As one of the so-called essential climate variable (ECV), soil moisture plays an important role in the water-energy cycle and land-atmosphere interactions. While quite some microwave-based satellite missions have made soil moisture retrieval on top of their other objectives, it is still tough work in obtaining high-quality soil moisture products at regional scales mainly due to the impacts of vegetation and surface roughness.
On average, the human body contains 35 trillion red blood cells (RBCs). Approximately three million of these small disc-shaped cells die in one second. But in this second, the same number is also produced to maintain the level of active RBCs. Interestingly, all of these cells undergo a multi-level differentiation process called erythropoiesis.
A team of physicists at the University of Bristol has developed the first integrated photon source with the potential to deliver large-scale quantum photonics.
The development of quantum technologies promises to have a profound impact across science, engineering and society. Quantum computers at scale will be able to solve problems intractable on even the most powerful current supercomputers, with many revolutionary applications, for example, in the design of new drugs and materials.
Fire is the primary form of terrestrial ecosystem disturbance on a global scale, and a major source of aerosols from the terrestrial biosphere to the atmosphere.
Modern optical devices require constant tuning of their light interaction settings. For that purpose, there exist various mechanical apparatuses that shift lenses, rotate reflectors, and move emitters. An international research team that includes staff members of ITMO University and the University of Exeter have proposed a new metamaterial capable of changing its optical properties without any mechanical input. This development could result in a significant improvement in the reliability of complex optical devices while making them cheaper to manufacture.
For the first time, monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides with excellent optical properties were grown. A team of physicists from the University of Warsaw managed to overcome the technical difficulties faced by industry and scientists from around the world, namely the very limited size, heterogeneity, and broadening of the spectral lines of fabricated materials. Monolayers without these defects were grown by molecular beam epitaxy on atomically flat boron nitride substrates.
Have pollen. Must travel.
Over 80% of the world's flowering plants must reproduce in order to produce new flowers, according to the U.S. Forest Service. This process involves the transfer of pollen between plants by wind, water or insects called pollinators -- including bumblebees.
Children of parents with a degree are almost a year of schooling ahead in maths by the age 11 than peers whose parents have just GCSEs, a new study by the University of Sussex has discovered.
Greater parental education is the strongest predictor of maths attainment and faster future growth for children moving into secondary school even after adjusting for their intelligence (IQ), research by University of Sussex psychologists published today by the Royal Society reveals
The study also showed that:
'Orthonectida is a group of parasitic creatures that was discovered long ago - in 1877. However, their position in the animal system until recently remained a mystery,' said George Slyusarev, Professor at St Petersburg University and Doctor of Biology. 'Initially, they were considered extremely primitive animals that occupy an intermediate position between Protozoans and Metazoans. Hence, their old name is "mesozoa": from the Greek "meso" - "between" animals and protists. However, when we began to research them, they turned out to be not that simple.'
We use cells to breathe, to moderate body temperature, to grow and many other every day processes, however the cells in these processes are so complex its left scientists perplexed into how they develop in different environments. Researchers from the University of Warwick say future research needs to look into the bioelectrical composition of cells for answers.