Tech
A team of neuroscientists are calling for greater support of neuroscience research in Africa following a long-term analysis of research outputs in the continent.
The findings detail important information about funding and international collaboration comparing activity in the continent to the US, UK and areas of Europe. It's hoped that the study will provide useful data to help shape and grow science in Africa.
Africa has the world's largest human genetic diversity which carries important implications for understanding human diseases, including neurological disorders.
Hurricanes that make landfall typically decay but sometimes transition into extratropical cyclones and re-intensify, causing widespread damage to inland communities
The presence of a cold core is currently used to identify this transition, but a new study has now found that a cold core naturally forms in all landfalling hurricanes
The cold core was detected when scientists ran simulations of landfalling hurricanes that accounted for moisture stored within the cyclone
The potential of a class of materials called perovskites to enable solar cells to better absorb sunlight for energy production is widely known. However, this potential has yet to be fully realised, particularly under real-world operating conditions.
New research published today in the prestigious journal Nature Energy, has revealed defects in a popular perovskite light absorber that impede solar cell performance. The researchers found a change in the nature and density of these 'intragrain planar defects' correlated with a change in solar cell performance.
Cities and nations around the globe are shooting for carbon neutrality, with some experts already talking about the need to ultimately reach carbon negativity. Carbon footprint declarations are used in construction to ease product selection for low carbon building, but these standards don't yet exist for green elements like soil, bushes and plants. A new study led by Aalto University is the first to map out how green infrastructure can be a resource for cities on the path to carbon neutrality.
A current challenge for sustainable aquaculture is how to increase the quantities of farmed fish while also reducing waste products that can lead to the accumulation of harmful fish sludge. New research aims to understand how this fish waste can be treated for use in aquaponics systems, by removing excessive carbon, yet preserving the mineral nutrients required by plants to grow.
DNA is an abundant and nutritious food source for microbes
Dr Sebastian Hess and his team at the University of Cologne's Institute of Zoology have studied a very rare and puzzling tripartite symbiosis. This consortium consists of a ciliate as host and two types of endosymbionts: a green alga and a previously unknown purple bacterium. Through genetic analyses of the pink-green ciliate, the researchers discovered that the endosymbiotic bacterium belongs to the so-called 'purple sulfur bacteria' (family Chromatiaceae), but has lost the ability to oxidize reduced sulfur compounds, a hallmark of the other members of the Chromatiaceae.
The concentration of potentially toxic metals is increasing in the population of the franciscana dolphin --a small cetacean, endemic from the Rio de la Plata and an endangered species-- according to a study led by a team of the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio), published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
When lithium ions flow in and out of a battery electrode during charging and discharging, a tiny bit of oxygen seeps out and the battery's voltage - a measure of how much energy it delivers - fades an equally tiny bit. The losses mount over time, and can eventually sap the battery's energy storage capacity by 10-15%.
Now researchers have measured this super-slow process with unprecedented detail, showing how the holes, or vacancies, left by escaping oxygen atoms change the electrode's structure and chemistry and gradually reduce how much energy it can store.
MISSOULA - Those in love with the outdoors can spend their entire lives chasing that perfect campsite. New University of Montana research suggests what they are trying to find.
Will Rice, a UM assistant professor of outdoor recreation and wildland management, used big data to study the 179 extremely popular campsites of Watchman Campground in Utah's Zion National Park. Campers use an online system to reserve a wide variety of sites with different amenities, and people book the sites an average of 51 to 142 days in advance, providing hard data about demand.
A team of scientists from Kaunas University of Technology and Lithuanian Energy Institute proposed a method to convert lint-microfibers found in clothes dryers into energy. They not only constructed a pilot pyrolysis plant but also developed a mathematical model to calculate possible economic and environmental outcomes of the technology. Researchers estimate that by converting lint microfibers produced by 1 million people, almost 14 tons of oil, 21.5 tons of gas and nearly 10 tons of char could be produced.
Solar flares jetting out from the sun and thunderstorms generated on Earth impact the planet's ionosphere in different ways, which have implications for the ability to conduct long range communications.
A team of researchers working with data collected by the Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) at the Arecibo Observatory, satellites, and lightning detectors in Puerto Rico have for the first time examined the simultaneous impacts of thunderstorms and solar flares on the ionospheric D-region (often referred to as the edge of space).
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- While the United States faces a nationwide nursing shortage, a recent study at the University of Missouri found rural Missouri counties experience nursing shortages at a greater rate than the state's metropolitan counties. In addition, the study found rural Missouri counties have a higher percentage of older nurses nearing retirement, which could have a severe impact on the future of the state's nursing workforce.
In the field of quantum measurement, weak values, introduced in 1988 by Aharonov, Albert and Vaidman (AAV), represent undoubtedly one of the most intriguing and puzzling paradigm, with many properties in sharp contrast with respect to traditional (projective) quantum measurements.
In fact, by weakening the coupling between measured particle and measuring device, and exploiting suitable pre- and postselection, AAV demonstrated that it was possible to obtain a value of 100 while (weakly) measuring the spin of a ½-spin particle.
BURLINGTON, VT -- Findings from a study on the feasibility of addressing anxiety, pain and stress with Olfactory Virtual Reality (OVR) -- a new form of VR that incorporates the sense of smell into its augmented reality -- paint a clearer picture for clinical psychiatrists about how it could be used to safely and effectively help mental health and mood disorders. What's more, it holds promise for improved access and inclusion of patients impacted by physical limitations or constraints, such as patient mobility, comorbidities and safety.