eddy current is spinning into existence off the coast of Sydney—will it bring a new marine heat wave?

Right now, there's something big spinning off the coast from Sydney—a giant rotating vortex of sea water, powerful enough to dominate the ocean currents off south-eastern Australia.

phys.org

How a climate model can illustrate and explain ice-age climate variability

Although humankind is responsible for the current global climate warming, our planet has constantly been undergoing natural climate fluctuations. Possible forcing mechanisms for this variability would have been changes in the brightness of the sun or explosive volcanic eruptions, but also...

phys.org

Ocean warming is accelerating, and hotspots reveal which areas are absorbing the most heat

Ocean warming has accelerated dramatically since the 1990s, nearly doubling during 2010–2020 relative to 1990–2000, according to new UNSW Sydney-led research.

phys.org

History, Humanities and medical news

Maps shape our lives—showing us not just where we are, but who we are

Maps and everyday life are now so intertwined for most people that it's difficult to imagine a world without them. Most of us use at least one map every day. Some of us use many, especially now, they have become one of the dominant interfaces of our digital society, alongside the scrolling...

phys.org

Becoming human: An ancient genome perspective

Writing a commentary in the 50th anniversary issue of Cell, Fu Qiaomei and E. Andrew Bennett, both of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, explored the contribution of paleogenomics to our understanding of the evolution of...

phys.org

Conflicting theories of consciousness may fit together after all

Professor Emeritus Johan Frederik Storm has led research forming the basis of a article that aims to uncover an alternative approach to the understanding of how human consciousness functions. It is currently available on the PsyArXiv preprint server and in prepress in the journal Neuron.

medicalxpress.com

Early vocabulary size is genetically linked to ADHD, literacy, and cognition

Early language development is an important predictor of children's later language, reading and learning skills. Moreover, language learning difficulties are related to neurodevelopmental conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

medicalxpress.com

Experiment captures why pottery forms are culturally distinct

Potters of different cultural backgrounds learn new types differently, producing cultural differences even in the absence of differential cultural evolution. Kobe University-led research, published in PNAS Nexus, has implications for how we evaluate the difference of archaeological artifacts...

phys.org

A physical model to quantify the quality of stones selected as tools by Stone Age hunter–gatherers

Early hunter–gatherers from the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa were selecting the most suitable material available for stone tools and spearheads more than 60,000 years ago, according to a study by Dr. Patrick Schmidt from the University of Tübingen's Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology...

phys.org

What math tells us about social dilemmas

Human coexistence depends on cooperation. Individuals have different motivations and reasons to collaborate, resulting in social dilemmas, such as the well-known prisoner's dilemma. Scientists from the Chatterjee group at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) now present a new...

phys.org

Researchers overestimate their own honesty, finds study

The average researcher thinks they are better than their colleagues at following good research practice. They also think that their own research field is better than other research fields at following good research practice.

phys.org

Stop trying to raise the perfect child, says new parenting book

Two University of the Sunshine education experts are calling for more parents to "ground" their children—but not as punishment for misdeeds.

phys.org

Plant seed and fruit analysis from the biblical home of Goliath sheds unprecedented light on Philistine ritual practices

The enigmatic Philistine culture, which flourished during the Iron Age (ca. 1200–604 BCE), profoundly affected the southern Levant's cultural history, agronomy, and dietary customs. More than a quarter century of excavations at Tell es-Safi/Gath in central Israel, identified as the biblical Gath...

phys.org

The tools in a medieval Japanese healer's toolkit: From fortunetelling and exorcism to herbal medicines

"The Tale of Genji," often called Japan's first novel, was written 1,000 years ago. Yet it still occupies a powerful place in the Japanese imagination. A popular TV drama, "Dear Radiance"—"Hikaru kimi e"—is based on the life of its author, Murasaki Shikibu: the lady-in-waiting whose experiences...

phys.org

Study identifies multi-organ response to seven days without food

New findings reveal that the body undergoes significant, systematic changes across multiple organs during prolonged periods of fasting. The results demonstrate evidence of health benefits beyond weight loss, but also show that any potentially health-altering changes appear to occur only after...

medicalxpress.com

Most smokers wrongly believe vaping is at least as harmful as smoking, says study

More than half of smokers in England wrongly believe that vaping is more harmful or as harmful as smoking, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.

