technical updates

Horseshoe crabs are remarkable animals, beautiful in their weirdness. These "living fossils" evolved 450 million years ago and have lived through at least five mass extinctions fatal to the majority of multicellular lifeforms on Earth. Sea-dwelling relatives of spiders, horseshoe crabs can lay millions of eggs, have four pairs of eyes, and (importantly to us) have blue blood containing amoeba-like immune cells. These horseshoe crab immune cells are analogous to the white blood cells of in our bodies, which protect us against a wide range of pathogens. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2wKOyD0

The Common Nightingale, known for its beautiful song, breeds in Europe and parts of Asia and migrates to sub-Saharan Africa every winter. A new study published in The Auk: Ornithological Advances suggests that natural selection driven by climate change is causing these iconic birds to evolve shorter wings, which might make them less likely to survive their annual migration. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3aCgJT2

Astronomers have found the best evidence for the perpetrator of a cosmic homicide: a black hole of an elusive class known as ''intermediate-mass,'' which betrayed its existence by tearing apart a wayward star that passed too close. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39xp6Os

A new analysis highlights the power of regular, daily exercise on our immune system and the importance of people continuing to work-out even in lockdown. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2ygDX2P

Anderson graduated from Harvard in 1949 and then worked for Bell Telephone Laboratories until he began teaching at Princeton and the University of Cambridge. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2JwsZIR

A new multinational study has shown how the process of distinguishing viruses and bacteria could be accelerated through the use of computational methods. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3dHmhgZ

Researchers from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and Aleph Farms have achieved a breakthrough in the production of cultivated meat grown outside an animal's body. In findings published today in Nature Food, soy protein, which is readily available and economically efficient, can be used as scaffolds for growing bovine tissue. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2WXRV3W

Scientists at the SUSU School of Economics and Management, together with foreign colleagues, have analyzed the roles of various groups of commodities in a traditional portfolio of equities. The economists examined the hedging and diversification ability of 21 commodities for 49 international stock markets belonging to countries at different stages of economic development. The results of this work will help investors minimize risks in stock markets transactions. They were published in the journal Resources Policy. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2w62Rlc

A new approach brings the hope of new therapeutic options for suppressing seasonal influenza and avian flu. On the basis of an empty and therefore non-infectious shell of a phage virus, researchers from Berlin have developed a chemically modified phage capsid that stifles influenza viruses. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3bFzplc

A palette of colors on a silver plate: That is what the world's first color photograph looks like. It was taken by French physicist Edmond Becquerel in 1848. His process was empirical, never explained, and quickly abandoned. Now, a team at the Centre de recherche sur la conservation (CNRS/Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle/Ministère de la Culture), in collaboration with the SOLEIL synchrotron and the Laboratoire de Physique des Solides (CNRS/Université Paris-Saclay), reports that the colors obtained by Edmond Becquerel were due to the presence of metallic silver nanoparticles. Their study was published on 30 March 2020 in Angewandte Chemie International Edition. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2QZN8Lx

The water buried deep within Mars likely came from at least two very different sources long ago, a new study suggests. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2UwDwdn

Stratolaunch has found another use for the biggest airplane ever built. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2QXnG9J

This is the story of three bird species and how they interact. The brown-headed cowbird plays the role of outlaw: It lays its eggs in other birds' nests and lets them raise its young—often at the expense of the host's nestlings. To combat this threat, yellow warblers have developed a special "seet" call that means, "Look out! Cowbird!" from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2X7OaJB

Three bright planets line up across the predawn sky above the New York City skyline in these gorgeous views by local photographer Alexander Krivenyshev. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3bQ1LJF

It doesn't recommend the use of health mask or N95 mask that are expensive, not-reusable and largely used in hospital settings. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/39yRKPc

President Donald Trump is poised to roll back ambitious Obama-era vehicle mileage standards and raise the ceiling on damaging fossil fuel emissions for years to come, gutting one of the United States' biggest efforts against climate change. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UwHjrl

Today, team COMPAS (Compact Object Mergers: Population Astrophysics and Statistics) has announced the first public beta release of their rapid binary population synthesis code (available for download here). from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2QZcedE

This summer, while drought, heatwaves and bushfires ravaged Australia, Antarctica was also experiencing a summer of extreme weather. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2w58WhM

