Tech
Corals precipitate their calcareous skeletons (calcium carbonate) from seawater. Over thousands of years, vast coral reefs form due to the deposition of this calcium carbonate. During precipitation, corals prefer carbonate groups containing specific variants of oxygen (chemical symbol: O). For example, the lower the water temperature, the higher the abundance of a heavy oxygen variant, known as isotope 18O, within the precipitated carbonate.
Sars-Cov-2 viruses can be inactivated using certain commercially available mouthwashes. This was demonstrated in cell culture experiments by virologists from Ruhr-Universität Bochum together with colleagues from Jena, Ulm, Duisburg-Essen, Nuremberg and Bremen. High viral loads can be detected in the oral cavity and throat of some Covid-19 patients. The use of mouthwashes that are effective against Sars-Cov-2 could thus help to reduce the viral load and possibly the risk of coronavirus transmission over the short term. This could be useful, for example, prior to dental treatments.
When nanocellulose is combined with various types of metal nanoparticles, materials are formed with many new and exciting properties. They may be antibacterial, change colour under pressure, or convert light to heat.
"To put it simply, we make gold from nanocellulose", says Daniel Aili, associate professor in the Division of Biophysics and Bioengineering at the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at Linköping University.
New research at the University of Warwick has (pardon the pun) put a new spin on a mathematical analogy involving a jumping grasshopper and its ideal lawn shape. This work could help us understand the spin states of quantum-entangled particles.
A new study, published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change, supports predictions that the Arctic could be free of sea ice by 2035.
High temperatures in the Arctic during the last interglacial - the warm period around 127,000 years ago - have puzzled scientists for decades. Now the UK Met Office's Hadley Centre climate model has enabled an international team of researchers to compare Arctic sea ice conditions during the last interglacial with present day. Their findings are important for improving predictions of future sea ice change.
The brains of people with no political allegiance are different from those who strongly support one party, major new research shows.
The largest functional neuroimaging study of its kind to date shows nonpartisan voters process risk-related information differently than partisans.
The findings show nonpartisan voters are a distinct group, not just people reluctant to divulge their political preferences.
Researchers have found electrons that behave as if they have no mass, called Dirac electrons, in a compound used in rewritable discs, such as CDs and DVDs. The discovery of "massless" electrons in this phase-change material could lead to faster electronic devices.
The international team published their results on July 6 in ACS Nano, a journal of the American Chemical Society.
A new paper out today in Nature Geoscience identifies fertilizer and pesticide applications to croplands as the largest source of sulfur in the environment--up to 10 times higher than the peak sulfur load seen in the second half of the 20th century, during the days of acid rain.
As a result, University of Colorado Boulder researchers recommend greatly expanded monitoring of sulfur and examining possible negative impacts of this increase, including increasing levels of mercury in wetlands, soil degradation and a higher risk for asthma for populations in agricultural areas.
COVID-19 response has resulted in major reductions in health facility births in Nepal and widened inequalities, with significantly increased institutional stillbirth and neonatal mortality, according to a new study in The Lancet Global Health.
The research was led Dr Ashish KC and Nepal colleagues with Uppsala University, Sweden, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. It is the first published study with primary data on the impact of a COVID-19 lockdown on births in hospital, and measuring stillbirths and newborn deaths.
After Tropical Depression 09E formed near the coast of southwestern Mexico, infrared data from NASA's Aqua satellite helped confirm its transition to a tropical storm.
On Aug. 9 at 11 p.m. EDT (Aug. 10 at 0300 UTC), Tropical Depression 09E formed near latitude 14.7 degrees north and longitude 102.6 degrees west, about 315 miles (510 km) south-southeast of Manzanillo, Mexico. By 5 a.m. EDT (0900 UTC), infrared imagery helped confirm that 09E strengthened into a tropical storm and was renamed Elida.
Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a flexible, portable measurement system to support design and repeatable laboratory testing of fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications devices with unprecedented accuracy across a wide range of signal frequencies and scenarios.
After Tropical Depression 07W formed close to the western Philippines, it moved away and strengthened into a tropical storm in the South China Sea. NASA's Terra satellite provided a look at the strength of the storms that make up the tropical cyclone.
On Aug. 9 at 11 p.m. EDT (Aug. 10 at 0300 UTC), Tropical Depression 07W formed near latitude 16.8 degrees north and longitude 118.3 degrees east, about 204 nautical miles northwest of Manila, Philippines.
Intensified rainstorms predicted for many parts of the United States as a result of warming climate may have a modest silver lining: they could more efficiently water some major crops, and this would at least partially offset the far larger projected yield declines caused by the rising heat itself. The conclusion, which goes against some accepted wisdom, is contained in a new study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Electronic filters are essential to the inner workings of our phones and other wireless devices. They eliminate or enhance specific input signals to achieve the desired output signals. They are essential, but take up space on the chips that researchers are on a constant quest to make smaller. A new study demonstrates the successful integration of the individual elements that make up electronic filters onto a single component, significantly reducing the amount of space taken up by the device.
New York, NY--August 7, 2020--Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a life-threatening intestinal disease of prematurity. Characterized by sudden and progressive intestinal inflammation and tissue death, it affects up to 11,000 premature infants in the United States annually, and 15-30% of affected babies die from NEC. Survivors often face long-term intestinal and neurodevelopmental complications.