Welcome to the “Phys.org” update from Hawaii Science Digest. Views expressed in this science and technology news summary are those of the reporters and correspondents. Content provided by https://phys.org.
Accessed on 10 May 2019, 0505 UTC.
Source: https://phys.org
Phys.org is an official publication of the Science X Network.
Here are today’s top science and technology news stories:
Assessing battery performance: Compared to what?
Scientists must often ask themselves, compared to what? How do the results we generate in the laboratory compare with those obtained by others? How do our theoretical calculations compare with experimental data?
MATERIALS SCIENCE
7 HOURS AGO
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Peering into the past, scientists discover bacteria transformed a viral threat to survive
Researchers at Indiana University are reporting a previously unknown way that bacteria can develop new genes to evolve and adapt to threats, an insight that might advance efforts against “superbugs.”
CELL & MICROBIOLOGY
13 HOURS AGO
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83
Evolution of magnetic field in the star-forming complex G9.62+0.19 revealed by ALMA
Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA), European astronomers have investigated the magnetic field of the high-mass star-forming region known as G9.62+0.19. Results of these observations, presented in a paper published …
New clues about how ancient galaxies lit up the universe
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed that some of the universe’s earliest galaxies were brighter than expected. The excess light is a byproduct of the galaxies releasing incredibly high amounts of ionizing radiation. …
ASTRONOMY
16 HOURS AGO
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Reversible chemistry clears path for safer batteries
Researchers at the University of Maryland (UMD) and US Army Research Lab (ARL) have taken a critical step on the path to high energy batteries by improving their water-in-salt battery with a new type of chemical transformation …
MATERIALS SCIENCE
16 HOURS AGO
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135
Giant lasers crystallize water with shockwaves, revealing the atomic structure of superionic ice
Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) used giant lasers to flash-freeze water into its exotic superionic phase and record X-ray diffraction patterns to identify its atomic structure for the very first …
CONDENSED MATTER
20 HOURS AGO
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Scientists locate brain area where value decisions are made
Neurobiologists at the University of California San Diego have pinpointed the brain area responsible for value decisions that are made based on past experiences.
NEUROSCIENCE
13 HOURS AGO
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280
A link between mitochondrial damage and osteoporosis
Some risk factors for osteoporosis such as being older and female or having a family history of the condition cannot be avoided. But others can, like smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, taking certain medications, or being …
MEDICAL RESEARCH
7 HOURS AGO
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132
Free eBook: Multiphysics Simulation User Stories
Read about user stories covering how engineers are building more accurate prototypes to push the limits of technology in this free eBook.
Be an ACS Industry Insider
Sign-up and get free, monthly access to articles that cover exciting, cutting edge discoveries in Energy, Environmental Science and Agriculture.
Medical Xpress
A link between mitochondrial damage and osteoporosis
The heart ‘talks’ to fat cells, scientists discover
New analysis predicts top 25 US counties at risk for measles outbreaks
Meditation needs more research: Study finds 25 percent suffer unpleasant experiences
Researchers advance understandings of the cellular mechanisms driving rheumatoid arthritis
Deep kissing may be important and neglected route for passing on throat gonorrhea
‘Bad guy’ fibrocytes could help rebuild damaged tissue
To cheat or not to cheat? Researchers uncover the moral dilemmas of doping
A deep-dive into the impact of arthritis drugs on gene expression
‘Zap’ ear clip may ease A-fib
Fooling nerve cells into acting normal
For teens, online bullying worsens sleep and depression
Hope on the horizon for treating stroke
Anger more harmful to health of older adults than sadness
Tech Xplore
Secrets of fluorescent microalgae could lead to super-efficient solar cells
Just add water: Salt battery could help renewable energy use
UK reaches jolly good milestone in days without coal
Road test proves adaptive cruise control can add to traffic jam problem
Clean fuel cells could be cheap enough to replace gas engines in vehicles
VisiBlends, a new approach to disrupt visual messaging
Using AI to predict breast cancer and personalize care
Researchers make transformational AI seem ‘unremarkable’
Google bucks soaring smartphone prices with new Pixel
Smarter training of neural networks
Microsoft to turn next chapter in raising talk to conversations
Google’s AI Assistant aims to transcend the smart speaker
AI can detect depression in a child’s speech
Portrait of a Google AI art project as a poetic you
Box of Pain: A new tracer and fault injector for distributed systems
Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks may push super-Earths close to their stars
The galaxy is littered with planetary systems vastly different from ours. In the solar system, the planet closest to the Sun—Mercury, with an orbit of 88 days—is also the smallest. But NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered …
ASTRONOMY
11 HOURS AGO
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The bird that came back from the dead
New research has shown that the last surviving flightless species of bird, a type of rail, in the Indian Ocean had previously gone extinct but rose from the dead thanks to a rare process called ‘iterative evolution’.