Shoot a rifle, and the recoil might knock you backward. Merge two black holes in a binary system, and the loss of momentum gives a similar recoil—a "kick"—to the merged black hole. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2QZWfvN

In a new paper, Thomas Russell and postdoctoral fellow Ganhua Xie, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, report that they have used capillary forces to develop a simple method for producing self-assembling hanging droplets of an aqueous polymer solution from the surface of a second aqueous polymer solution in well-ordered arrays. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2USpvpm

Scientists seeking to bring the fusion that powers the sun and stars to Earth must deal with sawtooth instabilities—up-and-down swings in the central pressure and temperature of the plasma that fuels fusion reactions, similar to the serrated blades of a saw. If these swings are large enough, they can lead to the sudden collapse of the entire discharge of the plasma. Such swings were first observed in 1974 and have so far eluded a widely accepted theory that explains experimental observations. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Jqv7Cb

As the climate is changing, so too are the world's forests. From the misty redwoods in the west to the Blue Ridge forest of Appalachia, many sylvan ecosystems are adapting to drier conditions. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UtyAGc

The mighty Calusa ruled South Florida for centuries, wielding military power, trading and collecting tribute along routes that sprawled hundreds of miles, creating shell islands, erecting enormous buildings and dredging canals wider than some highways. Unlike the Aztecs, Maya and Inca, who built their empires with the help of agriculture, the Calusa kingdom was founded on fishing. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3aw88Bv

A new fennel fungal disease caused by a new genus and species—Ochraceocephala foeniculi, was observed for the first time in 2017 on 5% of the "Apollo" fennel cultivar grown in the sampled localities in Catania province, Italy. Now, it has spread to 2 more cultivars: "Narciso" and "Pompeo", causing crop losses of around 20-30%. The new pathogen damages the fennel with necrotic lesions on the crown, root and stem. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2JtMAcW

Taking the evolutionary plunge into water and abandoning land for good, as some crocodilian ancestors did nearly 200 million years ago, is often framed as choosing freedom: from gravity, from territorial boundaries, from dietary constraints. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39uVNvV

The idea of a complex spider society—in which thousands of spiders live, hunt, and raise their young together in a single colony—is unsettling to many of us. We are perhaps lucky then that this scene is relatively rare among arachnids. Among the 40,000 known species of spiders, the vast majority live solitary lives and will often show aggression toward other spiders they encounter, even within their own species. There are fewer than 25 known species of social spiders, distributed broadly across 6 different families and 9 different genera. Not only do these spiders live in social groups, but they produce populations that grow over time as new offspring are added to the nest, enabling the capture of increasingly large prey as the colony expands, and even give rise to new daughter colonies. As social creatures ourselves, humans have long been interested in the evolutionary innovations that enable social cooperation. In a new article in Genome Biology and Evolution titled "Comparative

A long-held mystery in the field of nuclear physics is why the universe is composed of the specific materials we see around us. In other words, why is it made of "this" stuff and not other stuff? from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39susdJ

In a study involving thousands of participants, a new blood test detected more than 50 types of cancer as well as their location within the body with a high degree of accuracy, according to an international team of researchers. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3aw2v6b

Using the Subaru telescope, astronomers from Taiwan have conducted spectroscopic observations of a high-redshift quasar designated PSO J006.1240+39.2219. Results of these observations, presented in a paper published March 19 on the arXiv pre-print server, provide more insights into the nature of this object. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Jn8s9x

A study by the Human Evolutionary Biology Group at the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country provides clues about the prevalence of a certain genetic profile in the European population. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UMhzGf

An international team of scientists led by assistant professor Bart Pollux from Wageningen University & Research has showed that predators are driving the evolution of more complex placentas. They studied populations of the live-bearing and placental freshwater fish Poeciliopsis retropinna in Costa Rica and published their results in the scientific journal Ecology Letters. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UtVpty

When universities began closing their campuses and going to online classes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, academic librarians were faced with questions about how those decisions would affect libraries and whether to close their doors or restrict access. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2wLy2Cs

More than three quarters of New Zealand's retail food waste is being saved from landfill, in stark contrast to Kiwi households, Otago researchers say. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3btR92O

The coronavirus emergency is a brutal reminder that we pay a price for deregulating society in pursuit of profit. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3bCGUcx

