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