PLANTS & ANIMALS
14 HOURS AGO
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197
Methane-consuming bacteria could be the future of fuel
Known for their ability to remove methane from the environment and convert it into a usable fuel, methanotrophic bacteria have long fascinated researchers. But how, exactly, these bacteria naturally perform such a complex …
MATERIALS SCIENCE
10 HOURS AGO
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211
Researchers suggest collapsar accretion disks might be source of heaviest elements
A trio of researchers at Columbia University is suggesting that collapsar accretion disks might be the major source of the heaviest elements. In their paper published in the journal Nature, Daniel Siegel, Jennifer Barnes …
Egg yolk precursor protein regulates mosquitoes’ attraction to humans
Feeding mosquitoes sugar makes them less attracted to humans, a response that is regulated by the protein vitellogenin, according to a study publishing May 9 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Jessica Dittmer, Paolo …
MOLECULAR & COMPUTATIONAL BIOLOGY
10 HOURS AGO
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89
The heart ‘talks’ to fat cells, scientists discover
Like sending a letter through the mail or a text over a cellular network, the heart can generate messages that travel long distances through the body. Those messages ultimately reach fat cells, new research by scientists …
MEDICAL RESEARCH
12 HOURS AGO
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649
Climate change is giving old trees a growth spurt
Larch trees in the permafrost forests of northeastern China—the northernmost tree species on Earth—are growing faster as a result of climate change, according to new research.
ENVIRONMENT
14 HOURS AGO
4
287
How sea level rise affects birds in coastal forests
When saltwater inundates coastal forests as sea levels rise, it kills salt-sensitive trees, leaving “ghost forests” of bare snags behind. A new study from North Carolina State University explores how changes in vegetation …
ECOLOGY
10 HOURS AGO
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Researchers document the oldest known trees in eastern North America
A recently documented stand of bald cypress trees in North Carolina, including one tree at least 2,624 years old, are the oldest known living trees in eastern North America and the oldest known wetland tree species in the …
ENVIRONMENT
12 HOURS AGO
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151
Researchers develop viable, environmentally-friendly alternative to Styrofoam
Washington State University researchers have developed an environmentally-friendly, plant-based material that for the first time works better than Styrofoam for insulation.
POLYMERS
13 HOURS AGO
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605
Officials seek to open major spillway on Mississippi River
Army Corps of Engineers officials in Louisiana aim to open a historic flood control structure above New Orleans on Tuesday for an unprecedented second time in one year.
Amazon’s Bezos unveils lunar lander project ‘Blue Moon’
Jeff Bezos, who heads both Amazon and space company Blue Origin, unveiled on Thursday a lunar lander that he said would be used to transport equipment, and possibly human beings, to the south pole of the Moon by 2024.
Video games a hobby for majority of Americans, study says
Video games are enormously popular in the United States, with 164 million people—or 65 percent of adults—playing regularly, according to a study released on Thursday.
Uber’s rocky road to global powerhouse
Uber, set to make its stock market debut in one of the largest technology share offerings, has become a disruptive force in local transportation and generated its share of controversies.
NASA-NOAA satellite catches formation of Tropical Cyclone Lili
NASA-NOAA’s Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Southern Indian Ocean and captured a visible image of newly formed Tropical Cyclone Lili, located north of the coast of Australia’s Northern Territory.
Studying DNA breaks to protect future space travelers
Earth’s atmosphere shields life on the ground from cosmic radiation that can damage DNA. Astronauts in space have no such protection, and that puts them at risk. An investigation on the International Space Station examines …
Mathematical framework explores how the brain keeps a beat
A new mathematical model demonstrates how neurons in the brain could work together to learn and keep a musical beat. The framework, developed by Amitabha Bose of New Jersey Institute of Technology and Aine Byrne and John …
50 US coal power plants shut under Trump
Fifty coal-fired power plants have shut in the United States since President Donald Trump came to office two years ago, an environmental organization said Thursday.
