Hidden symmetry could be key to more robust quantum systems, researchers find

Researchers have found a way to protect highly fragile quantum systems from noise, which could aid in the design and development of new quantum devices, such as ultra-powerful quantum computers.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-hidden-symmetry-key-robust-quantum.html

Charles Darwin was right about why insects are losing the ability to fly

Most insects can fly.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-charles-darwin-insects-ability.html

Dogs may never learn that every sound of a word matters

Despite their excellent auditory capacities, dogs do not attend to differences between words that differ only in one phoneme (e.g., "dog" vs "dig"), according to a new study by Hungarian researchers of the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (ELTE). In the study, they measured brain activity with non-invasive electroencephalography (EEG) on conscious dogs. This might be a reason why the number of words dogs learn to recognize typically remains low throughout their life. The study is published in Royal Society Open Science.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-dogs-word.html

Eyebuy: Sweeping glances can cost you money

Unplanned purchases are an important profit source for retailers. Because looking at products is always the first step in making a purchase decision, retailers apply various strategies in order to bring shoppers in juxtaposition with the store assortment. "Over the past decades, retailers have developed many sales strategies that focus on the visual attention of customers," says Mathias Streicher from the Institute for Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. "A popular strategy, for example, is to place product categories such as milk in the back of a store."

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-eyebuy-glances-money.html

Pathways to sustainable land use and food systems

The findings of a new report by the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Consortium, suggest that integrated strategies across food production, biodiversity, climate, and diets can meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-pathways-sustainable-food.html

Using Earth's history to inform the search for life on exoplanets

UC Riverside is leading one of the NASA Astrobiology Program's eight new research teams tackling questions about the evolution and origins of life on Earth and the possibility of life beyond our solar system.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-earth-history-life-exoplanets.html

'SCOUT' helps researchers find, quantify significant differences among organoids

The ability to culture cerebral organoids or "minibrains" using stem cells derived from people has given scientists experimentally manipulable models of human neurological development and disease, but not without confounding challenges. No two organoids are alike and none of them resemble actual brains. This "snowflake" problem has held back the science by making scientifically meaningful quantitative comparisons difficult to achieve. To help researchers overcome those limitations, MIT neuroscientists and engineers have developed a new pipeline for clearing, labeling, 3-D imaging and rigorously analyzing organoids.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-scout-quantify-significant-differences-organoids.html

Since Paris deal, climate catastrophes mount

Record-smashing Antarctic heatwaves, melting glaciers, wave after wave of drought and wildfire, and an unending string of megastorms: since the 2015 Paris deal the deadly effects of climate change have been ever more visible.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-paris-climate-catastrophes-mount.html

NASA outlines science goals for future astronauts on Moon

The US space agency NASA published a voluminous report on Monday outlining the scientific priorities for the Artemis III astronauts it intends to send to the Moon in 2024.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-nasa-outlines-science-goals-future.html

Saving the Amazon's orphan monkeys

Far from the rifle cracks that occasionally rip through the rainforest as local tribesmen hunt mature primates for their meat and soft pelts, a sanctuary in a corner of the Colombian Amazon is offering new life to the orphaned monkeys left behind.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-amazon-orphan-monkeys.html

JD.com health arm rockets 75% on Hong Kong debut

The medical arm of Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com soared 75 percent on its debut in Hong Kongon Tuesday, valuing the company at $50 billion, as investors bank on the pandemic boom in digital health services.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-jdcom-health-arm-rockets-hong.html

Norwegian Air to seek bankruptcy protection in Norway

Embattled low-cost carrier Norwegian Air Shuttle, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection in Ireland, said Tuesday it had launched a similar process in Norway.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-norwegian-air-bankruptcy-norway.html

Chuck Yeager, 1st to break sound barrier, dies at 97

Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles "Chuck" Yeager, the World War II fighter pilot ace and quintessential test pilot who showed he had the "right stuff" when in 1947 he became the first person to fly faster than sound, has died. He was 97.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-chuck-yeager-1st-barrier-dies.html

Australia to reveal laws to make Google and FB pay for news

Australia's government will reveal legislation in Parliament on Wednesday that would make Facebook and Google pay for journalism.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-australia-reveal-laws-google-fb.html

Research: Millions of smart devices vulnerable to hacking

Researchers at a cybersecurity firm say they have identified vulnerabilities in software widely used by millions of connected devices—flaws that could be exploited by hackers to penetrate business and home computer networks and disrupt them.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-millions-smart-devices-vulnerable-hacking.html

Second US judge blocks Trump's TikTok ban

A second US federal judge has suspended a Trump administration executive order threatening to ban TikTok in the United States.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-blocks-trump-tiktok.html

EPA overrides scientists' calls for tougher pollutant limit

The Trump administration on Monday made final its decision to leave limits for a deadly kind of air pollutant unchanged, overriding scientific findings that tougher standards could save tens of thousands of lives yearly.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-epa-overrides-scientists-tougher-pollutant.html

Capsule with asteroid samples arrives in Japan for research

Japanese space agency officials were delighted Tuesday by the return of a small capsule containing asteroid soil samples obtained by their Hayabusa2 spacecraft and they are anxiously waiting to look inside after preparations are complete.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-capsule-asteroid-samples-japan.html

China, Nepal say Everest a bit higher than past measurements

China and Nepal have jointly announced a new height for Mount Everest, ending a discrepancy between the two nations.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-china-nepal-everest-bit-higher.html

Research brief: Global trends in nature's contributions to people

In a new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a research team co-led by the University of Minnesota, examined the risks to human well-being and prosperity stemming from ongoing environmental degradation.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-global-trends-nature-contributions-people.html

Beavers may help amphibians threatened by climate change

The recovery of beavers may have beneficial consequences for amphibians because beaver dams can create the unique habitats that amphibians need.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-beavers-amphibians-threatened-climate.html

Two discoveries advance basic and applied additive manufacturing research

A research team led by Tao Sun, associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Virginia, has made two discoveries that can expand additive manufacturing in aerospace and other industries that rely on strong metal parts.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-discoveries-advance-basic-additive.html

Microbes to demonstrate biomining of asteroid material aboard space station

As humanity moves closer to the possibility of living and working millions of miles from Earth on planets like Mars, scientists are looking beyond our planet at how to acquire the materials needed to establish a self-sustaining presence in space.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-microbes-biomining-asteroid-material-aboard.html

Science leaders issue clarion call for evidence-based policy

Since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, US science leaders and others have expressed frustration with the lack of an informed and coherent federal response, a sentiment that echoes objections to the handling of other pressing issues, such as climate change. Writing in BioScience, an assemblage of the past presidents of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) have issued an appeal for the reinvigoration of sound policy and governance through the careful consideration of sound science.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-science-leaders-issue-clarion-evidence-based.html

Natural reward theory could provide new foundation for biology

A link between evolution over short time frames (microevolution) and long time frames (macroevolution) that could open new approaches to understanding some of biology's deepest questions is proposed by Dr. Owen Gilbert of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin (U.S.) in a new paper, published in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal Rethinking Ecology.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-natural-reward-theory-foundation-biology.html

Most U.S. social studies teachers feel unprepared to teach civic learning

Only one in five social studies teachers in U.S. public schools report feeling very well prepared to support students' civic learning, saying they need additional aid with instructional materials, professional development and training, according to a RAND Corporation survey.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-social-teachers-unprepared-civic.html