Culture
Grapevine is infected by more than 90 viruses, with new viral species discovered yearly as a result of the newer technology introduced by High-Throughput Sequencing (HTS). Within the last decade, HTS is used for virome identification (the assemblage of viral genomes), which in turn helps plant pathologists with future research.
Positive thinking has long been extolled as the route to happiness, but it might be time to ditch the self-help books after a new study shows that realists enjoy a greater sense of long-term wellbeing than optimists.
Researchers from the University of Bath and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) studied people's financial expectations in life and compared them to actual outcomes over an 18-year period. They found that when it comes to the happiness stakes, overestimating outcomes was associated with lower wellbeing than setting realistic expectations.
Physicists at MIT have designed a quantum "light squeezer" that reduces quantum noise in an incoming laser beam by 15 percent. It is the first system of its kind to work at room temperature, making it amenable to a compact, portable setup that may be added to high-precision experiments to improve laser measurements where quantum noise is a limiting factor.
The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) claims that agriculture is one of the main sources of greenhouse gases, and is thus by many observers considered as a climate villain. This conclusion, however, is based on a paradigm that can be questioned, writes Per Frankelius, Linkoping University, in an article in Agronomy Journal.
Optical singularities are key elements in modern optics and have been widely researched. In particular, phase and polarization singularities have been manipulated in various applications, such as imaging and metrology, nonlinear optics, optical tweezers, sensing, quantum information, and optical communication. In theory, both singularities can be detected simultaneously if one can detect the topological charge and photon spin at the same time.
Agricultural activity is responsible for about 12% of the total emissions of greenhouse gases in Spain. Nevertheless, adopting good agricultural practices can help reverse this situation, by increasing the sequestration of organic carbon in soil. With the goal of compensating for CO2 emissions produced by agricultural activity by means of fixing organic carbon in soil, the 4perMille initiative came about, in the framework of the Paris Climate Agreement (adopted at the COP21 in 2015).
Global water consumption has increased almost fourfold in the past 100 years, and many regions can only meet their water demand thanks to essential contributions from mountain regions. In 30 years, almost a quarter of the world's lowland population will strongly depend on runoff from the mountains. Only sustainable development can ensure the important function of mountain areas as Earth's "water towers".
Researchers at the Center for Cognition and Sociality, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have discovered a new mechanism to explain the effects of subcortical strokes and a new possible therapeutic approach.
The three known human trefoil factor family peptides TFF1, TFF2 and TFF3 are mainly produced by the gastrointestinal mucosa. Named after their trefoil-like folded structure, the molecules provide clinically intriguing properties. Studies demonstrated that these peptides are locally produced to combat inflammation and injuries of the gastrointestinal tract by accelerating wound healing.
Researchers at CRANN and the School of Physics at Trinity College Dublin have created an innovative new device that will emit single particles of light, or photons, from quantum dots that are the key to practical quantum computers, quantum communications, and other quantum devices.
The team has made a significant improvement on previous designs in photonic systems via their device, which allows for controllable, directional emission of single photons and which produces entangled states of pairs of quantum dots.
Qubits and the promise of quantum computing
Philadelphia, July 7, 2020 - Researchers have previously identified brain structural signatures associated with individual neurological diseases using techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In a new study, a team of scientists based in Germany has compared data from multiple studies to find brain structural abnormalities shared between four different neuropsychiatric conditions. The researchers also found brain signatures that were unique to individual conditions.
BINGHAMTON, NY -- Students tend to be more engaged in activism if the school that they attend emphasizes social and political issues, according to new research featuring faculty at Binghamton University, State University of New York.
A research team including Binghamton University Assistant Professor of Student Affairs Administration John Zilvinskis examined survey responses to an experimental itemset of the National Survey of Student Engagement measuring behaviors related to student activism. The sample included 3,257 seniors from 22 four-year institutions.
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Charitable giving is a nearly half-trillion-dollar sector of the U.S. economy, but what accounts for why some individuals, foundations and corporations give locally while others give to charities on the other side of the globe? According to a new paper co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign expert in consumer behavior and global marketing, the dynamic interplay between the accessibility of local impact versus more global goals can influence charitable behaviors between donors and recipients.
Solar cells based on perovskite compounds could soon make electricity generation from sunlight even more efficient and cheaper. The laboratory efficiency of these perovskite solar cells already exceeds that of the well-known silicon solar cells. An international team led by Stefan Weber from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Mainz has found microscopic structures in perovskite crystals that can guide the charge transport in the solar cell. Clever alignment of these electron highways could make perovskite solar cells even more powerful.
New Rochelle, NY, July 7, 2020--Fathers' prepartum social media posts can predict their risk of postpartum depression. A predictive model based on machine learning is described in the peer-reviewed journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. Click here to read the article now.
Fathers' social media posts were evaluated for changes in behavior (engagement with the platform), emotions, linguistic style, and discussion topics following the birth of their child.