Boeing dealing with second software problem on troubled jet

Boeing has found another software issue that needs fixing on its 737 Max jets, and the discovery explains why the aircraft maker is delaying its schedule for getting the planes back in the air. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Public gets to take free ride in self-driving car in Detroit

Members of the public are getting the chance to take a free ride in a self-driving car as part of an effort to clear up confusion about the technology. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Scientists release most detailed map of Teton quake fault

Scientists have completed the most detailed map yet of one of North America's most spectacular geologic faults with the hope of providing a better understanding of the earthquake risk at a popular vacation destination. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Shell hit with Dutch climate lawsuit

Climate marchers handed in a lawsuit to Shell's headquarters in the Netherlands on Friday aimed at forcing the oil giant to meet targets in the Paris accord. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Unjamming the genome after DNA damage: A gene regulatory multi-tool has yet another function

A protein complex that is involved in nearly every step in the regulatory control of gene expression in cells has now been shown also to play a key role in clearing potential traffic jams in the production of RNA. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Rocket fuel that's cleaner, safer and still full of energy

Research published this week in Science Advances shows that it may be possible to create rocket fuel that is much cleaner and safer than the hypergolic fuels that are commonly used today. And still just as effective. The new fuels use simple chemical "triggers" to unlock the ener … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Science-based guidelines for building a bee-friendly landscape

Bees are critical members of the ecosystem: 75% of leading food crops have some level of dependency on pollinators. However, native bee populations are struggling because of loss of habitat and food, often caused by urban and suburban development. The good news is that a single t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

UC professor's startup promotes literacy through design

Reneé Seward's last name is pronounced see-word, though some might not realize that when reading her name. So it's fitting that this University of Cincinnati associate professor created an app that helps users with reading, pronunciation and recognizing letters. Appropriately, th … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Unexpected rain on sun links two solar mysteries

For five months in mid 2017, Emily Mason did the same thing every day. Arriving to her office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, she sat at her desk, opened up her computer, and stared at images of the Sun—all day, every day. "I probably looked through … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Tidying up: A new way to direct trash to autophagy

Marie Kondo herself couldn't do it any better. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

VW seals 10-year lithium deal for electric cars

German car behemoth Volkswagen said Friday it had secured 10 years' worth of lithium for electric car batteries from Chinese manufacturer Ganfeng, ensuring supply of a key ingredient for the vital components. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Dire future etched in the past: CO2 at 3-million year-old levels

Planet-warming carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere—at its highest level in three million years—is poised to lock in dramatic temperature and sea level rises over a timescale of centuries, scientists warned this week. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Warnings up in Western Australia as Suomi NPP satellite views Tropical Cyclone 23S

Tropical Cyclone 23S has developed north of the Kimberley coast, and generated warnings. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed overhead as the low pressure area consolidated into a tropical cyclone. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

These molecules could trap viruses inside a cell

Viruses are often used as vehicles for delivery in gene therapy because they're engineered not to damage the cell once they get there, but neglecting to consider how the virus will exit the cell could have consequences. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

EU says BMW, Daimler, VW colluded to limit emissions tech

European Union authorities said Friday that German automakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen colluded to limit the development of emissions-cleaning technology in cars. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Gravitational waves helping to expose black holes, dark matter and theoretical particles

Gravitational waves – the invisible ripples in the fabric of space predicted by Albert Einstein – are opening up a new era of astronomy that is allowing scientists to see parts of the universe once thought to be invisible, such as black holes, dark matter and theoretical subatomi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Self-driving spacecraft set for planetary defence expedition

Engineers designing ESA's Hera planetary defence mission to the Didymos asteroid pair are developing advanced technology to let the spacecraft steer itself through space, taking a similar approach to self-driving cars. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Don't break up digital giants, force them to give users data access, says report

A landmark report produced for the European Commission "Competition policy for the digital era" co-authored by an Imperial academic has been published | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Scientists discover, climb and describe the world's tallest tropical tree

Scientists in the U.K. and Malaysia have discovered the world's tallest tropical tree, and possibly the tallest flowering plant, measuring over 100 metres high—laid down, it would extend beyond both goals on a football pitch. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New bioinspired glue bonds any surface underwater

Underwater adhesion is technically challenging because of the presence of water, the worst enemy for any glue. Now, scientists from Wageningen University & Research have developed an injectable adhesive able to bond to many surfaces underwater. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

An industrialized global food supply chain threatens human health – here's how to improve it

In an outbreak that has now run for more than 28 months, at least 279 people across 41 states have fallen ill with multidrug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw turkey products. Federal investigators are still trying to determine the cause. In response to food company r … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Climate research needs to change to help communities plan for the future

Climate change is a chronic challenge – it is here now, and will be with us throughout this century and beyond. As the U.S. government's National Climate Assessment report made clear, it's already affecting people throughout the United States and around the world. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Damaging Sichuan earthquakes linked to fracking operations

