/ en-us Â鶹ÒùÔº internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Â鶹ÒùÔºics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. New research suggests that owls in Texas have high rates of anticoagulant rodenticides (AR)—blood thinning rat poisons—in their systems. Jennifer Smith, a professor of integrative biology in the UTSA College of Sciences, co-authored a research article published recently in PLOS ONE, the world's first multidisciplinary open access journal. /news/2023-09-texas-owls-positive-rat-poisons.html Plants & Animals Ecology Wed, 13 Sep 2023 12:11:03 EDT news613825861 Like the Roadrunner outwitting Wile E. Coyote, SARS-CoV-2 (the infectious virus responsible for COVID-19) keeps mutating, generating new variants that can slip from the grip of a well-trained immune system or a well-aimed drug or vaccine. /news/2022-09-molecular-makeover-wimpy-antibody-sars-cov-.html Biochemistry Fri, 09 Sep 2022 10:43:14 EDT news581938990 Online social networks (OSN) like Facebook and Twitter have created a space for people to easily express their opinions, which can encourage open dialogue and stimulate plenty of disagreements. Research now reveals that just like in face-to-face relationships, intellectually humble behavior, like admitting when you are wrong, leads to better impression formation online. /news/2022-05-science-spoken-truth-facebook-reputation.html Social Sciences Tue, 03 May 2022 14:04:48 EDT news570805485 Robots are already in space. From landers on the moon to rovers on Mars and more, robots are the perfect candidates for space exploration: they can bear extreme environments while consistently repeating the same tasks in exactly the same way without tiring. Like robots on Earth, they can accomplish both dangerous and mundane jobs, from space walks to polishing a spacecraft's surface. With space missions increasing in number and expanding in scientific scope, requiring more equipment, there's a need for a lightweight robotic arm that can manipulate in environments difficult for humans. /news/2021-12-lightweight-space-robot-precise.html Space Exploration Fri, 03 Dec 2021 13:40:45 EST news557761230 Researchers at Duke University have developed a method that uses machine learning, satellite imagery and weather data to autonomously find hotspots of heavy air pollution, city block by city block. /news/2021-04-ai-local-pollution-hotspots-satellite.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:55:56 EDT news537724548 New periodic structures known as moiré lattices can be observed in two-dimensional (2-D) heterostructures containing layers with slightly different lattice vectors, which can in turn support new topological phenomena. It is therefore important to obtain high-resolution imaging of these moiré lattices and superstructures to understand the emerging physics. In a new report now published in Science Advances, Kyunghoon Lee and a team of scientists report the imaging process to view moiré lattices and superstructures in graphene-based samples under ambient conditions using scanning microwave impedance microscopy with ultrahigh-resolution implementation. While the probe tip of the device maintained a gross radius of 100 nm, the research team achieved a spatial resolution better than 5 nm. This setup allowed direct visualization of moiré lattices and the composite super-moiré. The researchers also showed the artificial synthesis of new superstructures arising from the interplay between diverse layers. /news/2020-12-dimensional-heterostructures-layers-slightly-lattice.html Nanophysics Nanomaterials Tue, 22 Dec 2020 12:50:02 EST news527862180 In a new report published on Science, Zhenyi Ni and a research team in applied physical sciences, mechanical and materials engineering and computer and energy engineering in the U.S. profiled spatial and energetic distributions of trap states or defects in metal halide perovskite single-crystalline polycrystalline solar cells. The researchers credited the photovoltaic performance of metal halide perovskites (MHPs) to their high optical absorption coefficient, carrier mobility, long charge-diffusion length and small Urbach energy (representing disorder in the system). Theoretical studies have demonstrated the possibility of forming deep charge traps at the material surface due to low formation energy, structural defects and grain boundaries of perovskites to guide the development of passivation techniques (loss of chemical reactivity) in perovskite solar cells. Charge trap states play an important role during the degradation of perovskite solar cells and other devices. Understanding the distribution of trap states in their space and energy can clarify the impact of charge traps (defects) on charge transport in