"I'm not going to grouse around and be aloof about it. I'd love to." from Space.com https://ift.tt/2xEv7vp

There are at least two bright spots in these strange times: Telescopes are still studying distant galaxies and penguins are still pooping across Antarctica. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2ymPTAp

In the early days of the pandemic reaching Europe, the world watched as Italians emerged onto their balconies to sing the national anthem together, with the occasional performance by an opera star. But the effect is certainly not confined Italians: COVID-19 has created an international musical reaction, a 'striking' response, which bears out scholarship on the beneficial impact of music making, according to Professor Eric Clarke, Oxford expert on the psychology of music. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39vqDVj

Any device that sends out a Wi-Fi signal also emits terahertz waves —electromagnetic waves with a frequency somewhere between microwaves and infrared light. These high-frequency radiation waves, known as "T-rays," are also produced by almost anything that registers a temperature, including our own bodies and the inanimate objects around us. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/33W9WB4

Devotees of electronic music are snapping up space-enabled creative content as they collect unique digital keepsakes and access the latest releases. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2QSe288

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over part of the Mekong Delta—a major rice-producing region in southwest Vietnam. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UNhxhq

The path of a light beam is bent by the presence of mass, as explained by General Relativity. A massive body can therefore act like a lens—a so called "gravitational lens"—to distort the image of an object seen behind it. Microlensing is a related phenomenon: a short flash of light is produced when a moving cosmic body, acting as a gravitational lens, modulates the intensity of light from a background star as it fortuitously passes in front of it. About fifty years ago scientists predicted that if it ever became possible to observe a microlensing flash from two well-separated vantage points, a parallax measurement would pin down the distance of the dark object. The Spitzer Space Telescope, orbiting the Sun at the distance of the Earth but trailing behind the Earth by about one-quarter of the orbital path, had been working with ground-based telescopes to do just that until it was shut down last month by NASA as a cost-savings measure. from Phys.org - latest science and techn

A next-generation crew spacecraft that China is preparing for a flight test this spring appears to be capable of docking with the International Space Station. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2UOgnlE

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have used machine learning to analyze spin models, which are used in physics to study phase transitions. Previous work showed that an image/handwriting classification model could be applied to distinguish states in the simplest models. The team showed the approach is applicable to more complex models and found that an AI trained on one model and applied to another could reveal key similarities between distinct phases in different systems. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2yl5fVZ

An international team with the participation of Prof. Dr. Michael Kues from the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD at Leibniz University Hannover has developed a new method for generating quantum-entangled photons in a spectral range of light that was previously inaccessible. The discovery can make the encryption of satellite-based communications much more secure in the future. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Ur8Mur

The modules that the major space agencies plan to erect on the moon could incorporate an element contributed by the human colonizers themselves: the urea in their pee. European researchers have found that it could be used as a plasticizer for concrete used to build structures. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Us6TNU

Working in the Arctic Fram Strait, scientists from the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) have found microplastic throughout the water column with particularly high concentrations at the ocean floor. Using model-based simulations, they have also found an explanation for this high level of pollution. According to their findings, the two main ocean currents in Fram Strait transport the microscopically small plastic particles into the region between Greenland and Spitsbergen from both the Arctic and the North Atlantic. While passing through the Strait, many particles eventually drift to the seafloor, where they accumulate. The experts report on this phenomenon in a study just released in the esteemed journal Environmental Science & Technology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/33XPdNf

Pathogenic fungi pose a huge and growing threat to global food security. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2xEkrNl

The Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology has now set up a clear clinical and discovery research roadmap on COVID-19 to support outbreak management and maximise benefit to the public from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/342pEeg

The failure of the Indian research community to respond to the imminent threat with sufficient alacrity is surprising. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/39s6Wh2

West African lions are a critically endangered subpopulation, with an estimated 400 remaining and strong evidence of ongoing declines. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3auYbnV

The failure of the Indian research community to respond to the imminent threat with sufficient alacrity is surprising. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2RbfqmH

As humans retreat into their homes as more and more countries go under coronavirus lockdown, wild animals are slipping cover to explore the empty streets of some of our biggest cities. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3dCeLUP

