Researchers study public comments on orca conservation to aid future protection efforts

Oregon State University researchers analyzed more than 17,000 public comments focused on orca conservation in the state of Washington and found that the most common emotional sentiments were trust, anticipation and fear.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-comments-orca-aid-future-efforts.html

Universal sequence of Chern insulators in superconducting magic angle graphene

Scientists from ICFO, Princeton and NIMS have discovered a full sequence of symmetry-broken Chern insulators that are induced by strong correlations in magic angle graphene. The study has been published in Nature Physics.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-universal-sequence-chern-insulators-superconducting.html

Muon spin-rotation experiments prove spontaneous electrical currents in superconductors

Superconductivity is current flow without electrical resistance. Theoretical and experimental physicists are working to discover and explain the underlying fundamental mechanisms of superconductivity. Intensive research on superconductivity is driven by the possibility of new applications in energy and motor technology.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-muon-spin-rotation-spontaneous-electrical-currents.html

Image: Hubble views a galaxy with faint threads

This unusual lenticular galaxy, which is between a spiral and elliptical shape, has lost almost all the gas and dust from its signature spiral arms, which used to orbit around its center. Known as NGC 1947, this galaxy was discovered almost 200 years ago by James Dunlop, a Scottish-born astronomer who later studied the sky from Australia. NGC 1947 can only be seen from the southern hemisphere, in the constellation Dorado (the Dolphinfish).

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-image-hubble-views-galaxy-faint.html

Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 restored

The Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) instrument on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope was brought back online on Saturday, March 13th at approximately 7:00 p.m. EST. The instrument was shut down as part of the normal observatory safe mode activities that occurred on Sunday, March 7, in response to a software error on the main flight computer. After starting its recovery on Thursday, March 11, WFC3 suspended the process due to a slightly lower-than-normal voltage reading for a power supply, which triggered an internal instrument safeguard.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-hubble-space-telescope-wide-field.html

Reducing global warming matters for freshwater fish species

The habitats of freshwater fish species are threatened by global warming, mainly due to rising water temperatures. A 3.2-degree Celsius increase in global mean temperature would threaten more than half of the habitat for one third of all freshwater fish species. The number of species at risk is 10 times smaller if warming is limited to 1.5 degrees. This is the conclusion of a study led by Radboud University, in collaboration with Utrecht University, PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, Leiden University and others, and published in Nature Communications on March 15th.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-global-freshwater-fish-species.html

Researchers debunk claims of water hoarding and speculative behavior in water markets

Researchers at the University of Adelaide have tested claims of water hoarding and speculative behavior in Murray-Darling Basin water markets and found no evidence of hoarding, or a clear source of speculative behavior, driving water price rises.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-debunk-hoarding-speculative-behavior.html

Use of perovskite will be a key feature of the next generation of electronic appliances

Quantum dots are manmade nanoparticles of semiconducting material comprising only a few thousand atoms. Because of the small number of atoms, a quantum dot's properties lie between those of single atoms or molecules and bulk material with a huge number of atoms. By changing the nanoparticles' size and shape, it is possible to fine-tune their electronic and optical properties—how electrons bond and move through the material, and how light is absorbed and emitted by it.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-perovskite-key-feature-electronic-appliances.html

Glaciers and enigmatic stone stripes in the Ethiopian highlands

As the driver of global atmospheric and ocean circulation, the tropics play a central role in understanding past and future climate change. Both global climate simulations and worldwide ocean temperature reconstructions indicate that the cooling in the tropics during the last cold period, which began about 115,000 years ago, was much weaker than in the temperate zone and the polar regions. The extent to which this general statement also applies to the tropical high mountains of Eastern Africa and elsewhere is, however, doubted on the basis of palaeoclimatic, geological and ecological studies at high elevations.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-glaciers-enigmatic-stone-stripes-ethiopian.html

