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Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 15, 2020 at 6:14am

Forensic research proves that textile fibres can be transferred between clothing in the absence of contact

Breakthrough forensic research at Northumbria University, Newcastle, has revealed for the first time that textile fibers can, under certain circumstances, be transferred between clothing in the absence of contact.

This new forensic discovery has not been demonstrated before and could have a major implication for fiber evidence in certain criminal cases.

Researchers within Northumbria University's Department of Applied Sciences have proved that contactless transfer of fibers between garments can be possible through airborne travel.

Because it has largely been assumed that fiber transfer only occurs when two surfaces touch, it is generally accepted in a case that two surfaces have, at some point, been in contact with each other. However, researchers at Northumbria University have revealed that under certain conditions, this is not necessarily always the case.

when people travel on elevators this can happen.

It not only proved that textile fibers can transfer between garments in the absence of contact, but they can do so in relatively high numbers."

In this study, the potential of fiber transfer between different items of sheddable clothing through airborne travel has been assessed for small, compact and semi-enclosed spaces, such as elevators.

The results of this study demonstrate that when certain strict conditions are met (i.e. time, sheddability of garment, proximity and confined space), airborne transfer of fibers can occur in forensic scenarios, and that these could be in potentially significant numbers for fiber types, such as cotton and polyester.

The results of this study define a set of circumstances that can be used as a baseline to evaluate the likelihood of an alleged activity being conducive to contactless transfer. What is equally, if not more, important, is how that fiber was transferred from one surface to another," he said. "This research shows that airborne transfer is viable in a number of case scenarios despite previous beliefs and could explain the presence of fibers on a variety of surfaces.

 A study on contactless airborne transfer of textile fibers between different garments in small compact semi-enclosed spaces, Forensic Science International (2020).

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-forensic-textile-fibres-absence-conta...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 15, 2020 at 5:59am

Spacecraft Uncover Mystery Behind Auroral Beads

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-aurora-mysteries-nasa-themis-mission....

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 15, 2020 at 5:41am

Nanoparticles to immunize plants against heat stress

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-nanoparticles-immunize-stress.html?ut...

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Researchers capture footage of fluid behaving like a solid

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-capture-footage-fluid-solid.html?utm_...

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Space bricks for lunar habitation

In what could be a significant step forward in space exploration, a team of researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has developed a sustainable process for making brick-like structures on the moon. It exploits lunar soil, and uses bacteria and guar beans to consolidate the soil into possible load-bearing structures. These 'space bricks' could eventually be used to assemble structures for habitation on the moon's surface.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-space-bricks-lunar-habitation.html?ut...

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Coronavirus Found on Food Packaging, but Likely of Little Concern

China recently reported the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus on the outside of frozen food items imported from other countries, but experts stress the risk of transmission is extremely low.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/coronavirus-found-on-foo...

the chance of transmission through inanimate surfaces is very small, and only in instances where an infected person coughs or sneezes on the surface, and someone else touches that surface soon after

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2020 at 7:23am

We Finally Know The Chemical That Triggers Locust Swarms. Now to Use It Against Them

A single locust is just bigger than a paper clip.

But when these solitary critters attract others into a growing swarm, billions of locusts wind up flying together, forming a moving carpet that can block out the sun and strip the landscape of plants and crops.

Giant swarms like this have devastated large swaths of crops in Africa and Asia since January, threatening food supplies for millions.

But until now, scientists weren't sure what causes the insects to come together and abandon their solitary lifestyles. 

A study published Wednesday in the journal Nature pinpointed the trigger: Migratory locusts respond to a pheromone called 4-vinylanisole (4VA).

4VA is specific to that one type of locust, but the finding could offer a way to control many devastating swarms, including those wreaking global havoc this year. The study authors suggest using 4VA to corral locusts into areas in which they can then be killed en masse with pesticides.

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The migratory locust is the most widely distributed locust species on the planet.

Like all locust species, these insects can follow one of two paths as they mature: some become solitary creatures, while others gather together in a cohesive mass. Locusts can also transition from solitary to gregarious creatures at any point during their life cycle.

Scientists had long thought this change in lifestyle might be prompted by a pheromone put out by other locusts. Yet until the discovery of 4VA, they hadn't figured out what that chemical klaxon was.

This study has found the long-anticipated but never-before-described aggregation pheromone that is responsible for bringing solitary locusts together and turning them into gregarious, dangerous swarming locusts

The study authors found that 4VA was equally attractive to male and female migratory locusts, as well as juveniles and adults.