Researchers found that half of the patients they treated for mild COVID-19 infection still had coronavirus for up to eight days after symptoms disappeared. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2UMM7rc

Michael Biehn has been cast in an undisclosed role in Star Wars: The Mandalorian's second season. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2UpaqNa

From the comfort and safety of your own home, you can now explore Walt Disney World all by yourself. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2QQ17Uc

Visible above the southwest horizon in the early evenings, the constellation of Gemini, the twins is rich with celestial sights. Here's the story behind the "heavenly twins." from Space.com https://ift.tt/2y9kEIH

Climate change is imperiling the world's largest animals by increasing the likelihood of fatal collisions between whales and big ships that ply the same waters. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3dBOaHf

A video on the zoonotic disease which is transmitted to humans from rodents from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/33TB7wp

A video on the impact of heat stress over people due to rising global temperatures from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3dzsTxX

Researchers have demonstrated a new model of how competing pieces of information spread in online social networks and the Internet of Things (IoT). The findings could be used to disseminate accurate information more quickly, displacing false information about anything from computer security to public health. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2UqvdzS

Using a newly developed laboratory model of three types of brain cells, scientists reveal how HIV infection -- as well as the drugs that treat it -- can take a toll on the central nervous system. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2Uqo2aU

Researchers found elevated levels of specific antibodies in a newborn from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2Unt5Jg

Astronauts from around the world gathered to chat alongside scientists, doctors and celebrities in a videoconference event called #SpaceConnectsUs to offer tips for living in isolation and to discuss the bigger picture and how we can emerge from this difficult period to improve the world. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3dBSLJG

Satellite internet startup OneWeb has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a move that comes less than a week after the company launched nearly three dozen satellites into orbit. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2R7NjEX

Large populations tend to evolve into exercising fitness trade-offs from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2xr44nn

Researchers found elevated levels of specific antibodies in a newborn from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2JklLaV

Jodie Whittaker, the 13th Doctor from BBC's iconic sci-fi series "Doctor Who," has an emergency transmission for the coronavirus pandemic. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2vYLjr6

Remember the video of the quarantined Italian citizen channeling his best Brian May by blasting the electric guitar solo from Queen’s We Will Rock You out into the world from his balcony in Rome? from Space.com https://ift.tt/2Ji5BPo

By the time the first case was reported, the virus had already spread to most areas in southern Lombardy from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2wKbsKr

The spikes made of a glycoprotein are the business end of the virus from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3bsV5AE

A tool to detect diabetic retinopathy has been developed by Google and an international team of researchers from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/33SeiJv

Abbott said in a statement that it plans to begin distributing the test next week and will ramp up manufacturing to 50,000 tests per day. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2WR38DE

Participants will be carefully followed to monitor how they respond from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/3bqT6Nk

ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford, is based on an adenovirus vaccine vector and the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. from The Hindu - Science https://ift.tt/2WLGD2N

The great recession, which hit the world at the end of 2007 affected workers and families in the U.S. in very different ways. Workers with low socioeconomic status (SES) – those with fewer skills and education, as well as racial and ethnic minorities—were especially hurt by the downturn. Foreclosures were concentrated among minorities, and households with lower incomes. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2yaUZPT

Aminoglycoside antibiotics are critically important for treating several types of infections with multi-resistant bacteria. A completely new resistance gene, which is likely to counteract the newest aminoglycoside-drug plazomycin, was recently discovered by scientists in Gothenburg, Sweden. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UkjRgO

A new technique allows researchers to test how the deformation of tiny train track-like cell proteins affects their function. The findings could clarify the roles of deformed "microtubules" in traumatic brain injuries and in neurological diseases like Parkinson's. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39izl9i

The remaining "bound water" on cotton surfaces cross-link single fibers of cotton, causing hardening after natural drying, according to a new study conducted by Kao Corporation and Hokkaido University. This provides new insight into unique water behaviors on material surfaces and help researchers develop better cleaning technologies. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2wxQpel

EPFL researchers have developed a device that can zoom in on previously invisible cells at the back of the eye. The technology could be extremely useful for ophthalmologists, in particular for detecting age-related macular degeneration early and assessing new treatment options. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2QPFrYx

