Culture
Online crowdfunding is a multibillion dollar industry, but crafting a compelling pitch that stands out among thousands of projects and lands investors is challenging. This is especially true for small-scale independent restaurant concepts where, due to intense industry competition, risk is high. Kickstarter's food category can have about 30,000 active pitches at any given time, but only about 25% achieve their fundraising goals. In other words, three out of four come up short and fail.
A new Tel Aviv University study examined the brain's reactions in conditions of uncertainty and stressful conflict in an environment of risks and opportunities. The researchers identified the areas of the brain responsible for the delicate balance between desiring gain and avoiding loss along the way.
Below please find a summary and link(s) of new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. The summary below is not intended to substitute for the full article as a source of information. A collection of coronavirus-related content is free to the public at http://go.annals.org/coronavirus.
Fecal aerosol from pluming system may be to blame for COVID-19 spread in China high-rise
An empirical study published in the Journal of Political Economy finds that VAT cuts are less likely to be passed on to consumer prices than VAT hikes. Following a temporary VAT cut, prices can even be higher than on onset.
World maritime trade grows each year, aided by canal waterways that connect oceans and reduce shipping time, energy consumption and carbon emissions. Following recent expansions of the Panama and Suez canals, non-native fish species are invading new habitats according to a new report in Nature Ecology and Evolution by researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama and the Leibnitz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT) in Germany.
Genetic analysis of sequences from more than 27,000 individuals infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 reveals that the virus has mutated minimally since December 2019, suggesting one vaccine would be sufficient to combat global infections.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- You might think the buffest frogs would be high jumpers, but if you want shredded pecs, you should train like a burrowing frog. Though famously round, these diggers are the unsung bodybuilders of the frog world. We bring you tips from frog expert Rachel Keeffe, a doctoral student at the University of Florida, and physical therapist Penny Goldberg to help you get the burrowing body of your dreams.
Studies show that athletes and musicians achieve peak performance not only by constant practice but also by setting specific goals, engaging with strong mentors and cultivating the attributes of perseverance, stoicism and grit. Could incorporating these principles into the training of surgeons improve their residency experience and make them better doctors?
How do people coordinate their actions with the sounds they hear? This basic ability, which allows people to cross the street safely while hearing oncoming traffic, dance to new music or perform team events such as rowing, has puzzled cognitive neuroscientists for years. A new study led by researchers at McGill University is shining a light on how auditory perception and motor processes work together.
Keeping the beat - it takes more than just moving or listening well
A new paper in The Economic Journal finds that bus drivers are more likely to let white riders ride for free and less likely to let Black riders ride without paying the fee.
Police officers must issue tickets to drivers exceeding the speed limit. A grocery store worker is not allowed to hand out goods free of charge. Similarly, bus drivers require all passengers to have valid tickets before being allowed onto the bus.
Enteroviruses and other pathogenic viruses that make their way into surface waters can be inactivated by heat, sunshine and other microbes, thereby reducing their ability to spread disease. But researchers report in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology that global warming could cause viruses to evolve, rendering them less susceptible to these and other disinfectants, such as chlorine.
For all its vast emptiness, the universe is humming with activity in the form of gravitational waves. Produced by extreme astrophysical phenomena, these reverberations ripple forth and shake the fabric of space-time, like the clang of a cosmic bell.
Now researchers have detected a signal from what may be the most massive black hole merger yet observed in gravitational waves. The product of the merger is the first clear detection of an “intermediate-mass” black hole, with a mass between 100 and 1,000 times that of the sun.
An international research collaboration including Northwestern University astronomers has witnessed the birth of an "intermediate-mass" black hole. This is the first conclusive discovery of an intermediate-mass black hole, an object which has long eluded astronomers. The cosmic event, its energy detected on Earth in the form of gravitational waves, is the most massive black hole merger yet observed in gravitational waves.
Scientists observed what appears to be a bulked-up black hole tangling with a more ordinary one. The research team, which includes physicists from the University of Maryland, detected two black holes merging, but one of the black holes was 1 1/2 times more massive than any ever observed in a black hole collision. The researchers believe the heavier black hole in the pair may be the result of a previous merger between two black holes.
The enigmatic variations of light in a binary system, located in Sagittarius constellation, could be explained by the presence of a variable gas disk around a hot star that revolves around a cooler star. These are the conclusions published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and which brought by researchers from Chile, Serbia and Poland.