Traffic noise makes mating crickets less picky

A new study shows that the mating behaviour of crickets is significantly affected by traffic noise and other man-made sounds—a finding that could have implications for the future success of the species.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-traffic-noise-crickets-picky.html

Apes, robots and men: The life and death of the first space chimp

On January 31, 1961, an intrepid chimpanzee called Ham was launched on a rocket from Cape Canaveral in the United States, and returned to Earth alive. In this process, he became the first hominin in space.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-apes-robots-men-life-death.html

A full-scale prototype for muon tomography

Each year, billions of tons of goods are transported globally using cargo containers. Currently, there are concerns that this immense volume of traffic could be exploited to transport illicit nuclear materials, with little chance of detection. One promising approach to combating this issue is to measure how goods interact with charged particles named muons—which form naturally as cosmic rays interact with Earth's atmosphere. Studies worldwide have now explored how this technique, named "muon tomography," can be achieved through a variety of detection technologies and reconstruction algorithms. In this article of EPJ Plus, a team headed by Francesco Riggi at the University of Catania, Italy, build on these results to develop a full-scale muon tomograph prototype.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-full-scale-prototype-muon-tomography.html

Supersaturation: The barrier between protein folding and misfolding

Correct, or native, protein folding is essential for correct protein function. Protein misfolding can lead to the formation of amyloid fibrils, and amyloidosis, which is implicated in various human neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Huntington's diseases. In this study Yuji Goto and colleagues describe, for the first time, a dynamic link between protein folding and misfolding, and the threshold that must be overcome for the formation of amyloid fibrils.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-supersaturation-barrier-protein-misfolding.html

Algorithm for algal rhythms

An atlas of harmful algal blooms across the Red Sea revealstheir link with industrial aquaculture and how these blooms have changed in recent decades.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-algorithm-algal-rhythms.html

Branches and treetops can reduce greenhouse gas emission from heavy transport by 90%

New research from University of Gävle shows that forest residues can generate large amounts of biofuel, and, in the long run, reduce greenhouse gas emission by 88-94% from heavy transport on Swedish roads.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-treetops-greenhouse-gas-emission-heavy.html

You can't talk about disaster risk reduction without talking about inequality

The human and environmental cost of climate change is all around us, and on the rise. The UN reports about 90% of all disasters are weather-related, and that weather and climate are major drivers of disaster risk. So it's more important than ever to examine who is bearing the brunt of this change.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-disaster-reduction-inequality.html

800 million people now using 'Asian Englishes' on a regular basis

An estimated 280 million people in India, as well as 280 million in China, regularly speak English. If ASEAN and other Asian countries are included, the tally reaches an astonishing 800 million people now using "Asian Englishes" on a regular basis.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-million-people-asian-englishes-regular.html

Wellbeing benefits of wetlands

Australians love their beaches, and now a new study also confirms the broad appeal of other coastal assets such as tidal wetlands, nature trails and protected areas including bird and dolphin sanctuaries.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-wellbeing-benefits-wetlands.html

Researchers realize single full field-of-view reconstruction fourier ptychographic microscopy

Fourier ptychographic microscopy (FPM) is a recently developed computational imaging technique, which has high-resolution and wide field-of-view (FOV). However, due to the lower light efficiency of the off-axis LEDs, the exposure time of dark-field images has to be extended to improve the signal-to-noise of dark-field images. In addition, effected by the spherical illumination wavefronts of LEDs, the wavevectors of full-FOV are different.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-full-field-of-view-reconstruction-fourier-ptychographic.html

Image: Hubble spots an interstellar interaction

The life of a planetary nebula is often chaotic, from the death of its parent star to the scattering of its contents far out into space. Captured here by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, ESO 455-10 is one such planetary nebula, located in the constellation of Scorpius (The Scorpion).

