Новости за 04.02.2021

Scientists globally aim to control chemical reactions—an ambitious goal that requires identifying the steps taken by initial reactants to arrive at the final products as the reaction takes place. While this dream remains to be realized, techniques for probing chemical reactions have become sufficiently advanced to render it possible. In fact, chemical reactions can now be monitored based on the change of electronic properties of a single molecule! Thanks to the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), this is also simple to accomplish. Читать дальше...

In 2018, the physics world was set ablaze with the discovery that when an ultrathin layer of carbon, called graphene, is stacked and twisted to a "magic angle," that new double layered structure converts into a superconductor, allowing electricity to flow without resistance or energy waste. Now, in a literal twist, Harvard scientists have expanded on that superconducting system by adding a third layer and rotating it, opening the door for continued advancements in graphene-based superconductivity.

Competition among sperm cells is fierce—they all want to reach the egg cell first to fertilize it. A research team from Berlin now shows in mice that the ability of sperm to move progressively depends on the protein RAC1. Optimal amounts of active protein improve the competitiveness of individual sperm, whereas aberrant activity can cause male infertility.

The talks had failed and there were downcast faces in the car, which was all set to drive off.

Have you ever eaten a Laffy Taffy and thought, "Wow, that tastes just like a banana!" We didn't think so. But apparently, there's one variety of banana that's not far off from its candy counterpart.

An international team of researchers has taken a look at the amount of ozone in an occupied residence in order to measure both ozone and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) associated with chemical reactions with ozone. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes their study of the level of ozone and VOCs in an occupied residence.

In a new report on Science Advances, Mark Elowitz, and a team of scientists in physical sciences, optical physics, planetary science and radiation research in the U.S., U.K., India, and Taiwan, presented the first analysis of far-ultraviolet reflectance spectra of regions on Rhea's leading and trailing hemispheres—as collected by the Cassini ultraviolet imaging spectrograph during targeted flybys. In this work, they specifically aimed to explain the unidentified broad absorption feature centered near 184 nanometers of the resulting spectra. Читать дальше...

It's not good news for some of the most foreboding fish in Illinois swimming their way toward Lake Michigan.