Two moderate-sized earthquakes that struck the southern Sichuan Province of China last December and January were probably caused by nearby fracking operations, according to a new study published in Seismological Research Letters. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Rusted root: Weedy rice repeatedly evolves 'cheater' root traits

Weedy rice is neither wild rice nor crop rice, but rice gone rogue that has shed some traits important to people. It also is an incredibly aggressive, potentially detrimental weed that pops up almost everywhere rice is grown, and it can reduce crop yields by more than 80 percent … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Female astronauts: How performance gear is designed to pave the way for women's accomplishments

On my first day of spring break, I woke up to way more emails than necessary and a flurry of activity on my social media. Acquaintances from near and far wrote about "patriarchy," "NASA seems to have a history of lady issues" and posted emojis of sad faces and encouragement to my … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Artificial intelligence can now emulate human behaviors – soon it will be dangerously good

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Australian Murray River habitat restoration increases native fish populations

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Cathinone color test is now on the market

Every four days, a new illicit synthetic drug enters the world market. These drugs, which are designed to mimic established drugs of abuse, are cheap, often highly toxic, and difficult—if not impossible—to detect using standard presumptive drug testing methods. Until now. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Evolutionary changes played a crucial role in industrialization, study finds

A recent study of centuries-old French-Canadian genealogical data by a Brown University economist revealed evidence that supports his own 17-year-old theory that natural selection played a pivotal role in the emergence of economic growth and industrialization. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

UK to hold social media bosses liable for harmful content: report

Britain will make social media executives personally liable for harmful content published on their platforms, a leaked government proposal said Friday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Social media gets thumbs-down in new US poll

Americans are fearful about the impact of social media firms such as Facebook and Twitter, with many saying they spread misinformation and divide the country, even though most people still use these networks, a new poll showed Friday. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Russia plans to free almost 100 captured whales

Russian officials have invited a French ocean explorer to offer advice on how to safely release nearly 100 illegally captured whales, voicing hope that the animals could be let into the wild during summer. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Hydrogen fuel cells: With a database of 500,000 materials, researchers zero in on best bets

As researchers work toward next-generation electric vehicles, they may be hitting their heads on the ceiling of what lithium ion batteries can deliver. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Gamma-ray blazars in the sky

When the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies accrete material, they can eject powerful jets of charged particles at speeds approaching that of light. These particles in turn emit radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio to gamma-rays. When the jets … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Egyptian crop circles

This week, ESA is focusing on its core Basic Activities, which, for Earth observation, include preserving precious data. Long-time series of datasets are needed to determine changes in our planet's climate so it is vital that satellite data and other Earth science data are preser … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

A decade-long quest to build an ecosystem in a room

Yesterday the MELiSSA pilot plant at the University of Barcelona celebrated 10 years spent demonstrating the ideal technologies to recycle waste from space missions into air, water and food. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Technology turns municipal wastewater algae into specialty chemicals for biofuels, bioplastics

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Studying the swimming patterns of bacteria near surfaces

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Reflective roofs can reduce overheating in cities and save lives during heatwaves

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Trapdoor spider species that stay local put themselves at risk

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Artificial intelligence in Australia needs to get ethical, so we have a plan

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Evolution: How the theory is inspiring a new way of understanding language

Words are often seen as the building blocks of languages. But as children we don't learn lists of words like we might in a school language class. We learn longer strings of sounds and break them up into words as we grow up. One of the problems with our current theory of how langu … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How a startup plans to clean up space

Since 2012, engineers at EPFL's Space Center have been hard at work on a new junk-clearing satellite to capture debris orbiting the earth. The team has now shifted up a gear, founding a company called ClearSpace to pick up where the CleanSpace One project leaves off. For the firs … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Maryland lawmakers approve bill to become first state in the country to ban foam food containers

The Maryland General Assembly gave final approval Wednesday night to a bill that would make Maryland the first state in the country to ban polystyrene foam food containers and cups. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Manatees face new challenge in Florida from harassing, non-native armored catfish

Watching manatees gather in the crystalline waters of Blue Spring is one of Central Florida's outdoor treasures. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Large Antarctic ice shelf, home to a UK research station, is about to break apart

Glaciology experts have issued evidence that a large section of the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, which is home to the British Antarctic Survey's Halley Research Station, is about break off. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Long-term data on atmospheric carbon dioxide reveals an increase in carbon uptake by Northern Hemisphere vegetation

Based on long-term data on atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, an international group of scientists coordinated by the Laboratory of Climate and Environmental Sciences (CEA/CNRS/UVSQ) have discovered that vegetation in the Northern Hemisphere is absorbing increasing amount … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

A new protein structure that helps viruses with lipid membranes enter cells discovered

Many viruses, including that perennial winter affliction, the influenza virus, are protected by a lipid membrane on loan from the host cell. The fusion proteins on the surface of the membrane are tasked with merging the lipid membrane of the virus with that of the cell. After thi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago