Digital authentication opens new doors for art, sports collectors

Fans have been flocking by the thousands to the Top Shot online platform to buy short videos of dramatic sequences from professional basketball games, as a new virtual market enjoys astonishing success among collectors, sports fans and art lovers.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-digital-authentication-doors-art-sports.html

Spacewalking astronauts prep station for new solar wings

Spacewalking astronauts ventured out Sunday to install support frames for new, high-efficiency solar panels arriving at the International Space Station later this year.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-spacewalking-astronauts-prep-station-solar.html

Trading app Robinhood says facing US regulator inquiries

Stock trading app Robinhood on Friday confirmed it is cooperating with inquiries from US regulators into its decision to temporarily throttle purchases of shares in companies such as GameStop during frenzied trading in January.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-app-robinhood-inquiries.html

SoftBank reaches deal with WeWork

Internet investor SoftBank Group said Saturday it reached a settlement with WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann and other investors in the office sharing giant, amid reports that the deal would give the ex-CEO an extra $50 million.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-softbank-wework.html

Roman chariot unearthed 'almost intact' near Pompeii

An ornate Roman chariot has been discovered "almost intact" near Italy's buried city of Pompeii, the archaeological park announced on Saturday, calling it a discovery with "no parallel" in the country.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-roman-chariot-unearthed-intact-pompeii.html

Oahu marine protected areas offer limited protection of coral reef herbivorous fishes

Marine protected areas (MPAs) around Oʻahu do not adequately protect populations of herbivorous reef fishes that eat algae on coral reefs. That is the primary conclusion of a study published in Coral Reefs by researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST).

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-oahu-marine-areas-limited-coral.html

The current pandemic highlights how remote healthcare robots could be beneficial in the future

Robots that could take on basic healthcare tasks to support the work of doctors and nurses may be the way of the future. Who knows, maybe a medical robot can prescribe your medicine someday? That's the idea behind 3-D structural-sensing robots being developed and tested at Simon Fraser University by Woo Soo Kim, associate professor in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-current-pandemic-highlights-remote-healthcare.html

Petroleum engineers develop technology to simulate mechanical properties of subterranean rock

A test facility simulating rock positions was developed in Samara Polytech. It allows carrying out many experiments with the core material under conditions close to rock positions at different depths.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-petroleum-technology-simulate-mechanical-properties.html

Combating ecosystem collapse from the tropics to the Antarctic

Eminent scientists warn that key ecosystems around Australia and Antarctica are collapsing, and propose a three-step framework to combat irreversible global damage.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-combating-ecosystem-collapse-tropics-antarctic.html

Automated weed and feed: Developing a smart crop sprayer

Conventional crop-spraying with herbicide to kill weeds among a crop wastes a lot of the herbicide and raises environmental concerns. A smart crop sprayer might identify weeds growing through the crop and spot spray only the unwanted plants. Work from a team in China published in the International Journal of Computational Science and Engineering, looks at the real-time segmentation of a cornfield to detect weeds that could be used to control such a smart crop-sprayer.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-automated-weed-smart-crop-sprayer.html

Study reveals cause of 3-D asymmetry in inertial confinement fusion implosions

Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosions require very high levels of symmetry in order to reach the high densities and temperatures required for fusion induced self-heating. Even percent-level deviations from perfect spherical symmetry can lead to significant distortions of the implosion and ultimately degrade fusion performance.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-reveals-d-asymmetry-inertial-confinement.html

Paper without the microplastics: An economical and ecofriendly coating

Michigan State University's Muhammad Rabnawaz has created a new coating for paper packaging that's both economical and ecofriendly.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-paper-microplastics-economical-ecofriendly-coating.html

Light-twisting 'chiral' nanotechnology could accelerate drug screening

A new approach makes liquid-crystal-like beacons out of harmful amyloid proteins present in diseases such as Type II diabetes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-light-twisting-chiral-nanotechnology-drug-screening.html

Hi, Robot: Japan's android pets ease virus isolation

Nami Hamaura says she feels less lonely working from home thanks to her singing companion Charlie, one of a new generation of cute and clever Japanese robots whose sales are booming in the pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-robot-japan-android-pets-ease.html

Airbnb and DoorDash log losses as they ride out pandemic

Airbnb and DoorDash on Thursday reported their first financial results as publicly traded companies, each of the tech industry darlings logging losses as they ride out the pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-airbnb-doordash-losses-pandemic.html

Monarch butterflies down 26% in Mexico wintering grounds

The number of monarch butterflies that showed up at their winter resting grounds in central Mexico decreased by about 26% this year, and four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging, drought and other causes, making 2020 a bad year for the butterflies.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-monarch-butterflies-mexico-wintering-grounds.html

Facebook signs pay deals with 3 Australian news publishers

Facebook announced on Friday preliminary agreements with three Australian publishers, a day after the Parliament passed a law that would make the digital giants pay for news.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-australian-news-publishers.html

When devastation strikes the oceans, sharks can hold the key to recovery

A world without sharks is a world less resilient to extreme climate events, scientists say.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-devastation-oceans-sharks-key-recovery.html

Risk communication experts analyze visual responses to tornado warning graphics

According to the National Weather Service, the average lead time for a tornado warning is now up to 13 minutes nationally, a significant improvement from the 1980s when the average was just five minutes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-experts-visual-responses-tornado-graphics.html

First complete coronavirus model shows cooperation

The COVID-19 virus holds some mysteries. Scientists remain in the dark on aspects of how it fuses and enters the host cell; how it assembles itself; and how it buds off the host cell.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-coronavirus-cooperation.html

Social dilemma follows 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano

The unprecedented cost of the 2018 Kilauea eruption in Hawai'i reflects the intersection of distinct physical and social phenomena: infrequent, highly destructive eruptions, and atypically high population growth, according to a new study published in Nature Communications and led by University of Hawai'i at Mānoa researchers.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-social-dilemma-eruption-kilauea-volcano.html

Scientists use Doppler to peer inside cells

Doppler radar improves lives by peeking inside air masses to predict the weather. A Purdue University team is using similar technology to look inside living cells, introducing a method to detect pathogens and treat infections in ways that scientists never have before.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-scientists-doppler-peer-cells.html

Nuclear physicists on the hunt for squeezed protons

While protons populate the nucleus of every atom in the universe, sometimes they can be squeezed into a smaller size and slip out of the nucleus for a romp on their own. Observing these squeezed protons may offer unique insights into the particles that build our universe.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nuclear-physicists-protons.html

Imaging space debris in high resolution

Litter is not only a problem on Earth. According to NASA, there are currently millions of pieces of space junk in the range of altitudes from 200 to 2,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface, which is known as low Earth orbit (LEO). Most of the junk is comprised of objects created by humans, like pieces of old spacecraft or defunct satellites. This space debris can reach speeds of up to 18,000 miles per hour, posing a major danger to the 2,612 satellites that currently operate at LEO. Without effective tools for tracking space debris, parts of LEO may even become too hazardous for satellites.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-imaging-space-debris-high-resolution.html

Study highlights need for improving methane emission database

A University of Oklahoma-led study published in 2020 revealed that both area and plant growth of paddy rice is significantly related to the spatial-temporal dynamics of atmospheric methane concentration in monsoon Asia, where 87% of the world's paddy rice fields are situated. Now, the same international research team has released a follow-up discussion paper in the journal Nature Communications. In this paper, the team identifies the limits and insufficiency of the major greenhouse emission database (EDGAR) in estimating paddy rice methane emissions.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-highlights-methane-emission-database.html

New sustainable building simulation method points to the future of design

A team from Cornell University's Environmental Systems Lab, led by recent graduate Allison Bernett, has put forth a new framework for injecting as much information as possible into the pre-design and early design phases of a project, potentially saving architects and design teams time and money down the road.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-sustainable-simulation-method-future.html

Study uncovers flaws in process for maintaining state voter rolls

States regularly use administrative records, such as motor-vehicle data, in determining whether people have moved to prune their voter rolls. A Yale-led study of this process in Wisconsin shows that a significant percentage of registered voters are incorrectly identified as having changed addresses, potentially endangering their right to vote.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-uncovers-flaws-state-voter.html

Huge gaps in UK regulation exist following transition from EU, new academic report finds

The UK is still not in a position to assume responsibility for regulation in several critical policy areas including trade, crime and the environment, a new academic report—UK regulation after Brexit—has found.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-huge-gaps-uk-transition-eu.html

