the UAE is now testing a new method that has drones fly into clouds to give them an electric shock to trigger rain production, the BBC and CNN have previously reported. The project is getting renewed interest after the UAE’s National Center of Meteorology recently published a series of videos on Instagram of heavy rain in parts of the Read more about Cloud seeding in UAE: Artificial rain with drones, electricity[…]

According to the study, 56% of foundations and eye products, 48% of lip products and 47% of mascaras tested were found to contain high levels of fluorine, which is an indicator of PFAS use in the product. . Credit: University of Notre Dame Many cosmetics sold in the United States and Canada likely contain high levels Read more about Use of PFAS in cosmetics ‘widespread,’ new study finds – not a good thing[…]

[…] it looks like researchers have developed the perfect thing to combat this problem. They’ve developed a cocktail of plastic-eating enzymes which can actually degrade plastic in a matter of days — something that normally takes hundreds of years to degrade. The enzyme cocktail includes PETase and MHETase. These are produced by a type of Read more about Scientists Create Enzyme That Can Destroy Plastic Within Days, Not Years[…]

A team of researchers in Germany and Australia recently used a new microscopy technique to image nano-scale biological structures at a previously unmanageable resolution, without destroying the living cell. The technique, which employs laser light many millions of times brighter than the Sun, has implications for biomedical and navigation technologies. The quantum optical microscope is Read more about New Quantum Microscope Can See Tiny Structures in Living Cells[…]

A light-powered microscope has a resolution limit of around 200 nanometers—which makes observing specimens smaller or closer together than that all but impossible. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have found a clever way to improve the resolution of a conventional microscope, but surprisingly it involves no upgrades to the lenses or optics Read more about Simple Slide Coating Gives a Boost to the Resolution of a Microscope[…]

New results from the Dark Energy Survey use the largest ever sample of galaxies over an enormous piece of the sky to produce the most precise measurements of the universe’s composition and growth to date. Scientists measured that the way matter is distributed throughout the universe is consistent with predictions in the standard cosmological model, Read more about Dark Energy Survey releases most precise look at the universe’s evolution[…]

Although people-growing is probably a long way off, mice can now mostly develop inside an artificial uterus (try private window if you hit a paywall) thanks to a breakthrough in developmental biology. So far, the mice can only be kept alive halfway through gestation. There’s a point at which the nutrient formula provided to them Read more about Mice Develop halfway to gestation Inside An Artificial Womb[…]

Researchers from University of Arizona and University of Utah published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines why most scholarly research is misinterpreted by the public or never escapes the ivory tower and suggests that such research gets lost in abstract, technical, and passive prose. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Read more about Three ways to improve scholarly writing to get more citations[…]

The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District and Oxitec Ltd today announced location participation plans for its landmark Florida Keys pilot project. Project managers anticipate that during the last week of April and first week of May release boxes, non-release boxes and netted quality control boxes will be placed in six locations: two on Cudjoe Key, Read more about Florida Keys Mosquito Control District and Oxitec Announce Site Participation for Florida Keys Pilot Project to Combat Disease Transmitting Mosquito Type[…]

Glaciers are melting faster, losing 31 percent more snow and ice per year than they did 15 years earlier, according to three-dimensional satellite measurements of all the world’s mountain glaciers. […] Using 20 years of recently declassified satellite data, scientists calculated that the world’s 220,000 mountain glaciers are losing more than 328 billion tons (298 Read more about Satellites show world’s glaciers melting much faster than ever[…]

[…] On April 20, the MOXIE device on Perseverance produced roughly 5 grams of oxygen. That’s a tiny step for NASA and its rover, but a potentially huge leap for humanity and our aspirations on Mars. This small amount of oxygen—extracted from the carbon dioxide-rich Martian atmosphere—is only enough to sustain an astronaut for about Read more about NASA Generates Oxygen on Mars, Setting Stage for Crewed Missions[…]

Google Earth has partnered with NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, and Carnegie Mellon University’s CREATE Lab to bring users time-lapse images of the planet’s surface—24 million satellite photos taken over 37 years. Together they offer photographic evidence of a planet changing faster than at any time in millennia. Shorelines creep Read more about Google Earth Now Shows Decades of Climate Change in Seconds[…]

The production of glass—one of humanity’s oldest materials—is getting a 21st century makeover. A new approach to glassmaking treats the material like plastic, allowing scientists to injection mold vaccine vials, sinuous channels for carrying out lab chemistry, and other complex shapes. “It’s a really exciting paper,” says André Studart, a materials scientist at ETH Zürich. Read more about Glass molded like plastic could usher in new era of complex glass shapes[…]

[…] The study, published in the journal Cell, compared ‘brain organoids’ – 3-D tissues grown from stem cells which model early brain development—that were grown from human, gorilla and chimpanzee stem cells. Similar to actual brains, the human brain organoids grew a lot larger than the organoids from other apes. […] During the early stages Read more about Scientists discover how humans develop larger brains than other apes[…]

It’s been well established by now that the agricultural systems producing our food contribute at least one fifth of global anthropogenic carbon emissions—and up to a third if waste and transportation are factored in. A troubling new report points to a previously overlooked source: an industrial fishing process practiced by dozens of countries around the Read more about 26 author report: bottom trawling for fish is responsible for one gigaton of carbon emissions a year—a higher annual total than (pre-pandemic) aviation emissions.[…]

A bit of seaweed in cattle feed could reduce methane emissions from beef cattle as much as 82 percent, according to new findings from researchers at the University of California, Davis. The results, published today in the journal PLOS ONE, could pave the way for the sustainable production of livestock throughout the world. “We now Read more about Feeding cattle seaweed reduces their greenhouse gas emissions 82 percent[…]

How do you flatten a sphere? For centuries, mapmakers have agonized over how to accurately display our round planet on anything other than a globe. Now, a fundamental re-imagining of how maps can work has resulted in the most accurate flat map ever made, from a trio of map experts: J. Richard Gott, an emeritus Read more about Astrophysicists re-imagine world map, designing a less distorted, ‘radically different’ way to see the world[…]

Researchers at the University of Maryland have turned ordinary sheets of wood into transparent material that is nearly as clear as glass, but stronger and with better insulating properties. It could become an energy efficient building material in the future. Wood is made of two basic ingredients: cellulose, which are tiny fibres, and lignin, which Read more about Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass[…]

Scientists around the world have noted that the Earth has been spinning on its axis faster lately—the fastest ever recorded. Several scientists have spoken to the press about the unusual phenomenon, with some pointing out that this past year saw some of the shortest days ever recorded. For most of the history of mankind, time Read more about The Earth has been spinning faster lately[…]

Nothing keeps time like the beating heart of an atom. But even the crisp tick-tock of a vibrating nucleus is limited by uncertainties imposed by the laws of quantum mechanics. Several years ago, researchers from MIT and the University of Belgrade in Serbia proposed that quantum entanglement could push clocks beyond this blurry boundary. Now, Read more about Physicists Made an Insanely Precise Clock That Keeps Time Using Entanglement[…]