Researchers discover molecular mechanisms of an African folk medicine

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Symbiosis a driver of truffle diversity

While the sight of black or white truffle being shaved over on pasta is generally considered a sign of dining extravagance, they play an important role in soil ecosystem services. Truffles are the fruiting bodies of the ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal symbionts residing on host plan … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Snapchat parent hands over data for US inquiry

Snapchat's parent company Snap said Wednesday US officials are looking into how forthright the company was with aspiring investors prior to its stock market debut last year. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Stress in early life has a lasting impact on male birds' song

Male songbirds that had better early life conditions as nestlings sing more often and produce more complex songs as adults, according to a study by Lucy Magoolagan from Lancaster University, publishing November 14 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Huge crater discovered in Greenland from impact that rocked Northern Hemisphere

A survey of ice in Greenland has uncovered evidence suggesting a kilometer-wide iron asteroid slammed into that island, perhaps as recently as 12,000 years ago during the end of the Pleistocene. The resulting 19-mile-wide impact crater has remained hidden under a half-mile-thick … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Late Miocene ape maxilla (upper jaw) discovered in western India

An ape maxilla (upper jaw) from the Late Miocene found in the Kutch basin, in western India, significantly extends the southern range of ancient apes in the Indian Peninsula, according to a study published in November 14, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Ansuya Bhandar … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New US study reveals natural solutions can reduce global warming

Restoring the United States' lands and coastal wetlands could have a much bigger role in reducing global warming than previously thought, according to the most comprehensive national assessment to date of how greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced and stored in forests, farmland … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Study finds early career publications as likely source of NIH funding racial gap

In seeking to pinpoint why black or African-American scientists are less likely than their white counterparts to receive National Institutes of Health research funding, a group of researchers has identified early career publications as a likely contributor to the gap. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New research offers detail and insight into deep-time evolution of animal life on islands

Islands have been vital laboratories for advancing evolutionary theory since the pioneering work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the 19th century. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Astronomers discover super-Earth around Barnard's star

Astronomers have discovered a planet in orbit around one of the closest stars to the Sun, Barnard's star. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Houston's urban sprawl increased rainfall, flooding during Hurricane Harvey

Houston's urban landscape directly contributed to the torrential rainfall and deadly flooding experienced during Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, according to Princeton and University of Iowa researchers. The researchers report in the journal Nature Nov. 15 that Houston's risk fo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Tropical trees in the Andes are moving up—toward extinction

An international study led by University of Miami tropical biologists reveals that tropical trees are migrating upslope to escape climate change, but not fast enough. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Climate simulations project wetter, windier hurricanes

New supercomputer simulations by climate scientists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown that climate change intensified the amount of rainfall in recent hurricanes such as Katrina, Irma, and Maria by 5 to 10 percent. They … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Mosquito genome opens new avenues for reducing bug-borne disease

The mosquito Aedes aegypti is a powerful, plentiful species: It populates six continents, can carry deadly viruses, and bites with abandon. But until recently, its genome was in tatters. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Seismic study reveals huge amount of water dragged into Earth's interior

Slow-motion collisions of tectonic plates under the ocean drag about three times more water down into the deep Earth than previously estimated, according to a first-of-its-kind seismic study that spans the Mariana Trench. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

First phase of Brazil's particle accelerator construction completed

Brazil President Michel Temer inaugurated the opening construction phase of a particle accelerator the size of the Maracana football stadium that will be used to make advances in medicine, nutrition, archeology, electronics, energy and the environment. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Volkswagen to devote 3 German plants to electric car push

German automaker Volkswagen says it will convert three factories in Germany to manufacture electric cars, getting ready to ramp up production of zero-local emission cars ahead of tougher European emissions standards. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Tropical Cyclone Gaja approaching Southeastern India

Tropical Cyclone Gaja continued to track toward a landfall in southeastern India when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite flew over the Bay of Bengal and provided a visible image of the storm. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Who joined the Islamic State from France between 2014 and 2016?

Radicalized French citizens who adhere to Islamic State propaganda are less likely to disengage from their beliefs if they are married men with children, and from families with married parents. This is according to Nicolas Campelo of the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in France, who … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Middle Eastern desert dust on the Tibetan plateau could affect the Indian summer monsoon

More than a century ago, British meteorologist Henry Blanford noted a connection between springtime snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau and Himalaya mountain range and the intensity of the summer monsoon season in India. Hundreds of studies have supported this relationship since Bl … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How weather and climate shape Earth's life sustaining surface

We know less about the ground beneath our feet than we do about the surface of Mars, but new research by University of Colorado Boulder geoscientists shines a light on this hidden world from ridgetops to valley floors and shows how rainfall shapes the part of our planet that is j … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Using social media to weaken the wrath of terror attacks

Governments and police forces around the world need to beware of the harm caused by mass and social media following terror events. In a new report, leading counter-terrorism experts from around the world—including Michigan State University faculty—offer guidance to authorities to … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

On-demand biologics

Many life-saving medicines, including insulin, antibodies and vaccines, are derived from living cells. These "biologics" can be difficult to obtain and store on the battlefield or in remote areas. That's why scientists are trying to develop portable systems that can quickly manuf … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Rainforest vine compound starves pancreatic cancer cells

Pancreatic cancer cells are known for their ability to thrive under extreme conditions of low nutrients and oxygen, a trait known in the cancer field as "austerity." The cells' remarkable resistance to starvation is one reason why pancreatic cancer is so deadly. Now researchers h … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How exercise could help fight drug addiction

