Новости за 29.01.2021

As one of the most experienced archaeologists studying California's Native Americans, Lynn Gamble knew the Chumash Indians had been using shell beads as money for at least 800 years.

Drawing on animal-foraging theory, a new model predicts psychological factors that may lead to panic buying during times of crisis. The model is largely supported by real-world data from the COVID-19 pandemic. Richard Bentall of the University of Sheffield, England, and colleagues presented these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on January 27.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made home offices, virtual meetings and remote learning the norm, and it is likely here to stay. But are people paying attention in online meetings? Are students paying attention in virtual classrooms? Researchers Jens Madsen and Lucas C. Parra from City College of New York, demonstrate how eye tracking can be used to measure the level of attention online using standard web cameras, without the need to transfer any data from peoples computers, thus preserving privacy. In... Читать дальше...

Fiber-shaped supercapacitors are a desirable high-performance energy storage technology for wearable electronics. The traditional method for device fabrication is based on a multistep approach to construct energy devices, which can present challenges during fabrication, scalability and durability. To overcome these restrictions, Jingxin Zhao and a team of scientists in physics, electrochemical energy, nanoscience, materials, and chemical engineering in China, the U.S., and Singapore, developed an... Читать дальше...

A 72-year-old bottle of Glen Grant single malt whisky from Scotland fetched more than $54,000 in an auction in Hong Kong on Friday.

A new scientific paper from Teagasc has shown that getting soil pH right through a liming program can significantly reduce emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. The paper from researchers at the Teagasc Environment, Soils and Land-Use Department in Johnstown Castle, County Wexford has just been published in the scientific journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment (AGEE). It concludes that increasing soil pH reduces fertilizer derived N2O emissions in intensively managed temperate grassland.

The biological process of photosynthesis is found at the beginning of nearly all food chains. It produces oxygen to breathe and provides the energetic foundation for using biotechnological processes to synthesize biofuels and chemical feedstock. Therefore, researchers are particularly interested in rapidly growing cyanobacteria. These organisms use light as an energy source and can carry out photosynthesis, similar to plants. However, the required photosynthetic protein complexes bind many nutrients. Читать дальше...

An international team of researchers has found evidence of the mineral jarosite in ice cores extracted from Antarctica. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers describe how the discovery came about and why they believe it could bolster theories regarding the presence of the same mineral on the surface of Mars.

No one has visited the moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race. NASA has selected the private company SpaceX to be part of its commercial spaceflight operations, but the firm is also pursuing its own space exploration agenda.

If the Institute for Print and Media Technology at Chemnitz University of Technology has its way, many loudspeakers of the future will not only be as thin as paper, but will also sound impressive. This is a reality in the laboratories of the Chemnitz researchers, who back in 2015 developed the multiple award-winning T-Book—a large-format illustrated book equipped with printed electronics. If you turn a page, it begins to sound through a speaker invisibly located inside the sheet of paper. "The T-Book... Читать дальше...

New research has revealed how an invasion of the evergreen tree Prosopis juliflora seriously diminishes water resources in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, consuming enough of this already scarce resource to irrigate cotton and sugarcane generating some US$ 320 million and US$ 470 million net benefits per year.

An international team of researchers has located the source of recently discovered ozone damaging HCFCs in the atmosphere. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes using new tools in addition to those used by members of the Montreal Protocol to discover and trace ozone-damaging chemicals emitted into the atmosphere.

Evidence is emerging that vitamin D—and possibly vitamins K and A—might help combat COVID-19. A new study from the University of Bristol published in the journal of the German Chemical Society Angewandte Chemie has shown how they—and other antiviral drugs—might work. The research indicates that these dietary supplements and compounds could bind to the viral spike protein and so might reduce SARS-CoV-2 infectivity. In contrast, cholesterol may increase infectivity, which could explain why having high... Читать дальше...

New research from the University of Manchester suggests using a strategy linked to cooperative game playing known as 'game theory' in order to maximize the potential of finding intelligent alien life.

Businesses beware: A price increase for carryout or delivery food means an increase in negative reviews—and a downturn in restaurant reputation, if not demand.

Critically endangered eels in the Thames will benefit from cutting-edge new work that sheds light on how the creatures swim up the river's estuary.

Carnegie Mellon University professor of biomedical engineering and materials science and engineering Adam Feinberg, along with postdoctoral fellow Dan Shiwarski and graduate student Joshua Tashman, have created a novel biosensor that reveals the mechanobiological forces that shape organ development. These little-understood forces are of increasing interest to medicine and research and the team's findings offer important insights vital for understanding disease, as well as the future of bioengineered organs.

Spirituality isn't usually considered a factor in conservation efforts. But indigenous peoples who worship wildlife may be helping protect endangered species from extinction.

The researchers of the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth system research at the University of Helsinki have investigated how atmospheric particles are formed in the Arctic. Until recent studies, the molecular processes of particle formation in the high Arctic remained a mystery.

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and ETH Zurich have developed a process to produce commodity chemicals in a much less hazardous way than was previously possible. Such commodity chemicals represent the starting point for many mass-produced products in the chemical industry, such as plastics, dyes, and fertilizers, and are usually synthesized with the help of chlorine gas or bromine, both of which are extremely toxic and highly corrosive.

Researchers have observed how lipids distribute proteins within cells, a discovery that could open the door to understanding the causes of protein transport related diseases, such as cancer or neurodegenerative diseases.

Humanity knows more about the surface of the Moon than we know about our own planet's seafloor. Ocean explorer Vicki Ferrini is on a mission to change that. Ferrini's work focuses on seabed mapping and characterization, and ensuring that marine geoscience data are accessible to scientists and to the public.

Long heatwaves during entrenched drought often trigger fears of bushfire. It's easy to imagine rolling days of hot, dry weather desiccating leaves, bark and twigs, transforming them into a potent fuel.

Unless radon gas is discovered in a home inspection, most people remain blissfully unaware that rocks like granite, metal ores, and some soils contain naturally occurring sources of radiation. In most cases, low levels of radiation are not a health concern. But some scientists and engineers are concerned about even trace levels of radiation, which can wreak havoc on sensitive equipment. The semiconductor industry, for instance, spends billions each year to source and "scrub" ultra-trace levels of radioactive materials from microchips... Читать дальше...

In a new study led by Institute Professor Maurizio Porfiri at NYU Tandon, researchers showed a novel principle of actuation—to transform electrical energy into motion. This actuation mechanism is based on solvation, the interaction between solute and solvent molecules in a solution. This phenomenon is particular important in water, as its molecules are polar: oxygen attracts electrons more than hydrogen, such that oxygen has a slightly negative charge and hydrogen a slightly positive one. Thus, water... Читать дальше...