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Historic SpaceX launch postponed because of stormy weather
The launch of a SpaceX rocket ship with two NASA astronauts on a history-making flight into orbit was called off with less than 17 minutes to go in the countdown Wednesday because of thunderclouds and the danger of lightning.
Caveolin binding motif in Na/K-ATPase is required for stem cell differentiation, organogenesis in animals New findings reveal the importance of the Na/K-ATPase protein in stem cell differentiation and organogenesis, in a study led by scientists at Marshall University that involves the scaffolding function of the Na/K-ATPase.
These tiny, self-assembling traps capture PFAS University at Buffalo chemists have shown that self-assembling molecular traps can be used to capture PFAS—dangerous pollutants that have contaminated drinking water supplies around the world.
A potential explanation for urban smog: Aerosol particle growth higher in cold climates The effect of nitric acid on aerosol particles in the atmosphere may offer an explanation for the smog seen engulfing cities on frosty days. Under laboratory conditions, researchers at CERN in Switzerland observed the formation of atmospheric aerosols and discovered new information on the link between nitrogen oxides originating in traffic and the energy industry, and the climate and air quality. These findings were published in the Nature and Science Advances journals.
Artificial intelligence reveals mechanism for kin selection in a wild primate More like mom or dad? Human babies always get this curious look on their face combined with the question whom the child resembles most. The answers vary depending on the degree of kinship, gender and the time of assessment. Mandrills, monkeys living in Equatorial Africa, may recognize facial features coding relatedness better than humans. Scientists at the German Primate Center—Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen, together with colleagues from the Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), showed by using up-to-date artificial intelligence (AI) that half-sisters, who have the same father look more alike than half-sisters who share the same mother. The paternal half-sisters also have closer social relationships with each other than unrelated mandrills. This result provided the first evidence suggesting that interindividual resemblance has been selected to signal paternal kinship. The study is reported in Sciences Advances.
Initial Upper Paleolithic technology reached North China by around 41,000 years ago A wave of new technology in the Late Paleolithic had reached North China by around 41,000 years ago, according to a study published May 27, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Fei Peng of the Minzu University of China, Beijing and colleagues.
Exploring the use of 'stretchable' words in social media An investigation of Twitter messages reveals new insights and tools for studying how people use stretched words, such as "duuuuude," "heyyyyy," or "noooooooo." Tyler Gray and colleagues at the University of Vermont in Burlington present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on May 27, 2020.
Synopsis: Picturing How Vertical Transistors Work
Viewpoint: Postponing Heat Death in Periodically Driven Systems
Viewpoint: Spin Current in an Antiferromagnet is Coherent
Synopsis: Unjammed Emulsions Collapse to Liquids
Focus: Weightless Particles Prove Granular Gas Theory
Synopsis: Locating Objects with Quantum Radar
The surprising benefits of contemplating the death of the universe Cosmologist Katie Mack spends her days pondering the end of everything. Whether the cosmos dies a slow heat death or winks out of existence tomorrow, she finds it helps put everyday troubles in perspective
Synopsis: Solitons of All Speeds
Cold war nuclear bomb tests changed rainfall patterns over the UK Radiation from nuclear bomb test detonations in the cold war may have affected rainclouds, causing increases in rainfall thousands of kilometres away
We have seen hints of a new fundamental force of nature Multiple indications seem to be showing that something is manipulating the universe beyond the four basic forces we know – and we are starting to work out what it is
Pondering the big question of consciousness is a welcome distraction Our best mathematical theory of consciousness is sparking a rethink of one of science’s hardest problems – how simple matter gives rise to a complex mind
Is the universe conscious? It seems impossible until you do the maths The question of how the brain gives rise to subjective experience is the hardest of all. Mathematicians think they can help, but their first attempts have thrown up some eye-popping conclusions
Jess Wade: The magic of mirror molecules and incredible nanostructures From wearable sensors to solar panels, we are developing new materials from the stuff of peacock feathers and butterfly wings. Physicist Jess Wade shows how.
The mathematician’s guide to dating and finding the perfect partner Maths is in everything from your credit card PIN to how many friends you have. Compute how to figure out apps and speed dating with TV presenter and mathematician Bobby Seagull.
Physicists beat Lorentz reciprocity for microwave transmission New device could boost telecommunications and be adapted for photonics
Japan’s SuperKEKB set for first particle collisions Revamped accelerator will soon be smashing electrons and positrons together
Wood-based 'supermaterial' is stronger and tougher than steel New material is made by compressing treated wood
Three photons bind together to make a ‘molecule’ of light Technique could be used to create quantum-information systems
Nuclear excitation by electron capture seen at long last Breakthrough could lead to new type of energy source
Pistachio trees 'talk' to their neighbours, reveals statistical physics Ising model could account for nut production of pistachio orchards
US National Science Foundation clamps down on misconduct Agency will now require every grantee organization to report cases of sexual harassment
Caveolin binding motif in Na/K-ATPase is required for stem cell differentiation, organogenesis in animals New findings reveal the importance of the Na/K-ATPase protein in stem cell differentiation and organogenesis, in a study led by scientists at Marshall University that involves the scaffolding function of the Na/K-ATPase.
These tiny, self-assembling traps capture PFAS University at Buffalo chemists have shown that self-assembling molecular traps can be used to capture PFAS—dangerous pollutants that have contaminated drinking water supplies around the world.
