250 articles from THURSDAY 5.9.2019

Team shows atoms can receive common communications signals

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a new type of sensor that uses atoms to receive commonly used communications signals. This atom-based receiver has the potential to be smaller and work better in noisy environments than conventional radio receivers, among other possible advantages.

The paradox of different house flies with few genetic differences

In the steamy, often filthy world of the humble house fly, (the Musca domestica) clear division exists among the males of the species. Though not a civil war, there are differences, to be sure, between males in the north and those that hail from the south. Finding out why those differences appear in the genetic sequences of the northerners and southerners is key to understanding nothing less than...

Building water-efficient cities

How much water single-family residences use is closely related to a community's built environment, according to a University of Arizona-led study. In particular, design factors such as vegetated land cover, housing density and lot size appear to have a strong impact on water use.

NASA Research Gives New Insight into How Much Atmosphere Mars Lost

Portal origin URL: NASA Research Gives New Insight into How Much Atmosphere Mars LostPortal origin nid: 450777Published: Thursday, September 5, 2019 - 15:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: A key tracer used to estimate how much atmosphere Mars lost can change depending on the time of day and the surface temperature on the Red Planet. Previous...

Time saving software in an age of ever-expanding data

Before embarking on a new research project, a thorough and exhaustive review of existing literature must be done to make sure the new project is novel. Researchers can also explore the entire body of previously published data on a subject to answer a new question using that same data. This is a daunting task, especially considering that millions of new research articles are published each year....

Scientists measure precise proton radius to help resolve decade-old puzzle

Researchers have made a precise measurement of the size of the proton -- a crucial step towards solving a mystery that has preoccupied scientists around the world for the past decade. The world's physicists have been scrambling to resolve the proton-radius puzzle. Now, a study finds a new measurement for the size of the proton at 0.833 femtometers, which is just under one trillionth of a...

Kilauea lava fuels phytoplankton bloom off Hawai'i Island

When Kilauea Volcano erupted in 2018, it injected millions of cubic feet of molten lava into the nutrient-poor waters off the Big Island of Hawai'i. The lava-impacted seawater contained high concentrations of nutrients that stimulated phytoplankton growth, resulting in an extensive plume of microbes that was detectable by satellite.

Diversity of Plasmodium falciparum across Sub-Saharan Africa

Scientists have identified the regional character to Plasmodium falciparum across Africa. Malaria, infecting 219 million individuals in 2017, remains a threat to public health and regional stability. Human movement and the introduction of antimalarial drugs were drivers of this genetic diversity. Gene flow between sub-populations could spread resistance from one sub-population to the rest of the...

The paradox of different house flies with few genetic differences

Evolutionary biologists have published findings on sex determinates of house flies. The work examines the slight difference in genetic makeup of male flies who hail from the north and those from the south. Though minute, the difference between the two types of flies is the position of the Y chromosome in the sequence of the genes.

New insights on impacts of crop trading in China

Feeding the world's growing population is one of the great challenges of the 21st century, particularly in China, which has nearly a quarter of the world's population but a fraction of the cropland. A recent study looks at both the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of crop trading in China for the first time.

Synthetic biologists extend functional life of cancer fighting circuitry in microbes

Bioengineers have developed a method to significantly extend the life of gene circuits used to instruct microbes to do things like produce and deliver drugs, break down chemicals and sense the environment. Most circuits synthetic biologists insert into microbes break or vanish after a certain period of time -- typically days to weeks -- because of various mutations. Researchers demonstrated they...

Stopping progression of tissue injury after button battery ingestion

Button battery injuries in children have been increasingly severe -- resulting in devastating injuries and even death. Button batteries damage esophageal tissue through isothermic hydrolysis reactions, resulting in alkaline caustic injury, which leads to tissue necrosis. Prompt removal of the battery is critical to minimizing damage. However, when children swallow a button battery, the injury can...