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-image-hubble-interstellar-interaction.html

Meet the nano-chameleon, a new contender for the title of world's smallest reptile

An international team, led by the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology (ZSM-SNSB), has discovered a minuscule new species of chameleon. The sole known, apparently adult male of the new species has a body size of just 13.5 mm, making it the smallest known male of the roughly 11,500 known non-avian reptiles. A comparison with 51 other chameleon species showed that the new species has exceptionally large genitals. The study was published in the open access journal Scientific Reports.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-nano-chameleon-contender-title-world-smallest.html

Pioneering quantum hardware allows for controlling up to thousands of qubits at cryogenic temperatures

Quantum computing offers the promise of solutions to previously unsolvable problems, but in order to deliver on this promise, it will be necessary to preserve and manipulate information that is contained in the most delicate of resources: highly entangled quantum states. One thing that makes this so challenging is that quantum devices must be ensconced in an extreme environment in order to preserve quantum information, but signals must be sent to each qubit in order to manipulate this information—requiring, in essence, an information superhighway into this extreme environment. Both of these problems must, moreover, be solved at a scale far beyond that of present-day quantum device technology.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-quantum-hardware-thousands-qubits-cryogenic.html

Researchers discover how wombats excrete poop cubes

An international team of scientists have been able to replicate how a wombat produces square poo—and it could change the way geometric products are manufactured in future.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-wombats-excrete-poop-cubes.html

Solving complex physics problems at lightning speed

A calculation so complex that it takes 20 years to complete on a powerful desktop computer can now be done in one hour on a regular laptop. Physicist Andreas Ekström at Chalmers University of Technology, together with international research colleagues, has designed a new method to calculate the properties of atomic nuclei incredibly quickly.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-complex-physics-problems-lightning.html

GameStop and Reddit: What's happening in the stock market?

In the past few days, the financial world has been buzzing about GameStop, Reddit, and a short squeeze. Finance Professor, Carlos Slawson, offers some insight into the recent frenzy in the stock market.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-gamestop-reddit-stock.html

GameStop: Two US senators call for Wall Street reform

Progressive US senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren called on Sunday for action against what they said were the Wall Street abuses by hedge funds revealed by the recent frenzy over GameStop shares.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-gamestop-senators-wall-street-reform.html

Ryanair forecasts biggest ever loss on virus hit

Irish no-frills carrier Ryanair warned Monday that it will suffer a record annual loss of almost 1.0 billion euros ($1.2 billion) as the coronavirus pandemic ravages demand for air travel.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-ryanair-biggest-loss-virus.html

It's twins! Detroit Zoo announces birth of 2 polar bear cubs

An 8-year-old polar bear named, Suka, has successfully given birth to two cubs, though one is being raised by humans after early health issues, the Detroit Zoo announced in a recent press release.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-twins-detroit-zoo-birth-polar.html

Major storm heads to Northeast after blanketing Midwest

After days of frigid temperatures, the Northeast on Sunday braced for a whopper of a storm that could dump well over a foot of snow in many areas, create blizzard-like conditions and cause travel problems for the next few days.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-major-storm-northeast-blanketing-midwest.html

Japan Airlines projects higher losses over pandemic

Japan Airlines said Monday it forecasts a larger-than-expected annual net loss of nearly $2.9 billion, as the aviation industry continues to struggle from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-japan-airlines-higher-losses-pandemic.html

Nintendo profits soar as people play games during pandemic

Nintendo Co. reported Monday that its profit for the first three fiscal quarters nearly doubled as people around the world stayed home for the pandemic and turned to playing games.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-nintendo-profits-soar-people-games.html

Maine company successfully launches prototype rocket

A Maine company that's developing a rocket to propel small satellites into space passed its first major test on Sunday.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-02-maine-company-successfully-prototype-rocket.html

Australian prime minister says Bing could replace Google

The Australian prime minister said on Monday that Microsoft was confident that it could fill the void if Google carried out its threat to remove its search engine from Australia.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-02-australian-prime-minister-bing-google.html