Improving water quality could help conserve insectivorous birds

A new study shows that a widespread decline in abundance of emergent insects—whose immature stages develop in lakes and streams while the adults live on land—can help to explain the alarming decline in abundance and diversity of aerial insectivorous birds (i.e. preying on flying insects) across the USA. In turn, the decline in emergent insects appears to be driven by human disturbance and pollution of water bodies, especially in streams. This study, published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, is one of the first to find evidence for a causal link between the decline of insectivorous birds, the decline of emergent aquatic insects, and poor water quality.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-quality-insectivorous-birds.html

Imec demonstrates 18nm pitch line/space patterning with a high-chi directed self-assembly process

This week, at the 2021 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, imec demonstrates for the first time the capability of directed self-assembly (DSA) to pattern line/spaces with a pitch as small as 18 nm, using a high-chi block copolymer (high-χ BCP) based process under high volume manufacturing (HVM) conditions. An optimized dry-etch chemistry was used to successfully transfer the pattern into an underlying thick SiN layer—which will enable further defectivity inspection. These results confirm the potential of DSA to complement traditional top-down patterning for the industrial fabrication of sub-2 nm technology nodes.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-imec-18nm-pitch-linespace-patterning.html

We can't trust big tech or the government to weed out fake news, but a public-led approach just might work

The federal government's News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, which passed the Senate today, makes strong points about the need to regulate misinformation.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-big-tech-weed-fake-news.html

The Texas deep freeze left the state in crisis: 3 lessons for Australia

The US state of Texas has this month experienced some of its coldest weather on record. Houston recorded a temperature of -10.6℃, which is around 20℃ below average. And Dallas-Fort Worth recorded its lowest-ever temperature of -18.9℃.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-texas-deep-left-state-crisis.html

How 'tiger farms' have turned a wild animal into a species worth more dead than alive

Tigers could once be found across much of Asia, from eastern Turkey to Siberia and Indonesia. Today, they are reduced to living in just 6% of their former range. In many of these areas tigers are no longer even valued as free-ranging wild animals, but merely as products for financial profit, worth more dead than alive.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-tiger-farms-wild-animal-species.html

What do our climate refugees look like?

When the bushfires hit the town of Drake in NSW, Rod Simpson says he became one of Australia's first climate refugees. He's traveled across States, and the Tasman waters in search of a place to settle. More than a year on, he's still searching.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-climate-refugees.html

Consumers demanding more sustainability information from food industry

Shoppers don't trust the sustainability credentials being provided by the food industry, a new European survey shows.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-consumers-demanding-sustainability-food-industry.html

Fear of the light may help tiny ocean creatures survive a brighter future

An aversion to light has long been a survival tactic used by the smallest creatures in our ocean, but research co-led by the University of Strathclyde has discovered this photophobia may already be protecting them against impacts of environmental changes in the Arctic.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-tiny-ocean-creatures-survive-brighter.html

New model describes wave behavior in straits, predicts killer waves

A Skoltech researcher has developed a theoretical model of wave formation in straits and channels that accounts for nonlinear effects in the presence of a coastline. This research can improve wave prediction, making maritime travel safer and protecting coastline infrastructure. The paper was published in the journal Ocean Dynamics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-behavior-straits-killer.html

10-year battle of sea urchins vs. invasive seaweed

The first hatchery-raised sea urchins outplanted in Kāneʻohe Bay are 10-years-old, and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit (PCSU) and the State of Hawaiʻi Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) are celebrating the milestone anniversary. The sea urchin hatchery, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and DAR, successfully transplanted the first cohort in January 2011 and has since released 600,000 sea urchins across the state.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-year-sea-urchins-invasive-seaweed.html

Researchers discover mechanism behind influence of irradiation defects on tritium permeation barrier

Recently, researchers led by Prof. Zhou Haishan from the Institute of Plasma Physics (ASIPP) of the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) reported their new findings about the influence of irradiation effects on hydrogen permeation through alpha-alumina (α-Al2O3) tritium permeation barrier (TPB).

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-mechanism-irradiation-defects-tritium-permeation.html

When natural disasters and pandemics strike together, expect a slow recovery

When a pandemic and a natural disaster hit a community simultaneously, disease exposure and social distancing can limit the availability of critical personnel, leaving a community positioned for a lengthy recovery. With both types of events expected to occur with increasing frequency, a team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been running simulations to better understand how communities can weather concurrent crises.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-natural-disasters-pandemics-recovery.html

Researchers send entangled qubit states through a communication channel for the first time

In a breakthrough for quantum computing, University of Chicago researchers have sent entangled qubit states through a communication cable linking one quantum network node to a second node.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-entangled-qubit-states-channel.html

Benefits of team building exercises jeopardized if not truly voluntary

Zoom dress up parties and 'trust falls' - team building has become the go-to tool for managers trying to increase rapport and productivity, but many employees resent compulsory bonding, often regarding it as the bane of their workplace existence.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-benefits-team-jeopardized-voluntary.html

Image: Greener way to get satellites moving

A sustained test firing of a 'green' satellite thruster at Poland's Institute of Aviation, intended as a future alternative to today's hydrazine-based apogee engines, typically used by telecommunication satellites to maneuver into their final geostationary orbits.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-image-greener-satellites.html

Allergy season starts earlier each year due to climate change and pollen transport

Allergy sufferers are no strangers to problems with pollen. But now, due to climate change, the pollen season is lasting longer and starting earlier than ever before, meaning more days of itchy eyes and runny noses. Warmer temperatures cause flowers to bloom earlier, while higher CO2 levels cause more pollen to be produced.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-allergy-season-earlier-year-due.html

Never too late: Pandemic propels older shoppers online

In November, Paula Mont did something new: The 86-year-old, who hasn't left her New Jersey senior living community in nearly a year, went shopping—online.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-late-pandemic-propels-older-shoppers.html

Australia passes law to make Google, Facebook pay for news

Australia's law forcing Google and Facebook to pay for news is ready to take effect, though the laws' architect said it will take time for the digital giants to strike media deals.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australia-law-google-facebook-news.html

Facebook says it will pay $1B over 3 years to news industry

Facebook, following in Google's footsteps, says it plans to invest $1 billion to "support the news industry" over the next three years.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-1b-years-news-industry.html

Study finds human-caused North Atlantic right whale deaths are being undercounted

A study co-authored by scientists at the New England Aquarium has found that known deaths of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales represent a fraction of the true death toll. This comes as the death of a calf and recent sightings of entangled right whales off the southeastern United States raise alarm.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-human-caused-north-atlantic-whale-deaths.html

A 4.4 million-year-old skeleton could reveal how early humans began to walk upright

Evolutionary expert Charles Darwin and others recognized a close evolutionary relationship between humans, chimps and gorillas based on their shared anatomies, raising some big questions: how are humans related to other primates, and exactly how did early humans move around? Research by a Texas A&M University professor may provide some answers.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-million-year-old-skeleton-reveal-early-humans.html

Scientists achieve breakthrough in culturing corals and sea anemones cells

Researchers have perfected the recipe for keeping sea anemone and coral cells alive in a petri dish for up to 12 days. The new study, led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, has important applications to study everything from evolutionary biology to human health.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-scientists-breakthrough-culturing-corals-sea.html

On the line: Watching nanoparticles get in shape

Liquid structures—liquid droplets that maintain a specific shape—are useful for a variety of applications, from food processing to cosmetics, medicine, and even petroleum extraction, but researchers have yet to tap into these exciting new materials' full potential because not much is known about how they form.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-line-nanoparticles.html

A-maze-ing pheasants have two ways of navigating

Pheasants fall into two groups in terms of how they find their way around—and the different types prefer slightly different habitats, new research shows.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-a-maze-ing-pheasants-ways.html

Nanobodies could help CRISPR turn genes on and off

The genetic tool CRISPR has been likened to molecular scissors for its ability to snip out and replace genetic code within DNA. But CRISPR has a capability that could make it useful beyond genetic repairs. "CRISPR can precisely locate specific genes," says Lacramioara Bintu, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford. "What we did was attach CRISPR to nanobodies to help it perform specific actions when it reached the right spot on DNA."