The siren call of addictive drugs can be hard to resist, and returning to the environment where drugs were previously taken can make resistance that much harder. However, addicts who exercise appear to be less vulnerable to the impact of these environmental cues. Now, research wi … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers develop tool that analyzes biomedical data within minutes

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed a tool that speeds up the analysis and publication of biomedical data from many months or years to mere minutes, transforming the way researchers communicate results of their studies. Until now, the primary … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Human evolution is still happening – possibly faster than ever

Modern medicine's ability to keep us alive makes it tempting to think human evolution may have stopped. Better healthcare disrupts a key driving force of evolution by keeping some people alive longer, making them more likely to pass on their genes. But if we look at the rate of o … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Ringling train chugs into digital world

The century-old train car known to be the site of business transactions for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has long been too fragile for visitors to step inside. The Wisconsin has faced conservation issues due to the discontinuation of spare train parts. Through a … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Skipping a few thousand years: Rapid domestication of the groundcherry using gene editing

Shopping in your supermarket's produce section is like strolling through a museum of humanity's greatest inventions. Perfect ears of golden sweet corn; tomatoes of different sizes, shapes and colors; and spicy jalapeño peppers are all a testament to human ingenuity. You may not c … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Palm oil boycott could actually increase deforestation – sustainable products are the solution

Palm oil can be found in food and cosmetics everywhere: in fact, half of the world's population uses palm oil in food. But public awareness about the loss of wildlife through deforestation caused by palm oil crops is growing, and there's mounting pressure on retailers to reduce t … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Advanced computer technology and software turn species identification interactive

Representing a group of successful biocontrol agents for various pest fruit flies, a parasitic wasp genus remains largely overlooked. While its most recent identification key dates back to 1969, many new species have been added since then. As if to make matters worse, this group … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Symbolic significance of sustainable products needs to be emphasised more among consumers

Consumers appear to embrace sustainable innovations, such as electric vehicles and smart energy systems, because it means something positive for their status and identity. Raising people's awareness of this symbolic significance can make an important contribution to the adoption … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Intensity of bidding drives desire to win and willingness to pay in auctions

How fast a competitor counters your bid during an auction will increase your desire to win—and likely your willingness to pay for the auctioned product, according to a new study by a pair of University of Alberta business professors. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Jodrell Bank Observatory release 50 year-old audio archive of Soviet Zond 6 lunar mission

Jodrell Bank is releasing audio recordings of a Soviet space mission from fifty years ago, just as the race to the moon was approaching the finish line. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

How scavengers can help forensic scientists identify human corpses

When the police recover skeletonised, burnt or heavily decomposed bodies, they need forensic experts to make sense of what they've found. One important question in such cases is: when did the person die? | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

The slower they turn, the brighter they glow

With Halloween over, ghostly decorations are now being replaced by Christmas themed ornaments, many of which glow in the dark. This glow, termed luminescence, is produced by chemical and biochemical reactions or when electrons in a material are excited to higher energy states upo … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Researchers overcome challenges to collect new typhoon observations

As field researchers know, sometimes the science you set out to do is not what you end up doing. But the drive for knowledge is unwavering, and scientists find a way to get the job done, even if it means changing course, maneuvering bureaucratic hurdles and waiting out setbacks. … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Microgel powder fights infection and helps wounds heal

While making smart glue, a team of engineers discovered a handy byproduct: hydrogen peroxide. In microgel form, it reduces bacteria and virus ability to infect by at least 99 percent. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Discovery of high geothermal heat at South Pole

Scientists have discovered an area near the South Pole where the base of the Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting unexpectedly quickly. Using radar to look through three km of ice, the team found that some of the ice – covering an area that's twice the size of Greater London – appeared … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Extended life for ESA's science missions

After a comprehensive review of their scientific merits and technical status, the SPC has decided to extend the operation of the five missions led by ESA's Science Programme: Cluster, Gaia, INTEGRAL, Mars Express, and XMM-Newton. The SPC also confirmed the Agency's contributions … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Scientists combine graphene foam, epoxy into tough, conductive composite

Rice University scientists have built a better epoxy for electronic applications. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Next step on the path towards an efficient biofuel cell

Fuel cells that work with the enzyme hydrogenase are, in principle, just as efficient as those that contain the expensive precious metal platinum as a catalyst. However, the enzymes need an aqueous environment, which makes it difficult for the starting material for the reaction – … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Salmon are shrinking, and it shows in their genes

Male salmon are maturing earlier and becoming smaller, and it shows in their genes. This was the discovery of a study that examined scale samples from salmon in the River Teno in Northern Finland over a 40-year period, and looked at the population genetic profile of a gene that d … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Popular science helps to discover the abundance of this jellyfish

When the Rhizostoma luteum jellyfish was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, only nine specimens were identified. For years, it was so inconspicuous that in the 20th century, it failed to turn up for six decades. A team of sci … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Partial mycoheterotrophs: The green plants that feed on fungi

You probably learned this basic lesson of biology in elementary school: Plants are self-feeders. These so-called autotrophs use the sun's energy and water to turn carbon dioxide from the air into food through the process known as photosynthesis. Autotrophic organisms sit at the b … | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

New anisotropic conductive film for ultra-fine pitch assembly applications

High-resolution display devices increasingly need ultra-fine pitch assemblies. On that account, display driver interconnection technology has become a major challenge for upscaling display electronics. | Continue reading


@phys.org | 5 years ago

Rare conservation win: Mountain gorilla population ticks up

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@phys.org | 5 years ago

Gravitational waves from a merged hyper-massive neutron star

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@phys.org | 5 years ago