Early warning signals heralded fatal collapse of Krakatau volcano
On 22 December 2018, a flank of the Anak Krakatau volcano plunged into the Sunda strait between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java, triggering a tsunami that killed 430 people. An international research team led by Thomas Walter of the German Research Centre for Geosciences GFZ in Potsdam has now shown that the volcano produced clear warning signals before its collapse. This was the result...
'Poisoned arrowhead' used by warring bacteria could lead to new antibiotics
A weapon bacteria use to vanquish their competitors could be copied to create new forms of antibiotics, according to Imperial College London research.
Squid-inspired robots might have environmental, propulsion applications
Inspired by the unique and efficient swimming strategy of cephalopods, scientists developed an aquatic robot that mimics their form of propulsion.
Humanity's emissions '100-times greater' than volcanoes
Human activity churns out up to 100 times more planet-warming carbon each year as all the volcanoes on Earth, says a decade-long study released Tuesday.
New research identifies the strengths and weaknesses of super material
Imagine a velvety, soft material that is extremely light, but also strong enough to stop a bullet. This is close to a description of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE), a super-plastic material commercially known as Dyneema or Spectra, which is already taking over from the para-aramid fibrous material, Kevlar, in e.g. bullet-proof jackets.
Scientists quantify global volcanic CO2 venting; estimate total carbon on Earth
Volcanoes, colliding and spreading continental and oceanic plates, and other phenomena re-studied with innovative high-tech tools, provide important fresh insights to Earth's innermost workings, scientists say.
How to bend flat glass perfectly around corners
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials IWM have developed a new process that can bend sheets of glass to produce angular corners. Unlike conventional processes, this does not impair the optical properties of the glass. Bent glass looks destined to play a key role in future building design, and there are also potential applications in the fields of medical technology...
New method improves measurement of animal behavior using deep learning
A new toolkit goes beyond existing machine learning methods by measuring body posture in animals with high speed and accuracy. Developed by researchers from the Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective behavior at the University of Konstanz and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, this deep learning toolkit, called DeepPoseKit, combines previous methods for pose estimation with...
Lab-made blood vessels: Mechanics matters
Biodegradable tubes that turn into living blood vessels once implanted in the human body. In an imaginary, modern remake of Fantastic Voyage, Isaac Asimov would probably navigate his submersible through the folds of our cardiovascular system, to figure out how this process occurs. And, he would understand that, regardless of how perfect these tubes look in the lab, once implanted in the human...
Researchers open a new path to end citric fruit alternate bearing
Researchers of Valencia's Polytechnic University and international collaborators have established the epigenetic mechanism through which citrus fruit inhibits the flowering of citric fruit trees. This discovery is essential to understand alternate bearing, a phenomenon that affects a large number of the most prized citric fruit varieties and which globally accounts for annual losses of around...
A metronome for quantum particles
A new measurement protocol, developed at TU Wien (Vienna), makes it possible to measure the quantum phase of electrons—an important step for attosecond physics.
High-value chemicals for pharmaceuticals could be made cheaper and greener by new catalysts
High value chemicals used to make pharmaceuticals could be made much cheaper and quicker thanks to a series of new catalysts made by scientists at the University of Warwick in collaboration with GoldenKeys High-Tech Co., Ltd. in China.
High-resolution RNA-sequencing enables detection of disease at its earliest stages
Researchers in Sweden and the U.S. have devised a new method for studying individual cells in human tissue, which could lead to even earlier detection of diseases such as cancer and ALS. The method offers a 1,400-fold increase in spatial resolution.
Physicist suggests 'quantum foam' may explain away huge cosmic energy
Steven Carlip, a physicist at the University of California, has come up with a theory to explain why empty space seems to be filled with a huge amount of energy—it may be hidden by effects that are canceling it out at the Planck scale. He has published a paper describing his new theory in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Rotation on an eight-shaped path
Chemical engineers at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität (LMU) in Munich, Germany, have developed the first molecular motor that enables an eight-shaped movement.
Species could buffer reproduction against climate change through sperm and egg plasticity
Beetles have evolved sophisticated mechanisms to reproduce despite warmer temperatures—according to new research from the University of East Anglia.
Surrogacy advance could aid rare chicken breeds
Hens that cannot produce their own chicks have successfully acted as surrogates for rare chicken breeds.
Studying a cell's crawling motion in a fluid
Cell motility, the spontaneous movement of cells from one location to another, plays a fundamental role in many biological processes, including immune responses and metastasis. Recent physics studies have gathered new evidence suggesting that mammalian cells do not only crawl on solid substrates, including complex 3-D mediums of a tissues, but can also swim in fluids.
Tougher penalties to protect Sri Lanka elephants after mass deaths
Sri Lanka announced harsher penalties in a bid to protect wild elephants on Tuesday, as investigators probed whether seven jumbos found poisoned over the weekend were killed by villagers.
Bacteria bullets target toxic algae
Communities across the United States and around the world, along salty bays to freshwater lakes, increasingly are grappling with the dangerous effects of microscopic algae that suddenly grow out of control in these waters. This dramatic growth may be triggered by storms, a glut of nutrients, rising temperatures and potentially other factors.
Researchers develop 3-D printing substrate with dynamic bonds for adjustable properties
Fantastic shapes can be made using 3-D printing, but for many applications the material used needs to be much stronger than what is currently available. This is something that chemists in Eindhoven are working on: "The material used by the current generation of 3-D printers is similar to spaghetti. We're making spaghetti that sticks together like Velcro."
Study exposes insider trading on Australian stock market
Insider trading by company directors and associates trading on the Australian Security Exchange (ASX) is rife, according to new research from The ANU.
Why the world should care about the future of the Amazon
Two months after visiting Manu National Park in the Peruvian Amazon for Prof. Alex Trillo's tropical terrestrial biology course, a group of Gettysburgians are now in shock.
Growing HCA crystals
Zoë Fisher and Katarina Koruza from the ESS Deuteration and Macromolecular Crystallization (DEMAX) Support lab and Lund University have been using vapor diffusion methods to grow large protein crystals for neutron techniques as part of SINE2020's Crystal Growth work package. However, as well as being able to grow crystals large enough for these techniques, they also want to make them deuterated....
Egypt displays looted coffin returned from New York's Met
Egypt displayed a gilded ancient coffin from the first century B.C. on Tuesday, which New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art returned last week after U.S. investigators determined it to be a looted antiquity.