Новости за 05.10.2022

Two renewable resources—cellulose from wood pulp and chitin from the shells of crabs, lobsters and other crustaceans—are known to industrial chemists for their potential for creating highly versatile nanocrystals, useful for making pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, industrial additives and much more.

In 2019, Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) eliminated the Graduate Record Examination as a requirement for admission to the school's graduate programs for a pilot period of three years.

A group of researchers led by Cornell is unlocking the full potential of aluminum nitride—an important material for the advancement of electronics and photonics—thanks to the development of a surface cleaning technique that enables high-quality production.

Over a 50-year period, logging on British Columbia's Central Coast preferentially targeted the highest value locations on the landscape, according to new research from Simon Fraser University. The systematic depletion of high-value components of the environment raises concerns about future sustainability and intergenerational access to natural resources.

Thanks to new RNA vaccines, we humans have been able to protect ourselves incredibly quickly from new viruses like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These vaccines insert a piece of ephemeral genetic material into the body's cells, which then read its code and churn out a specific protein—in this case, telltale "spikes" that stud the outside of the coronavirus—priming the immune system to fight future invaders.

An application developed in collaboration with vulnerable communities to transmit early warnings of the risk of floods and environmental disasters has become public policy in Brazil, and the methodology is being replicated for use elsewhere. With practical results obtained in 2022, part of the discussions involving proposals to improve flood risk governance began at least two years ago.

Carnegie Mellon University researchers have pioneered the CMU Array—a new type of microelectrode array for brain computer interface platforms. It holds the potential to transform how doctors are able to treat neurological disorders.

Developing tools for precise control of biological processes has been one of the main pillars of the now mature field of synthetic biology. These scientific tools borrow principles from a multitude of research fields which, when combined, enable unique applications that are potentially transformative for the modern society.

In June of 2020, Stephen Gosser, a self-described "diehard birder," was out in the woods of Western Pennsylvania when he thought he heard the song of the elusive and strikingly beautiful scarlet tanager. The blood-red bird with black wings and tail is a favorite among birders for both its beauty and rarity, as the birds prefer to stay hidden high in the forest canopy.

Trying to understand people we disagree with can feel like an effort hardly worth making, particularly in contentious political environments in which offering even the smallest olive branch to the opposition can be perceived as betraying our own side. Research in Psychological Science, however, suggests that cross-partisan empathy may actually make our political arguments more persuasive, rather than softening our convictions. This holds true for even the most politically partisan among us.

October is inarguably pumpkin season, which raises questions about food safety for everything from pumpkin pie to pumpkin seeds.

New research from marine scientists raises potential red flags for sharks that are caught and released by recreational anglers. The team has discovered that the ocean's iconic predators typically spike in temperature after they have been caught, which may have physiological and behavioral impacts.

A study by MBARI researchers and their collaborators published today in Ecology Letters sheds new light on the movements of mysterious, endangered blue whales. The research team used a directional hydrophone on MBARI's underwater observatory, integrated with other advanced technologies, to listen for the booming vocalizations of blue whales. They used these sounds to track the movements of blue whales and learned that these ocean giants respond to changes in the wind.

Soil and its macrofauna are an integral part of many ecosystems, playing an important role in decomposition and nutrient recycling. However, soil biodiversity remains understudied globally. To help fill this gap and reveal the diversity of soil fauna in Hong Kong, a team of scientists from The Chinese University of Hong Kong initiated a citizen science project involving universities, non-governmental organizations and secondary school students and teachers.

A proposal to cover Arctic sea ice with layers of tiny hollow glass spheres about the thickness of one human hair would actually accelerate sea-ice loss and warm the climate rather than creating thick ice and lowering the temperature as proponents claim, according to a new study.

Chris Taylor, director of the beverage management program in the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership, watched in awe as sales of White Claw skyrocketed seemingly overnight in the summer of 2019.

Genebanks play an important role in the long-term conservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Out of 1,800 genebank collections worldwide, more than 600 are in Europe. This vast array of crop diversity can be exploited to make our crops more nutritious, productive and resilient to pests, diseases and environmental changes, only if we have information about it.

A new computational approach will improve understanding of different states of carbon and guide the search for materials yet to be discovered.

"Wander around Trastevere like a Roman"; "This little café in the Latin Quarter in Paris is wonderful"; "Tips to make you feel like a real Berliner." An increasing number of platforms in the sharing economy such as Airbnb are using slogans like these to create and project the image of tourist destinations in the digital world.

A team of researchers at Peking University, the First Institute of Oceanography and the University of Bristol has identified a well-preserved fossilized Markuelia hunanensis embryo of the Cambrian period. In their paper published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, the group describes the condition and attributes of the fossil, including muscle tissue and brain matter.

Visit any of Turkey's regions and you will find diverse plants growing in uncultivated areas such as wetlands and woodlands: wild fennel, catbriers, golden thistle, and knotgrass, to name just a few.

A new study in New Mexico's San Juan Basin will boost efforts to identify and reduce methane emissions, a key element of the Global Methane Pledge. The research team found that using multiple methods to measure the ratio of ethane to methane in the ambient air around fossil energy development regions can be used to attribute emissions to specific polluters.

Cotton is an important crop grown around the world, such as in countries like the United States and Uzbekistan. When a fungus began to harm cotton in both countries, it brought together their scientists for an innovative research collaboration.

A small team of researchers with members from Sorbonne Université, the University of Maryland College Park, the University of Pisa and Université Côte d'Azur has developed a theory to explain the odd tilt of Uranus and its opposite spin. The group has published a paper describing their work on the preprint server arXiv and are awaiting results of peer review before it is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

This article highlights data from Webb science in progress, which has not yet been through the peer-review process. Here, Webb interdisciplinary scientist Rogier Windhorst and his team discuss their observations.