Inequality in medieval Cambridge was 'recorded on the bones' of its residents

Social inequality was "recorded on the bones" of Cambridge's medieval residents, according to a new study of hundreds of human remains excavated from three very different burial sites within the historic city centre.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-inequality-medieval-cambridge-bones-residents.html

Aircraft could cut emissions by better surfing the wind

Airlines could save fuel and reduce emissions on transatlantic flights by hitching a better ride on the jet stream, new research has shown.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-aircraft-emissions-surfing.html

Plasmid-encoded toxin-antitoxin system directly controls plasmid replication: study

Conjugative plasmids are extrachromosomal genetic elements that carry genetic determinants for adaptive traits. They contribute to the global dissemination of antibiotic resistance among multidrug-resistant pathogenic bacteria.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-plasmid-encoded-toxin-antitoxin-plasmid-replication.html

Image: Hubble takes portrait of the 'Lost Galaxy'

Located in the constellation of Virgo (The Virgin), around 50 million light-years from Earth, the galaxy NGC 4535 is truly a stunning sight to behold. Despite the incredible quality of this image, taken from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, NGC 4535 has a hazy, somewhat ghostly, appearance when viewed from a smaller telescope. This led amateur astronomer Leland S. Copeland to nickname NGC 4535 the "Lost Galaxy" in the 1950s.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-image-hubble-portrait-lost-galaxy.html

NASA's deep space network welcomes a new dish to the family

A powerful new antenna has been added to the NASA Space Communications and Navigation's Deep Space Network (DSN), which connects us to the space robots exploring our solar system. Called Deep Space Station 56, or DSS-56, the dish is now online and ready to communicate with a variety of missions, including NASA's Perseverance rover when it lands on the Red Planet next month.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nasa-deep-space-network-dish.html

Platinum complex inhibits metastasis through conformational modulation of heparan sulfate

Cisplatin has been used to treat cancer since the 1970s. Since then, many other platinum-containing cytostatic drugs have been developed, such as triplatinNC, a highly charged complex that contains three ligand-bridged platinum atoms. Unlike cisplatin, this drug also directly inhibits metastasis. The reason for this seems to be modulation of the geometry of a sugar component of heparan sulfate, an important component of the extracellular matrix, reports a research team in the journal Angewandte Chemie.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-platinum-complex-inhibits-metastasis-conformational.html

Suzaku observations find X-ray intraday variability of the blazar PKS 2155−304

Using the Suzaku satellite, astronomers have examined a very high energy (VHE) blazar known as PKS 2155−304. They found that the source exhibits an X-ray intraday variability, which could improve the understanding of its nature. The finding is reported in a paper published January 15 on arXiv.org.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-suzaku-x-ray-intraday-variability-blazar.html

Researchers guide a single ion through a Bose-Einstein condensate

Transport processes are ubiquitous in nature, but still raise many questions. The research team around Florian Meinert from the Fifth Institute of Physics at the University of Stuttgart has now developed a new method to observe a single charged particle on its path through a dense cloud of ultracold atoms. The results were published in Physical Review Letters and are further reported in a Viewpoint column in the journal Physics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-ion-bose-einstein-condensate.html

Autofocusing of microscopy images using deep learning

Optical microscopes are frequently used in biomedical sciences to reveal fine features of a specimen, such as human tissue samples and cells, forming the backbone of pathological imaging for disease diagnosis. One of the most critical steps in microscopic imaging is autofocusing so that different parts of a sample can be rapidly imaged all in focus, featuring various details at a resolution that is smaller than one millionth of a meter. Manual focusing of these microscope images by an expert is impractical, especially for rapid imaging of a large number of specimens, such as in a pathology laboratory that processes hundreds of patient samples every day.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-autofocusing-microscopy-images-deep.html

A software platform for 'smart' video tracking

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a novel software platform from which apps and algorithms can intelligently track and analyze video feeds from cameras spread across cities. Such analysis is not only useful for tracking missing persons or objects, but also for "smart city" initiatives such as automated traffic control.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-software-platform-smart-video-tracking.html

Scientists identify the most effective scenario for nuclear energy in Russia through 2100

Currently, there is a rapid, fundamental transformation of energy systems with new technologies developing at an accelerated pace. It is clear that nuclear energy will be part of the global energy mix for decades to come, but its share and growth rate will depend on a number of factors, such as the speed of innovation in nuclear technology, energy policies and funding mechanisms. Many scenarios based on specific targets predict the growth of the nuclear power sector, as it can solve the problem of energy supply over a long period.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-scientists-effective-scenario-nuclear-energy.html

