Eurekalert

Four years after unveiling a looming sand crisis, scientists focus on sand's sustainability implications and propose solutions to reduce impacts.

Novel brain-translucent techniques coupled with high-resolution imaging microscopy have allowed the 3D reconstruction of oxytocin and vasopressin circuits in the developing mouse brain with unprecedented cellular resolution.

Ending our dependence on coal is essential for effective climate protection. Nevertheless, efforts to phase out coal trigger anxiety and resistance, particularly in mining regions. The governments of both Canada and Germany have involved various stakeholders to develop recommendations aimed at delivering just transitions. In a new study, researchers at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) compare the stakeholder commissions convened by the two countries, drawing on expert interviews with their members, and examine how governments use commissions to legitimize their transition policies.

A new study quantifies the influence of the climate change with its associated rainfall change on railway infrastructures in China.

If you've been to your local beach, you may have noticed the wind tossing around litter such as a plastic straw. Many of these plastics break down into microscopic sizes, making it hard for scientists to quantify and measure them. In a multiorganizational effort led by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), researchers have developed a novel method that uses a filter-feeding marine species to collect these tiny plastics from ocean water.

Finnish researchers have been the first to determine the cause for the nonsyndromic early-onset hereditary canine hearing loss in Rottweilers. The gene defect was identified in a gene relevant to the sense of hearing. The study can also promote the understanding of mechanisms of hearing loss in human.

It has previously been reported that human visual system has a temporal limitation in processing visual information when perceiving things that occur less than half a second apart. This temporal deficit is known as "attentional blink" and has been demonstrated in a large number of studies.

Researchers from Tohoku University and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency have discovered a new spintronic phenomenon: a persistent rotation of chiral-spin structure. The development paves the way for further application in oscillators, random number generators, and nonvolatile memory.

Researchers at the University of Zurich show how climate mitigation scenarios can be improved by taking into account that the financial system can play both an enabling or a hampering role on the path to a sustainable economic system.

A group of researchers carried out eDNA sequencing on jelly fish in the Florida Keys using a newly developed Fieldable eDNA sequencing kit to identify species that may be endangered, invasive or dangerous.

Researchers from the University of Surrey have revealed a new method that enables common laboratory scanning electron microscopes to see graphene growing over a microchip surface in real time.

A study by the CAS Institute of Atmospheric Physics found that the deep stratospheric intrusion and Russian wildfire induce enhanced tropospheric ozone pollution over the northern Tibetan Plateau.

A new eudicot, Gansufructus saligna gen. et sp. nov. is reported from the late Early Cretaceous of Gansu, Northwest China, based on numerous exceptionally well-preserved axes with leaves and infructescences. It is the earliest and unique record of early angiosperms in Northwest China. Morphological studies indicated that Gansufructus saligna is a terrestrial herb growing in lowland humid areas. The new discovery is significant for exploring the origin, evolution, diversity, and habitat preferences of early eudicots.

In order to understand catalysts, we have to understand how chemical reactions evolve on nanoparticles. Different facets of the particles can have different properties, leading to intriguing "chemical waves". Scientists from TU Wien have now been able to image this for the first time.

Researchers from the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology of Plants (IBMCP, UPV-CSIC) participate in a study that reveals that a system involved in the ageing of the leaves of the tomato plant also regulates the ripening of its fruit.

Zhang, Q and colleagues assessed China's PM2.5 air quality pathways during 2015-2060 in the context of carbon neutrality goals. Their findings suggest that reducing PM2.5 exposure of the majority Chinese population to the WHO guideline (10ug/m3 for annual mean) will require ambitious low-carbon transition in energy system, highlighting the critical role of carbon neutrality goals in long-term air quality improvement in China.

The Cybersecurity Laboratory of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) has enhanced its cyber attack integrated analysis platform "NIRVANA Kai" to support the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), the successor to IPv4. NIRVANA Kai has succeeded in real-time visualization of packets flowing in the vast address space of IPv6 for the first time in the world. It is expected to be useful for security measures for more diverse and extensive networks.

All life forms are endowed with the ability to sense gravity. However, the mechanism is not well-understood in acoels, a group of marine flatworms that represent a primitive invertebrate (without backbone) lifeform. In a new study, zoologists from Okayama University suggest necessary conditions for this ability to develop in hatchlings of an acoel species native to Okayama sea coasts, opening doors to understanding evolution better and pathology treatment applications in humans.

A group of Japanese researchers has succeeded in splitting the E. coli chromosome into three of 1 million base pairs. The 1 million base pairs chromosome can be used for E. coli transformation. This E. coli-based technology has the potential to greatly advance synthetic genomics.

Scientists from Hokkaido University have discovered a novel defensive response to SARS-CoV-2 that involves the viral pattern recognition receptor RIG-I. Upregulating expression of this protein could strengthen the immune response in COPD patients.