SciGlow | All Science News In One Place
SciGlow is a newsletter of science stories from the major research labs. Headlines link to in-depth articles and editorials. SciGlow keeps scientists and others up-to-date on current research.
The process of building a tiny cube has revealed some of the fundamental mysteries of how molecules bind together in natural environments. Researchers hope to apply this knowledge to future projects designing complex structures that can mimic life. When two molecules surrounded by water move towards each other, part of their initial attraction is sometimes … Read more
Generally speaking, “flue gas” refers to any gas coming out of a pipe, exhaust, chimney etc as a product of combustion in a fireplace, oven, furnace, boiler, or steam generator. But the term is more commonly used to describe the exhaust vapors exiting the flues of factories and powerplants. Iconic though they may be, these … Read more
There is strong interdependency between the use of food, energy and water resources and it is closely linked to environmental challenges, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity. These linkages are expected to become even more important with an increasing demand for these resources. In a new set of scenarios and visualisations, these relationships … Read more
A new book of “ripping yarns” from the Australian goldfields of the mid-1800s has put the tumultuous times and tales surrounding the Eureka Stockade rebellion back into the popular imagination. The book has been curated by academics at The Australian National University (ANU) and draws on thousands of fictional stories published in newspapers at the … Read more
Political affiliations, the presence of local environmental organizations and prior local media coverage of climate change play a role in how a community reacts to an extreme weather event, an article published today in Nature Climate Change concludes. “Extreme weather events such as a catastrophic wildfire, a 500-year flood or a record-breaking heatwave may result … Read more
Stretchy and squeezy soft sensors that can fit around body parts or squeezed in hands could be used for applications including sports and rehabilitation after injury or stroke. For example, soft electrical force sensors in the form for a squeeze ball could monitor the rehabilitation of patients with hand injuries or neurological disorders. While such … Read more
Extreme climatic conditions could lead to an increased risk of unusually low agricultural harvests if more than one global breadbasket is affected by adverse climate conditions at the same time. The findings of a new IIASA study show that these breadbaskets, the geographical areas responsible for growing much of the world’s food, are at risk … Read more
Researchers in the Organic Photonics and Nano-optics goup at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics have developed optical nanoantennas made from a conducting polymer. The antennas can be switched on and off, and will make possible a completely new type of controllable nano-optical components. Plasmons arise when light interacts with metallic nanoparticles. The incident light sets … Read more
Impressions of competence from faces predict important real-world outcomes, including electoral success and chief executive officer selection. Presumed competence is associated with social status. And previous research has shown that people are sensitive to how rich or poor other individuals appear. “Our work show that on top of that, people are susceptible to these cues … Read more
Conditioning is a method made famous by Ivan Pavlov’s experiments with dogs. Pavlov trained a dog by ringing a bell every time the dog was fed. The dog learned to associate the bell with food, and then drooled when it heard the bell ring, even if it didn’t see anything to eat. In an earlier … Read more