medicalxpress.com

A 'gene of prejudice' could help explain variations in human personality and demystify autism

Individuals with the neurodevelopmental disorder Williams syndrome have a gregarious "cocktail party" personality, while those with the opposite genetic alteration, in contrast, tend to have autistic traits and are prone to struggle socially.

medicalxpress.com

Arterial connections found to improve treatment outcomes following stroke

Blood vessels that cross-connect adjacent arterial trees regulate blood flow to the brain in stroke patients. Researchers at the University of Zurich have now shown that these vessels prevent brain hemorrhage following treatment to remove blood clots. They play a crucial role in the recovery of...

medicalxpress.com

Silencing a gene could lower cholesterol

Durable repression of a gene that has a role in controlling cholesterol levels, achieved without permanent genome editing, has been demonstrated in a mouse study published in Nature this week.

phys.org

New molecules, inspired by space shuttles, advance lipid nanoparticle delivery for weight control

Inspired by the design of space shuttles, Penn Engineering researchers have invented a new way to synthesize a key component of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), the revolutionary delivery vehicle for mRNA treatments including the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, simplifying the...

phys.org

How 40Hz sensory gamma rhythm stimulation clears amyloid in Alzheimer's mice

Studies at MIT and elsewhere are producing mounting evidence that light flickering and sound clicking at the gamma brain rhythm frequency of 40 Hz can reduce Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression and treat symptoms in human volunteers as well as lab mice.

medicalxpress.com

Fingerprints

Scientists develop biocompatible fluorescent spray that detects fingerprints in ten seconds

Scientists have developed a water-soluble, non-toxic fluorescent spray that makes fingerprints visible in just a few seconds, making forensic investigations safer, easier and quicker.

phys.org

 

[jsport]

Scientists Say They've Found Huge Number of Mysterious Circles Around the World

Using artificial intelligence, researchers have discovered thousands of new mysterious "fairy circles" in hundreds of locations.

futurism.com

 

[publiusr]

Keep dry

Team develops superhydrophobic surface that can stay dry for months underwater

A species of spider lives its entire life underwater, despite having lungs that can only breathe atmospheric oxygen. How does it do it? This spider, known as the Argyroneta aquatica, has millions of rough, water-repellent hairs that trap air around its body, creating an oxygen reservoir and...

phys.org

“New” flavor?

New flavour profile? Scientists uncover tongue's sixth basic taste

Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery, establishing ammonium chloride as a sixth basic taste sensation, alongside sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. This revelation sheds light on the tongue's ability to detect this distinct taste, primarily found in some Scandinavian candies...

www.wionews.com

Defects

Groundbreaking study shows defects spreading through diamond faster than the speed of sound | SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

A groundbreaking study shows defects spreading through diamond faster than the speed of sound

www6.slac.stanford.edu

Black holes

Researchers suggest paired black holes pulled by cosmic expansion could seem to be one entity

A small team of astrophysicists and mathematicians from the University of Southampton, the University of Cambridge and Institut de Ci'encies del Cosmos Universitat de Barcelona has proposed that certain pairings of black holes held apart by cosmic expansion could be mistaken for a single...

phys.org

Sensors

‘Impossible’ Millimeter Wave Sensor Has Wide Potential

A millimeter wave radar sensor developed at UC Davis can detect vibrations a thousand times smaller and movement a hundred times smaller than a strand of human hair.

www.ucdavis.edu

Evolution

Survival of the newest: The mammals that survive mass extinctions aren't as 'boring' as scientists thought

When an asteroid hit the Earth 66 million years ago, it set off a devastating mass extinction. The dinosaurs (except for a few birds) all died out, along with lots of the mammals. But some small mammals survived, laying the groundwork for all the mammals alive today.

phys.org

Mystery: New tiny wasp comes with cloud-like structures

Fossil researchers have discovered a novel genus and species of tiny wasp with a mysterious, bulbous structure at the end of each antenna.

www.thenewsguard.com

Throne of Games

New technology could reduce lag, improve reliability of online gaming, meetings

Whether you’re battling foes in a virtual arena or collaborating with colleagues across the globe, lag-induced disruptions can be a major hindrance to seamless communication and immersive experiences. That’s why researchers have developed new technology to make data transfer over optical fiber...

