Новости за 15.02.2024

The interior of black holes remains a conundrum for science. In 1916, German physicist Karl Schwarzschild outlined a solution to Albert Einstein's equations of general relativity, in which the center of a black hole consists of a so-called singularity, a point at which space and time no longer exist. Here, the theory goes, all physical laws, including Einstein's general theory of relativity, no longer apply; the principle of causality is suspended.

Employers making hiring decisions, landlords considering possible tenants and schools approving field trip chaperones all widely use commercial background checks. But a new multi-institutional study co-authored by a University of Maryland researcher shows that background checks themselves can't be trusted.

The New York Bight is an important year-round habitat for endangered fin whales, according to new research examining fin whale song patterns.

Researchers from RMIT University are using nanodiamonds to create smart textiles that can cool people down faster. Their study, published in the journal Polymers for Advanced Technologies, found fabric made from cotton coated with nanodiamonds, using a method called electrospinning, showed a reduction of 2–3°C during the cooling down process compared to untreated cotton.

Africa's forested areas—an estimated 14 % of the global forest area—are continuing to decline at an increasing rate—mostly because of human activities to convert forest land for economic purposes. As natural forests are important CO2 and biodiversity reservoirs, this development has a significant impact on climate change and affects the integrity of nature.

According to the Gaia hypothesis, which was proposed by the scientists Lovelock and Margulis in the 1970s, our planet should have been getting progressively warmer for millions of years, while our oceans should have been progressively more acidic as well. The fact that this hasn't happened suggests a planet-wide complex system that is self-regulating, with planetary life and geological processes working together to stabilize planetary geology and climate. Despite its importance, this idea could not... Читать дальше...

After a long, steady decline in national suicide rates, those numbers began steadily ticking up in the late 1990s and have generally risen ever since, with nearly 50,000 people in the U.S. taking their own lives in 2022, up 3% from the previous year.

Women working in organizations are frequently encouraged to cultivate connections to high-status individuals based on a prominent social network theory. But new research conducted in China and the United States suggests that having high-status connections can backfire for women.

There is a virtuous circle between volunteering and social cohesion, offering wider benefits to communities according to new research led by Kent and Belong—the Cohesion and Integration Network.

California's Silicon Valley and Utah's Silicon Slopes are named for the element most associated with semiconductors, the backbone of the computer revolution. Anything computerized or electronic depends on semiconductors, a substance with properties that conduct electrical current under certain conditions. Traditional semiconductors are made from inorganic materials—like silicon—that require vast amounts of water and energy to produce.

Anti-Black racism continues to be a major determinant of poor health and social outcomes for Black Canadians. Addressing this racism within Canadian institutions—like the health care system, justice system, the child welfare system and education—has far-reaching implications.

Many streets around the globe are becoming increasingly inhospitable to children and the elderly due to compounding traffic and road safety concerns which deter these groups from active transport, like walking or cycling. The recent emphasis on designing cities that cater to the well-being of individuals from ages eight to 80 isn't just a catchy phrase, but a vital requirement to accommodate evolving demographic realities.

A paper-based platform developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) could help quickly detect the presence of antibiotic-resistant, disease-causing bacteria.

Canada's first robotic cafe, RC Coffee, opened in Toronto in October 2020. The flagship location of the coffee chain revived the long-dormant retail concept of the automat: a restaurant where food and drinks are served by technology, rather than human staff.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have observed a nearby cold brown dwarf designated WISEPA J182831.08+265037.8 (or WISE 1828 for short). The observations delivered important insights into the composition of the object's atmosphere. The new findings were published Feb. 8 on the preprint server arXiv.

A team of engineers at Monash University in Australia has found that exposing human sperm to ultrasound can cause them to swim faster. In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, the group exposed human semen samples to ultrasonic waves and measured changes in sperm motility.

Scientists have discovered a new, intermediate state in the process of protein folding, showing folding can occur in two stages, one fast and the next found to be much slower. The findings are published in the journal Physical Review Letters.

An international team of scientists reports that cave art at a site in Patagonia is the oldest of its type ever found in South America. In their study, published in the journal Science Advances, the group conducted radiocarbon dating of the material used to create the art thousands of years ago.

In a new study, scientists have mapped magnetic fields in galaxy clusters, revealing the impact of galactic mergers on magnetic-field structures and challenging previous assumptions about the efficiency of turbulent dynamo processes in the amplification of these fields.

A new Tulane University study published in Nature Communications offers a glimpse into the possible impact of climate change on coastal wetlands 50 years or longer into the future.

Much of Libya is bone-dry desert but one Mediterranean coastal town is suffering the opposite problem—its houses and fields have been inundated by a mysterious upsurge of groundwater.

Earth-bound surgeons remotely controlled a small robot aboard the International Space Station over the weekend, conducting the first-ever such surgery in orbit—albeit on rubber bands.

Conservationists in Kenya are celebrating as rhinos were returned to a grassy plateau that hasn't seen them in decades.

A new Environmental Working Group study has found chlormequat, a little-known pesticide, in four out of five people tested. Because the chemical is linked to reproductive and developmental problems in animal studies, the findings suggest the potential for similar harm to humans.

In a first of its kind study, researchers have identified significant differences between the diversity of gut bacteria in gray squirrels compared to red squirrels which could hold the key to further understanding the ability of gray squirrels to outcompete red squirrels in the UK.