Decoupled direct payments make agriculture more productive, finds study

Better alignment with the market is one of the goals pursued by the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in recent decades. One of the measures used to achieve this was to decouple direct payments from production. Agricultural economists at the Technical University of Munich (TU … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Why is religious attendance linked to more anxiety in US South Asians?

A study of older U.S. South Asians examines relationships between religious service attendance (temple, mosque, etc.), anxiety and feelings of emotional neglect by fellow congregation members. The research finds that among U.S. South Asians, those who attend religious services mo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Decoding flavonoid metabolism: A closer look at plant-based diets

In a world where plant-based lifestyles are on the rise, the power of foods such as broccoli, celery, and tofu, which are rich in flavonoids, is becoming clearer. Flavonoids are phenolic compounds produced by plants that are essential for plant development and defense and have lo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Counteracting bone and muscle loss in microgravity

In microgravity, without the continuous load of Earth's gravity, the tissues that make up bones reshape themselves. Bone cells readjust their behaviors—the cells that build new bone slow down, while the cells that break down old or damaged bone tissue keep operating at their norm … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Plugging the holes left by exiting colleagues can pay off, says researcher

Colleagues who leave an organization vacate not only their jobs, but also their collaborative relationships with other employees—relationships that are an increasingly prominent feature of modern workplaces. The exit of a colleague is already known to open vacancy-driven promotio … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Conspiracy theories negatively affect their targets, new research shows

New research from the University of Nottingham and Northumbria University has found that conspiracy theories about social groups can have significant negative effects on their members. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

The case of a persistent bully, from victim to perpetrator

The new kid, the class clown, the popular kid, the troublemaker, or the loner. We all know children and young people who may be labeled in this way. In fact, many of these stereotypes have been depicted in Hollywood films. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Clean energy innovation or illusion? JETP climate funds

They were billed as an ingenious new way of helping developing countries ditch planet-polluting coal, promising an injection of billions from wealthy governments looking for new ways to tackle carbon emissions. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Controversial carbon credits flood COP28, yet still no rules

The COP28 climate talks have been flooded with announcements hyping controversial carbon credits before rules for them have been hammered out, with environmental groups fearing "greenwashing" on a massive scale. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Mapping Mars: Deep learning could help identify Jezero Crater landing site

Preparations for a safe landing on Earth, such as finding the most even terrain and equipping the appropriate landing gear, are also crucial for Mars missions. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

British research ship crosses paths with world's largest iceberg as it drifts out of Antarctica

Britain's polar research ship has crossed paths with the largest iceberg in the world—a "lucky" encounter that enabled scientists to collect seawater samples around the colossal berg as it drifts out of Antarctic waters, the British Antarctic Survey said Monday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

New technique efficiently offers insight into gene regulation

DNA is the most important carrier of genetic information. Each cell contains approximately two meters of DNA. To ensure that all this genetic material fits into the small cell nucleus, it must be tightly packed. The DNA is, therefore, wrapped around a special type of protein, a h … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Universities urged to turn campuses paperless to cut deforestation rates

Universities will do the environment a good service and trim deforestation levels if they turn their campuses paperless, according to a study published as part of the 2022 Advances in Science and Engineering Technology International Conferences (ASET). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

AI model directly compares properties of potential new drugs

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed an AI platform that autonomously compares molecules and learns from their variations to anticipate property differences critical to discovering new pharmaceuticals. The platform provides researchers with a more accurate and e … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

A 10-billion-year, 50,000-light-year journey to a black hole

A star near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy originated outside the galaxy according to a new study published in Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B. This is the first time a star of extragalactic origin has been found in the vicinity of th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Does Betelgeuse even rotate? Maybe not

Betelgeuse is the well known red giant star in the corner of Orion the hunter. The name translated in some languages means "armpit of the giant," which, I think of all the star names, is simply the best! Betelgeuse has been fascinating observers of late not only because it unexpe … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Outcomes associated with participation in high-quality early care and education

For decades, researchers have debated the long-term impact of early childhood education, sharing evidence that while some children experience positive long-term outcomes, others see initial benefits fade out—or even experience detrimental outcomes. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Sustainability schemes deployed by business most often ineffective, research reveals

If you ever wondered what the weather might look like should global average temperatures rise 2C degrees above pre-industrial levels—the critical warming threshold the Paris Agreement seeks to prevent us from reaching—take your mind's eye back to Friday 17 November. That day, for … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Why all civilian lives matter equally, according to a military ethicist

Some commentators have criticized Israel for causing what is claimed to be disproportionate harm to civilians in its military response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Online 'likes' for toxic social media posts prompt more—and more hateful—messages, researcher says

The rampant increase of hate messages on social media is a scourge in today's technology-infused society. Racism, homophobia, xenophobia and even personal attacks on people who have the audacity to disagree with someone else's political opinion—these and other forms of online hat … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

COP28: 7 food and agriculture innovations needed to protect the climate and feed a rapidly growing world

For the first time ever, food and agriculture took center stage at the annual United Nations climate conference in 2023. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

9 out of 10 South African criminals reoffend, while in Finland it's 1 in 3—here is why

A very large percentage of South Africans who are released from prison end up being rearrested and being convicted for crimes again. The country has one of the highest recidivism rates in the world. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Tackling climate change can improve public health in Africa: New report highlights how

African countries can simultaneously address climate change and improve public health by reducing air pollution. In many cases these actions also have other societal, economic, environment or health benefits. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

We're in an El Niño. So why has Australia been so wet?

