Новости за 23.11.2021

A coronavirus related to the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans has been found in UK horseshoe bats—according to new collaborative research from the University of East Anglia, ZSL (Zoological Society of London), and Public Health England (PHE).

UCLA astronomers have identified 366 new exoplanets, thanks in large part to an algorithm developed by a UCLA postdoctoral scholar. Among their most noteworthy findings is a planetary system that comprises a star and at least two gas giant planets, each roughly the size of Saturn and located unusually close to one another.

People who live near the Great Lakes might go there to enjoy a swim or a boat ride. But if you're visiting from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), you might go boating for science.

Research conducted at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is taking a closer look at entropy—the measure of internal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work—in experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF).

Life-threatening bacteria are becoming ever more resistant to antibiotics, making the search for alternatives to antibiotics an increasingly urgent challenge. For certain applications, one alternative may be a special type of laser.

New research has shed light on a sudden cooling event 34 million years ago that contributed to formation of the Antarctic ice sheets.

From a viewpoint about 90 kilometers (56 miles) above Lacus Veris, "Lake of Spring," the camera aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft imaged Saturn on October 13, 2021. In this view, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) was looking down at the north face of the rings, and from this perspective the rings in front of Saturn appear below its equator.

An artistic interpretation of Curiosity's view high up on a Martian mountain was created by mission team members who were stunned by the sweeping landscape.

Scientific journals are expected to consider research manuscripts dispassionately and without favor. But in a study publishing on November 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Biology, Alexandre Scanff, Florian Naudet and Clara Locher from the University of Rennes, and colleagues, reveal that a subset of journals may be exercising considerable bias and favoritism.

Albert Einstein's handwritten notes for the theory of relativity fetched a record 11.6 million euros ($13 million) at an auction in Paris on Tuesday.

In the strange, dark world of the ocean floor, underwater fissures, called hydrothermal vents, host complex communities of life. These vents belch scorching hot fluids into extremely cold seawater, creating the chemical forces necessary for the small organisms that inhabit this extreme environment to live.

A group led by researchers affiliated with the Phycology Laboratory at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, have discovered a new species of green microalga in a reservoir located in the northwest of the state. As a result of the discovery, microalgae of the genus Nephrocytium have been moved to an order belonging to a different taxonomic class and phylogenetically reclassified (placed in a new family).

Staffordshire University is leading a project to better support students with caring responsibilities alongside their studies.

The hunt for planets beyond our solar system has turned up more than 4,000 far-flung worlds, orbiting stars thousands of light years from Earth. These extrasolar planets are a veritable menagerie, from rocky super-Earths and miniature Neptunes to colossal gas giants.

The plant-based/meat alternative market has been growing for years, but it was during the pandemic that its profile soared. Meat substitutes remain relatively niche products, however. So how can its proponents break through to consumers?

In humans, the dopamine system has been tied to rewards and pleasurable sensations. As well as to memory and learning. A recent study from McGill University, published in Current Biology, suggests that dopamine may also play a key role in shaping what songs female songbirds enjoy, which may ultimately affect mating as females choose (and then remember) their mates based on the songs they prefer.

A mystery of mathematics that has remained unsolved for more than 150 years can be unraveled thanks to a completely unexpected approach coming from statistical physics. This is the important conclusion of Giuseppe Mussardo, professor of Theoretical Physics at SISSA, and Andrè Leclair of Cornell University reported in an article just published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics (JSTAT). The two scientists have shown that not only one can arrive at the solution to one of the most famous problems in mathematics... Читать дальше...

Science has the technology to measure the activity of every gene within a single individual cell, and just one experiment can generate thousands of cells worth of data. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have now revolutionized the way this data is analyzed—by using 3D video gaming technology. The study is published in the journal iScience.

Seismic data collected in Elysium Planitia, the second largest volcanic region on Mars, suggest the presence of a shallow sedimentary layer sandwiched between lava flows beneath the planet's surface. These findings were gained in the framework of NASA's InSight mission (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport), in which several international research partners, including the University of Cologne, collaborate. The paper 'The shallow structure of Mars at the InSight... Читать дальше...

There is an eternal question when hiring: "Is this person really the right fit?" Even if a candidate has the skills for the job, does their personality fit the company culture? Do their goals align with those of the organization? In the very short span of a selection process, it is very difficult to get to know the person behind the mask and find the answers to these questions. A new paper published in Management Accounting Research, however suggests there could be a simpler, more subtle way to find these answers... Читать дальше...

Complex systems can be found in a diverse array of real-world scenarios, but are unified by their ability to suddenly transition between drastically different patterns of behavior. Known as 'tipping,' this type of transformation is generally triggered by small changes in the parameters of individual systems—whose effects can rapidly cascade to alter entire networks of interacting subsystems. In this special issue, EPJST explores the nature of tipping in complex systems through 21 new articles. Together... Читать дальше...

An Austrian-Swiss research team was able to find a previously unknown glacial relic in the Alps, the Alpine rose leaf-miner moth. It is the first known species to have its caterpillars specializing on the rust-red alpine rose, a very poisonous, widely distributed plant that most animals, including moths and butterflies, strictly avoid. The extraordinary record was just published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Alpine Entomology.

In recent years, many physicists worldwide have been investigating the behavior of hybrid nanostructures. These are systems that are typically made up of two or more materials. Special attention in this class of structures is paid to magnetic impurities interacting with superconducting and normal metallic contacts.

Sugars interact with the cell surface through sugar-binding proteins called lectins. These interactions play a fundamental role in many of the cell's biological processes. One important function is the modulation of the immune response towards an outside threat. In a recent Nature Chemical Biology paper, ICMS researchers team up with researchers from Leiden University to unravel the interactions of individual sugar molecules with cells using super-resolution microscopy.

It's been a year since America experienced one of its most divisive elections in decades. Although President Joe Biden has called for unity, recent data from a new measurement, the USC Polarization Index, has shown political polarization remains as bad today as it was a year ago.