The most recent six years were the warmest ever recorded The year 2020 capped off the warmest decade on record. And last year tied with 2016 for the hottest, according to new data. This record-warmth occurred even while 2020 saw decreased carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel use. “That’s not surprising atContinue Reading
A worrisome new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa, known as B.1.351, has already spread to more than 30 countries. A worrisome new coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa, known as B.1.351, has already spread to more than 30 countries. Experts are particularly alarmed by this variant becauseContinue Reading
The same materials that protect people from COVID-19 are creating a global garbage crisis Tanveer Adyel began to notice the trash in March. This was early in the COVID-19 pandemic. He saw latex gloves and blue, disposable masks littering his garden and street. Other types of personal protective equipment, orContinue Reading
Materials like this could someday be used to curb airplanes’ climate footprint. Airplanes pump a lot of carbon dioxide, or CO2, into Earth’s atmosphere. That waste, a greenhouse gas, contributes to global warming. But someday, CO2 instead could be sucked from the air and used to power those planes. AirContinue Reading
Satellites, radar and fighter jets keep track of St. Nick. When Santa Claus takes off on Christmas Eve, he won’t be doing it in secret. Millions of children around the world will be waiting. And the North American Aerospace Defense Command (or NORAD) will be watching too. This military organizationContinue Reading
The agreement will allow authors at eligible German institutes to publish papers for fee of about £8500 each Scientific publishing giant Springer Nature has announced a new landmark open access agreement with the Max Planck Digital Library (MPDL). Authors from participating Max Planck institutions will be able to publish anContinue Reading
Cancer cells grown around bioengineered microfibres make an ideal model to test new chemotherapy drugs The habitat that cells live and grow in has been recreated using a mixture of self-assembling peptides and natural proteins.1 This synthetic matrix was then used to grow cancer spheroids, which could be used toContinue Reading
Fourth funding round of government’s future leaders programme aims to turn scientific ideas into products and services The UK government has backed 100 scientists with a total of £109 million for basic research into global issues such as food supply, cancer diagnosis and dementia treatment. This so-called future leaders programmeContinue Reading
The unintuitive properties of LC AuxeTec’s materials mean they thicken when stretched, and could be exploited in body armour and skyscraper windows Auxeticity – the tendency of a material to become thicker rather than thinner when stretched – is an unusual phenomenon. While the property is uncommon, it’s not unheardContinue Reading
The UK is set to launch the world’s first study that will deliberately infect young adults with Sars-CoV-2. The human challenge model will be used to investigate potential treatments and vaccines for Sars-CoV-2 – provided the study is given the go ahead by an ethics panel. The human challenge studyContinue Reading