Новости за 13.10.2021

As efforts to reverse mass incarceration rise, so does the need to supervise more individuals in the community. Faced with heightened demand, corrections agencies increasingly use risk assessment to allocate supervision and treatment resources efficiently and improve public safety. A new study examined the time individuals have spent without being arrested or returning to prison, looking at the relation between recidivism-free time in a community and recidivism among individuals on parole supervision in Pennsylvania. Читать дальше...

One can easily see with the naked eye that leaving an old nail out in the rain causes rust. What does require the keen eyes and sensitive nose of microscopy and spectroscopy is observing how iron corrodes and forms new minerals, especially in water with a pinch of sodium and calcium.

Metasurfaces are nanoscale structures that interact with light. Today, most metasurfaces use monolith-like nanopillars to focus, shape and control light. The taller the nanopillar, the more time it takes for light to pass through the nanostructure, giving the metasurface more versatile control of each color of light. But very tall pillars tend to fall or cling together. What if, instead of building tall structures, you went the other way?

Context matters. It's true for many facets of life, including the tiny molecular machines that perform vital functions inside our cells.

Scientists at CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, have uncovered a new type of Hendra virus in flying foxes, confirming the virus can be found across a broad region of the country.

Scientists have known for a long time that magnetism is created by the spins of electrons lining up in certain ways. But about a decade ago, they discovered another astonishing layer of complexity in magnetic materials: Under the right conditions, these spins can form little vortexes or whirlpools that act like particles and move around independently of the atoms that spawned them.

Researchers have revealed that non-mammalian vertebrates might have a much more simple and effective way of deciphering between color and greyscale information than humans.

The pandemic has led to a sharp increase in the number of people working remotely and an increase in competition for skilled labor. It would seem like a golden opportunity for business leaders to empower their workforce in order to keep good employees and recruit new ones. But the idea has met with widespread resistance. What gives?

As satellites collect larger and larger amounts of data, engineers and researchers are implementing solutions to manage these huge increases.

Inside cells, microtubules not only serve as a component of the cytoskeleton (cell skeleton) but also play a role in intracellular transport. In intracellular transport, microtubules act as rails for motor proteins such as kinesin and dynein. Microtubules, the most rigid cytoskeletal component, are constantly subjected to various mechanical stresses such as compression, tension, and bending during cellular activities. It has been hypothesized that microtubules also function as mechanosensors that... Читать дальше...

About 175,000 plant species—half of all flowering plants—mostly or completely rely on animal pollinators to make seeds and so to reproduce. Declines in pollinators could therefore cause major disruptions in natural ecosystems, including loss of biodiversity.

Any writer can tell you that the narrator of a story can make a significant difference. A new study finds that the same holds true for science videos, with viewers responding positively to researchers who present their own work, as compared to third-party presenters.

Corals are the foundation species of tropical reefs worldwide, but stresses ranging from overfishing to pollution to warming oceans are killing corals and degrading the critical ecosystem services they provide. Because corals build structures that make living space for many other species, scientists have known that losses of corals result in losses of other reef species. But the importance of coral species diversity for corals themselves was less understood.

Fungal diseases of plants are normally managed through the application of fungicides, which are not only toxic to the pathogens that cause these diseases but to other organisms, including humans, animals, and the environment, especially after long and repeated applications. A recent article summarizes an attempt to use dsRNA molecules, which are non-toxic by themselves and present in all living organisms, to manage fungal plant diseases.

New research at Queen's University highlights the impact that microplastics are having on hermit crabs, which play an important role in balancing the marine ecosystem.

In February of 2013, skywatchers around the world turned their attention toward asteroid 2012 DA14, a cosmic rock about 150 feet (50 meters) in diameter that was going to fly closer to Earth than the spacecraft that bring us satellite TV.

Astronomers have discovered the very first confirmed planetary system that resembles the expected fate of our solar system, when the Sun reaches the end of its life in about five billion years.

Star Trek's William Shatner, one of history's most recognizable science fiction stars, finally became a real space traveler Wednesday on Blue Origin's second crewed mission, calling it the most profound experience of his life.

Busy, productive microbes use enzymes to break down leaves, stalks and other biomass and then convert that material into renewable fuels and chemicals. But some of those enzymes can't function at the high temperatures or acidity that maintain low operating costs for fermentation processes.

An international research team led by Prof. Li Di and Dr. Wang Pei from National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) caught an extreme episode of cosmic explosions from Fast Radio Burst (FRB) 121102, using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). A total of 1,652 independent bursts were detected within 47 days starting Aug. 29, 2019 (UT).

Solar prominences hover above the visible solar disk like giant clouds, held there by a supporting framework of magnetic forces, originating from layers deep within the Sun. The magnetic lines of force are moved by ever-present gas currents—and when the supporting framework moves, so does the prominence cloud. A research team from the University of Göttingen and the astrophysics institutes at Paris, Potsdam and Locarno observed how magnetic forces lifted a prominence by 25,000 kilometers—about two Earth diameters—within ten minutes. Читать дальше...

The cosmic origin of carbon, a fundamental building block of life, is still uncertain. Massive stars play an important role in the synthesis of all heavy elements, from carbon and oxygen to iron and so on. But even though most massive stars are born in multiple systems, the nucleosynthesis models so far have almost exclusively simulated single stars. An international team of astrophysicists has now calculated the "carbon footprint" of massive stars that lose their envelope in a binary system.

A new review from Imperial has found that the use of natural gas will reduce by 35% by 2050 in order to meet climate targets.

Today, rainforest covers much of Central Africa, but scarce fossil records suggest ice ages may have caused the forest to shrink and fragment, giving way to savannahs.

For decades, scientists have debated the impact of human-made and environmental particles in the atmosphere, called aerosols, on severe weather. Climate studies suggest aerosols may help shape and even strengthen elements of storms such as rainfall and lightning.