Apple’s ‘most ambitious’ retail store set for US capital
Half store, half museum, Apple’s new location in the US capital within a historic landmark is being described as the “most ambitious” project for its retail operations.
Uber to price IPO at $45, valuing company at $82 bn: source
Uber was preparing a share offering that values the global ridesharing giant at up to $82 billion, a source familiar with the deal said Thursday.
Exploiting parasitic yeast to kill yeast pathogens
Insights into the genes and proteins involved in the predatory behavior of a parasitic yeast species could lead to new strategies for controlling yeast pathogens, according to a study published May 9 in the open-access journal …
An electric tongue can handle more spicy foods than you can
Thousands of new spicy products hit supermarket shelves every year. Some people crave the heat, some fear the burn. But if you enjoy it, spicy food wears out taste buds quickly.
Do most Americans believe in human-caused climate change?
What percentage of Americans believe in human-caused climate change?
DNA nanostructures designed for drug delivery remain a technical challenge
Many studies indicating that DNA nanostructures can enter cells more readily than simple DNA strands are flawed, according to researchers at McGill University.
Video: What’s the chemistry behind the home pregnancy test?
There are many ways to find out if you’re pregnant. One is to wait and see. For those of us who are a little less patient, there’s the take-home chemistry kit known as a pregnancy test.
Free video streaming offers some gems – if you can find them
Free services let you watch thousands of movies and TV shows online, but using them feels like wandering through a low-rent, digital version of Blockbuster (RIP).
Britain’s answer to ‘King Tut’s tomb’ found on roadside
Excited archeologists on Thursday hailed an ancient burial site found on the side of a road near a pub and a budget supermarket as Britain’s answer to the tomb of Egypt’s King Tutankhamun.
ARCHAEOLOGY & FOSSILS
13 HOURS AGO
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How to generate a brain of correct size and composition
To build the neocortex, a brain area involved in higher cognitive functions, stem cells produce billions of neurons of various types. In a Science study, neuroscientists from Switzerland, Belgium, and the Institute of Science …
NEUROSCIENCE
10 HOURS AGO
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26
New analysis predicts top 25 US counties at risk for measles outbreaks
A new analysis co-led by The Johns Hopkins University identified 25 United States counties that are most likely to experience measles outbreaks in 2019. The analysis combined international air travel volume, non-medical exemptions …
DISEASES, CONDITIONS, SYNDROMES
6 HOURS AGO
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14
New model of measles-elimination progress may help target vaccination efforts
A country’s progress towards measles elimination can be mapped on a “canonical path” that in turn can guide vaccination strategies, according to a study from scientists at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
MEDICAL RESEARCH
10 HOURS AGO
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In lab, researchers flip pain switch in spinal cord cells
Facing an urgent need for safer and more effective therapies for those suffering from debilitating pain in the midst of an opioid crisis, Saint Louis University researchers are on a mission to find a non-narcotic off-switch …
NEUROSCIENCE
11 HOURS AGO
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136
Ancient DNA suggests that some Northern Europeans got their languages from Siberia
Most Europeans descend from a combination of European hunter-gatherers, Anatolian early farmers, and Steppe herders. But only European speakers of Uralic languages like Estonian and Finnish also have DNA from ancient Siberians. …
ARCHAEOLOGY & FOSSILS
13 HOURS AGO
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156
Meditation needs more research: Study finds 25 percent suffer unpleasant experiences
More than a quarter of people who regularly meditate have had a ‘particularly unpleasant’ psychological experience related to the practice, including feelings of fear and distorted emotions, a UCL-led study has found.
PSYCHOLOGY & PSYCHIATRY
10 HOURS AGO
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725
Hummingbird robot uses AI to soon go where drones can’t
What can fly like a bird and hover like an insect?
ROBOTICS
12 HOURS AGO
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62
Researchers create ‘force field’ for super materials
Researchers have developed a revolutionary method to intricately grow and protect some of the world’s most exciting nanomaterials—graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNT).
NANOMATERIALS
14 HOURS AGO
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253
Substrate defects key to growth of 2-D materials
Creating two-dimentional materials large enough to use in electronics is a challenge despite huge effort but now, Penn State researchers have discovered a method for improving the quality of one class of 2-D materials, with …
NANOMATERIALS
13 HOURS AGO
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