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nanobodies-crispr-genes.html

USPS selects Oshkosh Defense to build greener mail truck

The United States Post Office said Tuesday that it has chosen Oshkosh Defense to build its next-generation mail-delivery vehicle, part of an effort to make the USPS more environmentally friendly by switching a portion of its huge fleet to electric vehicles.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-usps-oshkosh-defense-greener-mail.html

Canada and Australia to coordinate on tech regulation: Ottawa

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison plan to coordinate their efforts to make tech giants pay media outlets for their content, Ottawa said Tuesday after a conversation between the two leaders.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-canada-australia-tech-ottawa.html

Joy as whales refloated at notorious New Zealand stranding spot

A group of 28 pilot whales were successfully refloated at a notorious New Zealand beach where more than a dozen of the marine mammals died this week, jubilant rescuers said Wednesday.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-joy-whales-refloated-notorious-zealand.html

Victory for 'net neutrality' law in California

A federal judge late Tuesday cleared the way for California to begin enforcing a net neutrality law opposed by US telecom titans.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-victory-net-neutrality-law-california.html

US orders deeper testing after engine scare on Boeing plane

The US aviation regulator on Tuesday ordered a deeper inspection of the engines similar to the ones on a Boeing 777 aircraft that suffered a spectacular failure over Denver days earlier.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-deeper-boeing-plane.html

Chair of Japan automaker Suzuki to step down

Suzuki's chairman Osamu Suzuki will retire after more than four decades at the helm of the Japanese carmaker, the company said Wednesday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-chair-japan-automaker-suzuki.html

Jumping frost crystals: Lab works toward electrostatic de-icing

If you have ever gotten up on a winter morning and thrown yourself into the arduous task of scraping frost from a windshield, a Virginia Tech lab is engaging science [IS1] that could make your life much easier. In research funded by the National Science Foundation, Associate Professor Jonathan Borekyo has led a team in developing a potential solution for frost removal by way of electrostatics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-frost-crystals-lab-electrostatic-de-icing.html

China's Mars craft enters parking orbit before landing rover

China says its Tianwen-1 spacecraft has entered a temporary parking orbit around Mars in anticipation of landing a rover on the red planet in the coming months.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-china-mars-craft-orbit-rover.html

Mars rover's giant parachute carried secret message

The huge parachute used by NASA's Perseverance rover to land on Mars contained a secret message, thanks to a puzzle lover on the spacecraft team.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-mars-rover-giant-parachute-secret.html

Machine learning aids in simulating dynamics of interacting atoms

A revolutionary machine-learning (ML) approach to simulate the motions of atoms in materials such as aluminum is described in this week's Nature Communications journal. This automated approach to "interatomic potential development" could transform the field of computational materials discovery.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-machine-aids-simulating-dynamics-interacting.html

Mangrove forests store more carbon when they're more diverse

Mangrove forests with greater species diversity can store more carbon, according to new research published in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-mangrove-forests-carbon-theyre-diverse.html

How "ugly" labels can increase purchase of unattractive produce

Researchers from University of British Columbia published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines whether and how the use of 'ugly' labeling for unattractive produce increases sales and profit margins.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-ugly-unattractive.html

Oktoberfest memories increase life-satisfaction, customer loyalty

No one went to Oktoberfest in 2020, but chances are those who attended in the past are still thinking about it.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-oktoberfest-memories-life-satisfaction-customer-loyalty.html

Fighting fit cockroaches have 'hidden strength'

A new study has discovered that not all cockroaches are equal and "super athletes", with larger respiratory systems, are more likely to win physical mating battles.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-cockroaches-hidden-strength.html

Measuring carbon nanotubes taken up by plants

Carbon nanotubes are tiny. They can be a hundred thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair. But they have huge potential.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-carbon-nanotubes.html

Ancestry estimation perpetuates racism, white supremacy

Ancestry estimation—a method used by forensic anthropologists to determine ancestral origin by analyzing bone structures—is rooted in "race science" and perpetuates white supremacy, according to a new paper by a forensic anthropologist at Binghamton University, State University of New York.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-ancestry-perpetuates-racism-white-supremacy.html

Changes in writing style provide clues to group identity

Small changes to people's writing style can reveal which social group they "belong to" at a given moment, new research shows.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-style-clues-group-identity.html

Recycle anaesthetics to reduce carbon emission of healthcare, study concludes

New research has highlighted the value of recycling general anesthetic used in routine operations.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-recycle-anaesthetics-carbon-emission-healthcare.html

Buckyballs on DNA for harvesting light

Organic molecules that capture photons and convert these into electricity have important applications for producing green energy. Light-harvesting complexes need two semiconductors, an electron donor and an acceptor. How well they work is measured by their quantum efficiency, the rate by which photons are converted into electron-hole pairs.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-buckyballs-dna-harvesting.html

Red light put moths in the mood

Do you dim the lighting and turn on the red light for a romantic night in with your partner? It turns out moths aren't so different in that regard. A new study published in Frontiers in Genetics shows that dim red light boosts sexual activity in a model species, the yellow peach moth Conogethes punctiferalis (family Crambidae), by selectively activating a genetic pathway related to olfaction in the antennae. This pathway ultimately makes males more sensitive to the odor of the female sex pheromone and thus more motivated to mate.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-red-moths-mood.html

How did dogs get to the Americas? An ancient bone fragment holds clues

The history of dogs has been intertwined, since ancient times, with that of the humans who domesticated them.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-dogs-americas-ancient-bone-fragment.html

Game theory may be useful in explaining and combating viruses

A team of researchers concludes that a game-theory approach may offer new insights into both the spread and disruption of viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2. Its work, described in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, applies a "signaling game" to an analysis of cellular processes in illuminating molecular behavior.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-game-theory-combating-viruses.html

New sensor paves way to low-cost sensitive methane measurements

Researchers have developed a new sensor that could allow practical and low-cost detection of low concentrations of methane gas. Measuring methane emissions and leaks is important to a variety of industries because the gas contributes to global warming and air pollution.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-sensor-paves-low-cost-sensitive-methane.html

Novel microorganism has potential to treat high-ammonium wastewater

Water pollution has become increasingly serious, and the main pollutant in most water bodies is nitrogen. Microbial nitrification/denitrification is one of the most effective nitrogen removal pathways for wastewater.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-microorganism-potential-high-ammonium-wastewater.html

New system for evidence-based mushroom classification

A new system for evidence-based mushroom classification seeks to reduce poisoning events and clarify edibility status, according to a review published this year.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-evidence-based-mushroom-classification.html

Whale sharks show remarkable capacity to recover from injuries

A new study has for the first time explored the extraordinary rate at which the world's largest fish, the endangered whale shark, can recover from its injuries. The findings reveal that lacerations and abrasions, increasingly caused through collisions with boats, can heal in a matter of weeks and researchers found evidence of partially removed dorsal fins re-growing.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-whale-sharks-remarkable-capacity-recover.html

Climate change influences biodiversity evolution of birds, study shows

A research team from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that the biodiversity evolution of birds had been influenced mainly by long-term climatic changes and also by the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-climate-biodiversity-evolution-birds.html

Florida wants to stop these reptiles from becoming the next invasive species in the Everglades

Wildlife managers in Florida are finally moving to address an existential question: If the state is like an all-you-can eat buffet for invasive reptiles originally introduced as exotic pets, then why are some of those species still imported and sold by breeders and pet stores?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-florida-reptiles-invasive-species-everglades.html

Martian moons have a common ancestor

Mars's two moons, Phobos and Deimos, have puzzled researchers since their discovery in 1877. They are very small: Phobos's diameter of 22 kilometers is 160 times smaller than that of our moon, and Deimos is even smaller, with a diameter of only 12 kilometers. "Our moon is essentially spherical, while the moons of Mars are very irregularly shaped—like potatoes," says Amirhossein Bagheri, a doctoral student at the Institute of Geophysics at ETH Zurich, adding: "Phobos and Deimos look more like asteroids than natural moons."