www.sciencedaily.com

"Scientists upcycle polyesters through new waste-free scalable process." phys.org

I crave the new

Awe-inspiring science can have a positive effect on mental well-being, research finds

Research led by psychologists at the University of Warwick has revealed a profound connection between the spirituality of science and positive well-being, much like the benefits traditionally associated with religion.

medicalxpress.com

 

[Antonio]

Wasp article not available for EU. Alternative links:

New type of tiny wasp comes with mysterious, cloud-like structures at ends of antennae

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Fossil researchers have discovered a novel genus and species of tiny wasp with a mysterious, bulbous structure at the end of each antenna. The female micro-wasp was described from 100-million-year-old Burmese amber in a study led by George Poinar Jr., who holds a courtesy...

today.oregonstate.edu

New species of tiny wasp comes with mysterious, cloud-like structures at ends of antennae

New species of tiny wasp comes with mysterious, cloud-like structures at ends of antennae

www.lifetechnology.com

 

[publiusr]

The art of science

Scientists pry a secret from the 'Mona Lisa' about how Leonardo painted the masterpiece

The "Mona Lisa" has given up another secret.

phys.org

Scientific analysis reveals the true colors of the Parthenon Sculptures

New imaging and scientific investigations by a team including a King's College London academic has found traces of the original paint used to decorate the Parthenon Sculptures, revealing they were once in fact brightly colored.

phys.org

A History of the Theremin—the Soviet Science Experiment That Took Hollywood By Storm

The spooky instrument that scored the biggest sci-fi films of the 1950s was invented by accident.

www.mentalfloss.com

 

[Richard N]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1713823844849304026

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1713823844849304026

 

[publiusr]

Speaking of magnets, there is a new phys.org story:
"Why a spinning magnet can cause a second magnet to levitate."

(Magnetic levitation by rotation)

Why a spinning magnet can cause a second magnet to levitate

A team of physicists at the Technical University of Denmark has found the reason a spinning magnet can cause a secondary magnet to levitate without the need for stabilization. In their paper published in the journal Physical Review Applied, the group describes experiments they conducted to learn...

phys.org

A sterling engine in space could be sided with frictionless bearings.

Solar news

Research team counters solar energy misinformation

Resistance to adoption of solar panels as an economical and efficient replacement for fossil fuels is based on inaccurate information being spread by foes of renewable energy.

techxplore.com

World may have crossed solar power 'tipping point,' study suggests

The world may have crossed a "tipping point" that will inevitably make solar power our main source of energy, new research suggests.

techxplore.com

As surging threats teeter electrical power grids, scientists offer insights to make them more resilient

Power grids—the web of electrical networks that sprawl across countries and continents—are under stress. Extreme weather events and volatile energy demands often push the system to the brink. Although these high-impact events can be very damaging, often overlooked is the impact of minor...

techxplore.com

Compute

From square to cube: Hardware processing for AI goes 3D, boosting processing power

In a paper published in Nature Photonics, researchers from the University of Oxford, along with collaborators from the Universities of Muenster, Heidelberg, and Exeter, report on their development of integrated photonic-electronic hardware capable of processing three-dimensional (3D) data...

techxplore.com

Visual Abstracts in Journal Articles Increase Social Media Engagement, Readership - News Center

Social media posts with visual abstracts — images with text and icons that convey a study’s methods and findings — of clinical trials published online in peer-reviewed academic journals increased social media engagement compared to social media posts with article figures, according to a recent...

news.feinberg.northwestern.edu

New 'dragon lizard' species with impressive camouflage capabilities found in Southeast Asia

An international team of biologists, animal management specialists, geneticists and forestry managers has discovered a new species of "dragon lizard" in Laos—one with very impressive camouflage capabilities. In their paper published in the journal Zoological Research, the group describes how the...

phys.org

Terrifying ‘Vampire’ Wasp Discovered In Peruvian Amazon - Videos from The Weather Channel

A newly discovered species of wasp is the stuff of nightmares. The parasitic capitojoppa amazonica, or “vampire wasp,” is named for its huge head and habit of sucking the blood out of its hosts. - Videos from The Weather Channel | weather.com

weather.com

New look at a Lorrainosaurus in a museum finds plesiosaurs evolved earlier than thought

