technical updates

SpaceX's latest prototype for its massive Starship rocket appeared to burst during a pressure test late Friday (Feb. 28), blowing apart. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3ckjw4D

Stealthy startup Astra hoped to win $2 million with its first-ever orbital launch today (Feb. 29), but Mother Nature prevented the DARPA Launch Challenge liftoff. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2I3Eqat

Ultrafast, multidimensional spectroscopy unlocks macroscopic-scale effects of quantum electronic correlations. Researchers found that low-energy and high energy states are correlated in a layered, superconducting material. Exciting the material with an ultrafast beam of near-infrared light produces coherent excitations lasting a surprisingly 'long' time of around 500 femtoseconds, originating from a quantum superposition of excited states within the crystal. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2TcnLaM

Sea levels along a stretch of the Atlantic coast of North America in the 18th century were rising almost as fast as in the 20th century, a new study has revealed. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PAqk4s

Russia's capital Moscow, which for the past months has largely been deprived of its traditional seasonal covering of snow, has seen its warmest winter since records began, the state weather service said on Saturday. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/385IQIk

Biomedical researchers have isolated immune cells from human tonsils obtained following routine surgery, and used them to analyze aspects of the immune response and test the effects of anti-inflammatory agents at the cellular level. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2TqatXf

It was not clear whether the closure was related to the publishing of the sequencing data before the authorities from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/396k2Bj

Team adapts gene editing tool to detect the presence of Merkel cell polyoma virus in the tumours from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2VxApmA

SpaceX's billionaire founder and CEO said he's onboard with the sixth branch of the U.S. military, which President Donald Trump officially established in December 2019. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2wlcPi7

Proto-Earth was on a fast track to planet formation. from Space.com https://ift.tt/39hfW9K

It was not clear whether the closure was related to the publishing of the sequencing data before the authorities from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3cdxvcB

Art creates an atmosphere where patients feel safe, socialise, connect with the world outside from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2T8qxy0

The results show that motor neurons are capable of altering behavioural output from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3aikRqG

Happy Leap Day, world! Today (Feb. 29) marks a rare event in the calendar — an extra day that occurs each "Leap Year" to keep our calendar in check. Google is celebrating with a cute Google doodle. from Space.com https://ift.tt/389aeVX

The stealthy startup Astra aims to win $2 million with its first-ever orbital launch today (Feb. 29), and you can watch the liftoff live. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2TawBpG

Consumerist mecca New York targets its throwaway culture this weekend with a ban on single-use plastic bags that has been years in the making and is still rare in America. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/38buIxk

A study out of Mississippi State University evaluated the impact insect pest management strategies have on the economic return of small-scale tomato production. The results of this evaluation are published in the article "Economic Effect of Insect Pest Management Strategies on Small-scale Tomato Production in Mississippi" in the open access online journal HortTechnology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2VsWIK9

Turbulence is everywhere—it rattles our planes and makes tiny whirlpools in our bathtubs—but it is one of the least understood phenomena in classical physics. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3cbNvvw

A video on the pros and cons of treating waste through controlled burning from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2TnKcJi

The Smithsonian has just relinquished its claim on hundreds, if not thousands of space artifacts. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3afY13i

The iconic stripes of zebrafish are a classic example of natural self-organization. As zebrafish embryos develop, three types of pigment cells move around the skin, eventually jostling into positions that form body-length yellow and blue stripes. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2TmSFMz

Sitting by a model of the Earth shaped like a pancake, Brazilian restaurant-owner Ricardo lets out an exaggerated laugh: "'Hahaha!' That's how people react when you tell them the Earth is flat," he says. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3adZbME

University of British Columbia astronomy student Michelle Kunimoto has discovered 17 new planets, including a potentially habitable, Earth-sized world, by combing through data gathered by NASA's Kepler mission. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2IfH6Sx