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-martian-moons-common-ancestor.html

Researchers find a single-celled slime mold with no nervous system that remembers food locations

Having a memory of past events enables us to take smarter decisions about the future. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPIDS) and Technical University of Munich (TUM) identify the basis for forming memories in the slime mold Physarum polycephalum—despite its lack of a nervous system.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-single-celled-slime-mold-nervous-food.html

Novice drivers talking on hand-held smartphones are more likely to run red-lights

Young novice drivers who speak into handheld smartphones while driving are also likely to drive while under the influence of drink or drugs, according to researchers at Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-novice-drivers-hand-held-smartphones-red-lights.html

Climate-friendly foam building insulation may do more harm than good

The use of the polymeric flame retardant PolyFR in "eco-friendly" foam plastic building insulation may be harmful to human health and the environment, according to a new commentary in Environmental Science & Technology. The authors' analysis identifies several points during the lifecycle of foam insulation that may expose workers, communities, and ecosystems to PolyFR and its potentially toxic breakdown products.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-climate-friendly-foam-insulation-good.html

Metal fatigue suspected in United Airlines engine scare

Metal fatigue has emerged as chief suspect in last week's spectacular engine failure on a United Airlines plane, which scattered debris over suburban Denver and led to dozens of Boeing 777 aircraft being grounded worldwide.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-metal-fatigue-airlines.html

Pushing the single-exposure patterning capability of 0.33NA EUVL to its extreme limits

This week, at the 2021 SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, imec, a world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics and digital technologies, and ASML, the world's leading manufacturer of semiconductor lithography equipment, present several papers that demonstrate the ultimate single-exposure patterning capability of today's 0.33NA NXE:3400 extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). Process optimizations have enabled the patterning of dense 28nm pitch line/spaces with an Inpria metal-oxide resist in one single exposure, relevant for high-volume manufacturing. For the first time, optical and e-beam inspections were correlated with electrical data to gain further insights in improving stochastic defectivity—i.e., both breaks and bridges. In addition, source optimizations have led to printing the smallest pitch possible with the current NXE:3400 scanner (i.e., 24nm pitch line/spaces and 28nm pitch contact holes), allowing for early material development required for high-NA EUV lithography scanners.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-single-exposure-patterning-capability-033na-euvl.html

Climate impacts drive east-west divide in forest seed production

Younger, smaller trees that comprise much of North America's eastern forests have increased their seed production under climate change, but older, larger trees that dominate forests in much of the West have been less responsive, a new Duke University-led study finds.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-climate-impacts-east-west-forest-seed.html

Imec demonstrates 20-nm pitch line/space resist imaging with high-NA EUV interference lithography

Imec reports for the first time the use of a 13.5-nm, high-harmonic-generation source for the printing of 20-nm pitch line/spaces using interference lithographic imaging of an Inpria metal-oxide resist under high-numerical-aperture (high-NA) conditions. The demonstrated high-NA capability of the EUV interference lithography using this EUV source presents an important milestone of the AttoLab, a research facility initiated by imec and KMLabs to accelerate the development of the high-NA patterning ecosystem on 300 mm wafers. The interference tool will be used to explore the fundamental dynamics of photoresist imaging and provide patterned 300 mm wafers for process development before the first 0.55 high-NA EXE5000 prototype from ASML becomes available.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-imec-nm-pitch-linespace-resist.html

Ape escape: Indonesian orangutans airlifted back to the wild

Ten orangutans have been airlifted back to their natural habitat on Indonesia's Borneo island, in the first release of the apes into the wild for a year due to the dangers of coronavirus infection.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-ape-indonesian-orangutans-airlifted-wild.html

Why the world is watching Australia's tussle with Big Tech

Facebook agreed to roll back a ban on news for Australian users after the government made changes to a proposed media law that had sparked the blackout last week.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-world-australia-tussle-big-tech-1.html

Facebook says it will lift its Australian news ban soon

Facebook said on Tuesday it will lift its ban on Australians sharing news after it struck a deal with Australia's government on legislation that would make digital giants pay for journalism.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-australian-news.html

India's endangered lion prides conquer disease to roam free

Three years after a deadly virus struck India's endangered Asiatic lions in their last remaining natural habitat, conservationists are hunting for new homes to help booming prides roam free.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-india-endangered-lion-prides-conquer.html

Epic Games pays virtual money in loot box settlement

Fortnite-maker Epic Games on Monday put out word it is paying the equivalent of about $8 worth of its virtual money to some players to settle a lawsuit over so-called random-item "loot boxes."

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-epic-games-virtual-money-loot.html

Stranded whales refloated in New Zealand but concerns remain

Rescuers successfully refloated 28 pilot whales stranded on a notorious stretch of New Zealand's coast Tuesday, but the mammals remained close to shore and could beach themselves again, wildlife officials said.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-stranded-whales-refloated-zealand.html

Facebook to restore Australia news pages after deal on media law

Facebook said Tuesday it will lift a contentious ban on Australian news pages, after the government agreed to amend a world-first law requiring tech giants to pay media companies.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-australia-news-pages-media.html

New Zealand volunteers refloat 28 whales in rescue effort

Volunteers in New Zealand were optimistic they could save the 28 whales that remain from a mass-stranding after refloating them Tuesday for the second time in two days.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-zealand-volunteers-refloat-whales-effort.html

How to repurpose a factory in a crisis

Medical suppliers must change how they manage their supply chains, and factories need to be able to rapidly pivot to manufacturing different products, in order to respond quickly to the next major crisis and avoid shortages of vital medical goods, experts say.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-repurpose-factory-crisis.html

Future ocean warming boosts tropical rainfall extremes

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is the most energetic naturally occurring year-to-year variation of ocean temperature and rainfall on the planet. The irregular swings between warm and wet El Niño conditions in the equatorial Pacific and the cold and dry La Niña event influence weather conditions worldwide, with impacts on ecosystems, agriculture and economies. Climate models predict that the difference between El Niño- and La Niña-related tropical rainfall will increase over the next 80 years, even though the temperature difference between El Niño and La Niña may change only very little in response to global warming. A new study published in Communications Earth & Environment uncovers the reasons for this surprising fact.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-future-ocean-boosts-tropical-rainfall.html

Physics of particle dispersion may lend insight into reducing the airborne spread of COVID-19 virus

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists are leveraging their extensive experience studying the movement of airborne hazards to better understand the movement of virus-like particles through the air and to identify effective countermeasures.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-physics-particle-dispersion-insight-airborne.html

DNA from 360,000-year-old bone reveals oldest non-permafrost genome

Scientists have successfully sequenced the genome of an extinct cave bear using a 360,000-year-old bone—the oldest genome of any organism from a non-permafrost environment.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-dna-year-old-bone-reveals-oldest.html

Colorful connection found in coral's ability to survive higher temperatures

Anyone who visits the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Southeast Asia's coral triangle, or the reefs of Central America will surely speak of the stunning and vibrant environments. Indeed, coral reefs are believed to house more biodiversity than any other ecosystem on the planet, with the coral providing protection and shelter for hundreds of species of fish and crustaceans.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-coral-ability-survive-higher-temperatures.html

A unique prototype of microbial life designed on actual Martian material

Experimental microbially assisted chemolithotrophy provides an opportunity to trace the putative bioalteration processes of the Martian crust. A study on the Noachian Martian breccia Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034, composed of ancient (ca. 4.5 Gyr old) crustal materials from Mars has delivered a unique prototype of microbial life experimentally designed on actual Martian material. As the researchers show in the current issue of Nature Communications Earth and Environment, this life form of a pure Martian design is a rich source of Martian-relevant biosignatures. The study was led by Tetyana Milojevic, the head of the Space Biochemistry group at the University of Vienna.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-unique-prototype-microbial-life-actual.html

Optical frequency combs with a new dimension

Periodic pulses of light forming a comb in the frequency domain are widely used for sensing and ranging. The key to the miniaturization of this technology toward chip-integrated solutions is the generation of dissipative solitons in ring-shaped microresonators. Dissipative solitons are stable pulses circulating around the circumference of a nonlinear resonator.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-optical-frequency-dimension.html

The melting of large icebergs is a key stage in the evolution of ice ages

Antarctic iceberg melt could hold the key to the activation of a series of mechanisms that cause the Earth to suffer prolonged periods of global cooling, according to Francisco J. Jiménez-Espejo, a researcher at the Andalusian Earth Sciences Institute (CSIC-UGR), whose discoveries were recently published in Nature.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-large-icebergs-key-stage-evolution.html

Parasite dispersal capacity and rates of genetic introgression—a study

The physical movement of species determines their potential scope to leave their primary ecosystem behind in the quest for new niches in which to survive or reproduce—a decisive factor for the processes that determine their genomic characteristics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-parasite-dispersal-capacity-genetic-introgressiona.html

Bone cancer survivor to join billionaire on SpaceX flight

After beating bone cancer, Hayley Arceneaux figures rocketing into orbit on SpaceX's first private flight should be a piece of cosmic cake.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-bone-cancer-survivor-billionaire-spacex.html

Mogul vs Mogul: Australia's tech law pits Murdoch against Zuckerberg

Australia's push to regulate tech giants has become a power struggle between two of the world's most powerful men, with Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg locked in a generational battle for media dominance.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-mogul-australia-tech-law-pits.html

Air New Zealand to trial digital COVID 'vaccination passport'

Air New Zealand will trial a digital travel pass to give airlines and border authorities access to passenger health information, including their COVID-19 vaccination status, the carrier said Monday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-air-zealand-trial-digital-covid.html

