ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

---

• Why climate change is driving some to skip having kids
• NASA's Perseverance Mars rover extracts first oxygen from Red Planet
• Carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in ancient meteorite
• AI algorithms can influence people's voting and dating decisions in experiments
• Air pollution data in five Chinese cities: Local vs. U.S. monitoring stations
• Fast material manipulation through a laser
• Mice master complex thinking with a remarkable capacity for abstraction
• Central African forests are unequally vulnerable to global change
• Climate 'tipping points' need not be the end of the world
• Wildfire smoke linked to skin disease
• In calculating the social cost of methane, equity matters
• Bi-stable pop-up structures inspired by origami
• To design truly compostable plastic, scientists take cues from nature
• SARS-CoV-2: Infection induces antibodies capable of killing infected cells regardless of disease severity
• Prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms among high-risk children
• Improved management of farmed peatlands could cut 500 million tons CO2
• Freshwater salt pollution threatens ecosystem health and human water security
• How SARS coronaviruses reprogram host cells to their own benefit
• Solar panels are contagious - but in a good way
• Bypassing broken genes
• Unexpected presence of great white sharks in Gulf of California
• Cracking open the mystery of how many bubbles are in a glass of beer
• Illuminating invisible bloody fingerprints with a fluorescent polymer
• Bubble with titanium trigger titanic explosions
• Enormous flare from sun's nearest neighbor breaks records
• Identification of the wettability of graphene layers at the molecular level
• Camera traps find endangered dryas monkeys
• Outback radio telescope discovers dense, spinning, dead star
• Shift-work causes negative impacts on health, affects men and women differently
• Augmented reality in retail and its impact on sales
• Energy unleashed by submarine volcanoes could power a continent
• New insights on inflammation in COVID-19
• Complexity of microplastic pollution
• New conductive polymer ink opens for next-generation printed electronics

Why climate change is driving some to skip having kids Posted: 21 Apr 2021 01:00 PM PDT A new study finds that overconsumption, overpopulation and uncertainty about the future are among the top concerns of those who say climate change is affecting their reproductive decision-making.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover extracts first oxygen from Red Planet Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT The milestone, which the MOXIE instrument achieved by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, points the way to future human exploration of the Red Planet.

Carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in ancient meteorite Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:12 PM PDT Scientists detect small pockets of carbon dioxide-rich liquid water in a meteorite dating from the early solar system.

AI algorithms can influence people's voting and dating decisions in experiments Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:12 PM PDT Researchers have found that artificial intelligence algorithms can influence people's preferences for fictitious political candidates or potential romantic partners, depending on whether recommendations were explicit or covert.

Air pollution data in five Chinese cities: Local vs. U.S. monitoring stations Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:12 PM PDT When air quality in China is poor, locally reported air pollution measurements diverge from U.S. embassy-reported measurements more than would be expected by random chance, finds an analysis of air pollution data from five large Chinese cities.

Fast material manipulation through a laser Posted: 21 Apr 2021 12:12 PM PDT Researchers have found out that ultrafast switches in material properties can be prompted by laser pulses -- and why. This knowledge may enable new transistor concepts.

Mice master complex thinking with a remarkable capacity for abstraction Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT Categorization is the brain's tool to organize nearly everything we encounter in our daily lives. Grouping information into categories simplifies our complex world and helps us to react quickly and effectively to new experiences. Scientists have now shown that also mice categorize surprisingly well. The researchers identified neurons encoding learned categories and thereby demonstrated how abstract information is represented at the neuronal level.

Central African forests are unequally vulnerable to global change Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT An international study reveals the composition of the tropical forests of Central Africa and their vulnerability to the increased pressure from climate change and human activity expected in the coming decades. Thanks to an exceptional dataset - an inventory of over 6 million trees across five countries - the researchers have produced the first continuous maps of the floristic and functional composition of these forests, allowing them to identify the most vulnerable areas.

Climate 'tipping points' need not be the end of the world Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT The disastrous consequences of climate 'tipping points' could be averted if global warming was reversed quickly enough, new research suggests.

Wildfire smoke linked to skin disease Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT Wildfire smoke can trigger a host of respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms, ranging from runny nose and cough to a potentially life-threatening heart attack or stroke. A new study suggests that the dangers posed by wildfire smoke may also extend to the largest organ in the human body, and our first line of defense against outside threat: the skin.

In calculating the social cost of methane, equity matters Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT A new study reports that the social cost of methane - a greenhouse gas that is 30 times as potent as carbon dioxide in its ability to trap heat - varies by as much as an order of magnitude between industrialized and developing regions of the world.

Bi-stable pop-up structures inspired by origami Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT Researchers have developed bi-stable inflatable structures inspired by origami.

To design truly compostable plastic, scientists take cues from nature Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT Scientists have designed an enzyme-activated compostable plastic that could diminish microplastics pollution. Household tap water or soil composts break the hybrid plastic material down to reusable small molecules, called monomers, in just a few days or weeks.

SARS-CoV-2: Infection induces antibodies capable of killing infected cells regardless of disease severity Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT Researchers demonstrated that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces polyfunctional antibodies. Beyond neutralization, these antibodies can activate NK cells or the complement system, leading to the destruction of infected cells. Polyfunctional antibodies were found in all individuals (symptomatic and asymptomatic). These findings show that infection induces antibodies capable of killing infected cells regardless of the severity of the disease.

Prevalence of COVID-19 symptoms among high-risk children Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT Children with weakened immune systems have not shown a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection despite commonly displaying symptoms, a new study suggests.

