Welcome to the Sunday edition of “Hawaii Science Digest”.
Views expressed in this science and technology summary are those of “Phys.org”, its reporters and its correspondents.
Content provided by “Phys.org”, a publication of the Science X Network.
Accessed on 10 February 2019, 1535 UTC.
Source: https://phys.org
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Spotlight Science News
New Horizons’ evocative farewell glance at Ultima Thule
An evocative new image sequence from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft offers a departing view of the Kuiper Belt object (KBO) nicknamed Ultima Thule—the target of its New Year’s 2019 flyby and the most distant world ever …
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Chang’e 4 Rover comes into view
On Jan. 30 2019, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) acquired a spectacular limb shot centered on the Chang’e 4 landing site, looking across the floor of Von Kármán crater. At the time, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter …
A new-day stethoscope joins fight against toll of childhood pneumonia
French physician René Laennec envisioned in 1816 rolled sheets of paper into a tube that amplified sounds. He went on to invent the stethoscope and is considered the father of auscultation.
A better way to make acrylics
Acrylics are an incredibly diverse and useful family of chemicals used in all kinds of products, from diapers to nail polish. Now, a team of researchers from UConn and ExxonMobil describe a new process for making them. The …
New method improves infrared imaging performance
A new method developed by Northwestern Engineering’s Manijeh Razeghi has greatly reduced a type of image distortion caused by the presence of spectral cross-talk between dual-band long-wavelength photodetectors.
Rating riverside corridors—the ‘escape routes’ for animals under climate change
Under climate change, plants and animals will shift their habitats to track the conditions they are adapted for. As they do, the lands surrounding rivers and streams offer natural migration routes that will take on a new …
Women’s hormones play role in drug addiction, higher relapse rates
Women’s hormonal cycles may not only make them more prone to drug addiction but also more affected by triggers that lead to relapse, a new Vanderbilt University study revealed. The findings are especially significant since …
How exercise may protect against Alzheimer’s
Athletes know a vigorous workout can release a flood of endorphins: “feel-good” hormones that boost mood. Now there’s evidence that exercise produces another hormone that may improve memory and protect against Alzheimer’s …
Lightning’s electromagnetic fields may have protective properties
Lightning was the main electromagnetic presence in the Earth’s atmosphere long before the invention of electricity. There are some 2,000 thunderstorms active at any given time, so humans and other organisms have been bathed …
Richard Branson says he’ll fly to space by July
British billionaire Richard Branson plans to travel to space within the next four or five months aboard his own Virgin Galactic spaceship, he told AFP Thursday.
Chimpanzee ‘mini-brains’ hint at secrets of human evolution
At some point during human evolution, a handful of genetic changes triggered a dramatic threefold expansion of the brain’s neocortex, the wrinkly outermost layer of brain tissue responsible for everything from language to …
Drought, deluge turned stable landslide into disaster
“Stable landslide” sounds like a contradiction in terms, but there are indeed places on Earth where land has been creeping downhill slowly, stably and harmlessly for as long as a century. But stability doesn’t necessarily …
Research suggests life thrived on Earth 3.5 billion years ago
Three and a half billion years ago, Earth hosted life, but was it barely surviving, or thriving? A new study carried out by a multi-institutional team with leadership including the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) of Tokyo …
DeepCrack: a new hierarchical CNN-based method for crack segmentation
Detecting and analyzing cracks in man-made structures is an important task that can help to ensure that buildings are safe and well-maintained. As employing human workers to inspect buildings regularly can be very expensive, …
Life on the edge in the quantum world
Quantum physics sets the laws that dominate the universe at a small scale. The ability to harness quantum phenomena could lead to machines like quantum computers, which are predicted to perform certain calculations much faster …
Genome scientists develop novel approaches to studying widespread form of malaria
Scientists at the Institute of Genome Sciences (IGS) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have developed a novel way with genome sequences to study and better understand transmission, treat and ultimately …
New phenomenon discovered that fixes a common problem in lasers: Wavelength splitting
A team led by University of Utah physicists has discovered how to fix a major problem that occurs in lasers made from a new type of material called quantum dots. The never-before-seen phenomenon will be important for an emerging …
The 2008 recession associated with greater decline in mortality in Europe
In recent decades, Europe has experienced a downward trend in the annual number of deaths. Not only was this trend not arrested by the economic recession that started in 2008, the rate of decline increased during the recession …
Researchers add porous envelope to aluminum plasmonics
When Rice University chemist and engineer Hossein Robatjazi set out to marry a molecular sieve called MOF to a plasmonic aluminum nanoparticle two years ago, he never imagined the key would be the same process nature uses …
Scientists image conducting edges in a promising 2-D material
A research team comprised of scientists at the University of California, Riverside, and the University of Washington has for the first time directly imaged “edge conduction” in monolayer tungsten ditelluride, or WTe2, a newly …
From supergiant to solar-mass star: Study finds HD 179821 less massive than previously thought
360 Video: Curiosity rover departs Vera Rubin Ridge
After exploring Mars’ Vera Rubin Ridge for more than a year, NASA’s Curiosity rover recently moved on. But a new 360-video lets the public visit Curiosity’s final drill site on the ridge, an area nicknamed “Rock Hall.” The …
Surprise rheumatoid arthritis discovery points to new treatment for joint inflammation
Researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have identified an unexpected contributor to rheumatoid arthritis that may help explain the painful flare-ups associated with the disease. The discovery points …
Nitrogen gets in the fast lane for chemical synthesis
Rice University scientists have given organic chemists a boost with their latest discovery of a one-step method to add nitrogen to compounds for drugs, pesticides, fertilizers and other products.
Sea snakes that can’t drink seawater
Surrounded by salty water, sea snakes sometimes live a thirsty existence. Previously, scientists thought that they were able to drink seawater, but recent research has shown that they need to access freshwater. A new study …
‘X-ray gun’ helps researchers pinpoint the origins of pottery found on ancient shipwreck
About eight hundred years ago, a ship sank in the Java Sea off the coast of the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia. There are no written records saying where the ship was going or where it came from—the only clues …
Researchers help define Southern Ocean’s geological features
New data collected by University of Wyoming researchers and others point to a newly defined mantle domain in a remote part of the Southern Ocean.
How the brain responds to texture
Our hands and fingertips are amazingly sensitive to texture. We can easily distinguish coarse sandpaper from smooth glass, but we also pick up more subtle differences across a wide range of textures, like the slick sheen …
A laser system built on principles of supersymmetry
A team of researchers from the University of Central Florida and Michigan Technological University has developed a laser system concept built on the principles of supersymmetry. In their paper published in the journal Science, …
The composition of ancient meteorites
A team of Japanese and American scientists has visualized meteorite components at higher resolution than ever before. Their efforts have resulted in an enhanced understanding of substances inside carbonaceous chondrites, …
Feb 08, 2019 in Space Exploration