Boeing urges grounding of over a hundred 777s after engine fire

The US Federal Aviation Administration ordered extra inspections Sunday of some Boeing 777 passenger jets, after a United Airlines flight suffered engine failure a day earlier, scattering debris across a Colorado community.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-boeing-urges-grounding-777s.html

Australia health chiefs freeze Facebook ads

Australia's health department will no longer advertise on Facebook, it has announced, the latest escalation of the government's feud with the social media giant, which continues to block news content from its platform in the country.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australia-health-chiefs-facebook-ads.html

Global tech firms in Australia launch anti-disinformation code

Global tech firms in Australia unveiled a new code of practice Monday to curb the spread of disinformation online, following pressure from the government.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-global-tech-firms-australia-anti-disinformation.html

Dozens of whales strand at notorious New Zealand bay

Rescuers were racing Monday to save dozens of pilot whales that beached on a stretch of New Zealand coast notorious for mass strandings, wildlife officials said.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-volunteers-zealand-stranded-whales.html

There is no one-size-fits-all road to sustainability on "Patchwork Earth"

In a world as diverse as our own, the journey towards a sustainable future will look different depending on where in the world we live, according to a recent paper published in One Earth and led by McGill University, with researchers from the Stockholm Resilience Centre.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-one-size-fits-all-road-sustainability-patchwork-earth.html

Rapid evolution may help species adapt to climate change and competition

Loss of biodiversity in the face of climate change is a growing worldwide concern. Another major factor driving the loss of biodiversity is the establishment of invasive species, which often displace native species. A new study shows that species can adapt rapidly to an invader and that this evolutionary change can affect how they deal with a stressful climate.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-rapid-evolution-species-climate-competition.html

Life from Earth could temporarily survive on Mars

Some microbes on Earth could temporarily survive on the surface of Mars, finds a new study by NASA and German Aerospace Center scientists. The researchers tested the endurance of microorganisms to Martian conditions by launching them into the Earth's stratosphere, as it closely represents key conditions on the Red Planet. Published in Frontiers in Microbiology, this work paves the way for understanding not only the threat of microbes to space missions, but also the opportunities for resource independence from Earth.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-life-earth-temporarily-survive-mars.html

Pioneering research reveals gardens are secret powerhouse for pollinators

Home gardens are by far the biggest source of food for pollinating insects, including bees and wasps, in cities and towns, according to new research.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-reveals-gardens-secret-powerhouse-pollinators.html

Drones used to locate dangerous, unplugged oil wells

There are millions of unplugged oil wells in the United States, which pose a serious threat to the environment. Using drones, researchers from Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a new method to locate these hard-to-locate and dangerous wells.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-drones-dangerous-unplugged-oil-wells.html

Study of auto recalls shows carmakers delay announcements until they 'hide in the herd'

Automotive recalls are occurring at record levels, but seem to be announced after inexplicable delays. A research study of 48 years of auto recalls announced in the United States finds carmakers frequently wait to make their announcements until after a competitor issues a recall—even if it is unrelated to similar defects.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-auto-recalls-carmakers-herd.html

Stress was leading reason teachers quit before pandemic, and COVID has made matters worse

Stress was the most common reason teachers cited for leaving the profession before and during the pandemic, according to a RAND Corporation survey of nearly 1,000 former public-school teachers. Three of four former teachers said work was often or always stressful in the most recent year in which they taught in a public school.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-stress-teachers-pandemic-covid-worse.html

Bioengineered hybrid muscle fiber for regenerative medicine

Muscle constitutes the largest organ in humans, accounting for 40% of body mass, and it plays an essential role in maintaining life. Muscle tissue is notable for its unique ability for spontaneous regeneration. However, in serious injuries such as those sustained in car accidents or tumor resection which results in a volumetric muscle loss (VML), the muscle's ability to recover is greatly diminished. Currently, VML treatments comprise surgical interventions with autologous muscle flaps or grafts accompanied by physical therapy. However, surgical procedures often lead to reduced muscular function, and in some cases result in a complete graft failure. Thus, there is a demand for additional therapeutic options to improve muscle loss recovery.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-bioengineered-hybrid-muscle-fiber-regenerative.html

NASA's Mars helicopter reports in

Mission controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have received the first status report from the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which landed Feb. 18, 2021, at Jezero Crater attached to the belly of the agency's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover. The downlink, which arrived at 3:30 p.m. PST (6:30 p.m. EST) via a connection through the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, indicates that both the helicopter, which will remain attached to the rover for 30 to 60 days, and its base station (an electrical box on the rover that stores and routes communications between the rotorcraft and Earth) are operating as expected.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-mars-helicopter.html

Privacy faces risks in tech-infused post-COVID workplace

People returning to work following the long pandemic will find an array of tech-infused gadgetry to improve workplace safety but which could pose risks for long-term personal and medical privacy.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-privacy-tech-infused-post-covid-workplace.html

Warmer winters threaten Canada's seasonal ice roads

Canadian Gilbert Cardin worries about the future of the ice road he maintains every winter on a frozen river west of Montreal.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-warmer-winters-threaten-canada-seasonal.html

Power failure: How a winter storm pushed Texas into crisis

Two days before the storm began, Houston's chief elected official warned her constituents to prepare as they would for a major hurricane. Many took heed: Texans who could stocked up on food and water, while nonprofits and government agencies set out to help those who couldn't.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-power-failure-winter-storm-texas.html

Frozen pipes, electric woes remain as cold snap eases grip

Higher temperatures spread across the southern United States on Saturday, bringing relief to a winter-weary region that faces a challenging clean-up and expensive repairs from days of extreme cold and widespread power outages.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-frozen-pipes-electric-woes-cold.html

Italy taps German archaeologist to oversee Pompeii ruins

A German-born archaeologist has been chosen to be the next director of Pompeii, which is still revealing its ancient mysteries centuries after a volcanic eruption destroyed the Roman city and is one of Italy's most popular tourist sites.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-italy-german-archaeologist-oversee-pompeii.html

Kroger is latest victim of third-party software data breach

Kroger Co. says it was among the multiple victims of a data breach involving a third-party vendor's file-transfer service and is notifying potentially impacted customers, offering them free credit monitoring.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-kroger-latest-victim-third-party-software.html

Israel shuts Mediterranean shore after oil devastates coast

Israel closed all its Mediterranean beaches until further notice on Sunday, days after an offshore oil spill deposited an estimated dozens of tons of tar across more than 100 miles of coastline in what officials are calling one of the country's worst ecological disasters.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-israel-mediterranean-shore-oil-devastates.html

Space station launch honors 'Hidden Figures' mathematician

A space station supply ship named after the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie "Hidden Figures" rocketed into orbit Saturday, the 59th anniversary of John Glenn's historic launch.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-space-station-honors-hidden-figures.html

America has sent five rovers to Mars—when will humans follow?

With its impeccable landing on Thursday, NASA's Perseverance became the fifth rover to reach Mars—so when can we finally expect the long-held goal of a crewed expedition to materialize?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-america-rovers-marswhen-humans.html

Floods cripple Indonesia's capital

Whole neighbourhoods of Indonesia's capital Jakarta and dozens of major roads were flooded on Saturday after torrential rains pounded the Southeast Asian city overnight.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-cripple-indonesia-capital.html

Airlines plan to ask passengers for contact-tracing details

The U.S. airline industry is pledging to expand the practice of asking passengers on flights to the United States for information that public health officials could use for contact tracing during the pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-airlines-passengers-contact-tracing.html

Southern cities hit hard by storms face new crisis: No water

Southern cities slammed by winter storms that left millions without power for days have traded one crisis for another: Busted water pipes ruptured by record-low temperatures created shortages of clean drinking water, shut down the Memphis airport on Friday and left hospitals struggling to maintain sanitary conditions.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-southern-cities-hard-storms-crisis.html

Google fires another lead AI ethics researcher

Google said Friday it fired a lead artificial intelligence ethics researcher, following controversy last year over the tech giant's dismissal of a Black colleague who was an outspoken diversity advocate.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-google-ai-protested-peer-departure.html

Fuel for earliest life forms: Organic molecules found in 3.5 billion-year-old rocks

A research team including the geobiologist Dr. Helge Missbach from the University of Cologne has detected organic molecules and gases trapped in 3.5-billion-year-old rocks. A widely accepted hypothesis says that the earliest life forms used small organic molecules as building materials and energy sources. However, the existence of such components in early habitats on Earth was as yet unproven. The current study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that solutions from archaic hydrothermal vents contained essential components that formed a basis for the earliest life on our planet.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-fuel-earliest-life-molecules-billion-year-old.html