perovskite materials and devices for their optimal performance. /news/2020-03-spatial-energetic-states-metal-halide.html Condensed Matter Mon, 30 Mar 2020 10:23:38 EDT news504782610 Moderate-temperature thermal sources often radiate waste heat as a by-product of mechanical work, chemical or nuclear reactions, or information processing. In a new report in Science, Paul S. Davids and a research team at the Sandia National Laboratory in the U.S., demonstrated the conversion of thermal radiation into electrical power. For this, they used a bipolar grating-coupled complimentary metal-oxide-silicon (CMOS) tunnel diode. Using a two-step photon-assisted tunneling charge pumping mechanism, the team separated the charge carriers in pn junction wells to develop a large, open-circuit voltage across a load. The scientists experimentally showed electrical power generation from a broadband blackbody thermal source with converted power densities of 27 to 61 µW/cm2 for thermal sources between 250 degrees C to 400 degrees C. The demonstrated scalable and efficient conversion of radiated waste heat into electrical power can be used to reduce energy consumption—in order to power electronics and sensors. /news/2020-03-electrical-power-moderate-temperature-radiative-thermal.html General Â鶹ÒùÔºics Tue, 10 Mar 2020 10:11:40 EDT news503053896 The near-term future of Earth is one of a warming planet, as urban expansion and greenhouse gas emissions stoke the effects of climate change. Current climate projections show that in U.S. cities temperatures are expected to rise by 2 to 7 C (3.6 to 12.6 F) by the year 2099. /news/2018-11-reveals-dynamics-climate-urbanization-heat-mitigating.html Environment Mon, 12 Nov 2018 11:00:13 EST news461227442 Notorious gangsters Al Capone and Carlo Gambino were famously done in by tax evasion charges. John Gotti, the "Teflon Don" was given up by a confidant. While the criminal masterminds of today are conducting their nefarious business online, the key to taking them down depends on understanding how they organize and where to squeeze them. Researchers from Drexel University's Privacy, Security and Automation Lab are searching for that pressure point by studying the activity of cybercrime forums. Their findings could guide the next generation of "Untouchables." /news/2015-04-formulas-google-klout-facebook-cybercrime.html Computer Sciences Tue, 14 Apr 2015 06:24:42 EDT news348211472 Defending websites from malicious intruder bots is not unlike fighting viruses: neutralize them and they reinvent themselves, finding new ways to penetrate. But IT security designers still hold an advantage over some automated programs masquerading as people. To date, there are human abilities too complex to imitate. /news/2015-04-rage-machines-malicious-bots.html Computer Sciences Mon, 06 Apr 2015 16:36:13 EDT news347556958 Passport issuing officers are no better at identifying if someone is holding a fake passport photo than the average person, new research has revealed. /news/2014-08-passport-reveals-vulnerability-photo-id.html Social Sciences Mon, 18 Aug 2014 14:00:02 EDT news327583902 (Â鶹ÒùÔº) -- The PHP group, under fire for prematurely pushing out a patch to fix a recently uncovered vulnerability in the language, says it is working on another patch to fix the problem as web site owners scramble to ensure the integrity of their sites. Fortunately, as dire as that sounds, few sites appear to be at risk because the vulnerability only exists for those running in Common Gateway Interface (CGI) mode. /news/2012-05-php-group-vulnerability.html Software Tue, 08 May 2012 08:01:37 EDT news255682883 (Â鶹ÒùÔºOrg.com) -- MIT Media Lab has announced that a team of researchers working in the Responsive Environments Group is hard at it trying to come up with just the right sort of wrist bracelet that could interface with a building fitted with sensors, to allow a user to easily alter the temperature, lighting or perhaps even the humidity levels of their immediate environment. Such a bracelet would also quite naturally also be used to alert other devices with motion detectors to become active. /news/2012-01-mit-lab-wristband-individual-local.html Hi Tech & Innovation Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:01 EST news246022843 (AP) -- China's Internet regulators are stepping up controls on blogs and search engines to block material it considers unlawful or immoral, the government said Friday. /news/2006-06-china-blogs.html Internet Fri, 30 Jun 2006 10:44:12 EDT news70883052 Purdue University officials refuted allegations in an ABC-TV News report concerning the safety of nuclear reactors on U.S. college campuses. /news/2005-10-purdue-refutes-college-reactors.html Sat, 15 Oct 2005 04:29:19 EDT news7268