Improved management of farmed peatlands could cut 500 million tons CO2 Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT Substantial cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions could be achieved by raising water levels in agricultural peatlands, according to a new study in the journal Nature. A team of researchers led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology estimates halving drainage depths in these areas could cut emissions by around 500 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) a year, which equates to 1 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities.

Freshwater salt pollution threatens ecosystem health and human water security Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT Drivers of freshwater salt pollution such as de-icers on roads and parking lots, water softeners, and wastewater and industrial discharges further threaten freshwater ecosystem health and human water security.

How SARS coronaviruses reprogram host cells to their own benefit Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT Researchers have found a specific mechanism that enables SARS viruses to replicate efficiently in infected cells.

Solar panels are contagious - but in a good way Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT The number of solar panels within shortest distance from a house is the most important factor in determining the likelihood of that house having a solar panel, when compared with a host of socio-economic and demographic variables. This is shown in a new study by scientists using satellite and census data of the city of Fresno in the US, and employing machine learning.

Bypassing broken genes Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT A new approach to gene editing using the CRISPR/Cas9 system bypasses disease-causing mutations in a gene, enabling treatment of genetic diseases linked to a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis, certain types of sickle cell anemia, and other rare diseases. The method involves inserting a new, fully functional copy of the gene that displaces the mutated gene.

Unexpected presence of great white sharks in Gulf of California Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT A new study suggests the white shark population for the eastern north Pacific, especially those listed in the Gulf of California, might be underestimated. Researchers found that the mortality rates for these white sharks might be underestimated as well, as an illicit fishery for the species was uncovered in the Gulf of California, suggesting that fishers were killing many more white sharks than has been previously understood.

Cracking open the mystery of how many bubbles are in a glass of beer Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT After pouring beer into a glass, streams of little bubbles appear and start to rise, forming a foamy head. As the bubbles burst, the released carbon dioxide gas imparts the beverage's desirable tang. But just how many bubbles are in that drink? By examining various factors, researchers estimate between 200,000 and nearly 2 million of these tiny spheres can form in a gently poured lager.

Illuminating invisible bloody fingerprints with a fluorescent polymer Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT Careful criminals usually clean a scene, wiping away visible blood and fingerprints. However, prints made with trace amounts of blood, invisible to the naked eye, could remain. Dyes can detect these hidden prints, but the dyes don't work well on certain surfaces. Now, researchers have developed a fluorescent polymer that binds to blood in a fingerprint -- without damaging any DNA also on the surface -- to create high-contrast images.

Bubble with titanium trigger titanic explosions Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT Scientists have found fragments of titanium blasting out of a famous supernova. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, could be a major step in pinpointing exactly how some giant stars explode.

Enormous flare from sun's nearest neighbor breaks records Posted: 21 Apr 2021 09:45 AM PDT On May 1, 2019, researchers observed a record-setting flare from the star Proxima Centauri -- a burst of energy roughly 100 times more powerful than any similar event seen from Earth's sun.

Identification of the wettability of graphene layers at the molecular level Posted: 21 Apr 2021 07:09 AM PDT Scientists identify the wettability of graphene layers and improve the understanding of graphene interface properties at molecular levels.

Camera traps find endangered dryas monkeys Posted: 21 Apr 2021 06:25 AM PDT The Endangered dryas monkey is one of Africa's most mysterious primates. They are difficult to find because they live in dense vegetation in secondary forest thickets. Using non-invasive research and no-flash camera traps from 2014 to 2019, scientists have confirmed the occurrence of the dryas monkey at seven locations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo spanning a total area of 3,453 square kilometers, based on opportunistic reports provided by local village residents and park patrols.

Outback radio telescope discovers dense, spinning, dead star Posted: 21 Apr 2021 06:25 AM PDT Astronomers have discovered a pulsar -- a dense and rapidly spinning neutron star sending radio waves into the cosmos -- using a low-frequency radio telescope in outback Australia. The new pulsar is located more than 3,000 light-years from Earth and spins about once every second. Pulsars are used by astronomers for applications including testing the laws of physics under extreme conditions.

Shift-work causes negative impacts on health, affects men and women differently Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:29 AM PDT Shift-work and irregular work schedules can cause several health-related issues and affect our defense against infection, according to new research.

Augmented reality in retail and its impact on sales Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:29 AM PDT Augmented reality is an effective technology that marketers can use to improve sales.

Energy unleashed by submarine volcanoes could power a continent Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:29 AM PDT Volcanic eruptions deep in our oceans are capable of extremely powerful releases of energy, at a rate high enough to power the whole of the United States, according to new research.

New insights on inflammation in COVID-19 Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:29 AM PDT Severe cases of COVID-19 can involve extensive inflammation in the body, and clinicians have wondered if this state is similar to what are called cytokine storm syndromes. A new study indicates that different markers in the blood clearly differentiate excessive inflammation in critical COVID-19 from cytokine storm syndromes.

Complexity of microplastic pollution Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:28 AM PDT Microplastics -- small plastic pieces less than 5 millimeters in length -- are ubiquitous in the environment, and they can have significant effects on wildlife. A new study reveals that there are multiple impacts of different microplastics -- with varying sizes, shapes, and chemical makeup -- to the survival, growth, and development of larval fathead minnows, an important prey species in lakes and rivers in North America.

New conductive polymer ink opens for next-generation printed electronics Posted: 21 Apr 2021 05:28 AM PDT Researchers have developed a stable high-conductivity polymer ink. The advance paves the way for innovative printed electronics with high energy efficiency.

You are subscribed to email updates from Latest Science News -- ScienceDaily. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States