Earth

Where a tectonic plate dives under another, in the so-called subduction zones at ocean margins, many strong earthquakes occur. Especially the earthquakes at shallow depths often cause tsunamis. How exactly are such earthquakes initiated? Which rock composition favours a break in the earth's interior that can lead to such natural disasters? Scientists at GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the University of Utrecht (NL) published a study in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience which points to earthquake nucleation in calcareous sediments.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.-- For medicinal chemists, making tweaks to peptide structures is key to developing new drug candidates. Now, researchers have demonstrated that two iron-containing small-molecule catalysts can help turn certain types of amino acids -- the building blocks of peptides and proteins -- into an array of potential new forms, even when part of a larger peptide, while preserving a crucial aspect of their chemistry: chirality, or "handedness."

Consistent with previous reports, poor sleep quality was linked with joint pain in a recent Arthritis Care & Research study of the general population, but the study found no association between obstructive sleep apnea and pain or daytime sleepiness. This lack of association between pain and sleep apnea is surprising given the established link between pain and poor sleep quality.

Heat safety issues in bounce houses can put children in danger, says a new University of Georgia study.

Expanding on the concept of microclimates like those in parked vehicles that cause serious injuries to children, the study investigated potential heat-related risks associated with bounce houses, which create a microclimate environment similar to automobiles but one that had not been previously examined.

Boulder, Colo., USA - The origin and early evolution of animals have been a fascinating topic since Charles Darwin. Definite early animal fossils largely appear from early Cambrian, so the fossil records are often interpreted as documenting a "Cambrian explosion" of animals. The phosphatized embryo-like fossils displaying cellular and subcellular structures from Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation, South China, provide an unparalleled snapshot of life before the Cambrian.

Ecologist Dirac Twidwell wants to change the way we think about prescribed burns.

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 2, 2016 -- College students have used it to make cheap furniture, China has had shortages of it, and main character Michael Scott of "The Office" once famously buried his face in it. Concrete is everywhere -- a ubiquity owed to its strength as a building material. Despite its strength, however, it has a pernicious but inescapable tendency to "creep," or deform progressively under mechanical stress, which leads to crumbling bridges and cracked roads.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have discovered a way to predict which alloys will form metallic glasses. The research could pave the way for new strong, conductive materials.

The function of fuel cells is to transform chemical energy into electricity through a chemical reaction. When this technology is mature enough it will be possible to use a fuel like hydrogen without emitting CO2 into the atmosphere. In the fuel cell, the chemical reaction is facilitated by a catalyst, typically platinum nanoparticles dispersed onto the surface of a durable and reactive material, such as cerium oxide, for example.

In the quantum world, physicists study the tiny particles that make up our classical world - neutrons, electrons, photons - either one at a time or in small numbers because the behaviour of the particles is completely different on such a small scale. If you add to the number of particles that are being studied, eventually there will be enough particles that they no longer act quantum mechanically and must be identified as classical, just like our everyday world. But where is the line between the quantum world and the classical world?

While tropical forests continued to decline, a remarkable change is happening: tree cover on agricultural land has increased across the globe, capturing nearly 0.75 Gigatonnes carbon dioxide every year. A new study titled "Global Tree Cover and Biomass Carbon on Agricultural Land: The contribution of agroforestry to global and national carbon budgets" provides insights into the patterns of this tremendous change at global, regional and national scales.

SOLOMONS, MD (August 2, 2016) -- Striped bass are known to have favorite summer swimming spots to which they return every year. They are creatures of habit. However, when a hurricane hits, everything can change very quickly. The water level rises rapidly. Runoff floods the river with sediment and chokes off the oxygen. Heavy rains create rushing currents and a sudden drop in water temperature. And the fish leave the area in a hurry. Scientists call it "evacuating" to better conditions.

Among the intriguing issues in plasma physics are those surrounding X-ray pulsars -- collapsed stars that orbit around a cosmic companion and beam light at regular intervals, like lighthouses in the sky. Physicists want to know the strength of the magnetic field and density of the plasma that surrounds these pulsars, which can be millions of times greater than the density of plasma in stars like the sun.

New research indicates that brief heat treatment is a promising way to decrease the spread of bed bugs being transported on the outer surface of luggage.

Argonne, Ill. (July 29, 2016) -- As scientists and policymakers around the world try to combat the increasing rate of climate change, they have focused on the chief culprit: carbon dioxide.

Produced by the burning of fossil fuels in power plants and car engines, carbon dioxide continues to accumulate in the atmosphere, warming the planet. But trees and other plants do slowly capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting it to sugars that store energy.