Phys.org September 9, 2024 An international team of researcher (US – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, UCLA, University of Maine, University of Hawaii, University of Southern California, American University, UC Santa Barbara, San José State University, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, UC Santa Cruz, Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Columbia University, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea) developed a set of activities, and a unit called centennial tonne (1,000 kg) to measure ocean iron fertilization (OIF). The conducted Field studies in the Northeast Pacific; Improved modeling for field studies, Data assimilation; Predictions at larger scales; Improvements in Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) […]
Composite plastic degrades easily with bacteria, offers environmental benefits
Phys.org September 5, 2024 Researchers in Israel fabricated a biodegradable composite material based on hydroxyethyl cellulose polymer and tyrosine nanocrystals, which demonstrated enhanced strength and ductility superior to most biodegradable plastics. This emergent behavior resulted from an assembly pattern that led to a uniform nanoscale morphology and strong interactions between the components. Water-resistant biodegradable composites encapsulated with hydrophobic polycaprolactone as a protection layer were also fabricated. According to the researchers self-assembly of robust sustainable plastics with emergent properties by using readily available building blocks provides a valuable toolbox for creating sustainable materials… read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Dozens of viruses detected in Chinese fur farm animals
Phys.org September 4, 2024 An international team of researchers (China, Belgium, Sweden, Australia, USA – UCLA) performed single-sample metatranscriptomic sequencing of internal tissues from 461 individual fur animals that were found dead due to disease. They characterized 125 virus species, including 36 that were novel and 39 at potentially high risk of cross-species transmission, including zoonotic spillover. They identified seven species of coronaviruses, and documented the cross-species transmission of a novel canine respiratory coronavirus to raccoon dogs and bat coronaviruses to mink, present at a high abundance in lung tissues. Three subtypes of influenza A virus—H1N2, H5N6 and H6N2—were detected […]
Electrically modulated light antenna points the way to faster computer chips
Phys.org September 9, 2024 Because of the quantum nature of electrons, real interfaces have finite thickness, leading to nonclassical surface effects that influence light scattering in small particles. Electrical gating offers a promising route to control and study these effects, as static screening charges reside at the boundary. An international team of researchers (Germany, Denmark) investigated the modulation of the surface response upon direct electrical charging of single plasmonic nanoresonators. By analyzing measured changes in light scattering within the framework of surface response functions, they found the resonance shift well accounted for by modulation of the classical in-plane surface current. […]
Extreme weather to strengthen rapidly over next two decades, research suggests
Phys.org September 2024 While the magnitude of changes in mean and extreme climate are broadly studied, regional rates of change, a key driver of climate risk, have received less attention. Using large ensembles of climate model simulations an international team of researchers (Norway, UK) showed that nearly three quarters of the global population can expect strong and rapid changes in extreme temperatures and rainfall in the next 20 years unless greenhouse gas emissions are cut dramatically. Their research showed that 20% of the population could face extreme weather risks if emissions are cut enough to reach the aims of the […]
Moderna mRNA mpox vaccine shows promise in animal study
Phys.org September 4, 2024 In 2022, mpox virus (MPXV) spread worldwide, causing 99,581 mpox cases in 121 countries. Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine use reduced disease in at-risk populations but failed to deliver complete protection. Lag in manufacturing and distribution of MVA resulted in additional MPXV spread, and an additional outbreak in Central Africa of clade I virus. A team of researchers in the US (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, industry, NIH, Boston University) tested mRNA-1769, an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine expressing MPXV surface proteins, in a lethal MPXV primate model. Similar to MVA, mRNA-1769 conferred […]
Molecular simulations and supercomputing shed light on energy-saving biomaterials
Phys.org September 6, 2024 Nanocellulose from biomass is promising for manufacturing sustainable composite biomaterials and bioplastics. However, obtaining nanocellulose at pilot scale requires energy-intensive fibrillation to shear cellulose fibers apart into nano-dimensional forms in water. To reduce the energy consumption in fibrillation a team of researchers in the US (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Maine) found that aqueous NaOH:urea (0.007:0.012 wt.%) reduced the fibrillation energy by ~21% on average relative to water alone. The NaOH and urea acted synergistically on CNFs to aid fibrillation but at different length scales. According to the researchers their work suggested a general mechanism […]
New filter removes chemical contaminants from water even at very low concentrations
Phys.org September 5, 2024 The wide presence of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in water is a major pollution concern even at the part per billion level. Current research emphasizes the use of microporous materials as adsorbents for pollutant removal but demonstrates the performance at a higher concentration than realistic environmental water due to the absence of efficient detection methods that can be coupled with the removal process. An international team of researchers (Japan, USA – University of Notre Dame) developed a pore-networked membrane (PNM) that could simultaneously remove and detect targeted trace-level PPCPs. The PNMs were designed by […]
New quantum error correction method uses ‘many-hypercube codes’ while exhibiting beautiful geometry
Phys.org September 6, 2024 Standard approaches to quantum error correction for fault-tolerant quantum computing result in asymptotically zero encoding rates and huge resource overheads. Researchers in Japan proposed concatenated high-rate small-size quantum error-detecting codes as a family of high-rate quantum codes. Their structure allowed for a geometrical interpretation using hypercubes corresponding to logical qubits. Using their method of many-hypercube codes they realized both high rates, e.g., 30% (64 logical qubits are encoded into 216 physical ones), and parallelizability of logical gates. Developing dedicated decoder and encoders, achieved high error thresholds even in a circuit-level noise model. According to the researchers […]
Novel glass-forming liquid electrolyte shows glass transition across broad range
Phys.org September 4, 2024 Recently new ionic fluids such as super-concentrated electrolyte solutions, solvate ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents have attracted much attention in the field of liquid electrolytes for next-generation electrochemical devices and processes. The basic composition of these new ionic fluids is similar among them; a solvent and a large/excess amount of salt mixtures, though the solvent is sometimes a solid at ambient temperatures. Researchers in Japan found and demonstrated that LiTFSA (TFSA = (CF3SO2)2N−) mixtures with 1,3-propane sultone (PS) or tetrahydrothiophene-1,1-dioxide (SL) yielded a homogeneous liquid at room temperature within a wide range of compositions. In […]