Tech

Infrared imagery from NASA's Terra satellite revealed Tropical Depression 13W contained some powerful thunderstorms pushing high into the troposphere as it was moving west in the Philippine Sea toward the Philippines.

Astrophysicists have discovered that the pulsar wind nebula (PWN) surrounding the famous pulsar B0540-69 brightened gradually after the pulsar experienced a sudden spin-down rate transition (SRT). This discovery, made by a group of astrophysicists led by GE Mingyu and LU Fangjun at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, provides important clues to the spin-down mechanism and the magnetic field structure of the pulsar, as well as the physical properties of the PWN. The results were published in Nature Astronomy.

This summer, Alaska has experienced record high temperatures and devastating wildfires. If such events become more frequent, how might that impact our northernmost forests? A team of researchers led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) projected that the combination of climate change and increased wildfires will cause the iconic evergreen conifer trees of Alaska to get pushed out in favor of broadleaf deciduous trees, which shed their leaves seasonally.

The oceans act as a carbon sink and have already absorbed more than 40% of anthropogenic carbon emissions. The majority of this CO2 has been taken up by the Southern Ocean making these waters hotspots of ocean acidification (OA).

Lead author of the paper published in Nature Climate Change, Dr Katherina Petrou from the University of Technology Sydney, said that although changes in ocean pH have been shown to impact marine calcifying organisms, the consequences for non-calcifying marine phytoplankton are less clear.

At about the same rate that your heart beats, a Utah rock formation called Castleton Tower gently vibrates, keeping time and keeping watch over the sandstone desert. Swaying like a skyscraper, the red rock tower taps into the deep vibrations in the earth--wind, waves and far-off earthquakes.

Researchers from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) have discovered how fatty liver disease develops in lean people, aiding the development of potential treatments for these patients.

Fatty liver disease - a condition characterised by a build-up of fat in the liver - affects a quarter of the world's population. Although it commonly develops in overweight and obese people, many individuals with a body-mass index of less than 25kg/m2 will develop the disease, and tend to have worse outcomes compared to obese patients.

Metal Matrix Nanocomposites (MMNCs) are increasingly used in industries such as automotive, aerospace and military due to their excellent combination of high strength, thermal stability, ductility and isotropy. However, despite MMNCs' superior properties and growing interest, the complex processing and inadequate economic efficiency have limited the applications of MMNCs. High energy consumption is still essential to disperse the reinforcement to achieve microstructural homogeneity and advanced mechanical properties in these materials.

Solar cells that rely on perovskites to harvest sunlight are bound to gain in energy conversion efficiency thanks to an atomic-level understanding of the structure-property relationship of these photovoltaic materials. Researchers from the KAUST Solar Center monitored the impact of compositional changes on the structural organization and photovoltaic properties of perovskite thin films in situ1, 2.

The Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change call for deep transformations that require complementary actions by governments, civil society, science, and business. IIASA contributed to a new study outlining six major transformations that will be required to achieve these ambitious goals.

Hogweed, which has grown over vast territories of Russia, can be useful as a material for batteries. Scientists from NUST MISIS have investigated the possibilities of fibrous substances in the plant stems. They have turned them into electrodes -- elements of devices capable of storing energy. It was experimentally proven that the treated dangerous plant can successfully replace traditional sources of energy without compromising the quality of the batteries.

HOUSTON -- (Aug. 26, 2019) -- Physicists studying the strange behavior of metal alloys called heavy fermions have made a surprising discovery that could be useful in safeguarding the information stored in quantum bits, or qubits, the basic units of encoded information in quantum computers.

NASA's P-3B science aircraft soared into the skies over the Philippines on Aug. 25 to begin a nearly two-month-long investigation on the impact that smoke from fires and pollution have on clouds, a key factor in improving weather and climate forecasts. The Cloud, Aerosol, and Monsoon Processes Philippines Experiment (CAMP2Ex) is the most comprehensive field campaign to date in Maritime Southeast Asia to study the relationship between aerosol particles as they interact with surrounding monsoon meteorology, cloud microphysics and the sun's radiation.

A new study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition will make it possible for researchers to calculate how much omega-3 EPA and DHA they need to use in their studies in order for subjects to reach a healthy Omega-3 Index.

CATONSVILLE, MD, August 26, 2019 - The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Accelerated Approval Program was created in 1992 to significantly accelerate the ability to bring certain new drugs to market. New research to be published in an upcoming issues of the INFORMS journal Manufacturing & Service Operations Management reveals a large number of drug manufacturers are failing to complete the approval process, meaning a significant number of drugs on the market are not yet fully approved.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Obesity is connected with a reduced response to taste, according to a new study featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State of University of New York.

Taste perception is known to change with obesity, but the underlying neural changes remain poorly understood.

"It's surprising that we know so little about how taste is affected by obesity, given that the taste of food is a big factor in determining what we choose to eat," said Binghamton University Professor of Psychology Patricia Di Lorenzo.