After three La Niña summers many of us would have been expecting much hotter and drier conditions this spring and summer after the arrival of El Niño. Instead, in many parts of eastern Australia it's rained and rained over the last few weeks. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

COP28: Health is finally on the agenda, but there's more to do as we face continued climate extremes

As global leaders gather in Dubai for COP28, health has finally landed firmly on the climate change agenda, with the first "health day" at the annual UN climate summit taking place yesterday (December 3). | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers: Australia has its first framework for AI use in schools, but it needs to proceed with caution

Federal and state governments have just released a national framework for generative AI in schools. This paves the way for generative AI—algorithms that can create new content—to be used routinely in classrooms around the country. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Equitable sentencing can mitigate anti-Black racism in Canada's justice system

Black people continue to be overrepresented at all levels of the Canadian justice system. According to the Correctional Service of Canada, 9% of offenders in custody were Black in 2020–2021, despite only representing about 4% of Canada's population. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Native American mothers separated from their children experience a raw, ongoing grief that has no end, says researcher

Native American mothers whose children were separated from them—either through child removal for assimilation into residential boarding schools or through coerced adoption—experience the kind of grief no parent should ever feel. Yet theirs is a loss that is ongoing, with no sense … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

PFAS forever chemicals found in English drinking water. Why are they everywhere and what are the risks?

PFAS chemicals (per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances), also known as forever chemicals, are rarely out of the news at the moment. The latest concern about this chemical group is their presence in drinking water in England. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Why are people still flying to climate conferences by private jet?

Rishi Sunak, David Cameron and King Charles are just three of the more than 70,000 delegates from nearly 200 countries at the latest UN climate summit in Dubai, COP28. But they are among hundreds who will have traveled there by private jet. In fact, the UK prime minister, foreign … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

MicroRNA holds clues to why some mammals are cancer-prone

Researchers at the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) have identified an important pathway that reveals why some mammals, like humans, dogs, and cats, regularly develop mammary cancer while others, such as horses, pigs, and cows, rarely do. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Unexpected discovery at the air-water interface for CO₂ reaction impacting geophysical and biological cycles

Ocean acidification, mammal respiration, and aerosol formation all depend on chemistry that occurs at air-water interfaces. In new research, scientists from the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have discovered which pathway carbon dioxid … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

How mountains affect El Niño-induced winter precipitation

A consideration of how mountains influence El Niño and La Niña-induced precipitation change in western North America may be the ticket to more informed water conservation planning along the Colorado River, new research suggests. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Ultralight ultrafast enzymes: Isotopes more powerful than previously thought

In a recently published study in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, researchers at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB) at Karolinska Institutet have questioned the old paradigm surrounding isotopes of light elements—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and ox … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

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 produ … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers map crocodile family tree to shed light on their evolution

A research team, led by scientists at the University of York, mapped the family tree of the ferocious ambush-predators and their extinct relatives known as Pseudosuchia. They then compared this with data from the fossil record to understand why crocodiles have so few living speci … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers crack the cellular code on protein folding, offering hope for many new therapeutic avenues

While we often think of diseases as caused by foreign bodies—bacteria or viruses—there are hundreds of diseases affecting humans that result from errors in cellular production of proteins. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Wind of (climate) change: Himalayan glaciers react, blow cold winds down their slopes

Himalayan Glaciers fight back to preserve themselves, but for how long? An international team of researchers, co-led by Professor Francesca Pellicciotti of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), explains a stunning phenomenon: rising global temperatures have led … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Earliest-known fossil mosquito suggests males were bloodsuckers too

Researchers reporting in the journal Current Biology on December 4 have found the earliest-known fossil mosquito in Lower Cretaceous amber from Lebanon. What's more, the well-preserved insects are two males of the same species with piercing mouthparts, suggesting they likely suck … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

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. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

New study into solute transport and solidification mechanisms in additive manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, is a rapidly growing technology with the potential to revolutionize many industries. However, AM parts can be susceptible to defects, such as porosities and cracks, which can limit their performance and reliability. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Study shows that artificial light is luring birds to cities and sometimes to their deaths

Nearly 1,000 birds were killed Oct. 4–5 when they collided with an illuminated glass building in Chicago. Though mass fatalities of this magnitude are rare, light pollution poses a serious—and growing—threat to migrating birds. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

On/off in trillionths of a second: Optically controlled magnetic fields

Physicists at the University of Duisburg-Essen and their cooperating partners have discovered that tiny graphene sheets can become electromagnets under infrared radiation. The study is published in the journal Nature Communications. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Shedding light on health and zombie cells in aging

With age, cells can experience senescence, a state where they stop growing but continue releasing inflammatory and tissue-degrading molecules. When a person is young, the immune system responds and eliminates senescent cells, often referred to as zombie cells. However, zombie cel … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Engineers tackle hard-to-map class of materials

The properties that make materials like semiconductors so sought after result from the way their atoms are connected, and insight into these atomic configurations can help scientists design new materials or use existing materials in new, unforeseen ways. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Nature inspires a new wave of biotechnology

Biological molecules called peptides play a key role in many biological activities, including the transport of oxygen and electrons. Peptides consist of short chains of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. They are also the inspiration for new kinds of biotechnology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

Researchers characterize translation inhibition in CRISPR-Cas antiviral defense system

A recent study in Science uses bioinformatic analysis as well as biochemical and structural studies to characterize a novel family of effector proteins, named Cami1. The research shows that when a virus attacks a bacterium, CRISPR-Cas10 signaling molecules activate Cami1—a riboso … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago

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, a psychologist at Aix-Mars … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 1 year ago