Topography shapes mountain biodiversity
One implication of their findings, presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is that moving to higher elevations to adapt to a warming climate could drive spe...
The quantum fridge
Bernhard Rauer in the lab at TU Wien When cold milk is poured into a hot cup of tea, a temperature equilibrium is reached very quickly. Kicking out hot particles The particles that...
New tool for gauging public opinion reveals skepticism of climate engineering: Researchers publish results of decision pathway survey on geoengineering
Members of the public find the risks of climate engineering technology more likely than any of the benefits, according to an article published in the current edition of the Proceedin...
Moon’s tidal forces affect amount of rainfall on Earth
New University of Washington research to be published in Geophysical Research Letters shows that the lunar forces affect the amount of rain - though very slightly. Kohyama was studyi...
Increase in volcanic eruptions at the end of the ice age caused by melting ice caps and erosion
Credit: Pietro Sternai The combination of erosion and melting ice caps led to a massive increase in volcanic activity at the end of the last ice age, according to new research. As t...
Diversity of nature formulated
A group of biophysicists from the Niels Bohr Institute have therefore analysed data and calculated how the species in an area affect each other and how an ecosystem can be in balance...
Bright sparks shed new light on the dark matter riddle
The origin of matter in the universe has puzzled physicists for generations. Until quite recently, the so-called WIMP - Weakly Interacting Massive Particle - was the preferred candid...
Support the FSF for thirty more years — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software
This post was written by FSF board member and co-founder of CivicActions Henry Poole. While a stand for free software was impersonal thirty years ago, in another thirty years it will...
Reading list: Big ideas in books from our TED2016 speakers
Does language shape how we think and perceive the world? She speaks in Session 6. He will speak in Session 4. Khanna will speak in Session 7; you can watch his previous TED Talk. Mog...
Neurogenesis – discovery of a new regulatory mechanism
Bassem Hassan’s* team at VIB/KU Leuven has discovered a previously unknown mechanism that is highly conserved between species and which regulates neurogenesis through precise tempora...
NASA: Understanding the magnetic sun
Getting a handle on what drives that magnetic system is crucial for understanding the nature of space throughout the solar system: The sun’s magnetic field is responsible for everyth...
Graphene shown to safely interact with neurons in the brain
The work may be used to build graphene-based electrodes that can safely be implanted in the brain, offering promise for the restoration of sensory functions for amputee or paralysed ...
First SpaceDataHighway laser relay in orbit
Applications First SpaceDataHighway laser relay in orbit 30/01/2016 10957 views 107 likes The European Data Relay System’s first laser terminal has reached space aboard its host sat...
EDRS-A launch highlights
The first laser node of the European Data Relay System was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan atop a Proton rocket on 29 January at 22:20 GMT. Dubbed the ‘SpaceDataHighway’, EDRS wil...
Controlling the magnetic properties of individual iron atoms
Although the iron is usually associated with magnetism, it has been known already since the 1960s that the iron atom of 2+ charge state becomes non-magnetic after incorporation into ...
Unique high-resolution map on bat diversity in Africa
The researchers have created state-of-the-art species distribution models (SDMs) for a large taxonomic group and demonstrated that by stacking these, a plausible model of fine-graine...
The United States Has 50,000 Wind Turbines
The United States has 50,000 spinning wind turbines on its lands. Wind power is a critical solution to CO2 emissions and air and water pollution from power plants, and these 50,000 w...
The properties of pre-stellar cores
A new infrared study of 3218 cores in various stages of development has enabled astronomers to categorize the temperatures, densities, and evolutionary characters of young stellar nu...
The magnetic compass of birds is affected by polarised light
Credit: R. Muheim The magnetic compass that birds use for orientation is affected by polarised light. This previously unknown phenomenon was discovered by researchers at Lund Univer...
Team identifies ancient mutation that contributed to evolution of multicellular animals
It acts as a kind of molecular carabiner by binding to two different partner molecules: an ‘anchor’ protein on the inside of the cell membrane that indicates the position of adjacent...
Strong magnetic fields discovered in majority of stars
Because only 5-0 percent of stars were previously thought to host strong magnetic fields, current models of how stars evolve lack magnetic fields as a fundamental ingredient, Associa...
Sticky Amber Preserved Dinosaur-Age Insects for Millions of Years
The Cretaceous-age mantis Burmantis zherikhini, found in Myanmar, is about 97 million years old. The three specimens were found in modern-day Lebanon, Myanmar and Spain. (Image credi...
Songbird’s reference genome illuminate key role of epigenetics in evolution of memory and learning: Smart songbird’s reference genome is milestone for ecological research
A well-known songbird, the great tit, has revealed its genetic code, offering researchers new insight into how species adapt to a changing planet. Their initial findings suggest that...
Solving hard quantum problems: Everything is connected
Quantum Correlations Quantum physics is a game of luck and randomness. The atoms are photographed, and this is what determines their position. Therefore, the result of every positio...
Scientists confirm existence of quantum knots and create them in a quantum-mechanical field
This required them to initialize the quantum field to point in a particular direction, after which they suddenly changed the applied magnetic field to bring an isolated null point, a...