Новости за 31.05.2022

Space, the final frontier. The starship Enterprise pursues its mission to explore the galaxy, when all communication channels are suddenly cut off by an impenetrable nebula. In many episodes of the iconic TV series, the valiant crew must "tech the tech" and "science the science" within just 45 minutes of airtime in order to facilitate their escape from this or a similar predicament before the end credits roll. Despite spending a significantly longer time in their laboratories, a team of scientists... Читать дальше...

Nanosheets are finely structured two-dimensional materials and have great potential for innovation. They are fixed on top of each other in layered crystals, and must first be separated from each other so that they can be used, for example, to filter gas mixtures or for efficient gas barriers. A research team at the University of Bayreuth has now developed a gentle, environmentally-friendly process for this difficult process of delamination that can even be used on an industrial scale. This is the... Читать дальше...

Women directors on Fortune 500 boards skillfully use tactics that enable them to display warmth, competence or both, allowing them to avoid backlash and meet specific aims, according to new Cornell University ILR School research.

When faced with terminal illness in their pets, some owners would do anything to prolong their lives.

The nuclease Cas13b associated with CRISPR defense systems—also known as genetic scissors—has the potential to be used in the future in hereditary diseases to silence adverse genes. In the fight against infections, it is also being researched as an antiviral agent, as Cas13b can target the genome of viruses and render them harmless. Despite these promising features, researchers are looking for nuclease inhibitors that can control or stop such activities. The aim is to increase the safety and efficacy... Читать дальше...

Contrary to popular belief, well-intentioned calls for women to invest in women-owned businesses might be doing more harm than good in resolving the gender gap in venture financing. New research found in the INFORMS journal Organization Science finds that female-owned startups that get funding from female venture capitalists are two times less likely to get additional financing compared to those with male investors.

The study of autophagy—the recycling and repair process within cells—has huge potential to aid in fighting the aging process, bacterial and viral infections and diseases including cancer, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Synthesis of organic compounds and polymers is at the core of many manufacturing industries. The new "electrifying synthesis" methods that can combine conventional synthetic chemistry with electrochemistry are a step closer to a sustainable tomorrow. These reactions don't require potentially harmful chemical reagents. They achieve organic synthesis by simply using electrons from an electric power source to conduct redox reactions.

We hear a lot about how climate change will change the land, sea, and ice. But how will it affect clouds?

Watching the skies for large asteroids that could pose a hazard to Earth is a global endeavor. So, to test their operational readiness, the international planetary defense community will sometimes use a real asteroid's close approach as a mock encounter with a "new" potentially hazardous asteroid. The lessons learned could limit, or even prevent, global devastation should the scenario play out for real in the future.

A new technique developed by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) uses artificial intelligence to efficiently update the vegetation maps that are relied on by wildfire computer models to accurately predict fire behavior and spread.

Marine oil spills are one of the most direct, and harmful, examples of the toll that the extraction of fossil fuels can take on the environment. One of the few tools to mitigate that damage are chemical dispersants that break down oil in the water. However, scientists do not fully understand how well they work. A new study led by Bigelow Laboratory validated their efficacy under real-world conditions in order to better prepare for the next disaster.

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Italy and one in the U.S. has found that a unique Bronze Age cremation site in modern Italy holds the remains of up to 172 people who were left to the elements. In their paper published on the open-access site PLOS ONE, the group describes their study of the bones and teeth they found at the cremation site and what they learned from them.

China's dams along the Upper Mekong, or Lancang, are often blamed as the main cause of recent droughts in the downstream regions. Yet, it is challenging to corroborate these claims, since China has not been releasing detailed data on how its big dams in the Lancang are operated. Using data from satellite images and high-resolution hydrological models, researchers have finally solved the enigma.

Examining a city's magnetic footprint can be used to monitor the health of that city, including a possible early warning system for trouble with pollution and as a tool for optimizing energy conservation.

The science academies of the G7 states are calling for urgent international action to protect the ocean and polar regions and to accelerate decarbonization. In the healthcare sector, scientists demand increased global pandemic preparedness and the implementation of a One Health approach, which considers the health of humans, animals, plants and the wider environment as closely linked and interdependent. Their recommendations are set out in four statements which were submitted to the German federal... Читать дальше...

The Tibetan Plateau (TP) is referred to as the "water tower" of Asia for being home to the headwaters of many major rivers in Asia, including the Yangtze, Yellow, Ganges, and Indus. Therefore, TP precipitation is important for not only local, but regional water resources too. On the other hand, the TP can strongly modulate the Asian climate through dynamic and thermal processes. Previous studies have shown that TP snow in winter/spring can significantly influence the Asian monsoon at interannual to interdecadal time scales. Читать дальше...

Strong precipitation or extreme drought—the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing worldwide. Existing climate models, however, do not adequately show their dynamics. Researchers of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) assume that ultrafine particles in the atmosphere have a significant impact on cloud physics and, hence, on weather. Their aircraft measurements confirm an increase in particle emissions in spite of a decreasing coarse fine dust concentration and blame it on the combustion... Читать дальше...

Government coalitions often dissolve when too many parties disagree on too many issues. Even if a coalition seems stable for some time, a small crisis can cause a chain reaction that eventually causes the system to collapse. A study conducted in the Department of Physics at Bar-Ilan University demonstrates that this principle also holds true for ecosystems, particularly bacterial ecosystems.

Today, the Salton Sea is an eerie place. Its mirror-like surface belies the toxic stew within. Fish skeletons line its shores and the ruins of a once thriving vacation playground is a reminder of better days. But long before agricultural runoff spoiled the Salton Sea, the lakebed it now occupies was home to a much larger body of water known as Lake Cahuilla. The lake was six times the area of the Salton Sea and once covered much of Mexicali, Imperial and Coachella valleys.

Scientists have identified a new role for a protein complex at the center of a human genetic disorder called Bardet-Biedl syndrome, or BBS, for which there is currently no cure.

Planting cover crops is a beneficial agricultural practice. One of their many benefits is to cover soil for times when farmers cannot plant cash crops like corn and soy—over the winter, for example. But it is not as simple as just growing cover crops in between growing seasons. Farmers have multiple decisions to make about optimizing cover crop production.

The sustainable circulation of materials and products, powered by regenerative energy sources, in order to bring about a healthy future: that is the underlying vision of the circular economy. Universities have a key role to play in making it a reality. A new book on the circular economy compiled by the TUM Senior Excellence Faculty highlights suggestions and potential sources of inspiration for a sustainable and rationally managed economy.

Compared to traditional materials with circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) activity, covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a new kind of crystalline porous material, have high potential because of their structural designability, versatility, functional adjustability, and chemical stability.

Methane (CH4) is the main component of liquid natural gas. However, the combustion of methane generates a critical amount of carbon dioxide, making the use of this power source contradict the concept of green chemistry.