UPTON, NY--When there are several processes going on at once, establishing cause-and-effect relationships is difficult. This scenario holds true for a class of high-temperature superconductors known as the cuprates. Discovered nearly 35 years ago, these copper-oxygen compounds can conduct electricity without resistance under certain conditions.
After the Big Bang, there likely came a period of inflation where the universe rapidly expanded. As this rapid expansion ends, incredibly dense quantum matter--called a condensate--is expected to form. However, even if this condensate is long-lived, interactions between it and its own gravitational field ultimately cause it to fragment. Now, scientists have created the first simulation of the condensate during this process. Musoke et al. modeled the matter's fragmentation to provide the first quantitative examination of the gravitational disintegration of the condensate.
Merit-based grants are a government's best bet for providing effective student aid for long-term economic growth - increasing both welfare (measured in terms of long-term well-being outcomes) and efficiency, according to a new joint study from the University of British Columbia, Queen's, Princeton and Yale. The study focuses on current education policy in the United States, and finds that the current system of grants and loans has significant long-term value.
For most social animals, even humans, the ability to distinguish friend versus foe can be a challenge that often can lead to knee-jerk aggression. But when it comes to ants getting aggressive, there's a more sophisticated method to their madness.
A year-round acoustic study of marine mammals in the northern Bering Sea is providing scientists with a valuable snapshot of an Arctic world already under drastic pressure from climate change, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), Columbia University, Southall Environmental Associates, and the University of Washington.
Abrupt thawing of permafrost will double previous estimates of potential carbon emissions from permafrost thaw in the Arctic, and is already rapidly changing the landscape and ecology of the circumpolar north, a new CU Boulder-led study finds.
Behavioral therapy assisted by a smartphone app, delivered via telemedicine by a health coach, was an effective treatment for several symptoms of binge eating disorders, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published this week in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (February 3, 2020)-- Habitat loss, pesticide use and, surprisingly, artificial light are the three most serious threats endangering fireflies across the globe, raising the spectre of extinction for certain species and related impacts on biodiversity and ecotourism, according to a Tufts University-led team of biologists associated with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Worldwide declines in insect populations have sparked considerable concern among researchers and members of the general public alike. To date, however, significant research gaps exist, and many insect threats remain under-investigated and poorly understood. For instance, despite their charismatic bioluminescent displays and cultural and economic importance, the 2000-plus species of firefly beetles have yet to be the subject of a comprehensive threat analysis.
Baltimore, MD - February 3, 2020 - People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) appear to suffer malfunctions in a cell that produces a special coating around nerve fibers that facilitates efficient electrical communication across the brain. And correcting it could offer a potential new avenue for treatment, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience from scientists at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development (LIBD).