As much as a third of food produced for human consumption is wasted or lost globally every year. New research published in Frontiers in Microbiology suggests one way to take a big bite out of food waste is to use bread destined for the dumpster as a medium for cultivating microbial starters for the food industry. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/380yx8s

Conspiracies abound in society and can have real world impacts when it leads some people to act, whether that means becoming more engaged politically, or less engaged. Previous research linking conspiracy beliefs and political actions provide mixed results. Some studies show people with a conspiracy worldview are more likely to disengage politically, while others show they are more engaged. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3cadkw9

What children choose to read outside school directly influences their academic performance, according to a major new study led by the University of Malaga and UCL, and published in the peer-reviewed journal Oxford Review of Education. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3adrJ8O

New Zealand has deployed soldiers to help prevent drought-stricken North Island towns from running dry as authorities consider imposing water restrictions in Auckland, the country's largest city. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2I5mxYB

The President was addressing scientists on the occasion of National Science Day. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3cgCBEU

Globally, there are 82,549 cases and 2,810 deaths as on February 27. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2Vwe88y

The explosion was so large it carved out a crater in the hot gas that could hold 15 Milky Ways, says scientist. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2I8uHzn

National Science Day is celebrated on February 28 each year commemorating Indian physicist C V Raman’s discovery in 1928 of the Raman effect, the scattering of photons or light particles by matter. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/32yS9PL

South Korea has the highest number of positive cases outside China from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3adnw5e

New research reveals how a cellular filament helps neural stem cells clear damaged and clumped proteins, an important step in eventually producing new neurons. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/32vWvHB

A new study shows that without adequate sugar, a bumblebee queen's fat body, which functions like a human liver, does not correctly produce enzymes required for healthy metabolism and detoxification from pesticides. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/32JlDuF

A new study has precisely quantified soil and landscape features and spatial and temporal yield variations in response to climate variability. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2VtqY7r

Researchers propose a new way to locate water leaks within the tangle of aging pipes found beneath many cities. The improvement could save time, money and billions of gallons of water. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2VsPCFn

Using ultrasound waves propagating through a solid surface, researchers were able to read text messages and make fraudulent calls on a cellphone sitting on a desk up to 30 feet away. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PvKk8k

Cancer mutations can be caused by common gut bacteria. By exposing human mini-guts to a particular strain of Escherichia coli, scientist uncovered that these bacteria induce a unique mutational pattern in human DNA. This pattern was also found in colon cancer patients, implying that the bacteria induced these mutations. For the first time the researchers establish a direct link between microbes and mutations driving tumorigenesis. This might lead to new measures in colorectal cancer prevention. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2Vv9Azs

Scientists describe a new method for detecting point mutations. The technique can be applied in living cells, offering a rapid, highly accurate and inexpensive means of identifying mutations relevant to human health. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2PvKUCO

Our skin protects us from physical injury, radiation and microbes, and at the same time produces hair and facilitates perspiration. Details of how skin cells manage such disparate tasks have so far remained elusive. Now, researchers have systematically mapped skin cells and their genetic programs, creating a detailed molecular atlas of the skin in its complexity. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/32w3YX6

An international team of researchers identifies a compound that corrects genetic abnormalities involved in the onset and progression of Huntington's disease for which there is no definitive treatment. They successfully reversed disease-causing DNA expansion mutations with no off-target effects in the lab. They hope that their discovery may help treat other DNA repeat diseases like myotonic dystrophy. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/385ZPtZ

Scientists developed a new method to convert carbon dioxide to methane with an electric field at low temperatures. In comparison to previous methods, this new method can produce any amount of methane whenever necessary. Because methane is a valuable gas which can be used to generate heat and electricity, this method could be exploited to help reduce the use of fossil fuels and prevent global warming. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2T3lzT0

She was the human computer who helped land humans on the moon. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3cf9NN3

After decades of speculation, researchers have demonstrated that a classical DNA repair enzyme also binds to RNA, affecting blood cell development. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/381A8L1