A team of paleontologists from Naturkunde-Museum Bielefeld, Adenauerplatz, the Polish Academy of Sciences, Natural History Museum Luxembourg and The Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University has found through study of a Lorrainosaurus fossil residing at Luxembourg's National Museum of Natural...

phys.org

Why 10 billion snow crabs starved to death in the Bering Sea

A team of marine biologists with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Fishery Science Center has solved the mystery of why approximately 10 billion snow crabs vanished from the Bering Sea back in 2018/2019—the water there was too warm for them.

phys.org

Why some worms regenerate and others do not

Why are so few species able to regenerate damaged or missing body parts, even though regeneration might seem an obvious survival advantage? Researchers at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen, Germany, and colleagues have now found a possible explanation in...

phys.org

Atlantic hurricanes now twice as likely to strengthen from weak to major intensity in 24 hours, researchers suggest

Atlantic hurricanes may now be more than twice as likely to strengthen from a weak Category 1 hurricane to a major Category 3 or stronger hurricane in a 24-hour period than they were between 1970 and 1990, suggests a paper published in Scientific Reports. The paper also suggests that hurricanes...

phys.org

The emotional function of dreams is not the same everywhere

By comparing the dreams of Western and non-Western populations, a study by the UNIGE and the University of Toronto shows that dreams can have a variable emotional function.

medicalxpress.com

Combining metals for cheaper, more stable fuel cells

Fuel cells are seen as a promising source of green energy, with the potential to revolutionize various industries including transportation and power generation. They produce electricity through a chemical reaction whose only byproducts are water and heat.

techxplore.com

Study unveils a new partially disordered phase in Li- and Mn-rich cathode materials

Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are among the most widespread battery technologies worldwide, due to their light weight, high energy densities, easy fabrication process, rapid charging times and other advantageous properties. Identifying strategies that could boost their performance further or...

techxplore.com

Seeing the invisible: Revealing hidden damage with cameras to improve aircraft safety

Every day, there are more than 45,000 flights carrying 2.9 million airline passengers in the United States alone. While supporting this endeavor, aircraft are subjected to a variety of operational conditions from environmental and human-introduced factors. For example, impacts from hail or tools...

techxplore.com

Signatures of the Space Age: Spacecraft metals left in the wake of humanity's path to the stars

The Space Age is leaving fingerprints on one of the most remote parts of the planet—the stratosphere—which has potential implications for climate, the ozone layer and the continued habitability of Earth.

phys.org

 

[publiusr]

Of interest

Tiny networks intertwine to mimic design of bird colors

The bright plumage of birds is often a feast for the eyes, but it has been a headache for scientists who have struggled to recreate the photonic nanostructures that generate those colors in the lab.

phys.org

Finding Argoland: How a lost continent resurfaced

Geologists have long known that around 155 million years ago, a 5,000 km long piece of continent broke off western Australia and drifted away. They can see that by the 'void' it left behind: a basin hidden deep below the ocean known as the Argo Abyssal Plain. The underwater feature also lends...

phys.org

Studying the mechanisms of water transport along a fiber

How fast does a droplet flow along a fiber? It depends on the diameter of the fiber, and also on its substructure. These are the findings of a study conducted by researchers from the University of Liège who are interested in microfluidics, especially water harvesting in arid/semi-arid regions of...

phys.org

Acoustic touch: Vision via sound for the blind

Australian researchers have developed cutting-edge technology known as "acoustic touch" that helps people "see" using sound. The technology has the potential to transform the lives of those who are blind or have low vision.

techxplore.com

New phone case provides workaround for inaccessible touch screens

A new smartphone case could soon enable folks with visual impairments, tremors and spasms to use touch screens independently. Developed at the University of Michigan, BrushLens could help users perceive, locate and tap buttons and keys on the touch screen menus now ubiquitous in restaurant...

techxplore.com

Conic sections

A new formula to calculate the strength of thin conical structures

Conical structures can have advantageous applications in a variety of fields, ranging from robotics to civil engineering. Studies have found that conical shells made of liquid crystal elastomer films can be effective lifters; devices that can generate thrust for robots and other vehicles.

phys.org

Star Trek meds

Research team designs gel that repairs cartilage nonsurgically with electricity

A lifetime of activity can gradually erode the cartilage that cushions our joints. Someday, we might simply inject a gel to repair it, University of Connecticut researchers report in the Oct. 6 issue of Nature Communications.

