African families in UK are 'parenting in fear'

Black African families in the UK are parenting in fear of being penalized by authorities due to cultural differences and institutional racial misconceptions, according to new research published today in The British Journal of Social Work.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-african-families-uk-parenting.html

New dinosaur showed descendants how to dress to impress

Scientists have found the most elaborately dressed-to-impress dinosaur ever described and say it sheds new light on how birds such as peacocks inherited their ability to show off.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-dinosaur-descendants.html

Researchers report evidence for two main domestication paths for bread yeast

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in France has found evidence for two main domestication paths for bread yeast. In their paper published in the journal Current Biology, the group studied the chromosomes of hundreds of commercial and sourdough yeast strains.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-evidence-main-domestication-paths-bread.html

Black 'sand-like' asteroid dust found in box from Japan probe

Black sandy dust found in a capsule brought to Earth by a Japanese space probe is from the distant asteroid Ryugu, scientists confirmed after opening it on Monday.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-black-sand-like-asteroid-japan-probe.html

Optical pre-processing makes computer vision more robust and energy efficient

Image analysis is ubiquitous in contemporary technology: from medical diagnostics to autonomous vehicles to facial recognition. Computers that use deep-learning convolutional neural networks—layers of algorithms that process images—have revolutionized computer vision.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-optical-pre-processing-vision-robust-energy.html

A cool advance in thermoelectric conversion

More than two-thirds of the energy used worldwide is ultimately ejected as "waste heat." Within that reservoir of discarded energy lies a great and largely untapped opportunity, claim scientists in MIT's Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE). As reported in a recent issue of Nature Communications, the MIT team—led by Assistant Professor Mingda Li, who heads NSE's Quantum Matter Group—has achieved a breakthrough in thermoelectric generation, which offers a direct means of converting thermal energy, including waste heat, into electricity.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-cool-advance-thermoelectric-conversion.html

Researchers pinpoint more precise method for atomic-level manufacturing

Quantum computers have the potential to transform fields such as medicine, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence by solving hard optimization problems that are beyond the reach of conventional computing hardware.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-precise-method-atomic-level.html

'Boss' genes could save human hearts – and the reef

The chain of command inside human cells is similar to the way a factory is run, two University of Queensland researchers say.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-boss-genes-human-hearts-reef.html

Physicists create time-reversed optical waves

Optics researchers from The University of Queensland and Nokia Bell Labs in the US have developed a new technique to demonstrate the time reversal of optical waves, which could transform the fields of advanced biomedical imaging and telecommunications.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-physicists-time-reversed-optical.html

Thinking afresh about how cells respond to stress

Just like people, cells get stressed too. A sudden drop in oxygen, overheating, or toxins can trigger a cascade of molecular changes that lead cells to stop growing, produce stress-protective factors, and form stress granules—proteins and RNA molecules huddled together into membrane-less organelles. Although the function of stress granules remains largely unknown, it is assumed that they contain only RNAs that are not translated into proteins. Now, a study upends this longstanding idea, showing that messenger RNAs (mRNAs) within stress granules can indeed make proteins.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-afresh-cells-stress.html

Strengths and vulnerabilities of teen skateboarders

More young people are opting for skateboards as a mode of transport, with fewer choosing to get their driver license, and more needs to be done to protect them on the road, a University of Otago study has found.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-strengths-vulnerabilities-teen-skateboarders.html

Ancient weather patterns in Europe

A landmark study led by the University of Aberdeen has provided the clearest ever picture of ancient weather patterns in Europe—and could improve models used to predict how climate change will affect the Continent in future.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-ancient-weather-patterns-europe.html

Hibernating lemurs may be the key to cryogenic sleep for human space travel

Science fiction is shifting into reality. With humanity's plans to return to the moon this decade and further ambitions to travel to Mars in the next, we need to figure out how to keep astronauts healthy for these years-long missions. One solution long championed by science fiction is suspended animation, or putting humans in a hibernation-like sleep for the duration of travel time.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-hibernating-lemurs-key-cryogenic-human.html

Ocean heatwave has triggered new toxic algal blooms on the US west coast

Fishermen, swimmers and seafood enthusiasts may already know the dangers of "red tides," but a recent study in Frontiers in Climate shows that climate change is increasing the frequency of one type of highly toxic algal bloom off the US west coast. These algae produce a neurotoxin—called domoic acid—that causes severe and potentially lethal digestive and neurological symptoms. This threat to marine wildlife and humans is restricting shellfish harvest in the region, but local bulletins are helping to forecast the blooms.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-ocean-heatwave-triggered-toxic-algal.html

China's Alibaba, Tencent unit fined under anti-monopoly law

China's market regulator on Monday said it fined Alibaba Group and a Tencent Holdings-backed company for failing to seek approval before proceeding with some acquisitions.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-china-alibaba-tencent-fined-anti-monopoly.html

Japan's symbol of year nods to no-lockdown virus strategy

A written character that evokes everything people in Japan were urged to avoid this year—crowds, confined spaces and close contact with others—was on Monday voted the country's top linguistic symbol of 2020.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-japan-year-no-lockdown-virus-strategy.html

Righting a wrong, nuclear physicists improve precision of neutrino studies

Led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a new study clears up a discrepancy regarding the biggest contributor of unwanted background signals in specialized detectors of neutrinos. Better characterization of background could improve current and future experiments to detect real signals from these weakly interacting, electrically neutral subatomic particles and understand their role in the universe.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-righting-wrong-nuclear-physicists-precision.html

Workers riot at India iPhone factory over 'exploitation' claims

Authorities vowed to crack down on workers who went on a violent rampage at a Taiwanese-run iPhone factory in southern India over allegations of unpaid wages and exploitation, with 100 people arrested so far.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-workers-riot-india-iphone-factory.html

Russia stages 'successful' second launch of new rocket

Russia on Monday conducted a second launch of its new heavy-class Angara rocket—the first developed after the fall of the Soviet Union—nearly six years after its maiden voyage.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-russia-stages-successful-rocket.html

Reddit snaps up TikTok rival Dubsmash

Reddit has acquired the Tik Tok-like app Dubsmash, both companies said Sunday, as big tech moves to carve out territory in the lucrative short-form video-sharing market.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-reddit-snaps-tiktok-rival-dubsmash.html

Storms help Australia contain UNESCO heritage island fire

Australian firefighters have managed to control a bushfire that burned more than half of the UNESCO world heritage-listed Fraser Island, around two months after a suspected illegal campfire sparked the blaze.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-storms-australia-unesco-heritage-island.html

Social media use increases belief in COVID-19 misinformation

The more people rely on social media as their main news source the more likely they are to believe misinformation about the pandemic, according to a recent survey analysis by Washington State University researcher Yan Su.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-social-media-belief-covid-misinformation.html

Research reveals unexpected insights into early dinosaur's brain, eating habits and agility

A pioneering reconstruction of the brain belonging to one of the earliest dinosaurs to roam the Earth has shed new light on its possible diet and ability to move fast.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-reveals-unexpected-insights-early-dinosaur.html

US agencies hacked in monthslong global cyberspying campaign

U.S. government agencies were ordered to scour their networks for malware and disconnect potentially compromised servers after authorities learned that the Treasury and Commerce departments were hacked in a monthslong global cyberespionage campaign discovered when a prominent cybersecurity firm learned it had been breached.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-12-agencies-hacked-monthslong-global-cyberspying.html

Endangered-species decision expected on beloved butterfly

Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-12-endangered-species-decision-beloved-butterfly.html