Wider horizons for highly ordered nanohole arrays

Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new method for making ordered arrays of nanoholes in metallic oxide thin films using a range of transition metals. The team used a template to pre-pattern metallic surfaces with an ordered array of dimples before applying electrochemistry to selectively grow an oxide layer with holes. The process makes a wider selection of ordered transition metal nanohole arrays available for new catalysis, filtration, and sensing applications.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-wider-horizons-highly-nanohole-arrays.html

Strange Twitter bug bans users for mentioning 'Memphis'

Twitter users who used the word "Memphis" found themselves temporarily locked out of their accounts at the weekend because of a bizarre bug.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-strange-twitter-bug-users-mentioning.html

Facebook to label vaccine posts to combat COVID-19 misinfo

Facebook is adding informational labels to posts about vaccines as it expands efforts to counter COVID-19-related misinformation flourishing on its platforms.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-facebook-vaccine-combat-covid-misinfo.html

Swiss police raid over hack on U.S. security-camera company

Swiss authorities on Monday confirmed a police raid at the home of a Swiss hacker who took credit for helping to break into a U.S. security-camera company's online networks, part of what the hacker cited as an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of mass surveillance.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-swiss-police-raid-hack-security-camera.html

Could there be life on Jupiter's moons?

The search for life outside of Earth has taken many forms. Mars, our neighbouring world, looks like it was once habitable. Perhaps too Venus, despite its current hellish conditions. But in recent years, scientists' gazes have been drawn elsewhere. What about the moons of Jupiter?

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-life-jupiter-moons.html

Model predicts urban development and greenhouses gasses will fuel urban floods

When rain began falling in northern Georgia on Sept. 15, 2009, little did Atlantans know that they would bear witness to epic flooding throughout the city. Neighborhoods, like Peachtree Hills, were submerged; Georgia's busiest expressway was underwater, as were roads and bridges; untreated sewage mingled with rising flood waters; cars and people were swept away. Then-Georgia-governor, Sonny Perdue, declared a state of emergency.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-urban-greenhouses-gasses-fuel.html

Apple to discontinue original HomePod and says it will focus efforts on HomePod mini

Apple will discontinue its original HomePod four years after first releasing the smart speaker.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-apple-discontinue-homepod-focus-efforts.html

Philippines faces 'learning crisis' after yearlong school shutdown

Andrix Serrano studies alone inside a Manila slum shack he shares with his street-sweeper grandmother. Like many in his fourth-grade class, he has no internet for his shuttered school's online lessons.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-philippines-crisis-yearlong-school-shutdown.html

UK city where Romans bathed penalises polluting cars

Famed as a spa town where the Romans soaked in the waters, the British city of Bath has long been a magnet for the health-conscious visitor.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-uk-city-romans-penalises-polluting.html

China's Xiaomi soars as US judge lifts it from backlist

Shares in Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi surged more than 10 percent in Hong Kong on Monday after a US judge removed it from a blacklist that barred American companies from investing in it.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-china-xiaomi-soars-backlist.html

Million-tree mission hopes to fix reforestation flaws

It's an environmental policy embraced by heads of state, multinational businesses and even leading climate sceptic Donald Trump: plant more trees to help the planet and slow global warming.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-million-tree-mission-reforestation-flaws.html

Deliveroo says London share sale will raise £1 billion

Takeaway meals app Deliveroo said Monday that its upcoming London stock market listing would raise £1.0 billion ($1.4 billion, 1.2 billion euros).

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-03-deliveroo-london-sale-billion.html

Flights canceled during China's worst sandstorm in a decade

China's capital and a wide swath of the country's north were enveloped Monday in the worst sandstorm in a decade, leading to the cancelation of hundreds of flights.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-flights-canceled-china-worst-sandstorm.html

Testing of primary school pupils promotes culture of division, say experts

A fear of poor SATs results is driving headteachers to separate pupils by ability despite the impact on children's self-esteem and confidence, according to a study by researchers from UCL published in the peer-reviewed British Journal of Sociology of Education.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-03-primary-school-pupils-culture-division.html