Progress and challenges on the road to net zero: Q&A
In early March, after years of deliberations, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced a new reporting requirement for U.S.-based public companies. Beginning in 2025, companies that meet a certain threshold of market value will be required by law to report carbon emissions data, as well other information related to climate risk and progress toward decarbonization pledges.
Cosmochemistry: Why study it? What can it teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has had some fantastic discussions with researchers on the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets, planetary atmospheres, and planetary geophysics, and how these diverse scientific fields can help researchers and the public better understand the search for life beyond Earth.
Mercury could be the perfect destination for a solar sail
Solar sails rely upon pressure exerted by sunlight on large surfaces. Get the sail closer to the sun and, not surprisingly, efficiency increases. A proposed new mission called Mercury Scout aims to take advantage of this to explore Mercury. The mission will map the Mercurian surface down to a resolution of 1 meter and, using the highly reflective sail surface to illuminate shadowed craters, could...
A muon collider could revolutionize particle physics—if it can be built
The radical new machine might be built faster and cost less than an equivalent conventional atom smasher, boosters say
News at a glance: Domestic U.S. postdocs, edited pig organs, and the Milky Way’s central black hole
FUNDING
South Korea joins Horizon Europe
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (center) and EU leaders announced a research funding deal.
KYODO VIA AP IMAGES
South Korea will participate in the €95.5 billion ($104 billion) Horizon Europe...
How can a baby learn two languages at the same time?
Language acquisition in children is one of the most fascinating features of the human species, as well as one of the most difficult problems in linguistics and cognitive science. What are the processes that enable a child to completely master its native language in just a few years, and to a degree of competence that adult learners of a second language can almost never match?
Why is Jesus often depicted with a six-pack? The muscular messiah reflects Christian values of masculinity
Have you ever wondered why so many images depicting the crucifixion show Jesus with a very defined, slender and toned body? Either slim, but with a six-pack, or displaying muscles and brawn. While these images are hardly a reflection of what little can be surmised about the historical Jesus, they certainly reflect social and cultural ideas about masculinity and idealized notions of manhood.
Cold stratification impacts germination rates in Vitis species
It is imperative for the success of the grape industry to develop new grape varieties capable of enduring shifting climates and heightened pressures from diseases and insects. The majority of grape cultivars rely on a specific amount of "chilling hours"' to complete dormancy for optimal growth and yield.
Attaching seaweed spores to used scallop shells could restore UK's coastal kelp forests
Kelp spores are being seeded and grown on small rocks and scallop shells—a seafood waste product—in efforts to regenerate the UK's coastal kelp forests.
Faintest known star system orbiting the Milky Way discovered
A team of astronomers led by the University of Victoria and Yale University has detected an ancient star system traveling around our galaxy named Ursa Major III / UNIONS 1 (UMa3/U1)—the faintest and lowest-mass Milky Way satellite ever discovered, and possibly one of the most dark matter-dominated systems known.
Chemists develop method to confirm mRNA vaccine stability
University at Albany researchers at the RNA Institute have developed a new method to test COVID-19 vaccine integrity that could allow anyone with basic skills in vaccine handling to detect expired vaccines quickly and effectively, without specialized lab equipment.
UK greenhouse gas emissions fell 5.4% in 2023: data
UK greenhouse gas emissions fell by 5.4 percent in 2023, largely due to a reduction in the amount of gas used in power stations, according to official data published on Thursday.
NASA's mission to an ice-covered moon will contain a message between water worlds
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, headed to Jupiter's ice-covered moon Europa in October 2024, will carry a laser-etched message that celebrates humanity's connection to water. The message pays homage to past NASA missions that carried similar messages.
Blueprint for mandating indoor air quality for public buildings in form of standards
In research published in the journal Science experts addressed setting standards for three key indoor pollutants—carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), PM2.5, which are particles so small they can lodge deep in the lungs and enter the bloodstream—and ventilation rate. The paper is titled "Mandating indoor air quality standards for public,"
ESA and NASA team up to study solar wind
In the run up to April's total solar eclipse, ESA-led Solar Orbiter and NASA-led Parker Solar Probe are both at their closest approach to the sun. Tomorrow (March 29), they are taking the opportunity to join hands in studying the driving rain of plasma that streams from the sun, fills the solar system, and causes dazzlement and destruction at Earth.
Memories of mitosis: Molecular mechanism that detects defects during cell division could aid cancer treatment
Every day, our cells are hard at work multiplying. Cell division is a precise process, but sometimes this process is impaired and diseases like cancer occur. Mitosis is one of the most important phases in the cell cycle. During this phase, a cell's DNA is split into two equal sets of chromosomes and it divides into two genetically identical daughter cells.
New approach to monitoring freshwater quality can identify sources of pollution, predict their effects
The source of pollutants in rivers and freshwater lakes can now be identified using a comprehensive new water quality analysis, according to scientists at the University of Cambridge and Trent University, Canada.
Researchers discover key gene for toxic alkaloid in barley
All plants mediate their environmental interactions via chemical signals. An example is the alkaloid gramine produced by barley, one of the world's most widely-grown cereals. Gramine provides protection against herbivorous insects and grazing animals and inhibits the growth of other plants. Despite long-standing interest, the key gene for the formation of gramine remained elusive.
Study finds landfill point source emissions have an outsized impact and present opportunity to tackle US waste methane
A new study, led by Carbon Mapper scientists alongside researchers from NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Arizona State University, University of Arizona, Scientific Aviation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, provides the largest comprehensive assessment of hundreds of U.S. landfills using direct observations through airborne surveys.
Study finds wild nematode worms learn to avoid harmful bacteria—and their offspring inherit this knowledge
The nematode worm C. elegans will stay away from dangerous bacteria in its environment when exposed to certain bacterial RNAs—and can transmit that learned behavior to future generations. A team led by Coleen Murphy at Princeton University report these findings in a new study, published in the journal PLOS Genetics.
Tuberculosis vaccine may enable elimination of the disease in cattle by reducing its spread
Vaccination not only reduces the severity of TB in infected cattle, but reduces its spread in dairy herds by 89%, research finds. The research, led by the University of Cambridge and Penn State University, improves prospects for the elimination and control of bovine tuberculosis (TB), an infectious disease of cattle that results in large economic costs and health impacts across the world. The...
Venomous snakes could start migrating in large numbers if we hit 5ºC warming, predict scientists
A global group of scientists has predicted that climate change may cause dramatic movements in venomous snake populations across many countries in Africa. The scientists took into account climate change predictions about changes to the current habitats of 209 venomous snakes, and mapped where those environments were found elsewhere. Based on this, they predict that snakes were likely to migrate to...