Their results also showed that as the density of a locust swarm grew, the amount of 4VA in the air "increased markedly," Voss wrote. That could explain why swarms, once they start, gather more and more solitary locusts over time.

Additionally, the researchers found that once four or five solitary locusts crowd out together, they begin to produce and emit 4VA.

As a substance, 4VA would smell sweet to humans. he discovery of 4VA could facilitate a more surgical approach to fighting swarms: The study authors suggest deploying a synthetic version of the scent to lure locusts into traps where they can be killed. 

Another option, they wrote, might be to figure out ways to stop locusts from detecting 4VA at all.

Locusts detect the pheromone via their antennae; the molecules attach to an olfactory receptor. So the researchers genetically engineered locusts to lack that receptor, and found that the mutant locusts were less attracted to 4VA than their wild counterparts.

Based on those findings, the authors think "anti-VA" chemicals could be developed to obstruct the locusts' olfactory process.

"Such molecules could be widely deployed to prevent locust aggregation, in effect making the locusts blind to their own scent," 

https://www.sciencealert.com/researchers-have-finally-worked-out-th...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2020 at 6:47am

The hidden math of bacterial behavior

As modern medical science has become increasingly aware of the positive role that bacteria and other microorganisms can play in our health, a mystery has emerged: How is it that beneficial microbial communities can sometimes "flip" into a harmful state that is stubbornly resistant to treatment?

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Pandemic Conspiracies And Rumours Have Killed Over 800 People, Study Shows

"Infodemic" – an oversupply of information, carrying with it fake news, rumours, and conspiracy theories that put people in harm's way. Bad ideas and poor advice, shared amongst friends, family, and total strangers alike.

In a new study, an international team of infectious disease researchers scoured social media and news websites to monitor how COVID-19 misinformation was circulating on online platforms.

In total, they identified over 2,300 reports of COVID-19-related rumours, stigma, and conspiracy theories, communicated in 25 languages from 87 different countries.

None of this misinformation is helpful – even if it's intended to be – and much of it is harmful. In some cases, it's lethal, leading to preventable death and injury on a truly tragic scale.

"For example, a popular myth that consumption of highly concentrated alcohol could disinfect the body and kill the virus was circulating in different parts of the world," the authors write in their study.

"Following this misinformation, approximately 800 people have died, whereas 5,876 have been hospitalised and 60 have developed complete blindness after drinking methanol as a cure of coronavirus."

https://www.sciencealert.com/covid-19-rumours-have-killed-800-peopl...

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How a protein stops cells from attacking their own DNA

Viruses multiply by injecting their DNA into a host cell. Once it enters the intracellular fluid, this foreign material triggers a defense mechanism known as the cGAS-STING pathway. The protein cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase (cGAS), which is also found inside the fluid, binds to the invading DNA to create a new molecule. This, in turn, binds to another protein called Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING), which induces an inflammatory immune response.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2020 at 6:35am

Recalling memories from a third-person perspective changes how our brain processes them

 recalling memories from an observer-like perspective—instead of through your own eyes—leads to greater interaction between the anterior hippocampus and the posterior medial network.

"These findings contribute to a growing body of research that show that retrieving memories is an active process that can bias and even distort our memories.

Adopting an observer-like perspective involves viewing the past in a novel way, which requires greater interaction among brain regions that support our ability to recall the details of a memory and to recreate mental images in our mind's eye."

Adopting an observer-like perspective may also serve a therapeutic purpose, explained St Jacques. "This may be an effective way of dealing with troubling memories by viewing the past from a distance and reducing the intensity of the emotions we feel."

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-08-recalling-memories-third-per...

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Why more heatwaves endanger our health and ability to work

As the Earth warms, heatwaves are expected to occur more often, with sharper intensity and for longer periods. Rising temperatures adversely affect worker productivity and human health, but for policymakers to take substantive action for heat adaptation, and meet what researchers see as a life-saving Paris climate agreement, making an economic case is key.

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Revealing the structure of the mysterious blue whirling flame

A team of researchers working at the University of Maryland has uncovered the structure of the mysterious blue whirling flame. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes using computer simulations to determine the structure of the unique type of flame.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2020 at 5:36am

Bacterial enzymes 'hijacked' to create complex molecules normally made by plants

Chemists at Scripps Research have efficiently created three families of complex, oxygen-containing molecules that are normally obtainable only from plants.

These molecules, called terpenes, are potential starting points for new drugs and other high-value products—marking an important development for multiple industries. In addition, the new approach could allow chemists to build many other classes of compounds.

The chemistry feat is detailed in the Aug. 13 edition of the journal Science.