CSI Solid-State: The fingerprints of quantum effects

In solid-state physics, the precise interactions of electrons are analyzed through meticulous detective work, ultimately to gain a better understanding of fundamental physical phenomena.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-csi-solid-state-fingerprints-quantum-effects.html

Saharan dust expected to hit Europe again this weekend

Dust and sand particles whipped up from the Sahara will once again blanket skies over Europe this weekend, impacting air quality, the European Union's Copernicus satellite monitoring service said Friday.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-saharan-europe-weekend.html

French village says 'non' to Elon Musk's space-age internet

To realise his dream of satellite-powered internet, tech billionaire Elon Musk needs to install antennas around the world. In northern France, a village hopes he'll decide to keep those antennas far away.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-french-village-elon-musk-space-age.html

China considers new actions to lift flagging birthrate

China is considering additional measures to increase its flagging birthrate, more than four years after ending its controversial one-child policy.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-china-actions-flagging-birthrate.html

Honda taps tech expert as chief to steer in ecological times

Toshihiro Mibe, a research expert tapped to be president of Japanese automaker Honda on Friday, promised to steer the company toward new growth by focusing on ecological models and safety technology.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-honda-tech-expert-chief-ecological.html

COVID-19: Future targets for treatments rapidly identified with new computer simulations

Researchers have detailed a mechanism in the distinctive corona of COVID-19 that could help scientists to rapidly find new treatments for the virus, and quickly test whether existing treatments are likely to work with mutated versions as they develop.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-covid-future-treatments-rapidly-simulations.html

How to calculate the social cost of carbon? Researchers offer roadmap in new analysis

The Biden administration is revising the social cost of carbon (SCC), a decade-old cost-benefit metric used to inform climate policy by placing a monetary value on the impact of climate change. In a newly published analysis in the journal Nature, a team of researchers lists a series of measures the administration should consider in recalculating the SCC.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-social-carbon-roadmap-analysis.html

Quartz crystals in the stomach of fossil bird complicates the mystery of its diet

It's hard to know what prehistoric animals' lives were like—even answering seemingly simple questions, like what they ate, can be a challenge. Sometimes, paleontologists get lucky, and pristine fossils will preserve an animal's stomach contents or provide other clues. In a new study in Frontiers in Earth Science, researchers investigating the fossil of a bird that lived alongside the dinosaurs got more questions than answers when they found quartz crystals in the bird's stomach.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-quartz-crystals-stomach-fossil-bird.html

Congress to question US internet giants over disinformation

The chiefs of Facebook, Google and Twitter are slated to testify on March 25 at a US congressional hearing on misinformation plaguing online platforms.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-congress-internet-giants-disinformation.html

UK top court to rule on Uber drivers' status

Britain's Supreme Court is to rule Friday on the employment status of Uber drivers in a judgement with wider implications for the "gig economy".

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-uk-court-uber-drivers-status.html

Touchdown: NASA's Perseverance rover ready to search for life on Mars

After seven months in space, NASA's Perseverance rover overcame a tense landing phase with a series of perfectly executed maneuvers to gently float down to the Martian soil Thursday and embark on its mission to search for signs of past life.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-touchdown-nasa-perseverance-rover-ready.html

Bitcoin goldrush sparks fears of speculative bubble

Bitcoin has enjoyed a record-breaking week after electric carmaker Tesla and Wall Street finance giants sparked a goldrush for the world's most popular virtual currency, but bubble fears persist.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-bitcoin-goldrush-speculative.html

Chatty robot Franzi cheers up German patients

Cleaning robot Franzi makes sure floors are spotless at the Munich hospital where she works, and has taken on a new role during the pandemic: cheering up patients and staff.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-chatty-robot-franzi-german-patients.html

Facebook inflated its advertising audiences: lawsuit

Facebook inflated estimates about how many people would see targeted ads, but ignored the problem in order to generate more revenue, according to civil suit documents unveiled Thursday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-inflated-advertising-audiences-lawsuit.html

Renault says pandemic pushed it into record loss in 2020

French automaker Renault said Friday it booked a record loss in 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic hit its performance and looked set to weigh on the outlook this year as well.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-renault-pandemic-loss.html

India's glacier disaster highlights Himalayan dangers

Long before this month's deadly flash flood in a remote Indian Himalayan valley, Kundan Singh Rana knew that all the construction work in the fragile region would one day mean disaster.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-india-glacier-disaster-highlights-himalayan.html

Indonesia volcano erupts, spews red-hot lava

Indonesia's Mount Merapi, one of the world's most active volcanoes, erupted on Friday, belching out fiery red lava.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-indonesia-volcano-erupts-spews-red-hot.html

Massive breach fuels calls for US action on cybersecurity

Jolted by a sweeping hack that may have revealed government and corporate secrets to Russia, U.S. officials are scrambling to reinforce the nation's cyber defenses and recognizing that an agency created two years ago to protect America's networks and infrastructure lacks the money, tools and authority to counter such sophisticated threats.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-massive-breach-fuels-action-cybersecurity.html

Kia and Hyundai recovering from days-long network outages

Kia Motors America says it's restoring services crippled by a computer network outage that began Saturday and which apparently affected dealers' ability to order vehicles and parts and knocked offline a smartphone app that owners use to remotely start and warm up vehicles.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-kia-hyundai-recovering-days-long-network.html

Australian leader urges Facebook to lift its news blockade

Australia's prime minister on Friday urged Facebook to lift its blockade of Australian users and return to the negotiating table with news publishing businesses, warning that other countries would follow his government's example in making digital giants pay for journalism.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australian-leader-urges-facebook-news.html

What happens when consumers pick their own prices?

Researchers from California Polytechnic State University and University of Oregon published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines the potential benefits for firms and consumers of pick-your-price (PYP) over pay-what-you-want (PWYW) and fixed pricing strategies.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-consumers-prices.html

Researchers design more secure mobile contact tracing

For public health officials, contact tracing remains critical to managing the spread of the coronavirus—particularly as it appears that variants of the virus could be more transmissible.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-mobile-contact.html

Misinformation fears after Facebook blacks out news in Australia

Facebook's news blackout in Australia has raised fears misinformation could come to dominate the platform in the country, with fake news and conspiracy theories left untouched while credible sources have been cut off.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-misinformation-facebook-blacks-news-australia.html

Why the world is watching Australia's tussle with Big Tech

Facebook's decision to pull news from its platform in Australia comes in response to legislation that would force tech giants to pay for sharing news content.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-world-australia-tussle-big-tech.html

Behind the power crisis in petroleum center Texas

Some 2.7 million households in Texas were still without power as of Wednesday morning in the wake of extremely cold weather buffeting the region.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-power-crisis-petroleum-center-texas.html

At the foot of the Pyrenees planes put out to pasture

Under the snow-capped Pyrenees, dozens of planes are lined up like toys on a shelf, at one of several airports in southern Europe where parking planes has become big business thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-foot-pyrenees-planes-pasture.html

Learning lifeline for London kids struggling to do online lessons

In a community centre in a deprived London suburb—surrounded by old computers and tangled leads—volunteers take their screwdrivers to the piles of donated equipment.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-lifeline-london-kids-struggling-online.html

In shock move, Facebook blocks news access in Australia

In a shocking act of retaliation Thursday, Facebook blocked Australians from sharing news, a milestone in the increasingly frantic jockeying between governments, media and powerful tech companies.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-blocks-news-access-australia.html

'7 minutes of terror': Perserverance rover's nail-biting landing phase

Seven months after blast-off, NASA's Mars 2020 mission will have to negotiate its shortest and most intense phase on Thursday: the "seven minutes of terror" it takes to slam the brakes and land the Perseverance rover on a narrow target on the planet's surface.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-minutes-terror-perserverance-rover-nail-biting.html

Was there ever life on Mars? NASA's Perseverance rover wants to find out

Seven months in space, a mission that was decades in the making and cost billions of dollars, all to answer the question: was there ever life on Mars?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-life-mars-nasa-perseverance-rover.html

Pandemic savages airline sector

Dizzying losses, the looming threat of bankruptcies and tens of thousands of people thrown out of work: the aviation industry has been devastated by COVID-19 and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel. The sector may be unrecognisable when it finally emerges.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-pandemic-savages-airline-sector.html

