Новости за 05.07.2022

An international team of researchers has discovered 1.2-billion-year-old groundwater deep in a gold- and uranium-producing mine in Moab Khotsong, South Africa, shedding more light on how life is sustained below the Earth's surface and how it may thrive on other planets.

HIV researchers have long been trying to identify the specific cells that the virus prefers to infect and hide in. They know that HIV favors a special type of immune cells called memory CD4 T cells. But these cells come in many flavors, and it has been difficult to ascertain exactly what makes one type of memory CD4 T cell more attractive to HIV than another.

Due to the possibility that bird flu viruses could mutate and gain the ability to spread easily between people, avian influenza poses a significant pandemic threat to birds and humans alike. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been monitoring for illness among humans exposed to infected birds since outbreaks were detected in poultry and wild bird populations in late 2021-2022. As of July 5, 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 40.09 M birds in 36 U.S. Читать дальше...

Millions of liters of blood are donated around the world every year, but there's still not enough for everyone who needs it.

A new analysis of observed temperatures shows the Arctic is heating up more than four times faster than the rate of global warming. The trend has stepped upward steeply twice in the last 50 years, a finding missed by all but four of 39 climate models.

A new academic article, published in Frontiers in Political Science, analyzes how the Settlement Act is applied in Sweden's municipalities. Housing is an important prerequisite for the socioeconomic integration of refugees. The Settlement Act was implemented in 2016 and entails that municipalities are obliged to receive refugees according to quotas.

How does preterm birth affect children's school grades? Using Swedish registers for children born 1982–1994, a new study, published in Population Studies, investigates how prematurely born pupils perform in school at age 16.

The right temperature matters—whether in technical processes, for the quality of food and medicines, or the lifetime of electronic components and batteries. For this purpose, temperature indicators record (un)desired temperature increases that can be read out later. Researchers in the group led by Prof. Dr. Karl Mandel, professor of inorganic chemistry at FAU, have succeeded in developing a novel temperature indicator in the form of a micrometer-sized particle whose central component is rust. The... Читать дальше...

Environmental awareness in society is changing household laundry habits, where the use of less bleach and lower temperatures during washing machine cycles is encouraged. In this context, disinfectants added to detergents have become an essential factor to compensate for these new habits and to prevent the transmission of bacteria, fungi and viruses in the house, as well as to control the level of odor-causing microorganisms on clothes. These products must be evaluated according to standardized methods... Читать дальше...

New research by a scientist at the Milner Center for Evolution at the University of Bath suggests that "selfish chromosomes" explain why most human embryos die very early on. The study, published in PLoS Biology, explaining why fish embryos are fine but sadly humans' embryos often don't survive, has implications for the treatment of infertility.

The United States Government has declared that it will no longer be performing tests of anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons. In a public statement during a visit to the Vandenberg Space Force Base, Vice President Kamala Harris confirmed that this policy has the primary purpose of setting an example to other countries. It represents an important step in the direction of establishing "space norms" for all countries to follow.

It's nice to have a feel-good story every once in a while, so here's one to hold off the existential dread: the Earth isn't likely to get flung off into deep space for at least 100,000 years. In fact, all of the solar system's planets are safe for that time frame, so there is good news all around, for you and your favorite planetary body.

For the first time, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) analyzed a long-term sample series on microplastic pollution in the Northeast Atlantic from 2000 m water depth with respect to number, size, mass, material and possible origin of the particles. Samples were collected between 2003–2015 in the Madeira Basin by a sediment trap. Plastic type and particle amount varied widely, but accounted for up to 8% of total particle flux. The most common plastic materials were polyethylene and PVC. Читать дальше...

Carbon dioxide pollution continues to change the global climate. Researchers know how to pinpoint such pollution, even on a regional and near-real-time basis. As part of a solution to carbon dioxide pollution, many studies focus on how to convert this pollutant into a fuel, such as methanol. Copper-based catalysts are a tool for such conversions. Understanding the corresponding step-by-step chemistry is essential for optimizing conversion of carbon dioxide pollutant into methanol fuel. However, the... Читать дальше...

Co-occurrences of wind extremes and precipitation extremes, known as compound wind and precipitation extremes (CWPEs), can disrupt and endanger shipment and shipping logistics. The associated winds and floods may cause severe socio-economic impacts in coastal and inland areas.

Exosomes are lipid-bilayer nanoscale membrane particles (typically

With morning and nighttime routines alone, people spend plenty of time looking in the mirror, but did you know the history of this everyday item dates to 4000 B.C.?

Ever since their development in the late 19th century, Schiff bases have been a popular group of organic compounds, owing to their wide variety of desirable properties. The presence of both nitrogen and oxygen in their structure makes them versatile molecules with an array of applications, ranging from dyes and catalysts to environmental sensors and raw materials for chemical synthesis.

Nearly everyone can identify a pond, but what, exactly, distinguishes it from a lake or a wetland? A new study co-led by Cornell offers the first data-driven, functional definition of a pond and evidence of ponds' distinct ecological function, which could have broad implications for science and policy.

Scientists from the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and the University of Stuttgart (Germany) have managed to synthesize and extensively characterize a series of cobalt molecules that exhibit the properties of molecular magnets, an encouraging result for the future of quantum-scale computing.

One evening in early June, a week after 19 students and two teachers were shot and killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, extremism researcher Kesa White started seeing media reports of another mass shooting, this time at a medical center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

CERN has announced the world's most powerful particle accelerator is ready to start delivering proton collisions to experiments at a record-breaking energy level.

Though gopher tortoises have persisted for millions of years, they now face a barrage of threats from loss of habitat and developers with permits that allow the reptiles to be buried alive.

Neurons constantly adapt to new requirements. This plasticity is the molecular foundation of learning and remembering. At the cellular level, there is a variety of mechanisms for regulating general gene expression.

An international team of scientists, including Uwe Fritz and Christian Kehlmaier from Senckenberg, has made an astonishing discovery in the Zubbio di Cozzo San Pietro cave in Sicily, a burial site from the Copper/Bronze Age: bones of a giant tortoise. The skeletal fragments have been dated to 12,500 years ago, which is at odds with the temporal context of the other finds in the cave. Nevertheless, they are considerably younger than the previously known remains of extinct giant tortoises on the Mediterranean islands... Читать дальше...