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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 22, 2020 at 5:40am

**‘I didn’t mean to hurt you’: new research shows funnel webs don’t set out to kill humans

https://theconversation.com/i-didnt-mean-to-hurt-you-new-research-s...

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Mass Elephant Deaths in Botswana Caused By Bacteria Toxin In Waterholes

The mysterious deaths of at least 330 elephants in Botswana this year was caused by cyanobacteria-infected water, say wildlife officials. There are still many unanswered questions, including why only elephants seem to have been affected and why this mostly occurred in one region. 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-21/botswana-says-ma...

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Are Humans Still Evolving? Find out ….

https://www.sciencealert.com/are-humans-still-evolving

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 22, 2020 at 5:25am

Defying a 150-year-old rule for phase behaviour

Frozen water can take on up to three forms at the same time when it melts: liquid, ice and gas. This principle, which states that many substances can occur in up to three phases simultaneously, was explained 150 years ago by the Gibbs phase rule. Now researchers  are defying this classical theory, with proof of a five-phase equilibrium, something that many scholars considered impossible.

Gibbs' thermodynamics rule: If we take water as an example, there is one point, with a specific temperature and pressure, where water occurs as gas, liquid and ice at the same time, the so-called triple point.

But researchers   now show that in this mixture, there is a whole series of circumstances in which four phases exist at the same time. There is even one point at which there are five coexisting phases—two too many.

 At that specific point, also called a five-phase equilibrium, a gas phase, two liquid crystal phases, and two solid phases with 'ordinary' crystals exist simultaneously. And that has never been seen before. This is the first time that the famous Gibbs rule has been broken.

The crux lies in the shape of the particles in the mixture. scientists now show that it is precisely the specific length and diameter of the particles that play a major role.

In addition to the known variables of temperature and pressure, you get two additional variables: the length of the particle in relation to its diameter, and the diameter of the particle in relation to the diameter of other particles in the solution.

V. F. D. Peters et al, Defying the Gibbs Phase Rule: Evidence for an Entropy-Driven Quintuple Point in Colloid-Polymer Mixtures, Physical Review Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.127803

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-defying-year-old-phase-behavior.html?...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 22, 2020 at 5:21am

Researchers identify new type of superconductor

Until now, the history of superconducting materials has been a tale of two types: s-wave and d-wave. Now researchers have discovered a possible third type: g-wave.

Electrons in superconductors move together in what are known as Cooper pairs. This "pairing" endows superconductors with their most famous property—no electrical resistance—because, in order to generate resistance, the Cooper pairs have to be broken apart, and this takes energy.

In s-wave superconductors—generally conventional materials, such as lead, tin and mercury—the Cooper pairs are made of one electron pointing up and one pointing down, both moving head-on toward each other, with no net angular momentum. In recent decades, a new class of exotic materials has exhibited what's called d-wave superconductivity, whereby the Cooper pairs have two quanta of angular momentum.

Physicists have theorized the existence of a third type of superconductor between these two so-called "singlet" states: a p-wave superconductor, with one quanta of angular momentum and the electrons pairing with parallel rather than antiparallel spins. This spin-triplet superconductor would be a major breakthrough for quantum computing because it can be used to create Majorana fermions, a unique particle which is its own antiparticle.

For more than 20 years, one of the leading candidates for a p-wave superconductor has been strontium ruthenate (Sr2RuO4), although recent research has started to poke holes in the idea.

Researchers now  set out to determine once and for all whether strontium ruthenate is a highly desired p-wave superconductor. Using high-resolution resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, they discovered that the material is potentially an entirely new kind of superconductor altogether: g-wave.

 Thermodynamic evidence for a two-component superconducting order parameter in Sr2RuO4, DOI: 10.1038/s41567-020-1032-4 , www.nature.com/articles/s41567-020-1032-4

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-superconductor.html?utm_source=nwlett...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 22, 2020 at 5:11am

Why there is no speed limit in the superfluid universe

Physicists  have established why objects moving through superfluid helium-3 lack a speed limit.

Helium-3 is a rare isotope of helium, in which one neutron is missing. It becomes superfluid at extremely low temperatures, enabling unusual properties such as a lack of friction for moving objects.

It was thought that the speed of objects moving through superfluid helium-3 was fundamentally limited to the critical Landau velocity, and that exceeding this speed limit would destroy the superfluid. Prior experiments in Lancaster have found that it is not a strict rule and objects can move at much greater speeds without destroying the fragile superfluid state.

Now scientists from Lancaster University have found the reason for the absence of the speed limit: exotic particles that stick to all surfaces in the superfluid.

