Новости за 06.03.2024

In the 1800s, British colonists in India set about trying to reduce the cobra population, which was making life and trade very difficult in Delhi. They began to pay a bounty for dead cobras. The strategy very quickly resulted in the widespread breeding of cobras for cash.

Elephants are the natural carriers of a virus called Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpesvirus (EEHV) that can, for yet unknown reasons, cause profound clinical signs in some young elephants and be rapidly fatal. For nearly two decades, zoos and university partners have been working to study the virus and develop early detection protocols and treatment options.

Natural history museums have entered a new stage of scientific discovery and accessibility with the completion of openVertebrate (oVert), a five-year collaborative project among 18 institutions to create 3D reconstructions of vertebrate specimens and make them freely available online.

Approximately 38 million years ago two termites were in the middle of courtship behavior when they got entrapped by tree resin and preserved in fossilized amber. This, so far, oldest and only-described fossil of an Electrotermes affinis termite pair gave researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) the unique chance to analyze the mating behavior of the extinct insects.

A theoretical experiment characterized the network architecture of a species-rich ecosystem over eight months. Predator–prey interaction networks play a key role in structuring ecosystems, but ecological research has often treated such networks as static, despite the broadly accepted understanding of ecosystems as dynamic.

National University of Singapore (NUS) chemists have solved a longstanding challenge in the synthesis of congested C(sp3)-rich molecules by developing a new iron-catalyzed reaction that generates two alkyl-alkyl bonds in crowded environments. The work is published in Nature Catalysis.

Stingless bees in the Colombian Andes are adapting to a derivative of the ubiquitous insecticide ivermectin, which the bees ingest along with pollen from pasture flowers, according to a new study.

Porous solids are abundant in the world. Examples include activated carbon, zeolite, and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). Solid electrolytes in next-generation batteries have ion migration channels and hence are porous solids in a broad sense. Because the properties of porous solids are dictated by pore size, the way the pores are connected internally, and the chemical nature of the pore walls, achieving high degrees of freedom in designing these properties is crucial.

A group of Tohoku University researchers has developed a theoretical model for a high-performance spin wave reservoir computing (RC) that utilizes spintronics technology. The breakthrough moves scientists closer to realizing energy-efficient, nanoscale computing with unparalleled computational power.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers have investigated the stellar population of the globular cluster NGC 1835. They detected a remarkably extended horizontal branch in this system. The discovery, reported February 28 on the preprint server arXiv, marks the first time when such a feature is found in a globular cluster beyond our Milky Way galaxy.

A multi-institutional team of geneticists in China has discovered the gene mutation responsible for a brown coat in giant pandas. In their study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group sequenced the genes of a captive giant panda with a brown coat and compared the results with the genes of hundreds of black and white pandas.

A new study provides insights into the role of microbes and their interaction as drivers of interspecific differences in coral thermal bleaching. The study was published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Kyle David, an NSF postdoctoral fellow in the Rokas lab, and co-authors have published a new paper, "Saccharomycotina yeasts defy longstanding macroecological patterns," in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This paper, which looks at the ecology of 186 species of yeast, provides evidence that not all life forms follow the rules.

A research team affiliated with UNIST has unveiled for the first time a new principle of motion in the microworld, where objects can move in a directed manner simply by changing their sizes periodically within a substance known as liquid crystal.

Researchers from Mansoura University and University of Guelph published a new Journal of Marketing study that examines how misaligned contracts can erode innovation outcomes of high-tech firms. The study, titled "Collaborating to Innovate: Balancing Strategy Dividend and Transactional Efficiencies," is authored by Nehal Elhelaly and Sourav Ray.

An increasing number of space objects, debris, and satellites in Low Earth Orbit poses a significant threat of collisions during space operations. The situation is currently monitored by radar and radio-telescopes that track space objects, but much of space debris is composed of very small metallic objects that are difficult to detect.

New York has begun rolling out a large-scale organic waste collection program, but the landmark initiative has upset many of the local groups that previously handled composting, who say they now face critical funding cuts.

Since it was created in 2001, Wikipedia has become a key element of the modern public sphere, which has revolutionized the way we create and share information. However, it has defects when it comes to its decentralization and flexibility, especially regarding inclusion and diversity.

A series of atmospheric rivers drenched California in February, with record amounts of rainfall and hurricane-force winds sweeping across parts of the state. At one point, weather agencies posted flood watches for nearly the entirety of California's coast. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission captured data on some of the flooding near the community of Manchester, roughly 105 miles (169 kilometers) north of San Francisco. The satellite is a collaboration between NASA and the French space agency... Читать дальше...

New research in Marketing Science has found that companies and brands that have aligned themselves with Black Lives Matter (BLM) suffered a negative impact at the hands of consumers.

Out-of-control behavior by CEOs and other powerful people constantly makes headlines—so much so that some might consider impulsivity a pathway to power. New research from the UC San Diego Rady School of Management and Texas A&M University finds that having self-control is often what leads to power.

Historic racial discrimination in property ownership is linked to reduced exposure to dangerous heat today, according to the first study to analyze the environmental impact of racial covenants in property deeds.

Researchers with the University of Minnesota hope to release highly specialized parasitic wasps to serve as a biological control method to save Darwin's finches from a dire threat: the invasive avian vampire fly, Philornis downsi.

Strategies deployed for the restoration of degraded land have had promising results in Brazil's semi-arid region, improving the microbial properties of the soil and contributing to a return of native ecosystem services. The techniques include removal of cattle or restriction of their access to specific areas of pasture; cultivation of cover crops; and terracing to control erosion. Recovery of soil microbial properties maintains biodiversity and raises crop yields, contributing to agricultural sustainability.

In the pursuit of enhancing almond genetic diversity for the ever-expanding global demand, researchers have delved into a private almond germplasm collection, shedding light on the potential for new cultivars adapted to diverse growing conditions.