Tech
Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of marine heat waves--warm water anomalies that disrupt marine ecosystems--and this is creating new challenges for fisheries management and ocean conservation. A new study shows how the record-breaking marine heat wave of 2014 to 2016 caused changes along the U.S. West Coast that led to an unprecedented spike in the numbers of whales that became entangled in fishing gear.
Genetic discoveries over the past 25 years have substantially advanced understanding of both rare and common diseases, furthering the development of treatment and prevention for ailments ranging from inflammatory bowel diseases to diabetes, according to a study published in Nature Research in January.
(San Antonio -- January 27, 2020) Micromobility vehicles, such as e-scooters, zip in and out of traffic. In San Antonio alone, over 12,000 scooters are on the road. For this reason, micromobility is seen as an alleviating trend to help tackle traffic congestion.
However, new research out of UTSA finds e-scooters have risks beyond the perils of potential collisions. Computer science experts at UTSA have published the first review of the security and privacy risks posed by e-scooters and their related software services and applications.
As the world warms and precipitation that would have generated snowpack instead creates rain, the western U.S. could see larger floods, according to new Stanford research.
An analysis of over 400 watersheds from 1980 to 2016 shows that winter floods driven by rainfall can be more than 2.5 times as large as those driven by snowmelt. The researchers also found that flood sizes increase exponentially as a higher fraction of precipitation falls as rain, meaning the size of floods increased at a faster rate than the increase in rain.
University of California, Berkeley, scientists have created a blue light-emitting diode (LED) from a trendy new semiconductor material, halide perovskite, overcoming a major barrier to employing these cheap, easy-to-make materials in electronic devices.
In the process, however, the researchers discovered a fundamental property of halide perovskites that may prove a barrier to their widespread use as solar cells and transistors.
Alternatively, this unique property may open up a whole new world for perovskites far beyond that of today's standard semiconductors.
"Jumping genes" -- bits of DNA that can move from one spot in the genome to another -- are well-known for increasing genetic diversity over the long course of evolution. Now, new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that such genes, also called transposable elements, play another, more surprising role: stabilizing the 3D folding patterns of the DNA molecule inside the cell's nucleus.
The study appears Jan. 24 in the journal Genome Biology.
Pac-Man, the open-mouthed face of the most successful arcade game ever, is much more well-known than any of the one-celled organisms called protists, at least among people over 30. But the first study to characterize protists in soils from around the world--co-authored by Smithsonian scientists--found that the most common groups of soil protists behave exactly like Pac-Man: moving through the soil matrix, gobbling up bacteria. Their results are published in Science Advances.
There remains a controversy in scientific circles today regarding the value of lithium therapy in treating Alzheimer's disease. Much of this stems from the fact that because the information gathered to date has been obtained using a multitude of differential approaches, conditions, formulations, timing and dosages of treatment, results are difficult to compare. In addition, continued treatments with high dosage of lithium render a number of serious adverse effects making this approach impracticable for long term treatments especially in the elderly.
URBANA, Ill. - The U.S. and China recently agreed to a phase one trade deal that aims to resolve the current trade war between the two countries. But that is just the latest development in longstanding and complicated U.S.-Chinese trade disputes.
Researchers have developed an ultra-thin and ultra-flexible electronic material that could be printed and rolled out like newspaper, for the touchscreens of the future.
The touch-responsive technology is 100 times thinner than existing touchscreen materials and so pliable it can be rolled up like a tube.
To create the new conductive sheet, an RMIT University-led team used a thin film common in cell phone touchscreens and shrunk it from 3D to 2D, using liquid metal chemistry.
Family caregivers usually are not asked by health care workers about needing support in managing older adults' care, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Electronics are showing up everywhere: on our laps, in pockets and purses and, increasingly, snuggled up against our skin or sewed into our clothing.
But the adoption of wearable electronics has so far been limited by their need to derive power from bulky, rigid batteries that reduce comfort and may present safety hazards due to chemical leakage or combustion.
Now Stanford researchers have developed a soft and stretchable battery that relies on a special type of plastic to store power more safely than the flammable formulations used in conventional batteries today.
In the most recent issue of the academic journal Science, the case is made for a future where the materials and chemicals that make up the basis of our society and our economy are healthful rather than toxic, renewable rather than depleting, and degradable rather than persistent.
Historically, as in decades ago, rechargeable lithium metal batteries were dangerous. These batteries were quickly abandoned in favor of Li-ion batteries which contain no metallic lithium and are now widely used. In efforts to continue to drive energy density up and costs down, we are again exploring how to efficiently and safely use lithium metal in batteries. Solid state batteries, free of flammable liquids, may be the solution. However, progress has been slowed because lithium metal still finds a way to short circuit the battery and limit cycle life.
Bees are pollinators of many wild and crop plants, but in many places their diversity and density is declining. A research team from the Universities of Göttingen, Sussex and Würzburg has now investigated the foraging behaviour of bees in agricultural landscapes. To do this, the scientists analysed the bees' dances, which are called the "waggle dance". They found out that honey bees prefer strawberry fields, even if they flowered directly next to the oilseed rape fields. Only when oilseed rape was in full bloom were fewer honey bees observed in the strawberry field.