On the morning of March 22, 1915, residents of the small town of West Shelby, New York, awoke to a horrific scene. A woman clad only in a bloodied nightgown lay shot to death in the snow on the doorstep of an immigrant farmhand, Charles Stielow. Across the street, in the farmhouse where Stielow had recently begun work and where the dead woman had kept house, 70-year-old farmer Charles Phelps was found shot and unconscious. He died a few hours later. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2vRYHx2

Humans aren't the only species that finds routine comforting—our pets benefit from it as well. So making the transition to working from home can impact the entire family, pets included. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UGvxt9

Incentivizing both sequestration and avoidance of emissions— using a carbon rental or carbon tax and subsidy approach—versus only a carbon tax encourages protection of natural forests by valuing the standing stock, according to a new study led by Georgia Institute of Technology. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2vY3VYk

Last week, 3.3 million people in the United States filed for unemployment, the highest number ever recorded by the U.S. Department of Labor, as businesses shuttered and employees were asked to stay home to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/33RTDVT

Ending global environmental crises such as climate change and slowing the growing number of extinctions of plant and animal species will require radical solutions that could take centuries to implement. Meanwhile, the crises are damaging the planet and human well-being in ways that cannot wait for perfect solutions. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2xtcCu5

UNSW researchers have shown how a new class of low-cost graphene-based membranes—a type of filter used in industry sectors that generate enormous mixed waste gases, such as solid plastic waste, biowaste or wastewater—can be selectively tuned to separate different gases from gaseous mixtures. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39r1YBc

The Commonwealth Parliament has shut down its sittings due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is not scheduled to resume sitting until August. The usual budget sittings of May and June have been canceled and the budget will not be handed down until October. Supply bills have been passed to ensure ordinary government expenditure is funded until the end of November. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2xypf6T

The latest test version of the Mars-colonizing Starship spacecraft, called the SN3, has been stacked at SpaceX's South Texas facilities, new photos tweeted out by company founder and CEO Elon Musk show. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2xoE38d

When NASA's Perseverance Mars rover launches this summer, lots of folks here on Earth will be along for the ride. from Space.com https://ift.tt/33NRLgU

A NASA Orion crew capsule has made it to its Florida launch site ahead of a landmark 2021 mission around the moon. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2JjBc38

In the fifth episode of "Cosmos: Possible Worlds," host Neil deGrasse Tyson explores the evolution of consciousness and the human mind's connection to the cosmos. from Space.com https://ift.tt/33Sw0ge

Indonesia's most active volcano Mount Merapi erupted Friday, shooting a column of ash some 5,000 metres (16,000 feet) into the air in its second major eruption this month. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3duJhQx

Some people like to take random walks through the woods, while others might stroll through their own neighborhood. In the world of math, a random walk is in fact more random than this; it would be the equivalent of flipping a coin to decide which direction you would take with each step. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2JfREl3

NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign invited people around the world to submit their names to ride aboard the agency's next rover to the Red Planet. Some 10,932,295 people did just that. The names were stenciled by electron beam onto three fingernail-sized silicon chips, along with the essays of the 155 finalists in NASA's "Name the Rover" contest.The chips were then were attached to an aluminum plate on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 16. Scheduled to launch this summer, Perseverance will land at Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2ydaJly

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), working in collaboration with their counterparts in the Republic of Korea, have validated the potential of using a combination of perovskite and silicon to create solar cells that are more than 30% efficient. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/33WDhM0

Many basic and clinical researchers are testing the potential of a simple and efficient gene editing approach to study and correct disease-causing mutations for conditions ranging from blindness to cancer, but the technology is constrained by a requirement that a certain short DNA sequence be present at the gene editing site. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3duImQ5

There may be a small answer to one of the biggest problems on the planet. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/33Mi2wi

Researchers have found that a unique type of algae, usually only seen on the shells of turtles, affects the surrounding microbial communities. It is hoped that these findings can be applied to support the conservation of turtles. Previous research has shown that a diverse microbiome can protect animals against infections. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3ancrid

With many people across the world staying at home these days, we have curated a selection of activities for you to pass time and learn more about space science in the meantime. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UwcSA4

Writing in Nature, researchers from Cologne, Texas and London describe their discovery of a new mechanism that could contribute to the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39h2EsZ

Recent research by Rafael C. Bernardi at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign examines why a common tool in biotechnology—the binding of streptavidin to biotin—shows different mechanical resilience in different research labs. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UBrzlI