The ocean can store much more heat than the atmosphere. The deep sea around Antarctica stores thermal energy that is the equivalent of heating the air above the continent by 400 degrees. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2TjccxE

The debate has raged in the world of paleo-climate research for years: When did the land bridge that once connected Asia and North America flood? from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2voxQZ8

Scientists around the world are interested in developing new materials to help people live more sustainable and healthy lives, but the quest to produce these materials requires detailed knowledge of the mysterious structures of the molecules they are made from. Designers want to replace wasteful plastic with sustainable plant derived compounds, but this can be a challenge without knowledge of plant compound's molecular structure. A new technique developed at Aalto University should allow researchers to get this essential information. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2VtWy4X

A research group led by Prof. Wang Feng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences recently developed a photocatalytic method for the conversion of biopolyols and sugars to methanol and syngas. The results were published in Nature Communications. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HXVfmT

Earth's new neighbour is not in a stable orbit around the planet and is unlikely to be around for very long from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2Vt8xjw

India's rapid progress in lunar exploration has the attention of the president of the United States. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3930JJ2

Fans of Disney's hit series "The Mandalorian" will be thrilled to see dozens of products inspired by "The Child" (better known as Baby Yoda) in stores this year. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3930IEY

All four outer planets in our solar system sport at least a few rings, but so far, we haven't observed any such features around exoplanets. That's confusing. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2Pw3YAW

She talks about her work in DNA fingerprinting and how her deep interest in molecular biology helped her make a mark in her area of expertise from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2wbxoNU

When a massive star reaches the end of its life, it can explode as a supernova. But there's a unique type of supernova that's much brighter that we're just starting to understand—and which may prove useful in measuring the universe. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3cizmwT

Earth has acquired a second "mini-moon" about the size of a car, according to astronomers who spotted the object circling our planet. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2T1D722

Flashing crosswalk lights are no match for flashy cars, according to a new UNLV study which found that drivers of expensive cars are least likely to stop for crossing pedestrians. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/393ahUl

For half a century, scientists who have developed models of how ecological communities function have arrived at an unsettling conclusion. Their models' predictions—seen as classic tenets of community ecology—suggested that mutualistic interactions between species, such as the relationship between plants and pollinators, would lead to unstable ecosystems. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2T0VSCH

For more than five years, University of Utah air quality sensors have hitched rides on TRAX light rail trains, scanning air pollution along the train's Red and Green Lines. Now the study, once a passion project of U researchers, has become a state-funded long-term observatory, with an additional sensor on the Blue Line into Sandy and Draper and additional insights into the events that impact the Salt Lake Valley's air, including summer fireworks and winter inversions. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3akFkvp

China is planning to dispatch a 100,000-strong army of ducks to help Pakistan combat a massive locust infestation, a local newspaper reported Thursday. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3cbSH2z

A communication satellite almost out of fuel has gotten a new life after the first space docking of its kind. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/32uw1WQ

A new study has found that socioeconomic status (SES) has the strongest impact on whether secondary school students study the STEM sciences. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2ThabC5

Weather is an ever-present force in consumers' daily lives, yet there is little marketing research on how it affects consumers and businesses. A new UBC Sauder School of Business study reveals that sunny and snowy conditions trigger consumers to mentally visualize using products associated with the respective weather, which leads to consumers placing a higher value on them. Researchers also found the link between weather and higher product valuation only works for products that are related to being outside. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2vb54LO

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising materials for inexpensive and less energy-intensive gas separation even in the presence of impurities such as water. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2Vrk8j6

Astronomers have found an exoplanet more than twice the size of Earth to be potentially habitable, opening the search for life to planets significantly larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2T3m0Nq

SpaceX has delayed the launch of its next Dragon cargo ship bound for the International Space Station by at least four days in order to replace the upper stage of the mission's Falcon 9 rocket. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2wbXFM1