The key to this new method of making molecules is the harnessing, or hijacking, of natural enzymes—from bacteria, in this case—to assist in complex chemical transformations that have been impractical or impossible with synthetic chemistry techniques alone.

Natural enzymes that help build molecules in cells usually perform only one or two highly specific tasks. But the Scripps Research team showed that natural enzymes, even without modification, can be made to perform a wider range of tasks. We think that in general, enzymes are a mostly untapped resource for solving problems in chemical synthesis. Enzymes tend to have some degree of promiscuous activity, in terms of their ability to spur chemical reactions  beyond their primary task, and scientists  were able to take advantage of that here.

Enzymes help build molecules in all plant, animal and microbial species. Inspired by their efficiency in constructing highly complex molecules, chemists for more than half a century have used enzymes in the lab to help build valuable compounds, including drug compounds—but usually these compounds are the same molecules the enzymes help build in nature.

Harnessing natural enzymes in a broader way, according to their basic biochemical activity, is a new strategy with vast potential. Our view now is that whenever we want to synthesize a complex molecule, the solution probably already exists among nature's enzymes—we just have to know how to find the enzymes that will work. The team succeeded in making nine terpenes known to be produced in Isodon, a family of flowering plants related to mint. The complex compounds belong to three terpene families with related chemical structures: ent-kauranes, ent-atisanes, and ent-trachylobanes. Members of these terpene families have a wide range of biological activities including the suppression of inflammation and tumor growth.

"Divergent synthesis of complex diterpenes through a hybrid oxidative approach" Science (2020). science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi … 1126/science.abb8271

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-bacterial-enzymes-hijacked-complex-mo...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 14, 2020 at 5:24am

Restoring degraded tropical forests generates big carbon gains

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-degraded-tropical-forests-big-carbon....

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** Hubble finds that Betelgeuse's mysterious dimming is due to a traumatic outburst

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-hubble-betelgeuse-mysterious-dimming-...

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** Bird and reptile tears aren't so different from human tears

Bird and reptile tears aren't so unlike our own, shows a new study in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. But the differences could provide insights into better ophthalmic treatments for humans and animals, as well as a clues into the evolution of tears across different species.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-bird-reptile-human.html?utm_source=nw...

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Scientists discover way to make quantum states last 10,000 times longer

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-quantum-states-longer.html...

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** Researchers use supercomputer to gain insights into hepatitis B

Researchers at the University of Delaware, using supercomputing resources and collaborating with scientists at Indiana University, have gained new understanding of the virus that causes hepatitis B and the "spiky ball" that encloses the virus's genetic blueprint.

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Sustainable nylon production made possible by bacteria discovery

Nylon manufacture could be revolutionized by the discovery that bacteria can make a key chemical involved in the process, without emitting harmful greenhouse gases.

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2020 at 8:06am

Painting Eyes on The Butts of Cattle Can Protect Them From Lions, Research Shows

https://www.sciencealert.com/lions-are-less-likely-to-attack-cattle...

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Scientists reveal long-term cumulative effects of frequent green tides in coastal oceans

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-scientists-reveal-long-term-cumulativ...

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New robotic system remotely controls ventilators in COVID-19 patient rooms

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-robotic-remotely-ventilators-co...

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Chemists expand genetic code of E. coli to produce 21st amino acid, giving it new abilities

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-chemists-genetic-code-coli-21st.html?...

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Eggshell-based surgical material for skull injuries:

A bioactive polymer-ceramic composite for fixing implants and restoring bone defects in the skull was developed by an international group of materials scientists .  An innovative composition of the material based on eggshell-derived bioceramic provides increased strength and biointegration of implants.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-eggshell-based-surgical-material-skul...

Comment by Dr. Krishna Kumari Challa on August 12, 2020 at 7:27am

Climate explained: why does geothermal electricity count as renewable?

https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-does-geothermal-e...

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Quantum researchers create an error-correcting cat

physicists have developed an error-correcting cat—a new device that combines the Schrödinger's cat concept of superposition (a physical system existing in two states at once) with the ability to fix some of the trickiest errors in a quantum computation.

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-quantum-error-correcting-cat.html?utm...

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I am facing this problem too!

The pandemic is putting a strain on internet speeds. Here's what you can do for the best connection

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-08-pandemic-strain-internet.html?u...

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Chemists discover way to make new nitrogen products 'out of thin air'

https://phys.org/news/2020-08-chemists-nitrogen-products-thin-air.h...

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From cave art to climate chaos: how a new carbon dating timeline is changing our view of history

https://theconversation.com/from-cave-art-to-climate-chaos-how-a-ne...

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