medicalxpress.com

First digital atlas of human fetal brain development published

A team of more than 200 researchers around the world, involving multiple health and scientific institutions, led by the University of Oxford, has published the first digital atlas showing the dynamics of normative maturation of each hemisphere of the fetal brain between 14 and 31 weeks'...

medicalxpress.com

Study suggests marijuana use damages brain immune cells vital to adolescent development

In a mouse study designed to explore the impact of marijuana's major psychoactive compound, THC, on teenage brains, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they found changes to the structure of microglia, which are specialized brain immune cells, that may worsen a genetic predisposition to...

medicalxpress.com

New research finds two regions of the brain critical to integrating semantic information while reading

Two different regions of the brain are critical to integrating semantic information while reading, which could shed more light on why people with aphasia have difficulty with semantics, according to new research from UTHealth Houston.

medicalxpress.com

Taking a census of all the immune cells in the human body

A team of environmental and molecular biologists at the Weizmann Institute of Science, working with a colleague from the Edmond and Lily Safra Children's Hospital and another with The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, all in Israel, has conducted a census of the immune cells that reside...

medicalxpress.com

Climate

Volcanic eruptions found to dampen Indian Ocean El Niño events for up to 8 years

Volcanic eruptions occurring in tropical regions (23°N/S of the equator) have been linked to abrupt disruption of global-scale climate cycles in the Indian Ocean over the last 1 million years in new research published in Geophysical Research Letters. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and...

phys.org

Mystery of volcanic tsunami solved after 373 years

The explosion of the underwater volcano Kolumbo in the Aegean Sea in 1650 triggered a destructive tsunami that was described by historical eye witnesses. A group of researchers led by Dr. Jens Karstens from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel has now surveyed Kolumbo's underwater...

phys.org

Scientists find two ways that hurricanes rapidly intensify

Hurricanes that rapidly intensify for mysterious reasons pose a particularly frightening threat to those in harm's way. Forecasters have struggled for many years to understand why a seemingly commonplace tropical depression or tropical storm sometimes blows up into a major hurricane, packing...

phys.org

Artificial intelligence algorithms fail to account for a key limitation in weather prediction: The butterfly effect

Weather forecasting historically has depended on the time-consuming and energy-intensive method of using supercomputers to crunch complex sets of mathematical equations. An up-and-coming alternative involves training artificial intelligence (AI) to predict how current atmospheric conditions will...

phys.org

Extreme weather is outpacing even the worst-case scenarios of our forecasting models, says researcher

In the wake of the destructive Hurricane Otis, we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in the history of weather forecasting. The hurricane roared ashore with 165mph winds and torrential rainfall, slamming into the coastal city of Acapulco, Mexico, and claiming the lives of at least 48 people.

phys.org

Why Storm Ciarán's winds were so strong

Storm Ciarán made landfall in southern regions of the UK during the evening of November 1, 2023. The UK's Met Office issued amber weather warnings for November 2 in specific areas in the south of the UK, cautioning about high winds. This amber alert represents the second-highest level in the Met...

phys.org

‘Green living paint’ produces oxygen and captures carbon dioxide

Researchers have created a paint containing living cyanobacteria that produces oxygen and can capture carbon dioxide. The bacteria’s ability to withstand extreme environments means this novel paint could be used in a range of applications, including outer space.

newatlas.com

 

[publiusr]

Get on the bus

A giant battery gives this new school bus a 300-mile range

The Type D school bus uses a 387 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery.

arstechnica.com

Hologram tech

Clear holographic imaging in turbulent environments

Holographic imaging has always been challenged by unpredictable distortions in dynamic environments. Traditional deep learning methods often struggle to adapt to diverse scenes due to their reliance on specific data conditions.

phys.org

Engineers improve NASA lidar tech for exploration

Lidar technology improvements will help NASA scientists and explorers with remote sensing and surveying, mapping, 3D-image scanning, hazard detection and avoidance, and navigation.

phys.org

A novel sparse synthetic aperture radar unambiguous imaging method based on mixed-norm optimization

Compared with traditional matched filtering (MF) based methods, sparse synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging could obtain high-quality images of sparse surveillance regions from down-sampled echo data. However, sparse SAR imaging still faces several challenges, especially in the fast recovery...