Astronomers have found an exoplanet more than twice the size of Earth to be potentially habitable, opening the search for life to planets significantly larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3abG7Pc

The magnetic field in one zone on Mars is about 10 times stronger than scientists expected, and it's changing rapidly. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2w3TfqG

Life on any planet faces numerous existential threats — including the possibility of the planet getting kicked out of its solar system altogether. One team of researchers ran the numbers and found that the Earth is safe from such a catastrophe — almost. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2TeAIQt

A newly found planet orbits so close to its parent star that it's close to being torn apart by the tidal forces induced by gravity. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2HVXPtV

San Francisco's women firefighters are exposed to higher levels of certain toxic PFAS chemicals than women working in downtown San Francisco offices, shows a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, San Francisco, and Silent Spring Institute. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Vmh5Zc

Caves are easily forgotten when fire rips through the bush, but despite their robustness the long-term impact of frequent, unprecedented fire seasons presents a new challenge for subsurface geology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2w6Jt7j

In recent decades, the search for high-performance thermal insulation for buildings has prompted manufacturers to turn to aerogels. Invented in the 1930s, these remarkable materials are translucent, ultraporous, lighter than a marshmallow, strong enough to support a brick, and an unparalleled barrier to heat flow, making them ideal for keeping heat inside on a cold winter day and outside when summer temperatures soar. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3a2dMKM

When it comes to grasping an object, our eyes, ears and hands are intimately connected. Our brain draws information from different senses, such as sight, sound and touch, to coordinate hand movements. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Vmu11m

If you've ever sat in the cool shade of a tree on a hot summer day, you already know that shaded areas are cooler than open fields. But is that kind of cooling enough to make a difference in the hotter world of the future? from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HZoNR8

From live demos and quizzes to lectures and posters — all departments of the Indian Institute of Science present many activities to engage with the public on their Open Day on February 29. National Centre for Biological Sciences presents Science Cafe this week from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3834zAw

The CAS key lab of quantum information, led by Prof. Guo Guangcan, Li Chuanfeng, Xiang Guoyong and collaborators, reports enhancing the performance of quantum orienteering with entangling measurements via photonic quantum walks. These results were published online by Physical Review Letters on February 13th. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2w4NSre

Sir David Attenborough, Dr. Jane Goodall DBE and leading Cambridge University researchers talk about the urgency of climate crisis—and some of the solutions that will take us towards zero carbon. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/32utJHg

Efforts to develop heterogeneous catalysts that appeal to the fine chemical industry have been limited by underwhelming results. Although some approaches have shown promising catalytic activity, "heterogenization" itself is not enough. To be adopted by industry, heterogeneous catalysts must promote selectivity that is difficult or even impossible to obtain with existing catalytic systems—the chemical properties of any proposed heterogeneous catalysts must go beyond easier separation and recycling. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2v6Bjf3

A USTC team led by Prof. Shu-Hong Yu (USTC), collaborating with Prof. Zhiyong Tang (National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China) and Prof. Edward H. Sargent (University of Toronto), has shed new light on the topic of chiral inorganic nanomaterials. Researchers demonstrated a regioselective magnetization strategy, achieving a library of semiconducting heteronanorods with chiroptical activities. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2wMuEHb

An international team of scientists from ITMO University and George Washington University (U.S.) created an algorithm for studying the evolutionary history of species with whole-genome duplications, chiefly yeast and plants. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3a0vnTs

A video featuring images captured by the Mars Colour Camera onboard India's Mars Orbiter spacecraft from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2HUkeaH

Virgin Galactic has received nearly 8,000 online reservations of interest since its first successful test flight into space 14 months ago, the company said Tuesday as it nears commercial operation and prepares to reopen ticket sales. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2usnaZ4

Seeds offer a level of resilience to the harmful effects of climate change in ecosystems across the globe. When seeds are dropped into the soil, often becoming dormant for many years until they are ready to grow into plants, they become part of the natural storage of seeds in "soil seed banks." These banks have been thought to better withstand extreme conditions than can the sprouted vegetation that exists above-ground. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/392OvjD