It is well known that agriculture developed independently in New Guinea 7000 years ago, but evidence of its influence on how people lived has eluded scientists—until now. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UGUHI4

Eight and a half years into its grand tour of the solar system, NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft was ready for another encounter. It was Jan. 24, 1986, and soon it would meet the mysterious seventh planet, icy-cold Uranus. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3alvbPn

High-repetition-rate pulsed lasers serve a wide range of applications, from optical communications to microwave photonics and beyond. Generating trains of ultrashort optical pulses commonly involves locking phases of longitudinal laser cavity modes. In 1997, a mechanism based on dissipative four-wave-mixing (DFWM) was demonstrated with key components comprising comb filters and high-nonlinearity elements. Since then, demonstrations of high-repetition-rate pulse trains adopting DFWM have exploited various types of comb filters and nonlinear components. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UApaaV

Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) have reported in a paper published in the journal Oikos that bats forage on their own in insect-rich forests, but hunt collectively in groups over insect-poor farmland. They seem to zoom in on places where conspecifics emit echolocations during the capture of insects, an inadvertent clue that reveals high-yielding areas to others. However, "listening" to their hunting companions to find food only works when sufficient numbers of bats forage in the same area. If numbers continue to decline, density could fall below a critical level and joint hunting could become difficult or impossible. This could pose an additional threat to the survival of species such as the Common noctule. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/33Riklp

An international group of scientists, including some from ITMO University, has proposed a method that allows for significantly increasing the efficiency of solar cells and light-emitting diodes. The scientists managed to achieve this result by augmenting the auxiliary layers of the devices responsible for electron transport rather than working with the main active layer. The work has been published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2UGkWhZ

Mistakes are rarely rewarded. Intuitively, one would imagine that a shoddy typist at an office who keeps generating typos would either quickly lose their job, or at least be overlooked for promotion. The idea that this person could, in fact, benefit from being shoddy and rise above others professionally is counterintuitive, and yet we see this in cells. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/39i6rpW

The sixth and final Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, AEHF-6, will launch Thursday afternoon (March 26), and you can watch the liftoff live. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2xtB8va

Planet Earth is looking pretty deserted these days as people around the world are sheltering in place and avoiding social contact to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.  from Space.com https://ift.tt/39oktWW

Buried inside data Voyager 2 gathered at Uranus more than 30 years ago is the signature of a massive bubble that may have stolen a blob of the planet's gassy atmosphere. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2Uxv3FK

A study from the University of Surrey has provided a comprehensive guide on which tree species are best for combatting air pollution that originates from our roads—along with suggestions for how to plant these green barriers to get the best results. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/2Ul44hI

The neutron-star merger that showered the solar system with its precious metals was fairly close and fairly recent. from Space.com https://ift.tt/2QIIamk

Planets like Saturn's moon Titan, one of the most potentially habitable places in the solar system, could reveal their secrets to future telescopes. from Space.com https://ift.tt/3bkbqYy

Venezuela's first communications satellite, launched in 2008, is out of service due to a systems failure, the country's government said Wednesday. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3brnU0n

A new study in The Economic Journal, published by Oxford University Press, suggests that migrating extremists can shape political developments in their destination regions for generations. Regions in Austria that witnessed an influx of Nazis fleeing the Soviets after WWII are significantly more right-leaning than other parts of the country. There were no such regional differences in far-right values before World War Two. from Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories https://ift.tt/3bqtWyn

Beads that contain bacteria and a slow-release food supply to sustain them can clean up contaminated groundwater for months on end, maintenance free. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/39o9EnD

Students who used immersive virtual reality (VR) did not learn significantly better than those who used two more traditional forms of learning, but they vastly preferred the VR to computer-simulated and hands-on methods, a new study has found. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2Ji6G9H

SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to spread, leading to more than 20,000 deaths worldwide in less than four months. Efforts are progressing to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but it's still likely 12 to 18 months away. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/2UE6dnA

Researchers have identified an enzyme essential for the process of male meiosis, the type of cell division that produces sperm. The protein, SKP1, controls one of the key transitions in meiosis. Understanding its role may help scientists develop new approaches to treating male infertility. from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily https://ift.tt/3bq60Lx