Latest News

For peat’s sake, UK campaign goes global

Efforts by British campaigners to halt the unsustainable use of peat in horticulture have received international acclaim, just a few days after Environment Minister Michael Meacher reaffirmed the UK Government`s commitment to reducing peat use by 90% before 2010.

At a meeting of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) in France on 21st July, the UK was commended for the impact of its campaign to persuade the public, industry and government to stop using peat. The IMCG applauded the

New study: Sleep apnea linked to decreased libido

Male patients who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) — the inability to breathe properly during sleep — produce lower levels of testosterone, resulting in decreased libido and sexual activity, according to researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Previous studies had indicated that male sleep apnea patients had reported decreased libidos but the studies were unable to establish a scientific link. The current study, reported in the July issue of The Journal of Clinical End

Cambodian government creates 1,000,000-acre protected area

Cardamom Mountains former home to Khmer Rouge

The Cambodian government announced today the creation of the Central Cardamoms Protected Forest, a 1,000,000-acre (402,000-hectare) area in southwestern Cambodia’s Central Cardamom Mountains. The Cardamoms are home to most of Cambodia’s large mammals and half of the country’s birds, reptiles and amphibians. Two wildlife sanctuaries border the area, bringing the total land under protection to 2.44 million acres (990,000 hecta

Cosmic rays linked to global warming

Researchers studying global warming have often been confounded by the differences between observed increases in surface-level temperatures and unchanging low-atmosphere temperatures. Because of this discrepancy, some have argued that global warming is unproven, suggesting instead that true warming should show uniformly elevated temperatures from the surface through the atmosphere. Researchers have proposed a theory that changes in cloud cover could help explain the puzzling phenomenon, but none-until

Scientists find cause of dead crabs, fish off coast

An unusual combination of oceanic and atmospheric events may be to blame for a mysterious and sudden die-off of numerous crabs, fish and invertebrate animals off the central Oregon coast during the past two weeks.

Oregon State University researchers who are studying near-shore ecosystems say extremely low oxygen levels – especially in the lower water column – appear to be the culprit.

“Though we are just beginning to amass the evidence, it appears that there has been a confluence o

The mathematics of a clean swimming pool

Without adequate cleaning regimes swimming pools can become a health hazard.
Now water experts and mathematicians are ‘pooling’ their expertise to anticipate the factors that lead to an unhealthy swimming environment.

The researchers are testing different water treatments using a unique pilot pool, donated by an advisory body, that simulates the chemical environment of a municipal swimming pool. Significantly this research technique could also be applied to other water recycling systems,

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Physics and Astronomy

NASA’s Fermi finds new feature in brightest gamma-ray burst yet seen

In October 2022, astronomers were stunned by what was quickly dubbed the BOAT — the brightest-of-all-time gamma-ray burst (GRB). Now an international science team reports that data from NASA’s Fermi…

Researchers control electronic properties of moiré crystals

A research team led by Prof Ursula Wurstbauer from the Institute of Physics at the University of Münster has investigated how electrons in two-dimensional crystals can be collectively excited and…

Is a gamma-ray laser possible?

Federal funding will allow University of Rochester scientists and their European collaborators to study the feasibility of coherent light sources beyond x-rays. Since the laser was invented in the 1960s,…

Life Sciences and Chemistry

Faster, more energy-efficient way to manufacture an industrially important chemical

Zirconium combined with silicon nitride enhances the conversion of propane — present in natural gas — needed to create in-demand plastic, polypropylene. Polypropylene is a common type of plastic found…

Folded peptides are more electrically conductive than unfolded peptides

Researchers combined single-molecule experiments, molecular dynamics simulations and quantum mechanics to validate the findings published in PNAS. What puts the electronic pep in peptides? A folded structure, according to a…

Fighting leukaemia by targeting its stem cells

By identifying mechanisms unique to leukaemia-causing cells, a French-Swiss team has discovered a new way to fight the disease. Acute myeloid leukaemia is one of the deadliest cancers. Leukaemic stem…

Materials Sciences

Shining light on similar crystals reveals photoreactions can differ

Distinctive processes could provide hints on how to use next-generation materials. A rose by any other name is a rose, but what of a crystal? Osaka Metropolitan University-led researchers have…

Nanoscale device simultaneously steers and shifts frequency of optical light

… pointing the way to future wireless communication channels. It is a scene many of us are familiar with: You’re working on your laptop at the local coffee shop with…

Foam fluidics showcase Rice lab’s creative approach to circuit design

Next-generation soft robotics and wearable technologies could sport foam-based fluidic circuits. When picturing next-generation wearables and robotics, the foam filling in your couch cushions is likely not the first thing…

Information Technology

Quantum sensor for the atomic world

… developed through international scientific collaboration. In a scientific breakthrough, an international research team from Germany’s Forschungszentrum Jülich and Korea’s IBS Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS) developed a quantum sensor…

‘WordValue’ Turns Texts into Rainbows

Linguist from Chemnitz University of Technology and computer science graduate from LMU Munich have developed a free web application that enables colourful, intuitive text analyses for research, for teaching or…

Spin qubits go trampolining

Researchers at QuTech developed somersaulting spin qubits for universal quantum logic. Researchers at QuTech developed somersaulting spin qubits for universal quantum logic. This achievement may enable efficient control of large…