Physicists build unique antennas that improve MRI quality and safety

Scanners applied in research use not just one antenna that emits and receives the signal, but several of them, which can cause severe burns to inner tissues and organs. Thus, researchers are forced to power scanners with less voltage, which negatively affects the quality of their studies. Now, ITMO physicists, together with their colleagues from the M-Cube consortium, have created the first ever leaky-wave antennas for MRI scanners. The device can conduct body organ diagnostics without risks for patient health while also raising the quality of images acquired in research scanners.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-physicists-unique-antennas-mri-quality.html

Physicists succeed in filming phase transition with extremely high spatial and temporal resolution

Laser beams can be used to change the properties of materials in an extremely precise way. This principle is already widely used in technologies such as rewritable DVDs. However, the underlying processes generally take place at such unimaginably fast speeds and at such a small scale that they have so far eluded direct observation. Researchers at the University of Göttingen and the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen have now managed to film, for the first time, the laser transformation of a crystal structure with nanometre resolution and in slow motion in an electron microscope. The results have been published in the journal Science.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-physicists-phase-transition-extremely-high.html

Efficient solid-state depolymerization of waste PET

Plastic pollution has become one of the most complex environmental issues, especially in the context of increasing production and demand for plastic materials. While innovations in polymer chemistry have radically changed our lives in the mid-20th century, the outstanding properties of plastics such as durability, chemical stability, strength and many other characteristics pose a serious problem for recycling such materials.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-efficient-solid-state-depolymerization-pet.html

New skull of tube-crested dinosaur reveals evolution of bizarre crest

The first new skull discovered in nearly a century from a rare species of the iconic, tube-crested dinosaur Parasaurolophus was announced today in the journal PeerJ. The exquisite preservation of the skull, especially the bizarre tube-shaped nasal passage, finally revealed the structure of the crest after decades of disagreement.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-skull-tube-crested-dinosaur-reveals-evolution.html

Nuclear war could trigger big El Nino and decrease seafood

A nuclear war could trigger an unprecedented El Niño-like warming episode in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, slashing algal populations by 40 percent and likely lowering the fish catch, according to a Rutgers-led study.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nuclear-war-trigger-big-el.html

Nanomedicine's 'crown' is ready for its close up

An international team of researchers led by Michigan State University's Morteza Mahmoudi has developed a new method to better understand how nanomedicines—emerging diagnostics and therapies that are very small yet very intricate—interact with patients' biomolecules.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-nanomedicine-crown-ready.html

Microbes fuelled by wind-blown mineral dust melt the Greenland ice sheet

Scientists have identified a key nutrient source used by algae living on melting ice surfaces linked to rising sea levels.The Greenland ice sheet—the second largest ice body in the world after the Antarctic ice sheet—covers almost 80% of the surface of Greenland. Over the last 25 years, surface melting and water runoff from the ice sheet has increased by about 40%.The international research team, led by the University of Leeds, analysed samples from the southwestern margin on Greenland's 1.7 million km2 ice sheet over two years.They discovered that phosphorus containing minerals may be driving ever-larger algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet. As the algal blooms grow they darken the ice surface, decreasing albedo—the ability to reflect sunlight. The blooms cause increased melting thus contributing to higher sea levels. In particular, a band of low-albedo ice, known as the Dark Zone, has developed along the western margin of the massive ice sheet.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-microbes-fuelled-wind-blown-mineral-greenland.html

Global ice loss increases at record rate

The rate at which ice is disappearing across the planet is speeding up, according to new research.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-global-ice-loss.html

Texas coast uses Christmas trees to rebuild storm-ravaged dunes

Toni Capretta stands on a patch of Texas's Gulf coast where just seven months earlier the dunes were nearly her height. Now they are gone.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-texas-coast-christmas-trees-rebuild.html

US leading race in artificial intelligence, China rising: survey

The United States is leading rivals in development and use of artificial intelligence while China is rising quickly and European Union is lagging, a research report showed Monday.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-artificial-intelligence-china-survey.html

SpaceX rocket deploys record-setting cargo

SpaceX on Sunday launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying a record number of satellites on board, the private space company said.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-spacex-rocket-deploys-record-setting-cargo.html

Russian hack of US agencies exposed supply chain weaknesses

The elite Russian hackers who gained access to computer systems of federal agencies last year didn't bother trying to break one by one into the networks of each department.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-01-russian-hack-agencies-exposed-chain.html

Women influenced coevolution of dogs and humans

Man's best friend might actually belong to a woman.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-women-coevolution-dogs-humans.html

Study demonstrates interconnectedness of Arctic and North Pacific on multimillennial timescales

Arctic sea ice is rapidly diminishing due to global warming, and scientists have found that sea ice dynamics have a big impact on circulation and precipitation patterns in Arctic Alaska, which lies at a climatological crossroads between the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans. Recent studies—most of which focus on current trends in the region and on what will happen in the future—have shown that circulation patterns in the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans influence one another.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-01-interconnectedness-arctic-north-pacific-multimillennial.html