source: Phys.org
Industrial production of ammonia, primarily for synthetic fertilizer—the fuel for last century’s Green Revolution—is one of the world’s largest chemical markets, but also one of the most energy intensive. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
NGC 346, one of the most dynamic star-forming regions in nearby galaxies, is full of mystery. Now, though, it is less mysterious thanks to new findings from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
Employees at public companies tip their taxi drivers more on days when their companies perform well in the stock market, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
What do a little penguin, a baby rabbit, a black rat and a Krefft’s glider have in common? They’ve all been presented to me (when dead) by my animal companions. Chances are, if you live with a cat or dog, you’ve also been brought something similar. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
The number of jobs requiring expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields has risen by 34% over the past decade, leaving employers scrambling to recruit graduates with the required skills. But training the workforce of tomorrow isn’t easy: research shows that fewer than 40% of students who begin a STEM program ultimately graduate with a degree in their chosen field, while about a fifth drop out of college altogether.
source: Phys.org
A recent study finds that families with separated parents provide less financial and emotional support to their adult children. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
China’s National Space Administration (CNSA) has been hoping to reestablish communications with the Zhurong Mars rover, but so far, their efforts have been unsuccessful. Zhurong was put into hibernation over six months ago as it hunkered down in attempts to survive the Martian winter. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
Astronomers have used an intense burst of radio waves originating from a nearby galaxy to inspect the halo of gas cocooning our own Milky Way galaxy. The scientists studied the way that the light of the so-called fast radio burst, or FRB, was dispersed as it traveled from deep space and into our galaxy as a means to estimate how much matter resides in the galaxy’s halo. This is a bit like shining a flashlight through fog to see how thick the cloud is; the more matter there is, the more the light will disperse.
source: Phys.org
One of the biggest achievements of quantum physics was recasting our vision of the atom. Out was the early 1900s model of a solar system in miniature, in which electrons looped around a solid nucleus. Instead, quantum physics showed that electrons live a far more interesting life, meandering around the nucleus in clouds that look like tiny balloons. These balloons are known as atomic orbitals, and they come in all sorts of different shapes—perfectly round, two-lobed, clover-leaf-shaped.
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School closures and emergency remote teaching caused by the COVID-19 pandemic put a particular strain on families with children with special educational needs. Yet, most parents felt competent in supporting the learning and remote schooling of their children, and they also enjoyed the increased freedom and autonomy, which made it possible to structure daily life according to their family’s needs and preferences. However, parents were nevertheless also concerned about the learning, well-being and relationships with friends of their children.
source: Phys.org
Methanotrophs—organisms that grow by consuming methane—seem to be perfect for alleviating global warming, since methane accounts for about 30% of this effect. However, drilling sites, where the natural gas is mostly composed of methane, also contains hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which inhibits the growth of methanotrophs. In a new study, researchers have discovered that the methanotroph Methylococcus capsulatus Bath has an enzyme that helps it grow in the presence of small amounts of H2S.
source: Phys.org
They call it Legionella bononiensis: it is the 64th species of Legionella identified worldwide, the second to be isolated in Italy since the discovery of the pathogen. It was discovered in 2019 in a hotel facility by researchers from the Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology and Molecular Biology (MAb) at the University of Bologna. Read Full Article Here
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The Exoplanet Watch project invites you to use your smartphone or personal telescope to help track worlds outside our solar system. Read Full Article Here
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Using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, scientists have identified an Earth-size world, called TOI 700 e, orbiting within the habitable zone of its star—the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet’s surface. The world is 95% Earth’s size and likely rocky. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
The COVID-19 pandemic forced education, services, health care and many other aspects of everyday life online. For social work, that transition started as a challenge, but it can actually be an opportunity for educators, social workers and the people they serve. A University of Kansas professor has published a paper arguing that social work educators can adapt their teaching practices in a way that best prepares their students to interact with those they serve, whether online, in person or both.
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With a transmitter less powerful than a microwave oven, a team of scientists and engineers has used the National Science Foundation’s Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) to make the highest-resolution radar images of the moon ever collected from the ground, paving the way for a next-generation radar system to study planets, moons, and asteroids in the solar system. Read Full Article Here
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A new study reveals that ‘poetic meditation’ can enhance qualitative data analysis by offering researchers improved sensory experience and an ability to approach data analysis from unexpected directions. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
The island of Hispaniola once had among the highest diversity of rodents in the Caribbean, supporting 11 species that coexisted for thousands of years. Today, only one rodent species remains within the island’s two countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and its prospects for survival are uncertain. There are many theories as to why so many species went extinct, but it’s unclear exactly when each disappeared, making it difficult to determine the cause.
source: Phys.org
A radiation protection vest, olive oil, and sutured tissues are among the scientific samples returning from the International Space Station on the 26th SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA. The Dragon spacecraft, which arrived at the station Nov. 27, is scheduled to undock on January 9, with splashdown January 11 off the coast of Florida. Read Full Article Here
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In June 2021, NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew close to Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, observing evidence of magnetic reconnection. A team led by Southwest Research Institute used Juno data to examine the electron and ion particles and magnetic fields as the magnetic field lines of Jupiter and Ganymede merged, snapped and reoriented, heating and accelerating the charged particles in the region. Read Full Article Here
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Cells with a functioning molecular clock are better able to adapt to changes in glucose supply and can recover faster from long-term starvation, according to a study published today in eLife. Read Full Article Here
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By their own admission, Anastasios “Andy” Tzanidakis and James Davenport are interested in unusual stars. The University of Washington astronomers were on the lookout for “stars behaving strangely” when an automated alert from the Gaia survey pointed them to Gaia17bpp. Survey data indicated that this star had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. Read Full Article Here
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Northwestern University and the University of California San Diego (UC San Diego) astrophysicists have discovered the tightest ultracool dwarf binary system ever observed. Read Full Article Here
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A Concordia project cataloging the diversity of the urban forest in a Montreal residential neighborhood is now complete, and the researchers behind it say the results highlight the importance of a diverse city tree population. Read Full Article Here
source: Phys.org
The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS CoV-2 virus, continues to threaten populations around the world, after killing over 1 million Americans. In recent weeks, XBB.1.5, the most transmissible variant to date, has started to sweep across the country. Read Full Article Here