Cost controls, luxury sales help Daimler weather pandemic

Car and truck maker Daimler AG increased its profits by 48% to 4.0 billion euros ($4.8 billion euros) in 2020 thanks to extensive cost-cutting and a sales recovery in the second half for its highly profitable Merecedes-Benz luxury cars and sport-utility vehicles.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-luxury-sales-daimler-weather-pandemic.html

Frigid temperatures, power outages lead to water problems

About 7 million people in Texas—a quarter of the nation's second-most populous state—were told to boil their water or stop using it entirely as homeowners, hospitals, and businesses grappled with broken water mains and burst pipes, many in areas unaccustomed to dealing with sustained frigid temperatures.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-frigid-temperatures-power-outages-problems.html

Waymo brings robo-taxis to San Francisco in new test

Waymo, the autonomous driving unit of Google parent Alphabet, said Wednesday it would begin testing its driverless ride-hailing service on the streets of San Francisco.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-waymo-robo-taxis-san-francisco.html

Air pollution caused 160,000 deaths in big cities last year: NGO

Serious pollution caused around 160,000 premature deaths in the world's five most populous cities last year, even as air quality improved in some places due to coronavirus lockdowns, an environmental group said Thursday.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-air-pollution-deaths-big-cities.html

Pandemic pushes Air France-KLM deep into red in 2020

Air France-KLM said Thursday that the coronavirus pandemic "severely impacted" its earnings in 2020, pushing it deep into a net loss of 7.1 billion euros ($8.6 billion).

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-pandemic-air-france-klm-deep-red.html

'Perfect storm': phones, consoles could get pricier as chip crisis bites

Prices of popular gadgets such as PlayStations and iPhones could rise because of microchip shortages caused by a "perfect storm" of coronavirus-driven demand, supply chain disruptions and trade war stockpiling, experts warn.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-storm-consoles-pricier-chip-crisis.html

EXPLAINER: What's up between Google, Facebook and Australia?

For two decades, global news outlets have complained internet companies are getting rich at their expense, selling advertising linked to their reports without sharing revenue.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-google-facebook-australia.html

Power outages linger for millions as another icy storm looms

Utility crews raced Wednesday to restore power to nearly 3.4 million customers around the U.S. who were still without electricity or heat in the aftermath of a deadly winter storm while another blast of ice and snow threatened to sow more chaos.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-power-outages-linger-millions-icy.html

NASA rover streaks toward a landing on Mars

A NASA rover streaked toward a landing on Mars on Thursday in the riskiest step yet in an epic quest to bring back rocks that could answer whether life ever existed on the red planet.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-rover-streaks-mars.html

Facebook blocks Australians from accessing news on platform

Facebook announced Thursday it has blocked Australians from viewing and sharing news on the platform because of proposed laws in the country to make digital giants pay for journalism.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-facebook-blocks-australians-accessing-news.html

Study finds no gender discrimination when leaders use confident language

People tend to listen to big talkers, whether they are women or men. Still, more women prefer not to use assertive language, according to a new study led by Washington State University economist Shanthi Manian.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-gender-discrimination-leaders-confident-language.html

Oil spill has long-term immunological effects in dolphins

A study published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry has found long-term impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico on bottlenose dolphins' immune function.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-oil-long-term-immunological-effects-dolphins.html

How likely are consumers to adopt artificial intelligence for banking advice?

A new study published in Economic Inquiry is the first to assess the willingness of consumers to adopt advisory services in the banking sector that are based on artificial intelligence (AI). Investigators examined whether the likelihood that consumers adopt AI in banking services depends on tastes for human interaction across different cultures.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-consumers-artificial-intelligence-banking-advice.html

AI may mistake chess discussions as racist talk

"The Queen's Gambit," the recent TV mini-series about a chess master, may have stirred increased interest in chess, but a word to the wise: social media talk about game-piece colors could lead to misunderstandings, at least for hate-speech detection software.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-ai-chess-discussions-racist.html

Wintering bird communities track climate change faster than breeding communities in Europe and North America

A study recently completed in Europe and North America indicates that the composition of wintering and breeding bird communities changes in line with global warming. However, wintering bird communities are considerably faster at tracking the changing climate compared to breeding communities.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-wintering-bird-track-climate-faster.html

Reduced nickel content and improved stability and performance in ceramic fuel cells

A research team in Korea has developed a ceramic fuel cell that offers both stability and high performance while reducing the required amount of catalyst by a factor of 20. The application range for ceramic fuel cells, which have so far only been used for large-scale power generation due to the difficulties associated with frequent start-ups, can be expected to expand to new fields, such as electric vehicles, robots, and drones.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nickel-content-stability-ceramic-fuel.html

Epic Games files EU antitrust complaint against Apple

Epic Games said Wednesday it filed an antitrust complaint against Apple with European Union regulators, opening a new front in its war with the tech giant over app store payments.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-epic-games-eu-antitrust-complaint.html

Russian cargo ship docks at International Space Station

An unmanned Russian cargo ship docked at the International Space Station Wednesday with a load of supplies.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-russian-cargo-ship-docks-international.html

Daimler partners with Amazon on self-driving trucks

German automobile giant Daimler, the world leader in heavy-goods vehicles, said Wednesday that it had enlisted Amazon to help with its testing of Level 4 self-driving trucks.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-daimler-partners-amazon-self-driving-trucks.html

Greece races to restore power grid as cold snap recedes

Crews in Greece on Wednesday raced to restore power to tens of thousands of homes as a severe cold front receded after bringing heavy snowfall and gale-force winds that left three dead.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-greece-power-grid-cold-snap.html

Italy fines Facebook 7 mn euros over data protection

Italy's antitrust regulator announced Wednesday a new fine of 7.0 million euros ($8.45 million) against Facebook for misleading conduct on data protection.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-italy-fines-facebook-mn-euros.html

Cambodia sets up China-style internet firewall

Cambodia's government moved to exert near-total control over the country's online life Wednesday, setting up a national internet gateway which activists say will stifle freedom of expression and block content via a China-style firewall.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-cambodia-china-style-internet-firewall.html

Ford to spend $1B to switch German factory to electric cars

Ford says it will spend $1 billion to modernize its Cologne, Germany, manufacturing center, converting it into a European electric vehicle factory.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-ford-1b-german-factory-electric.html

A new, clearer insight into Earth's hidden crystals

Geologists have developed a new theory about the state of Earth billions of years ago after examining the very old rocks formed in the Earth's mantle below the continents.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-clearer-insight-earth-hidden-crystals.html

Airbus looks to A321 XLR to exit virus crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit aircraft manufacturers hard but Airbus is already looking towards a new plane to help drive its recovery and get a leg up on rival Boeing.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-airbus-a321-xlr-exit-virus.html

Scientists and indigenous people unite to save Colombian condor

Rosendo Quira silently shakes a medicinal plant to attract a condor to the bait. The bird of prey glides through the clouds over Colombia towards a mountain pass some 3,200 meters above the sea.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-scientists-indigenous-people-colombian-condor.html

Australia news media 'large and small' discuss Google deals

Google was quickly negotiating generous deals with big and small Australian media companies to pay for news as the Parliament considers forcing digital giants into such agreements, a minister said on Wednesday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australia-news-media-large-small.html

China steps up online controls with new rule for bloggers

Ma Xiaolin frequently wrote about current affairs on one of China's leading microblogging sites, where he has 2 million followers. But recently, he said in a post, the Weibo site called and asked him not to post original content on topics ranging from politics to economic and military issues.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-china-online-bloggers.html

Explainer: Topsy-turvy weather comes from polar vortex

It's as if the world has been turned upside-down, or at least its weather. You can blame the increasingly familiar polar vortex, which has brought a taste of the Arctic to places where winter often requires no more than a jacket.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-topsy-turvy-weather-polar-vortex.html

Plastic recycling results in rare metals being found in children's toys and food packaging

Some of the planet's rarest metals—used in the manufacture of smartphones and other electrical equipment—are increasingly being found in everyday consumer plastics, according to new research.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-plastic-recycling-results-rare-metals.html

The market advantage of a feminine brand name

Researchers from University of Calgary, University of Montana, HEC Paris, and University of Cincinnati published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that explores the linguistic aspects of a name that can influence brand perceptions without people even realizing it.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-advantage-feminine-brand.html

Electricity source determines benefits of electrifying China's vehicles

Each year an estimated 1.2 million Chinese citizens die prematurely due to poor air quality. And public health consequences are particularly dire during extreme air quality events, such as infamous "Airpocalypse" winter haze episodes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-electricity-source-benefits-electrifying-china.html