The discovery may guide applications in quantum technology, even quantum computing, where multiple research groups already aim to make use of these unusual particles.

Superfluid helium-3 feels like vacuum to a rod moving through it, although it is a relatively dense liquid. There is no resistance, none at all.

Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18499-1

https://phys.org/news/2020-09-limit-superfluid-universe.html?utm_so...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 21, 2020 at 10:32am

Big Wind: The Ultimate Fire Extinguisher

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 21, 2020 at 9:05am

This video shows just how easily COVID-19 could spread when people sing together

and how online singing is safe …..

Other options for safer group singing now and in the future include: singing outside or in a well-ventilated room with large open windows as this is likely to dissipate aerosols and further reduce the risk physical distancing of at least two metres while singing short performances to minimise exposure humming rather than singing during rehearsals, because we show consonants (such as “do”) generate the most aerosols singing softly (and using amplifiers) as this is likely to emit fewer aerosols using rapid test kits, if available, which would allow singers to be screened before performing assessing risk factors for individual singers based on age, chronic diseases and other risk factors for COVID-19. It is more important people at high risk of complications from COVID-19 avoid group singing while there is community transmission. Some people recommend wearing face shields while group singing. But these allow you to breathe in aerosols through the gap underneath, which may be even more likely with the powerful inhalations during singing.

https://theconversation.com/this-video-shows-just-how-easily-covid-...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 20, 2020 at 11:45am

New Research Helps Explain Why Tiny Humans And Animals Sleep So Much

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-research-helps-explain-why-tiny-hu...

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If there is life on Venus, how could it have got there? Origin of life experts explain

https://theconversation.com/if-there-is-life-on-venus-how-could-it-...

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How could wearing a mask help build immunity to COVID-19? It’s all about the viral dose

https://theconversation.com/how-could-wearing-a-mask-help-build-imm...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 20, 2020 at 10:57am

Cheap, innovative venom treatments could save tens of thousands of snakebite victims

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/snake-bite-venom-cheap-innovati...

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Shape matters for light-activated nanocatalysts

Points matter when designing nanoparticles that drive important chemical reactions using the power of light.

 Nanophotonics (LANP) researchers have long known that a nanoparticle’s shape affects how it interacts with light, and their latest study shows how shape affects a particle’s ability to use light to catalyze important chemical reactions.

In a comparative study aluminum nanoparticles with identical optical properties but different shapes were used. The most rounded had 14 sides and 24 blunt points. Another was cube-shaped, with six sides and eight 90-degree corners. The third, which the team dubbed “octopod,” also had six sides, but each of its eight corners ended in a pointed tip.

All three varieties have the ability to capture energy from light and release it periodically in the form of super-energetic hot electrons that can speed up catalytic reactions. They also conducted  experiments to see how well each of the particles performed as photocatalysts for hydrogen dissociation reaction. The tests showed octopods had a 10 times higher reaction rate than the 14-sided nanocrystals and five times higher than the nanocubes. Octopods also had a lower apparent activation energy, about 45% lower than nanocubes and 49% lower than nanocrystals.

The experiments demonstrated that sharper corners increased efficiencies.

https://news.rice.edu/2020/09/18/shape-matters-for-light-activated-...

https://researchnews.cc/news/2612/Shape-matters-for-light-activated...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 20, 2020 at 10:48am

FameLab international competition in sci-com
FameLab Basel Semi-Finals 2020

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on September 19, 2020 at 6:04am

Mosquito-borne viruses linked to stroke

A deadly combination of two mosquito-borne viruses may be a trigger for stroke, new research has found.

Researchers  have been investigating the link between neurological disease and infection with the viruses Zika and chikungunya. These viruses, which mostly circulate in the tropics, cause large outbreaks of rash and fever in places like Brazil and India. Zika is widely known to cause brain damage in babies following infection in pregnancy, but the new research shows it can also cause nervous system disease in adults.

The new research shows that each virus can cause a range of neurological problems. Zika was especially likely to cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the nerves in the arms and legs are damaged. Chikungunya was more likely to cause inflammation and swelling in the brain (encephalitis) and spinal cord (myelitis). However, stroke, which could be caused by either virus alone, was more likely to occur in patients infected with the two viruses together.

The study also showed that many of the people who had a stroke had other stroke risk factors, such as high BP, indicating that stroke following Zika and chikungunya viral infection may most often be seen in those who are already high risk.

Maria Lúcia Brito Ferreira et al, Neurological disease in adults with Zika and chikungunya virus infection in Northeast Brazil: a prospective observational study, The Lancet Neurology (2020). DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30232-5

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-09-mosquito-borne-viruses-linke...

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