phys.org

HAARP artificial airglow may be widely visible in Alaska

Alaskans and visitors may be able to see an artificial airglow in the sky created by the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program during a four-day research campaign that starts Saturday.

phys.org

NASA Goddard's 'spiky' antenna chamber: Signaling success for 50 years

On any given day, NASA's networks may communicate with more than 100 space missions. Whether the mission keeps the lines of communication open with orbiting astronauts or peers deep into the cosmos, those dozens of satellites all have one thing in common: each needs an antenna. Without one, NASA...

phys.org

Huge 'blobs' inside Earth are from another planet, study suggests

Scientists proposed a novel idea on Wednesday that could solve two of the world's mysteries at once—one that passes over our heads every night, and one that sits far below our feet.

phys.org

Math news

The math problem that took nearly a century to solve

We've all been there: staring at a math test with a problem that seems impossible to solve. What if finding the solution to a problem took almost a century? For mathematicians who dabble in Ramsey theory, this is very much the case. In fact, little progress had been made in solving Ramsey...

phys.org

Research claims novel algorithm can exactly compute information rate for any system

75 years ago Claude Shannon, the "father of information theory," showed how information transmission can be quantified mathematically, namely via the so-called information transmission rate.

phys.org

Critical mathematical thinking skills create more engaged citizens, says expert

Improving children's understanding of math helps them develop more balanced decision-making, says a UNSW expert in mathematics education. Using math critically allows us to consider complex personal and socio-political issues, such as health, the economy and the environment, says Professor Kim...

phys.org

biology

Physics has long failed to explain life—but researchers are testing a groundbreaking new theory in the lab

Modern physics can explain everything from the spin of the tiniest particle to the behavior of entire galaxy clusters. But it can't explain life. There's simply no formula to explain the difference between a living lump of matter and a dead one. Life seems to just mysteriously "emerge" from...

phys.org

Giant dinosaur carcasses might have been important food sources for Jurassic predators

Carnivorous dinosaurs might have evolved to take advantage of giant carcasses, according to a study published November 1, 2023 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Cameron Pahl and Luis Ruedas of Portland State University, Oregon and colleagues.

phys.org

New proterosuchid species from 250 million years ago found in India

A small international team of paleontologists has discovered a new species of proterosuchid in India dating back 250 million years ago. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes where the fossil was found and how it fits in with other archosauriforms...

phys.org

Fossil found on the side of the road is a new species of mosasaur

One "big wet lizard" was chewed on by another.

arstechnica.com

New analysis of ancient fish may explain how shoulder evolved

A new analysis of the bones and muscles in ancient fish gives new clues about how the shoulder evolved in animals—including us.

phys.org

Two species of large ancient lampreys found in China

A trio of paleontologists, two with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the third with Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR, has found the fossilized remains of two large lamprey species from the Jurassic in northeast China. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications...

phys.org

Rats have an imagination, new research finds

As humans, we live in our thoughts: from pondering what to make for dinner to daydreaming about our last beach vacation. Now, researchers at HHMI's Janelia Research Campus have found that animals also possess an imagination.

phys.org

Mouse embryos grown in space for first time: Japan researchers

Mouse embryos have been grown on the International Space Station and developed normally in the first study indicating it could be possible for humans to reproduce in space, a group of Japanese scientists said.

phys.org

Can this team create a 'perfect' reef? Why the US military is banking on it

The nation's military has been working on a new weapon: Creating a "perfect," self-healing coral reef that can withstand disease, warming temperatures and sea rise.

phys.org

Scientists use supercomputers to make optical tweezers safer for living cells

Optical tweezers manipulate tiny things like cells and nanoparticles using lasers. While they might sound like tractor beams from science fiction, the fact is their development garnered scientists a Nobel Prize in 2018.

phys.org

Textbook knowledge turned on its head: 3-in-1 microorganism discovered

A team of researchers has now been able to show that there is an incredibly high biodiversity of environmentally relevant microorganisms in nature. This diversity is at least 4.5 times greater than previously known. The researchers recently published their findings in the journals Nature...

phys.org

How humans use their sense of smell to find their way

You might say that a sweet tooth turned sixth-year psychology Ph.D. student Clara Raithel onto the human sense of smell.

medicalxpress.com

'Lab on a chip' genetic test device can identify viruses within three minutes with top-level accuracy

