Tweaking AI software to function like a human brain improves computer's learning ability

Computer-based artificial intelligence can function more like human intelligence when programmed to use a much faster technique for learning new objects, say two neuroscientists who designed such a model that was designed to mirror human visual learning.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-tweaking-ai-software-function-human.html

Researchers find nonnative species in oahu play greater role in seed dispersal networks

University of Wyoming researchers headed a study that shows nonnative birds in Oahu, Hawaii, have taken over the role of seed dispersal networks on the island, with most of the seeds coming from nonnative plants.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nonnative-species-oahu-greater-role.html

Conservative social network Parler sues Amazon over web shutdown

The social platform Parler sued Amazon on Monday after the tech giant's web division forced the conservative-friendly network offline for failing to rein in incitements to violence.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-social-network-parler-sues-amazon.html

Ford says to close its factories in Brazil

Carmaker Ford said Monday it would close its factories in Brazil this year as the impacts of the coronavirus epidemic hammered sales in Latin America.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-ford-factories-brazil.html

Scientists decry death by 1,000 cuts for world's insects

The world's vital insect kingdom is undergoing "death by a thousand cuts," the world's top bug experts said.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-scientists-decry-death-world-insects.html

Gorillas test positive for coronavirus at San Diego park

Several gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the coronavirus in what is believed to be the first known cases among such primates in the United States and possibly the world.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-gorillas-positive-coronavirus-san-diego.html

What is Gab, the social network gaining popularity among conservatives?

As Apple and Google crack down on the social media app Parler, conservatives appear to be flocking to another app that claims to "champion free speech."

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-gab-social-network-gaining-popularity.html

"Swiss Army knife" catalyst can make natural gas burn cleaner

Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at the University of Illinois Chicago.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-swiss-army-knife-catalyst-natural.html

Manatees had a terrible 2020. Rainfall and floodgates are partly to blame

In a year when a third of manatee fatalities in Florida were not investigated because COVID-19 restrictions limited necropsies and boat strikes once again topped deaths caused by humans, one indicator stood out: manatees killed by floodgates and locks.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-manatees-terrible-rainfall-floodgates-partly.html

Ready for smart bathrooms? Kohler unveils app-controlled bathtub

In a Kohler future, you step into a bathtub controlled by an app and use a toilet or sink without ever touching it with your hands.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-ready-smart-bathrooms-kohler-unveils.html

Analytical measurements can predict organic solar cell stability

North Carolina State University-led researchers have developed an analytical measurement "framework" which could allow organic solar cell researchers and manufacturers to determine which materials will produce the most stable solar cells prior to manufacture.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-analytical-solar-cell-stability.html

Levels of stress hormone in saliva of newborn deer fawns may predict mortality

The first-ever study of the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the saliva of newborn white-tailed deer fawns yielded thought-provoking results that have Penn State researchers suggesting predation is not the only thing in the wild killing fawns.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-stress-hormone-saliva-newborn-deer.html

Scientists unveil latest femtosecond laser

Would you like to capture a chemical transformation inside a cell live? Or maybe revolutionize microchips' production by printing paths in a layer that has a thickness of just 100 nanometers? These and many other goals can now be achieved with the latest femtosecond laser created by a team of scientists led by Dr. Yuriy Stepanenko.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-scientists-unveil-latest-femtosecond-laser.html

Parliamentary candidates not picked to fight "winnable seats" in areas with less tolerance

The study found a "systematic and quantifiable pattern" of political parties officers opting against fielding minority candidates where they perceive that their non-white appearance might prevent a win. This includes constituencies already held by the party, and those within reach, requiring just a small swing in the vote to change hands.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-parliamentary-candidates-winnable-seats-areas.html

Scientists make sustainable polymer from sugars in wood

Scientists from the University of Bath have made a sustainable polymer using the second most abundant sugar in nature, xylose.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-scientists-sustainable-polymer-sugars-wood.html

Engineers' reactor converts gas directly into acetic acid

A sweet new process is making sour more practical.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-reactor-gas-acetic-acid.html

Researchers develop new one-step process for creating self-assembled metamaterials

A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has discovered a groundbreaking one-step process for creating materials with unique properties, called metamaterials. Their results show the realistic possibility of designing similar self-assembled structures with the potential of creating "built-to-order" nanostructures for wide application in electronics and optical devices.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-one-step-self-assembled-metamaterials.html

Team expands power grid planning to improve system resilience

In most animal species, if a major artery is cut off from the heart, the animal will struggle to survive. The same can be said for many of our critical infrastructure systems, such as electric power, water and communications. They are networked systems with vulnerable connections.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-team-power-grid-resilience.html

Toilet paper, patio heaters and surgical gloves: Amazon vendors hiked prices on pandemic items, report says

