Wednesday 19 June 2019

Finding 'Nemo's' family tree of anemones

Thanks in part to the popular film Finding Nemo, clownfishes are well known to the public and well represented in scientific literature. But the same can't be said for the equally colorful sea anemones—venomous, tentacled animals—that protect clownfishes and that the fish nourish and protect in return. A new study published online this month in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution takes a step to change that, presenting a new tree of life for clownfish-hosting sea anemones along with some surprises about their taxonomy and origins.

* This article was originally published here

Study predicts more long-term sea level rise from Greenland ice

Greenland's melting ice sheet could generate more sea level rise than previously thought if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase and warm the atmosphere at their current rate, according to a new modeling study. The study, which used data from NASA's Operation IceBridge airborne campaign, was published in Science Advances today. In the next 200 years, the ice sheet model shows that melting at the present rate could contribute 19 to 63 inches to global sea level rise, said the team led by scientists at the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. These numbers are at least 80 percent higher than previous estimates, which forecasted up to 35 inches of sea level rise from Greenland's ice.

* This article was originally published here

Florida city pays $600,000 ransom to save computer records

A Florida city agreed to pay $600,000 in ransom to hackers who took over its computer system, the latest in thousands of attacks worldwide aimed at extorting money from governments and businesses.

* This article was originally published here

Special nanotubes could improve solar power and imaging technology

Physicists have discovered a novel kind of nanotube that generates current in the presence of light. Devices such as optical sensors and infrared imaging chips are likely applications, which could be useful in fields such as automated transport and astronomy. In future, if the effect can be magnified and the technology scaled up, it could lead to high-efficiency solar power devices.

* This article was originally published here

Scientists chart course toward a new world of synthetic biology

Genetically engineered trees that provide fire-resistant lumber for homes. Modified organs that won't be rejected. Synthetic microbes that monitor your gut to detect invading disease organisms and kill them before you get sick.

* This article was originally published here

New time-banking system utilizes blockchain tech to measure one's value to society

Citizens from the island of Aneityum in the Republic of Vanuatu are working with faculty from Binghamton University, State University of New York to test their true value as humans.

* This article was originally published here

The dynamics of workplace sexual harassment in the US

A new Gender, Work & Organization analysis of U.S. data from 1997-2016 provides new insights into workplace sexual harassment.

* This article was originally published here

Now your phone can become a robot that does the boring work

If any factory worker could program low-cost robots, then more factories could actually use robotics to increase worker productivity.

* This article was originally published here

Frog protein may mitigate dangers posed by toxic marine microbes

A new study from UC San Francisco suggests that a protein found in the common bullfrog may one day be used to detect and neutralize a poisonous compound produced by red tides and other harmful algal blooms. The discovery comes as these waterborne toxic events are becoming increasingly common, a consequence of climate change making the world's oceans more hospitable to the microbes responsible for these formerly infrequent flare-ups.

* This article was originally published here

Powering a solution: Professor takes charge at improving lithium ion batteries safety

As cutting edge as electric vehicles are, they're still vulnerable to an Achilles heel—the very source that gives them power.

* This article was originally published here

Upcycling process brings new life to old jeans

A growing population, rising standards of living and quickly changing fashions send mountains of clothing waste to the world's landfills each year. Although processes for textile recycling exist, they tend to be inefficient and expensive. Now, researchers have reported in ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering an efficient, low-cost method that can convert waste denim into viscose-type fibers that are either white or the original color of the garment.

* This article was originally published here

Applying active inference body perception to a humanoid robot

A key challenge for robotics researchers is developing systems that can interact with humans and their surrounding environment in situations that involve varying degrees of uncertainty. In fact, while humans can continuously learn from their experiences and perceive their body as a whole as they interact with the world, robots do not yet have these capabilities.

* This article was originally published here

Online brain game reduces meat consumption

If you want to live a healthier life and help save the planet then the science points to eating less meat. To help make this change, psychologists at the University of Exeter have developed an online game and phone App that helps people reduce their meat intake by an average of 22 percent after just four days training. This is great news for the one third of UK adults who say they are trying to eat less meat.

* This article was originally published here

Fatty fish without environmental pollutants protect against type 2 diabetes

If the fatty fish we eat were free of environmental pollutants, it would reduce our risk of developing type 2 diabetes. However, the pollutants in the fish have the opposite effect and appears to eliminate the protective effect from fatty fish intake. This has been shown by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, using innovative methods that could be used to address several questions about food and health in future studies.

* This article was originally published here

Those with elevated risk of Alzheimer's may show memory changes up to 40 years before onset

Results from a study of nearly 60,000 individuals suggest those at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease due to family history may demonstrate changes in memory performance as early as their 20s.

* This article was originally published here

Samsung patent talk reveals smartphone designs on rollable

Samsung watchers are buzzing around over a discovered patent filing with the World Intellectual Property Office. Topic in hand: a design for some kind of rollable device.

* This article was originally published here

Researchers use biological evolution to inspire machine learning

As Charles Darwin wrote in at the end of his seminal 1859 book On the Origin of the Species, "whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved." Scientists have since long believed that the diversity and range of forms of life on Earth provide evidence that biological evolution spontaneously innovates in an open-ended way, constantly inventing new things. However, attempts to construct artificial simulations of evolutionary systems tend to run into limits in the complexity and novelty which they can produce. This is sometimes referred to as "the problem of open-endedness." Because of this difficulty, to date, scientists can't easily make artificial systems capable of exhibiting the richness and diversity of biological systems.

* This article was originally published here

'Self-healing' polymer brings perovskite solar tech closer to market

A protective layer of epoxy resin helps prevent the leakage of pollutants from perovskite solar cells (PSCs), according to scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST). Adding a "self-healing" polymer to the top of a PSC can radically reduce how much lead it discharges into the environment. This gives a strong boost to prospects for commercializing the technology.

* This article was originally published here

Inhaling air pollution-like irritant alters defensive heart-lung reflex for hypertension

Air pollution significantly increases the risk for premature deaths, particularly in people with underlying cardiovascular disease, clinical and epidemiological studies have determined.

* This article was originally published here

Record-low fertility rates linked to decline in stable manufacturing jobs

As the Great Recession wiped out nearly 9 million jobs and 19 trillion dollars in wealth from U.S. households, American families experienced another steep decline—they had fewer children.

* This article was originally published here