A potential explanation for urban smog: Aerosol particle growth higher in cold climates The effect of nitric acid on aerosol particles in the atmosphere may offer an explanation for the smog seen engulfing cities on frosty days. Under laboratory conditions, researchers at CERN in Switzerland observed the formation of atmospheric aerosols and discovered new information on the link between nitrogen oxides originating in traffic and the energy industry, and the climate and air quality. These findings were published in the Nature and Science Advances journals.
Artificial intelligence reveals mechanism for kin selection in a wild primate More like mom or dad? Human babies always get this curious look on their face combined with the question whom the child resembles most. The answers vary depending on the degree of kinship, gender and the time of assessment. Mandrills, monkeys living in Equatorial Africa, may recognize facial features coding relatedness better than humans. Scientists at the German Primate Center—Leibniz Institute for Primate Research in Göttingen, together with colleagues from the Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (ISEM), showed by using up-to-date artificial intelligence (AI) that half-sisters, who have the same father look more alike than half-sisters who share the same mother. The paternal half-sisters also have closer social relationships with each other than unrelated mandrills. This result provided the first evidence suggesting that interindividual resemblance has been selected to signal paternal kinship. The study is reported in Sciences Advances.
Initial Upper Paleolithic technology reached North China by around 41,000 years ago A wave of new technology in the Late Paleolithic had reached North China by around 41,000 years ago, according to a study published May 27, 2020 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Fei Peng of the Minzu University of China, Beijing and colleagues.
Exploring the use of 'stretchable' words in social media An investigation of Twitter messages reveals new insights and tools for studying how people use stretched words, such as "duuuuude," "heyyyyy," or "noooooooo." Tyler Gray and colleagues at the University of Vermont in Burlington present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on May 27, 2020.
Synopsis: Picturing How Vertical Transistors Work
A new theory for vertical transistors provides visual representations of the voltages, currents, and electric potentials inside these advanced devices.
[Physics 13, s72] Published Wed May 27, 2020
Viewpoint: Postponing Heat Death in Periodically Driven Systems
Author(s): Gregor Jotzu
An exponential suppression of heating has been observed in a periodically driven optical lattice, opening up an opportunity to engineer new states of matter.
[Physics 13, 86] Published Wed May 27, 2020
Viewpoint: Spin Current in an Antiferromagnet is Coherent
Author(s): Helena Reichlova, Richard Schlitz, and Sebastian T. B. Goennenwein
Experiments show that a spin current moves as a coherent evanescent spin wave through an antiferromagnet layer sandwiched between two ferromagnets.
[Physics 13, 83] Published Tue May 26, 2020
Synopsis: Unjammed Emulsions Collapse to Liquids
An emulsion’s rigidity disappears when the droplets’ random thermal motion overcomes the confining pressure that binds them.
[Physics 13, s71] Published Tue May 26, 2020
Focus: Weightless Particles Prove Granular Gas Theory
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Experiments in near-zero gravity establish the validity of the fundamental theory of granular gases.
[Physics 13, 84] Published Fri May 22, 2020
Synopsis: Locating Objects with Quantum Radar
An object’s distance and direction could be measured in a new radar scheme that uses entangled photons, something unachievable with previous quantum radar proposals.
[Physics 13, s68] Published Thu May 21, 2020
The surprising benefits of contemplating the death of the universe Cosmologist Katie Mack spends her days pondering the end of everything. Whether the cosmos dies a slow heat death or winks out of existence tomorrow, she finds it helps put everyday troubles in perspective
Synopsis: Solitons of All Speeds
A new technique allows researchers to generate solitons with tunable speeds in Bose-Einstein condensates.
[Physics 13, s67] Published Wed May 20, 2020
Cold war nuclear bomb tests changed rainfall patterns over the UK Radiation from nuclear bomb test detonations in the cold war may have affected rainclouds, causing increases in rainfall thousands of kilometres away
We have seen hints of a new fundamental force of nature Multiple indications seem to be showing that something is manipulating the universe beyond the four basic forces we know – and we are starting to work out what it is
Pondering the big question of consciousness is a welcome distraction Our best mathematical theory of consciousness is sparking a rethink of one of science’s hardest problems – how simple matter gives rise to a complex mind
Is the universe conscious? It seems impossible until you do the maths The question of how the brain gives rise to subjective experience is the hardest of all. Mathematicians think they can help, but their first attempts have thrown up some eye-popping conclusions
Jess Wade: The magic of mirror molecules and incredible nanostructures From wearable sensors to solar panels, we are developing new materials from the stuff of peacock feathers and butterfly wings. Physicist Jess Wade shows how.
The mathematician’s guide to dating and finding the perfect partner Maths is in everything from your credit card PIN to how many friends you have. Compute how to figure out apps and speed dating with TV presenter and mathematician Bobby Seagull.
Physicists beat Lorentz reciprocity for microwave transmission New device could boost telecommunications and be adapted for photonics
Japan’s SuperKEKB set for first particle collisions Revamped accelerator will soon be smashing electrons and positrons together
Wood-based 'supermaterial' is stronger and tougher than steel New material is made by compressing treated wood
Three photons bind together to make a ‘molecule’ of light Technique could be used to create quantum-information systems
Nuclear excitation by electron capture seen at long last Breakthrough could lead to new type of energy source
Pistachio trees 'talk' to their neighbours, reveals statistical physics Ising model could account for nut production of pistachio orchards
US National Science Foundation clamps down on misconduct Agency will now require every grantee organization to report cases of sexual harassment