Microsoft's new Power Fx offers developers an open source, low-code programming language

During its 2021 Ignite conference, Microsoft announced the launch of Power Fx, a low-code and completely open source programming language.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-microsoft-power-fx-source-low-code.html

The Chrome browser leans in with more personal profiles

Space: It is a final frontier for astronauts and astronomers to search and explore other worlds, but for many of us, it is about personal space—a place where you have the freedom to be yourself, form an identity, and extend yourself into public areas in unique, creative and memorable ways.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-chrome-browser-personal-profiles.html

Widespread wildfire as a proxy for resource strain

Fire is a natural part of ecosystems in the western United States, but the summer fire season has grown both longer and more intense in recent years. As the size of the area burned across the region has risen year after year, so too has the expense of fire management. Indeed, federal wildfire suppression costs more than tripled between the 1980s and today, from roughly $245 million per year to $1.6 billion.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-widespread-wildfire-proxy-resource-strain.html

Large-scale study uncovers recent genetic connectivity in chimpanzee subspecies, despite isolation

Chimpanzees are divided into four subspecies separated by geographic barriers like rivers. Previous studies attempting to understand chimpanzee population histories have been limited either by a poor geographic distribution of samples, samples of uncertain origin or different types of genetic markers. Due to these obstacles, some studies have shown clear separations between chimpanzee subspecies while others suggest a genetic gradient across the species as in humans.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-large-scale-uncovers-genetic-chimpanzee-subspecies.html

Tracking proteins in the heart of cells

Cells must provide their internal organelles with all the energy elements they need, which are formed in the Golgi apparatus, the center of maturation and redistribution of lipids and proteins. But how do the proteins that carry these cargoes—the kinesins—find their way and direction within the cell's "road network" to deliver them at the right place? Chemists and biochemists at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, have discovered a fluorescent chemical dye, and for the first time, tracked the transport activity of a specific motor protein within a cell. The results are published in Nature Communications.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-tracking-proteins-heart-cells.html

Beauty is in the brain: AI reads brain data, generates personally attractive images

Researchers have succeeded in making an AI understand our subjective notions of what makes faces attractive. The device demonstrated this knowledge by its ability to create new portraits that were tailored to be found personally attractive to individuals. The results can be used, for example, in modeling preferences and decision-making as well as potentially identifying unconscious attitudes.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-beauty-brain-ai-personally-images.html

Key enzymes for synthesizing natural products

Plants, fungi and bacteria produce natural products that function as defenses that are deployed against predators and competitors. In medicine, these compounds have such applications as antibiotics, cancer drugs and cholesterol reducers. The team working with associate professor Dr. Robin Teufel and Dr. Britta Frensch of the Institute of Biology II of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Freiburg and researchers from the ETH Zürich in Switzerland were able to shed light on the key role of three enzymes that are involved in synthesizing a class of natural products. The researchers have published their findings in Nature Communications.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-key-enzymes-natural-products.html

X-ray microscopy reveals the outstanding craftsmanship of Siberian Iron Age textile dyers

The Pazyryk carpet is the world's oldest example of a knotted-pile carpet and is kept at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The carpet, which was made out of new wool at around 400 BC, is one of the most exciting examples of central Asian craftsmanship from the Iron Age. Ever since the carpet was discovered in 1947 by Russian archaeologists in a kurgan tomb in the Altai mountains, experts in traditional dyeing techniques have been puzzled by the vivid red, yellow and blue colors of the carpet, which lay buried in extreme conditions for almost 2,500 years.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-x-ray-microscopy-reveals-outstanding-craftsmanship.html

An ultra-degree-of-freedom structured vector beam

Optics Express recently published research demonstrating a laser that is able to produce a new type of vector beam. This so-called vector-ray-wave beam with 5 degrees of freedom breaks the paradigm of the conventional vector vortex beam, which opens the way to manipulating new quantum-to-classical phenomena for high-capacity communications.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-ultra-degree-of-freedom-vector.html