Antibodies produced by the immune system in response to infection will be present in the blood for a long time from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2wPeoFt

An international team of researchers has developed an enzyme produced from agricultural waste that could be used as an important additive in laundry detergents. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3cdpKDA

A new longitudinal study of fifth and sixth graders in Germany examined the relation between classmates' gender stereotypes and individual students' reading outcomes to shed light on how these stereotypes contribute to the gender gap in reading. The study concluded that girls experienced positive effects and boys experienced negative effects on their reading-related outcomes, specifically, their competence beliefs, motivation, and achievement in reading. Furthermore, classmates' gender stereotypes also negatively related to boys' competence beliefs, motivation, and achievement in reading. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Tij7qG

Some species of deaf moths can absorb as much as 85 per cent of the incoming sound energy from predatory bats—who use echolocation to detect them. The findings, published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface today, reveal the moths, who are unable to hear the ultrasonic calls of bats, have evolved this clever defensive strategy to help it survive. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2TeJdLp

Seagulls favour food that has been handled by humans, new research shows. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2vfPAWJ

In estuaries around the world, tiny trematode worms take over the bodies of aquatic snails. These parasitic flatworms invade the snail's body and use its systems to support their colony, sometimes for over a decade, "driving them around like cars," according to senior author Ryan Hechinger, professor of marine sciences at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/37WANxh

A team of astrophysicists led by Ph.D. student Mike Lau, from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Gravitational Wave Discovery (OzGrav), recently predicted that gravitational waves of double neutron stars may be detected by the future space satellite LISA. The results were presented at the 14th annual Australian National Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics (ANITA) science workshop 2020. These measurements may help decipher the life and death of stars. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/38TD1ip

A study led by An Zhisheng from the Institute of Earth Environment (IEE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences revealed a linkage between glacial cycles and inland Asian high-intensity wildfire events by analyzing high-resolution soot deposition over the last 2.6 million years. The study was published online in PNAS on Feb. 24. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HRvDrN

A research team of Vanderbilt engineers that includes a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory has demonstrated a new ultrathin filter, based on metamaterials, that allows for analog optical image processing. Their work, Flat Optics for Image Differentiation, appears today in the scientific journal, Nature Photonics. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2wNsS8T

Pacific Arctic ecosystems are undergoing dramatic changes because of warmer ocean water, a multidisciplinary team of scientists reported in the journal Nature Climate Change. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Pondwx

Researchers have converted human stem cells into insulin-producing cells and demonstrated in mice infused with such cells that blood sugar levels can be controlled and diabetes functionally cured for nine months. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3aeW5bl

Photoacoustic imaging, a technique for examining living materials through the use of laser light and ultrasonic sound waves, has many potential applications in medicine because of its ability to show everything from organs to blood vessels to tumors. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2SY7mac

Materials whose electronic and magnetic properties can be significantly changed by applying electrical inputs form the backbone of all of modern electronics. But achieving the same kind of tunable control over the thermal conductivity of any material has been an elusive quest. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Pp3CfA

The "mole" aboard NASA's Mars InSight lander is about to get yet another push. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2SUN1SV

NASA has awarded nearly $1 million to student teams looking to deploy robots, towers and other small vehicles alongside moon-roving astronauts. from Space.com https://ift.tt/38ZRucy

China's Chang'e 4 mission has entered its 15th lunar day of work on the far side of the moon, with both the lander and Yutu 2 rover still in good condition. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2VlAPMP

As the hunt for life on Mars starts getting into full swing, some scientists are already looking beyond the Red Planet, to our solar system's next astrobiological frontier. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2HUghD4

A remarkable new treasure has been found by scientists from the University of Portsmouth—the first fossil plant gum on record. The beautiful, amber-like material has been discovered in 110 million year old fossilised leaves. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3a4kL6g

Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) identified the best approach to help children operate Augmented Reality (AR). According to UTSA computer science experts, a major barrier into wider adoption of the technology for experiential learning is based on AR designs geared toward adults that rely on voice or gesture commands. By conducting in-classroom testing among elementary school students, UTSA researchers uncovered that AR programs are best delivered using controller commands, followed by programs that communicate with age-specific language. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2VkurVP

An Arctic "doomsday vault" is set Tuesday to receive 60,000 samples of seeds from around the world as the biggest global crop reserve stocks up for a global catastrophe. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2PoKqyt

Nearly 90 percent of the 200 cities beset by the world's highest levels of deadly micro-pollution are in China and India, with most of the rest in Pakistan and Indonesia, researchers reported Tuesday. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HUSCT6

Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have created a 3-D imaging system that uses light's quantum properties to create images 40,000 times crisper than current technologies, paving the way for never-before seen LIDAR sensing and detection in self-driving cars, satellite mapping systems, deep-space communications and medical imaging of the human retina. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HVmm2e

A key hurdle facing fusion devices called stellarators—twisty facilities that seek to harness on Earth the fusion reactions that power the sun and stars—has been their limited ability to maintain the heat and performance of the plasma that fuels those reactions. Now collaborative research by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany, have found that the Wendelstein 7-X (W7-X) facility in Greifswald, the largest and most advanced stellarator ever built, has demonstrated a key step in overcoming this problem. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HTqu2x

Coral reefs are not doomed. Although human activities threaten the iconic ecosystems in many different ways, scientists maintain that reefs can continue to thrive with the right assistance. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/399eqWM

More than a year after NASA's Mars InSight lander touched down in a pebble-filled crater on the Martian equator, the rusty red planet is now serving up its meteorological secrets: Gravity waves, surface swirling "dust devils," and the steady, low rumble of infrasound, Cornell and other researchers have found. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2w4PhOo

In the last decade there has been rapid expansion in the area of ocean designated as a Marine Protected Area (MPA). from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2PmkDHc

A natural experiment created by an active volcano gives new insight into the long-term negative impacts of human colonisation of tropical forest islands. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal, Journal of Ecology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2wLQpHd

In the animal kingdom, survival essentially boils down to eat or be eaten. How organisms accomplish the former and avoid the latter reveals a clever array of defense mechanisms. Maybe you can outrun your prey. Perhaps you sport an undetectable disguise. Or maybe you develop a death-defying resistance to your prey's heart-stopping defensive chemicals that you can store in your own body to protect you from predators. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/37W8ijt

The United States could generate 20% of its electricity from wind within 10 years, without requiring any additional land, according to new research. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/38RAmFX

One of the key features in the evolution of more complex organisms is the emergence of allosteric regulation. Allostery is a process by which a protein's activity can be modulated by binding an effector molecule distal to the active site. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2w3nkqw

One of the strategies used for biological control of the South American fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus is sterilization of males by X-ray or gamma-ray irradiation. The aim of the procedure is to bring about a decrease in the wild population of these insects. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/32jT8U2

Young people are demanding change. In the last few days, young Indigenous activists and their supporters blocked parliamentarians in Victoria, B.C., from accessing the provincial legislature and led waves of protest across the country. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HNZCAT

A unique tool has been created which helps fish farmers to identify the risk of parasite infection associated with their current farming practices. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2HMLyrs

Over the last 20 years, the number of female CEOs leading S&P 500 firms has increased fivefold. But it's a deceiving figure: among large publicly traded firms, women still only make up six percent of all CEOs. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/32qOjbE

The addition of 3-Nitrooxypropanol to the feed of dairy cows reduced their enteric methane emissions by about 25% in a recently published study—one in a series of Penn State studies of the investigational substance in the United States—which might be an early step toward it being approved for use in this country. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2VhzkPr