Amazon vendors doubled prices last year on 136 products considered essential for consumers, health providers and small businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-toilet-paper-patio-heaters-surgical.html

Michigan winters, as generations have known them, may be coming to an end

Karl Schwartz wishes he was simply chasing glory on the snowmobile racing track. Instead, in recent years, he has been forced to chase increasingly elusive cold weather.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-michigan-winters.html

Study maps urban-rural catchment areas and points to ways to optimize policy and planning coordination for agriculture

Fewer than 1% of people globally live in truly remote hinterlands, sharpening the need for better understanding of how urban forms impact food systems as well as social and economic development, according to ground-breaking new research by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the University of Twente.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-urban-rural-catchment-areas-ways-optimize.html

Ocean acidification is transforming California mussel shells

The large mollusk known as the California mussel makes its home in the rocky shoreline along the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Alaska. Considered a "foundational" animal, Mytilus californianus provides homes for hundreds of other species and offers a rich food source for species ranging from spiny lobsters to humans.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-ocean-acidification-california-mussel-shells.html

Climate change has caused billions of dollars in flood damages

In a new study, Stanford researchers report that intensifying precipitation contributed one-third of the financial costs of flooding in the United States over the past three decades, totaling almost $75 billion of the estimated $199 billion in flood damages from 1988 to 2017.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-climate-billions-dollars.html

Sensing bacterial communication

They may not have mouths or even vocal chords, but tiny organisms do communicate with one another. A Florida Tech study may give researchers and students further insight into that process.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-bacterial.html

There's no way to measure the speed of light in a single direction

Special relativity is one of the most strongly validated theories humanity has ever devised. It is central to everything from space travel and GPS to our electrical power grid. Central to relativity is the fact that the speed of light in a vacuum is an absolute constant. The problem is, that fact has never been proven.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-there-no-way-to-measure.html

Advances in research on the most general type of stem cells

Stem cell research is the prerequisite for regenerative medicine, which with the help of the body's cells recreates and heals important organs. Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet, SickKids in Canada and KU Leuven in Belgium have found a method for defining the most general type of stem cells, that can develop into all cell types in the body. The study of totipotent stem cells in mice has been published in Nature Cell Biology.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-advances-stem-cells.html

New nanostructured alloy for anode is a big step toward revolutionizing energy storage

Researchers in the Oregon State University College of Engineering have developed a battery anode based on a new nanostructured alloy that could revolutionize the way energy storage devices are designed and manufactured.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nanostructured-alloy-anode-big-revolutionizing.html

Dust fluxes recorded in peat reveal abrupt climate changes since the last deglaciation

Atmospheric mineral dust from diverse natural sources plays a multifaceted role in the Earth-climate system. Dust fluxes and sources will lay a foundation for understanding long-term scale atmospheric circulation and how the terrestrial ecosystem reacts to climate changes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-fluxes-peat-reveal-abrupt-climate.html

Global warming intensifies precipitation extremes in China

Changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather and climate events have impacted human safety and the natural environment. Global warming increases holding capacity for atmospheric water vapor, and therefore escalates water/energy circulation, which changes the occurrence of precipitation extremes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-global-precipitation-extremes-china.html

Do as the Romans: Power plant concrete strengthens with time

A rare mineral that has allowed Roman concrete marine barriers to survive for more than 2,000 years has been found in the thick concrete walls of a decommissioned nuclear power plant in Japan. The formation of aluminous tobermorite increased the strength of the walls more than three times their design strength, Nagoya University researchers and colleagues report in the journal Materials and Design. The finding could help scientists develop stronger and more eco-friendly concrete.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-romans-power-concrete.html

Researchers tailor rapid and effective N-phosphopeptides enrichment strategy

Protein N-phosphorylation plays a critical role in central metabolism and two/multicomponent signaling of prokaryotes. Furthermore, it exists as intermediates of some important enzymes in mammals.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-tailor-rapid-effective-n-phosphopeptides-enrichment.html

Researchers obtain new results on dielectronic recombination precision spectroscopy

Researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators recently obtained new results on dielectronic recombination precision spectroscopy. The results were published in the Astrophysical Journal and Physical Review A.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-results-dielectronic-recombination-precision-spectroscopy.html

Warming and acidification form dual threat to corals

A quarter of the carbon emissions that are warming the Earth dissolve into oceans, making them more acidic. Carbon emissions and warming are also causing ocean heat waves, which in turn is bleaching the world's coral reefs.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-acidification-dual-threat-corals.html

NASA extends exploration for two planetary science missions

As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon and on to Mars, the agency's quest to seek answers about our solar system and beyond continues to inform those efforts and generate new discoveries. The agency has extended the missions of two spacecraft, following an external review of their scientific productivity.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nasa-exploration-planetary-science-missions.html