Nanoprinted high-neuron-density optical linear perceptrons perform near-infrared inference on a CMOS chip

Today, machine learning permeates everyday life, with millions of users every day unlocking their phones through facial recognition or passing through AI-enabled automated security checks at airports and train stations. These tasks are possible thanks to sensors that collect optical information and feed it to a neural network in a computer.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-nanoprinted-high-neuron-density-optical-linear-perceptrons.html

Fine particulate matter from wildfire smoke more harmful than pollution from other sources

Researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego examining 14 years of hospital admissions data conclude that the fine particles in wildfire smoke can be several times more harmful to human respiratory health than particulate matter from other sources such as car exhaust. While this distinction has been previously identified in laboratory experiments, the new study confirms it at the population level.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-fine-particulate-wildfire-pollution-sources.html

New quantum theory heats up thermodynamic research

Researchers have developed a new quantum version of a 150-year-old thermodynamical thought experiment that could pave the way for the development of quantum heat engines.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-quantum-theory-thermodynamic.html

Antarctic seals reveal worrying threats to disappearing glaciers

More Antarctic meltwater is surfacing than was previously known, modifying the climate, preventing sea ice from forming and boosting marine productivity- according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA).

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-antarctic-reveal-threats-glaciers.html

The collapse of Northern California kelp forests will be hard to reverse

Satellite imagery shows that the area covered by kelp forests off the coast of Northern California has dropped by more than 95 percent, with just a few small, isolated patches of bull kelp remaining. Species-rich kelp forests have been replaced by "urchin barrens," where purple sea urchins cover a seafloor devoid of kelp and other algae.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-collapse-northern-california-kelp-forests.html

Germany faces tough questions as nuclear exit nears

The Bavarian village of Gundremmingen is so proud of its nuclear power station that its coat of arms is graced with a giant golden atom.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-germany-tough-nuclear-exit-nears.html

SpaceX: more risks, better rockets?

A prototype of SpaceX's unmanned rocket Starship exploded on Wednesday, the third time a test flight ended in flames.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-spacex-rockets.html

Honda launches advanced self-driving cars in Japan

Honda launched the world's most advanced self-driving car licensed for the road on Friday, releasing an initial batch of 100 models in Japan.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-honda-advanced-self-driving-cars-japan.html

9 great apes get COVID-19 vaccinations at San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo has vaccinated nine great apes for the coronavirus after a troop of gorillas in its Safari Park became infected, officials said Thursday.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-great-apes-covid-vaccinations-san.html

Little damage from huge Pacific quake; tsunami threat passes

One of the strongest earthquakes to hit the South Pacific in modern history triggered tsunami warnings across the ocean and forced thousands of people in New Zealand to evacuate coastal areas Friday. Small tsunami waves were seen, but little damage was apparent hours later.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-huge-pacific-quake-tsunami-threat.html

Giant clam shells worth $3.3 million seized in Philippine raid

Philippine authorities have seized illegally harvested giant clam shells worth $3.3 million as smugglers turn to the endangered creatures as a substitute for the illicit ivory trade.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-giant-clam-shells-worth-million.html

Quake-ravaged part of Croatia sees gaping sinkholes emerge

After the deadly earthquake came the sinkholes.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-quake-ravaged-croatia-gaping-sinkholes-emerge.html

Biden lauds NASA team for giving US 'dose of confidence'

President Joe Biden on Thursday congratulated the NASA team responsible for last month's successful landing of an six-wheeled rover on Mars and for giving the country a "dose of confidence" at a moment when the nation's reputation as a scientific leader has been tattered by the coronavirus pandemic.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-biden-lauds-nasa-team-dose.html

Variable compensation and salesperson health

Researchers from University of Houston and University of Bochum published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines how variable compensation plans for salespeople can lead to lower health.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-variable-compensation-salesperson-health.html