CT scans of Egyptian mummy reveal new details about the death of a pivotal pharaoh

Modern medical technology is helping scholars tell a more nuanced story about the fate of an ancient king whose violent death indirectly led to the reunification of Egypt in the 16th century BC. The research was published in Frontiers in Medicine.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-ct-scans-egyptian-mummy-reveal.html

Breeding better seeds: Healthy food for more people

Your morning cereal or oatmeal. The bread on your sandwich. The corn chips for your snack, and the cookies for dessert. Not one would be possible with the humblest of ingredients: the seed.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-seeds-healthy-food-people.html

Tourists could be spreading the virus causing COVID-19 to wild mountain gorillas by taking selfies with the animals

Tourists could be spreading the virus causing COVID-19 to wild mountain gorillas by taking selfies with the animals without following precautions. Researchers from Oxford Brookes University examined nearly 1,000 Instagram posts and found most gorilla trekking tourists were close enough to the animals, without face masks on, to make transmission of viruses and diseases possible.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-tourists-virus-covid-wild-mountain.html

Helping behavior may mitigate academic risk for children from low-income neighborhoods

Children raised in neighborhoods with low socio-economic status are at risk for low academic achievement. A new longitudinal study followed young children from such neighborhoods from birth until age seven to explore whether children's capacity to act kindly or generously towards others (prosocial behavior) - including peers, teachers, and family—is linked to their ability to perform well in school. The study showed that prosocial behavior may mitigate academic risk across early childhood.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-behavior-mitigate-academic-children-low-income.html

New Australian fossil lizard

Some of Australia's most famous animals—wombat, platypus, kangaroos and the extinct marsupial tiger thylacine—have been traced back to their fossil ancestors in remarkable finds in central South Australia.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-australian-fossil-lizard.html

Research finds NHS use of management consultants is a harmful habit

The use of paid management consultants in the NHS has become habitual despite its negative impact on efficiency, according to new research.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nhs-habit.html

ASASSN-18aan is an unusual cataclysmic variable, study finds

An international team of astronomers has performed photometric and spectroscopic observations of a binary star system known as ASASSN-18aan and have found that the object is an unusual cataclysmic variable with a relatively long orbital period. The findings were presented February 9 on the arXiv pre-print server.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-asassn-18aan-unusual-cataclysmic-variable.html

Planetary scientists discover evidence for a reduced atmosphere on ancient Mars

Both Earth and Mars currently have oxidising atmospheres, which is why iron-rich materials in daily life develop rust (a common name for iron oxide) during the oxidation reaction of iron and oxygen. The Earth has had an oxidising atmosphere for approximately 2.5 billion years, but before that, the atmosphere of this planet was reducing—there was no rust.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-planetary-scientists-evidence-atmosphere-ancient.html

How to spot Mars: See the red planet in the sky the day NASA's Perseverance rover lands

Last year was the year of Mars launches, and this one will be the year of Mars landings. The Hope Mars mission, launched by the United Arab Emirates, entered its orbit around Mars on February 9, while China's Tianwen-1 rover, now orbiting the planet, will land in May. Meanwhile, Nasa's Perseverance rover will land on the red planet come February 18.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-mars-red-planet-sky-day.html

NREL heats up thermal energy storage with new solution meant to ease grid stress, ultimately improving energy efficiency

Scientists from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a simple way to better evaluate the potential of novel materials to store or release heat on demand in your home, office, or other building in a way that more efficiently manages the building's energy use.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-nrel-thermal-energy-storage-solution.html

Experimental demonstration of measurement-dependent realities possible, researcher says

Shoe shops sell a variety of shoe sizes to accommodate a variety of foot sizes—but what if both the shoe and foot size depended on how it was measured? Recent developments in quantum theory suggest that the available values of a physical quantity, such as a foot size, can depend on the type of measurement used to determine them. If feet were governed by the laws of quantum mechanics, foot size would depend on the markings on a foot measure to find the best fit—at the time of measurement—and even if the markings were changed, the measurement could still be precise.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-experimental-measurement-dependent-realities.html

How can researchers quickly access complex molecules for drug discovery?

The function of molecules used in drugs in part depends on their structure, including the many chemical bonds between their atoms. These molecules can be built through several different chemical reactions, most of which are slow and inefficient because they rely on the formation of one chemical bond at a time. Ramesh Giri, Weinreb Early Career Professor of Chemistry at Penn State, has developed a reaction that creates two carbon bonds at a time across atoms in a configuration called an alkene with the help of small amounts of nickel, a sustainable and abundant catalyst.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-quickly-access-complex-molecules-drug.html

Integrating maths and plant science to explain how plant roots generate a hormone gradient

The research team that developed a biosensor that first recorded that a distinct gradient of the plant growth hormone gibberellin correlated with plant cell size has now revealed how this distribution pattern is created in roots.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-maths-science-roots-hormone-gradient.html

A tiny crystal device could boost gravitational wave detectors to reveal the birth cries of black holes

In 2017, astronomers witnessed the birth of a black hole for the first time. Gravitational wave detectors picked up the ripples in spacetime caused by two neutron stars colliding to form the black hole, and other telescopes then observed the resulting explosion.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-tiny-crystal-device-boost-gravitational.html

Astronauts test virus-fighting surface coating

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are conducting experiments with an antimicrobial surface coating designed to fight the spread of bacteria and viruses.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astronauts-virus-fighting-surface-coating.html

Astrophysicists re-imagine world map, designing a less distorted, 'radically different' way to see the world

How do you flatten a sphere?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-astrophysicists-re-imagine-world-distorted-radically.html

Graphene 'nano-origami' creates tiniest microchips yet

The tiniest microchips yet can be made from graphene and other 2-D-materials, using a form of "nano-origami," physicists at the University of Sussex have found.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-graphene-nano-origami-tiniest-microchips.html

Engineers develop polymer cores that redirect light from any source to solar cells

Rice University engineers have suggested a colorful solution to next-generation energy collection: Luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) in your windows.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-polymer-cores-redirect-source-solar.html

Collagen structures get the royal reveal

Collagen is the king of biological proteins, and now it has a SCEPTTr.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-collagen-royal-reveal.html

Demonstration of unconventional transverse thermoelectric generation

A NIMS research team devised a new thermoelectric generation mechanism with a hybrid structure composed of thermoelectric and magnetic materials. The team then actually fabricated this structure and observed the record-high thermopower appearing in the direction perpendicular to a temperature gradient (i.e., transverse thermoelectric generation). These results may offer insights into new mechanisms and structural designs applicable to the development of versatile energy harvesting technologies and highly sensitive heat flux sensors.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-unconventional-transverse-thermoelectric.html

Aging: What underlies the mitochondrial stress response

Scientists at EPFL have discovered certain enzymes that play a central role in the stress responses that defend mitochondria from stress, and promote health and longevity.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-aging-underlies-mitochondrial-stress-response.html

Groundwater recharge rates mapped for Africa

Effective governance and investment decisions need to be informed by reliable data, not only about where groundwater exists, but also the rate at which groundwater is replenished. For the first time using ground measurements, a recent study has quantified groundwater recharge rates across the whole of Africa—averaged over a fifty-year period—which will help to identify the sustainability of water resources for African nations.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-groundwater-recharge-africa.html

NASA wants to fly a helicopter on Mars for the first time

More than a century after the first powered flight on Earth, NASA intends to prove it's possible to replicate the feat on another world.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nasa-helicopter-mars.html

Perseverance rover lands on Mars this week

After a seven-month journey, NASA's Perseverance rover prepares to touch down on Mars on Thursday after first negotiating a risky landing procedure that will mark the start of its multi-year search for signs of ancient microbial life.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-perseverance-rover-mars-week.html

Kenya's locust hunters on tireless quest to halt ancient pest

As dawn breaks in central Kenya, a helicopter lifts off in a race to find roosting locusts before the sun warms their bodies and sends them on a ravenous flight through farmland.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-kenya-locust-hunters-tireless-quest.html

Heavy snowfall blankets Athens; vaccinations postponed

Unusually heavy snowfall has blanketed central Athens, with authorities warning residents particularly in the Greek capital's northern and eastern suburbs to avoid leaving their homes Tuesday morning.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-heavy-snowfall-blankets-athens-vaccinations.html

Australia to amend laws to make Google and Facebook pay

Australia's government said on Tuesday it will amend draft laws that would make Google and Facebook pay for news to clarify that publishers would be paid in lump sums rather than per click on news article links.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australia-amend-laws-google-facebook.html