-
Scientists develop ‘greener’ way to make fertilizer
Researchers have devised a new ‘greener’ method to make a key compound in fertilizer, and that may pave the way to a more sustainable agricultural practice as global food demand rises. Devised by NTU researchers, the method produces a compound known as ‘urea’, which is a natural product found in the urine of mammals, and…
-
Climate change could trigger more landslides in High Mountain Asia
More frequent and intense rainfall events due to climate change could cause more landslides in the High Mountain Asia region of China, Tibet and Nepal, according to the first quantitative study of the link between precipitation and landslides in the region. High Mountain Asia stores more fresh water in its snow and glaciers than any…
-
Investigational COVID-19 vaccine candidate prevents severe clinical disease in animals
New research demonstrates that a candidate COVID-19 vaccine elicited robust immune response in Syrian golden hamsters and prevented severe clinical disease — including weight loss, pneumonia and death. «We recently reported that an Ad26-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine provided robust protection in rhesus macaques, and this vaccine is currently being evaluated in humans,» said Barouch, who is…
-
How fault lines in a kitchen sink are changing what we know about geology
Researchers unveiled a physical model that yields an unprecedented, high-resolution look at the slip rates of faults, which determine the likelihood of earthquakes. When most of us picture a fault line, we imagine a giant crack in the earth where two tectonic plates smash into each other. When geologists think of faults, however, they see…
-
Cancer: When viruses and bacteria cooperate
Infections with several pathogens simultaneously increase the risk of cervical cancer, according to a new study conducted on artificial 3D tissue models. Dr. Cindrilla Chumduri, head of the research group, Department of Microbiology at the Julius Maximilians University of Wurzburg (JMU) and her team, has now demonstrated for the first time that this is not…
-
Evidence for shared earthquakes between San Andreas and San Jacinto faults
The San Andreas and San Jacinto faults have ruptured simultaneously at least three times in the past 2,000 years, most recently in 1812, according to a new study by geologists. Large earthquakes involving multiple faults increase the threat of strong ground shaking. However, each of these faults on their own can generate a large-magnitude (7.5…
-
Farming for natural profits in China
Expanding monoculture threatens valuable services from land, such as flood control, water purification and climate stabilization. A new approach promises to protect these benefits, while improving biodiversity and human livelihoods in rural areas around the world. A recent case-study by researchers at Stanford, McGill University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences provide a promising demonstration…
-
Mice master complex thinking with a remarkable capacity for abstraction
Categorization is the brain’s tool to organize nearly everything we encounter in our daily lives. Grouping information into categories simplifies our complex world and helps us to react quickly and effectively to new experiences. Scientists have now shown that also mice categorize surprisingly well. The researchers identified neurons encoding learned categories and thereby demonstrated how…
-
The jet stream that brought in Storm Eunice is moving northwards
The Northern Hemisphere Jet Stream, which this week brought storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin to the UK has been getting faster and moving northwards over the past century. Just this week the jet stream has brought storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin to the UK. Jet streams are fast bands of air which flow around the…
-
Healthier UK diets linked to lower greenhouse gas emissions
A new analysis adds to evidence that nutritious diets are often more environmentally sustainable, while also demonstrating the feasibility of evaluating diet sustainability at the scale of specific foods — rather than broader food-group categories. Food production is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for about one third of emissions worldwide. Previous research…