A virus diagnosis device that gives lab-quality results within just three minutes has been invented by engineers at the University of Bath, who describe it as the "world's fastest COVID test."

medicalxpress.com

New study uncovers the underlying complexity of brain synapses

A new study published in Cell is reshaping our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the brain, the proteins that are present at synapses. Titled "The proteomic landscape of synaptic diversity across brain regions and cell types," the research delves deep into the intricate world...

medicalxpress.com

'Injectable tissue prosthesis' offers new approach for regenerating damaged muscle/nerve

In a study published in the journal Nature, researchers from the Institute of Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea have made significant strides in biomaterial technology and rehabilitation medicine. They've developed a novel approach to healing muscle injury by employing "injectable tissue...

medicalxpress.com

Scientists shoot first true-to-life 3D image of the thick filament of mammalian heart muscle

Atrial fibrillation, heart failure and stroke—hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can lead to many serious health conditions and is a major cause of sudden cardiac death in people younger than 35.

phys.org

What happens when we pass out? Researchers identify new brain and heart connections

Nearly 40% of people experience syncope, or fainting spells, at least once in their lives. These brief losses of consciousness, whether brought by pain, fear, heat, hyperventilation or other causes, account for a significant portion of hospital emergency room visits. Yet the exact root...

medicalxpress.com

New study finds that being alone does not closely correlate with feelings of loneliness

In a world filled with endless connections and constant communication, the relationship between loneliness and aloneness is not always clear. Now, University of Arizona researchers have analyzed that relationship—and found that they are two different things that are not closely correlated.

phys.org

A wave theory for explaining neurochemical balance in the brain

In a new study, a group of researchers led by Dr. Joshua Goldberg from the Hebrew University describe a new kind of neurochemical wave in the brain. Their research, published in Nature Communications, unveils the existence of traveling waves of the neurochemical acetylcholine in the striatum, a...

medicalxpress.com

Surprising finding links sleep, brain insulation and neurodegeneration

Scientists affiliated with the Knight Initiative for Brain Resilience at Wu Tsai Neuro have discovered a surprising connection between brain cells involved in producing the insulation around nerve fibers, our sleep patterns, and neurodegenerative diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS).

medicalxpress.com

Study sheds light on evolution of brain folding in cerebellum of mammals

Scientists have characterized the folding of the cerebellar cortex using data from a sample of 56 mammalian species, allowing them to study the diversity and evolution of cerebellar folding and its relationship with the anatomy of the cerebrum.

phys.org

land use

New map of 20th-century land use in Britain helps researchers demystify biodiversity change

A collaboration led by Northumbria University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences has for the first time mapped how land use changed across Britain throughout the last century. The new map reveals how and where some 50% of semi-natural grassland was lost, including 90% of the...

phys.org

Ain't that a shame

Hearing bad grammar results in physical signs of stress, new study reveals

A new study by professors at the University of Birmingham has revealed for the first time how our bodies go into stress-mode when hearing misused grammar.

medicalxpress.com

Cockney and Queen's English have all but disappeared among young people—here's what's replaced them

Cockney and received pronunciation (Queen's English) were once spoken by people of all ages, but they are no longer commonly spoken among young people in the south-east of England.

phys.org

Why all languages have words for 'this' and 'that'

Languages around the world have words for "this" and "that" according to new research from an international team, led by the University of East Anglia. Researchers studied more than 1,000 speakers of 29 different languages to see how they use demonstratives—words that show where something is in...

phys.org

Want to achieve your goals? Get angry, say researchers

While often perceived as a negative emotion, anger can also be a powerful motivator for people to achieve challenging goals in their lives, according to new research.

medicalxpress.com

Trick of light

Optical Effect: curved light source when seen through the bus window

During the night, I was traveling by local bus. And as I viewed through the window, the light from the street lights and the headlights of other vehicles appeared curved, as shown in the images below: One common answer is: because of refraction Is there any more explanation for this behavior?

www.physicsforums.com

Macron gun

Students create bench-top particle accelerator to study effects of micrometeoroids

A team of engineering students has recently developed and tested a bench-top particle accelerator they call LOKI, to test what happens to different materials when they are hit by micrometeoroids. The device, discussed in the International Journal of Student Project Reporting offers an innovative...

phys.org