Newswise Curated News Channel: Featured: SciWire

Curious by Nature: Debunking Easter Island Collapse with Dr. Carl Lipo

Newswise — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 08:05:44 EST

Dr. Carl Lipo from Binghamton University studied Easter Island (Rapa Nui), where he has conducted extensive research on the famous moai statues and the island's history.

HVAC is starting to sweat

Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 08:05:39 EST

Thanks to sensor technology and mathematical modeling, smart dummies provide new insights into how workplaces can be brought to a comfortable temperature in an energy-efficient way and how to prevent patients from getting cold feet in the operating theater.

Southern Pudu Fawn, One of the World's Smallest Deer Species, Debuts at the Queens Zoo

Wildlife Conservation Society — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 05:05:07 EST

A southern pudu fawn, one of the smallest deer species in the world, is debuting at the Queens Zoo. Born on June 21at about 2 pounds, the fawn shares a habitat with its parents at the Queens Zoo's Wild Side. The species, when fully grown, can weigh up to 15 to 20 pounds and stand 14-17 inches tall.

Manard chosen for Society of Applied Spectroscopy's Lester W. Strock Award

Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 15:05:55 EST

Benjamin Manard, an analytical chemist at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will receive the 2024 Lester W. Strock Award from the Society of Applied Spectroscopy.

Newly discovered ability of comammox bacteria could help reduce nitrous oxide emissions in agriculture

University of Vienna — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 11:00:00 EST

An international research team led by the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna has discovered that comammox bacteria, first identified by them in 2015, can grow using guanidine, a nitrogen-rich organic compound, as their sole energy and nitrogen source.

Research collaboration to explore the impact of cover crops on soil health and corn production to improve agriculture sustainability

Donald Danforth Plant Science Center — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 10:00:00 EST

Christopher Topp, PhD, Member and Principal Investigator of the Danforth Plant Science Center and his lab members Marcus Griffiths, PhD and Kong Wong, PhD, have teamed up with colleagues at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Kaiyu Guan, PhD, Bin Peng, PhD, and Sheng Wang, PhD, to explore the impact of cover crops on soil health and corn production to improve agriculture sustainability.

Rising mercury pollution in soil could be related to climate change, study says

American Chemical Society (ACS) — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 08:00:00 EST

A study published in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology estimates that soil stores substantially more mercury than previously thought, and it predicts that increases in plant growth due to climate change may add even more.

Hurricane season: Has anyone checked on the beach?

Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 15:05:33 EST

Beach-loving environmental researchers wondered how a highly active hurricane season impacts beaches along the coast.

Le Parc National de Bouba Ndjidda au Cameroun est une lueur d'espoir pour le lion en Afrique centrale

Wildlife Conservation Society — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 11:05:56 EST

Afin d'intensifier les efforts de protection des lions d'Afrique centrale, une equipe d'eco-gardes et de biologistes camerounais du ministere des Forets et de la Faune (MINFOF) et de la Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) a pose des colliers GPS sur sept des grands felins du parc national de Bouba Ndjidda, ce qui porte a dix le nombre de lions munis d'un collier.

Cameroon's Bouba Ndjidda National Park Is a Beacon of Hope for the Lion in Central Africa

Wildlife Conservation Society — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 11:05:25 EST

Ramping up protection efforts of Endangered Central African lions, a team of Cameroonian rangers and biologists from the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), has placed GPS collars on seven of the big cats in Cameroon's Bouba Ndjidda National Park; this brings the number of collared lions to ten.

Urban Future Lab announces finalists for 2024 Urban Future Prize Competition

NYU Tandon School of Engineering — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 11:00:09 EST

NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Urban Future Lab has selected nine startup companies from 317 applications to compete for its two flagship awards at this year's Urban Future Summit in October. The finalists will pitch their businesses to a panel of judges, who will award one winner each in the Future Resilience Prize and the Future Solutions Prize tracks.

Measuring Martian Winds with Sound

American Institute of Physics (AIP) — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 11:00:00 EST

Martian landers have been able capture measurements of wind speeds -- some gauging the cooling rate of heated materials when winds blow over them, others using cameras to image "tell-tales" that blow in the wind -- but there's still room for improvement.

$4.9-Million NSF Award Funds Major Enhancement to Bridges-2 System

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 09:00:46 EST

$4.9 million from the NSF has funded an upgrade to PSC's flagship Bridges-2 supercomputer. The grant has allowed the center to add late-model powerful NVIDIA H100 GPUs to the system, further enhancing its ability to support research in and requiring artificial intelligence, particularly in the context of massive data and high-performance computing.

Tuskan named DOE Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellow

Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 08:05:06 EST

Gerald A. Tuskan, a Corporate Fellow and director of the Center for Bioenergy Innovation, or CBI, at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been selected as a DOE Distinguished Scientist Fellow, one of the highest honors bestowed by the agency's Office of Science for outstanding scientific leadership and research community engagement.

The Risks of Artificial Intelligence in Weapons Design

Harvard Medical School — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 12:05:25 EST

Researchers outline dangers of developing AI-powered autonomous weapons

Small chemical change may reap big climate reward

Oak Ridge National Laboratory — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 11:50:33 EST

Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated that small molecular tweaks to surfaces can improve absorption technology for direct air capture, or DAC, of carbon dioxide.

Taking a 'One in a Million' Shot to Tackle Dopamine-Linked Brain Disorders

Florida Atlantic University — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 08:30:05 EST

With the help of a tiny, transparent worm called Caenorhabditis elegans, researchers have identified novel players in dopamine signaling by taking advantage of a powerful platform generated via the Million Mutation Project for the rapid identification of mutant genes based on their functional impact.

High-speed trains face icy challenges: new study assesses overhead contact system adaptability

Chinese Academy of Sciences — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 09:05:31 EST

A pivotal study assesses the ice-covered environmental adaptability of overhead contact systems in high-speed railways, vital for ensuring the continuous and safe collection of electrical energy.

Powering Enzymes with Light to Make Ammonia

Department of Energy, Office of Science — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 15:05:06 EST

Converting dinitrogen into ammonia is critical for making fertilizer. Conventional conversion processes use adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Researchers are now working on processes that instead use sunlight, which reduces energy use and greenhouse gas production relative to the ATP process. In this research, scientists created a unique biohybrid that couples nanocrystals to nitrogen-catalyzing enzymes to produce ammonia using sunlight.

Defect engineering leads to designer catalyst for production of green hydrogen

University Of Illinois Grainger College Of Engineering — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 13:05:43 EST

Efficient technology for splitting the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water could be the key to producing low-cost, green hydrogen for energy storage at an industrial scale. Green hydrogen is expected to play a significant role in achieving the target of net zero carbon dioxide emissions. In a new study, an interdisciplinary group of researchers have identified a way to use "defect engineering" to significantly boost catalytic efficiency, taking science one step closer to sustainable, green hydrogen production.