Image: Hubble views a dazzling 'fireworks galaxy'

The galaxy NGC 6946 is nothing short of spectacular. In the last century alone, NGC 6946 has experienced 10 observed supernovae, earning its nickname as the Fireworks Galaxy. In comparison, our Milky Way averages just one to two supernova events per century. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the stars, spiral arms, and various stellar environments of NGC 6946 in phenomenal detail.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-image-hubble-views-dazzling-fireworks.html

First human culture lasted 20,000 years longer than thought

Fieldwork led by Dr. Eleanor Scerri, head of the Pan-African Evolution Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany and Dr. Khady Niang of the University of Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal, has documented the youngest known occurrence of the Middle Stone Age. This repertoire of stone flaking methods and the resulting tools includes distinctive ways of producing sharp flakes by carefully preparing nodules of rock, some of which were sometimes further shaped into tool forms known as 'scrapers' and 'points." Middle Stone Age finds most commonly occur in the African record between around 300 thousand and 30 thousand years ago, after which point they largely vanish.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-human-culture-years-longer-thought.html

Uncovering basic mechanisms of intestinal stem cell self-renewal and differentiation

The gut plays a central role in the regulation of the body's metabolism and its dysfunction is associated with a variety of diseases such as obesity, diabetes, colitis and colorectal cancer that affect millions of people worldwide. Targeting endocrine dysfunction at an early stage by stimulating the formation of specific enteroendocrine cells from intestinal stem cells could be a promising regenerative approach for diabetes therapy. For this, however, a detailed understanding of the intestinal stem cell lineage hierarchy and the signals regulating the recruitment of the different intestinal cell types is critical.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-uncovering-basic-mechanisms-intestinal-stem.html

Transition metal 'cocktail' helps make brand new superconductors

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University mixed and designed a new, high-entropy alloy (HEA) superconductor, using extensive data on simple superconducting substances with a specific crystal structure. HEAs are known to preserve superconducting characteristics up to extremely high pressures. The new superconductor, Co0.2Ni0.1Cu0.1Rh0.3Ir0.3Zr2, has a superconducting transition at 8K, a relatively high temperature for an HEA. The team's approach may be applied to discovering new superconducting materials with specific desirable properties.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-transition-metal-cocktail-brand-superconductors.html

Understanding origins of Arizona's Sunset Crater eruption of 1,000 years ago

Around 1085 AD, along the southern rim of Northern Arizona's elevated Colorado Plateau, a volcano erupted, forever changing ancient Puebloan fortunes and all nearby life. Among the 600 or so volcanoes that dot the landscape of the San Francisco volcanic fields, this one blew. It was the very first (and last) eruption for what came to be known as Sunset Crater, aptly named for its multi-hued, 1,000-foot-tall cinder cone.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-arizona-sunset-crater-eruption-years.html

Spain shovels out of snowdrifts left by Storm Filomena

Emergency crews in central Spain cleared 500 roads and rescued over 1,500 people stranded in their vehicles, allowing Madrid and other areas on Sunday to slowly shovel out of the country's worst snowstorm in recent memory.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-spain-shovels-snowdrifts-left-storm.html

China's Geely, Baidu announce electric car ventures

Chinese automaker Geely says it will form an electric car venture with tech giant Baidu, adding to a flurry of corporate tie-ups in the industry to share soaring technology development costs.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-china-geely-baidu-electric-car.html

Massive tech show will go on, in virtual format

The big tech show will go on, but online only: the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show kicks off Monday aiming to create connections and showcase the latest in robotics, smart devices, digital health and more.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-massive-tech-virtual-format.html

Conservative website Parler forced offline: web trackers

The conservative social network Parler was forced offline Monday, tracking websites showed, after Amazon warned the company would lose access to its servers for its failure to properly police violent content.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-website-parler-offline-web-trackers.html

Big differences in how coral reef fish larvae are dispersed

How the larvae of colorful clownfish that live among coral reefs in the Philippines are dispersed varies widely, depending on the year and seasons—a Rutgers-led finding that could help scientists improve conservation of species.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-big-differences-coral-reef-fish.html

Megalodons gave birth to large newborns that likely grew by eating unhatched eggs in womb

A new study shows that the gigantic Megalodon or megatooth shark, which lived nearly worldwide roughly 15-3.6 million years ago and reached at least 50 feet (15 meters) in length, gave birth to babies larger than most adult humans.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-megalodons-gave-birth-large-newborns.html

Positive 'tipping points' offer hope for climate

Positive "tipping points" could spark cascading changes that accelerate action on climate change, experts say.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-positive-climate.html