Tech
When a massive star in a distant galaxy collapses, forming a black hole, two giant jets of light-emitting plasma shoot from its core. These extremely bright gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most powerful explosions in the universe, and when a jet points towards Earth, the afterglow can be detected from ground and space-borne telescopes. Material does not simply catapult from an exploding star, it accelerates to ultra-high speeds along the narrow beam of the gamma-ray jet, leaving astrophysics puzzled over the power source driving these extraordinary explosions.
Complex magnon bound states were predicted in 1931 by the theoretical physicist Hans Bethe in a one-dimensional quantum magnetic model. In 2018, physicist Dr Zhe Wang and his colleagues at the University of Cologne's Institute of Physics II confirmed this theory of a 'quantum string' for the first time. For his discovery, he was awarded the Walter Schottky Prize of the German Physical Society.
In June 2018, large wildfires broke out on Saddleworth Moor and Winter Hill Saddleworth Moor in the northwest of England. The fires burned for roughly three weeks, 100 firefighters and the army attended and smoke from the fires spread widely across the northwest of England.
In a new study, published in Environmental Research Letters, researchers led by the University of Leeds used computer simulations to calculate the effect of the fires on air quality and the resulting impact on health.
Their findings include:
A new genome editing system enhances the efficiency of an error-free DNA repair pathway, which could help improve agronomic traits in multiple crops.
Genome editing involves cutting DNA at very specific locations and utilizing cells' natural repair pathways to modify genes. Plant cells contain two repair pathways: nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR).
People who have survived a suicide attempt are less sensitive to bodily signals related to their heart and breath, and have a higher tolerance for pain, suggest new findings published today in eLife.
Accurately predicting the risk of suicide in an individual is one of the greatest challenges encountered by clinicians. By identifying physical characteristics that differentiate people who have attempted suicide from those who have not, the study paves the way for future research aimed at identifying biological indicators of suicide risk.
One aspect of bacterial activity is the production of so-called extracellular membrane vesicles (MVs): biological 'packages' wrapped in a lipid-bilayer membrane, carrying for example genetic material. Apart from having specific biological functions, MVs are increasingly used in nanobiotechnological applications, including drug delivery and enzyme transport. In order to better understand the processes involving MVs, a full apprehension of their physical properties is essential.
Amsterdam, April 7, 2020 - A study published in Technology and Health Care shows that four leading brands of e-cars do not trigger electromagnetic interference (EMI) with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED).
The majority of New York City residents expect a long disruption to their daily life. While a quarter (25%) think the epidemic will disrupt their life for less than a month, 27% think its impact will last two months, 20% three months, and a substantial plurality, 28%, anticipate more than four months' disruption. The findings are part of the fourth weekly city and statewide tracking survey from CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy (CUNY SPH), conducted April 3-5.
Can a special diet help in certain cases of asthma? A new study at the University of Bonn at least points to this conclusion. According to the study, mice that were switched to a so-called ketogenic diet showed significantly reduced inflammation of the respiratory tract. The results are now published in the renowned journal Immunity.
A commonly expressed protein in skin - periostin - can directly activate itch-associated neurons in the skin, according to new research from North Carolina State University. The researchers found that blocking periostin receptors on these neurons reduced the itch response in a mouse model of atopic dermatitis, or eczema. The findings could have implications for treatment of this condition.
PITTSBURGH (April 7, 2020) ... The twisting and bending capabilities of the human muscle system enable a varied and dynamic range of motion, from walking and running to reaching and grasping. Replicating something as seemingly simple as waving a hand in a robot, however, requires a complex series of motors, pumps, actuators and algorithms. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University have recently designed a polymer known as a liquid crystal elastomer (LCE) that can be "programmed" to both twist and bend in the presence of light.
The human knee is a triumph of design. The joint, which evolved fairly rapidly from our common ancestor with the chimpanzee to accommodate our bipedalism, likely contributed to our success as a species. However, as modern medicine extends the human lifespan, our species have learned pain in the form of osteoarthritis that can accompany the locomotion of this biomechanical masterpiece.
Tropical Cyclone Harold brought heavy rains and hurricane-force winds to Vanuatu and was moving toward Fiji when NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with an image of the storm.
Visible imagery from NASA satellites help forecasters understand if a storm is organizing or weakening. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument aboard Suomi NPP provided a visible image of Harold on April 7, which showed the western quadrant of the storm east of Vanuatu while eastern quadrant was already affecting Fiji.
Often considered desolate, remote, unalterable places, the high seas are, in fact, hotbeds of activity for both people and wildlife. Technology has enabled more human activity in areas once difficult to reach, and that in turn has brought a growing presence of industries such as fishing, mining and transportation in international waters -- the ocean beyond 200 nautical miles from any coast.
In complex fault zones, multiple seemingly disconnected faults can potentially rupture at once, increasing the chance of a large damaging earthquake. Recent earthquakes including the 1992 Landers, 1999 Hector Mine and 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes in California, among others, ruptured in this way. But how can seismologists predict whether individual fault segments might be connected and rupture together during a seismic event?