Tech
Researchers in Australia have used state-of-the-art analytical tools to understand how intermittent fasting works on the liver to help prevent disease. The findings will help medical scientists working in cancer, cardiovascular and diabetes research develop new interventions to lower disease risk and discover the optimum intervals for fasting.
Computer scientists at KU Leuven have once again exposed a security flaw in Intel processors. Jo Van Bulck, Frank Piessens, and their colleagues in Austria, the United States, and Australia gave the manufacturer one year's time to fix the problem.
Arlington, VA, Mar. 10, 2020 - An investigation of infant feeding patterns found infants and toddlers consuming baby cereal, such as rice cereal, had higher intakes of key nutrients of concern, such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and vitamin E. 1 Baby cereal consumers were also found to be less likely to have inadequate intakes of iron, calcium and vitamin E - important nutrients for developing infants.
Geothermal energy with its significant baseload capacity has long been investigated as a potential complement and long-term replacement for traditional fossil fuels in electricity and heat production. In order to develop deep geothermal reservoirs where there are not enough natural fluid pathways, the formation needs to be hydraulically stimulated. Creation of so called Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) opens fluid flow paths by injecting large quantities of water at elevated pressures. This is typically accompanied by induced seismicity.
New Rochelle, NY, March 10, 2020--A fascinating new study has shown that the duration of a text-based counseling session, the length of the counselor's messages, and quick response time by the counselor are important factors in determining the impact of counseling. The study of young people under the age of 23 who relied on a dialogue-based, human-handled child hotline is published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
Concern about contamination caused by microplastics is growing; owing to their abundance, ubiquity and persistence over time, microplastics pose a potential risk for organisms and ecosystems. Yet studies into their distribution in freshwater systems, in both lakes and rivers, and their effects on the organisms in these waters are few and far between, and there is very little information about their potential effect on the functioning of these ecosystems.
A change in chemical composition enabled scientists to boost the longevity and efficiency of a perovskite solar cell developed at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The new formula enabled the solar cell to resist a stability problem that has so far thwarted the commercialization of perovskites. The problem is known as light-induced phase-segregation, which occurs when the alloys that make up the solar cells break down under exposure to continuous light.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Set against a piece of black construction paper, the wings of the male cattleheart butterfly look even blacker than black.
"Some animals have taken black to an extreme," said Alex Davis, a graduate student in the lab of Duke University biologist Sönke Johnsen.
Optimized surface structure innately reduces frost without heat or special coating
Approach even prevents frost formation on materials designed to attract water
Reducing frost increases energy efficiency in appliances and reduces drag on airplanes
Researchers were inspired by leaves, which do not form frost on their concave veins
Unlike diamonds, solar panels are not forever. Ultraviolet rays, gusts of wind and heavy rain wear away at them over their lifetime.
Manufacturers typically guarantee that panels will endure the elements for at least 25 years before experiencing significant drop-offs in power generation, but recent reports highlight a trend of panels failing decades before expected. For some models, there has been a spike in the number of cracked backsheets -- layers of plastic that electrically insulate and physically shield the backsides of solar panels.
Researchers have found that injecting pellets of hydrogen ice rather than puffing hydrogen gas improves fusion performance at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, which General Atomics operates for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The studies by physicists based at DOE's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) compared the two methods, looking ahead to the fueling that will be used in ITER, the international fusion experiment under construction in France.
Improve the temperature
New research by Texas A&M University biologist Dr. Charles Criscione and collaborators in Canada shows that family ties and traits such as manipulation, sacrifice and selflessness are just as key to survival in parasitic organisms as they are in cognitive species like humans.
In essence, when it comes to successful transmission, some parasites get by with a little help from their kin.
"Rock-chair" Li-ion battery (LIB) was discovered in the late 1970s and commercialized in 1991 by Sony, which has become the priority way we store portable energy today. To honor the contribution for "creating a rechargeable world", the 2019 Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded to three famous scientists (John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham, Akira Yoshino) who made the most important contributions to the discovery of LIBs.
Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN) have shown that specialized aggregates of molecules enwrapping nerve cells in the brain, the perineuronal nets, are crucial for regulating the connections between nerve cells that control motor memories. The discovery, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), provide novel insight into how memories are formed and stored in the brain.
PERINEURONAL NETS INFLUENCE LEARNING
Wild, treeless landscapes are becoming more wooded as climate change leads to warming temperatures and wetter weather, research suggests.
Trees and shrubs are spreading across the tundra and the savanna, transforming these vast, open areas that contain unique biodiversity, researchers say.