Tear gas ....

https://theconversation.com/what-is-tear-gas-139958?utm_medium=emai...

The term tear gas refers to a group of chemical irritants that can be used to control or disperse crowds. The chemicals that are used for this purpose cause irritation of mucous membranes and of the eyes including tearing (hence the name “tear gas”), twitching around the eyes, cough, difficulty breathing and irritation to the skin.

They are believed to be short-term irritants and unlikely to kill or cause permanent harm, especially if delivered at relatively low levels, on a single occasion and in open spaces. At high levels in closed spaces, though, they can be lethal.

The chemicals are solids, not gasses, but may be delivered dispersed as aerosols in pyrotechnic mixtures that disperse the chemical during the explosion or in solutions delivered as a spray. There are multiple tear gas chemicals, the most likely of which is called 2-chlorobenzalmalonitrile or CS, which was named for Ben Corson and Roger Stoughton, American chemists who invented it in 1928. CS was adopted as the official military riot control chemical in 1959. There have been many instances of tear gas use around the world.

How does tear gas work?

These chemicals react with sensory nerve receptors that can cause pain and discomfort in skin, eyes and mucous membranes. They act almost instantly, but the irritation they induce is usually resolved in about 30 minutes to a....

Can tear gas cause permanent harm?

In low level and infrequent exposures, they are unlikely to cause permanent harm. They have been used for years by the military to train on gas mask use. There is some human evidence reported of long-term effects mainly from high dose exposures in indoor situations and for long time periods.

However, there is little human data on specific vulnerable populations.

Is tear gas a chemical weapon?

The 1993 International Chemical Weapons Convention, Geneva banned tear gas from being used where military forces are at war. However, a number of countries, including the U.S., have approved the use of tear gas for civilian riot control and for crowd control of non-military persons.

Magnet tricks

Science experiments

https://theconversation.com/glacier-mice-these-herds-of-moss-balls-...

Glacier mice: these herds of moss-balls roam the ice – and we’re uncovering their mysteries

Glacier mice don’t appear on just any ice sheet – there are only a few glaciers worldwide where they can be found. In 2012, we travelled to one called Falljökull to study their movements.

We dissected some of these moss balls and inserted accelerometers. These devices measure movement, and are used to orient mobile phones so that if you rotate them, their displays turns accordingly. The data we collected from accelerometers helped crack the puzzle of how moss in contact with the ice can survive when other plants would usually die.

The glacier mice rotated often, at least once every few days. It is this rotation that enables the glacier mice to grow moss around the whole of their outer surfaces – sometimes creating near perfect spheres. If the glacier mice stopped rotating, the moss that comes into permanent contact with the glacier surface would die.

Glacier mice are often found teetering on icy pedestals, and that’s because each of these moss balls actually reduces the amount of melting that occurs underneath it. So over a period of hours and days, the glacier mouse becomes elevated on a pedestal of ice and it eventually rolls off.

This process repeats itself over and over, so that the ball exposes a different surface to the sun each time it falls. In time, this means the moss ball rotates often and evenly enough to prevent any part staying in contact with the ice too long.

Recent research on glacier mice in Alaska found that glacier mice can live for more than six years in this pattern. But scientists still don’t know why groups of glacier mice tend to move herd-like on the ice surface, sometimes south, sometimes west, but always in concert with each other. Wind, gravity and melting patterns aren’t enough to fully explain the mystery, so research continues.

Bird mummy' mystery - solved

In a Fascinating Twist, Animals That Do Math Also Understand More Language Than We Think

https://www.sciencealert.com/some-animals-that-do-math-can-understa...

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200608092932.htm

Ground-breaking research makes childhood vaccines safe in all temperatures

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-lament-humpty-dumpty-effec...

Scientists lament 'Humpty Dumpty' effect on world's spectacular, rare wildlife

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-flame-retardants.html?utm_so...

Study finds another reason to wash hands: Flame retardants

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-entire-roman-city-revealed.html?utm_s...

Entire Roman city revealed without any digging

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-parasitic-fungi-blue-green-algae.html...

Parasitic fungi keep harmful blue-green algae in check

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-heart-milky-stars-closer-threatening....

At the heart of the Milky Way, stars draw closer, threatening planets in their orbit

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https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-does-your-driving-spe...

Does your driving speed make any difference to your car’s emissions?

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Sci-com from women

https://news.ufl.edu/2020/06/women-in-science-media/

Reasons Why The Coronavirus Is Not ‘Man-made’ Controversial claims over the coronavirus’ origin have proliferated on the internet. Here, we examine the scientific evidence that supports its natural origins.

https://www.asianscientist.com/2020/06/features/coronavirus-origin-...

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https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/we-are-never-just-scien...

We Are Never Just Scientists
The gender and racial gaps in scientific professions illustrate the need for greater inclusion at all levels

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https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/two-genetic-regions-link...

Two Genetic Regions Linked with Severe COVID-19

A rare heart bone is discovered in chimpanzees

Very few species of animals have this bone—called an os cordis—therefore this is a particularly rare find.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-rare-heart-bone-chimpanzees.html?utm_...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-bike-human.html?utm_source=nwletter&a...

What a bike moving at near the speed of light might look like to a human observer

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-erosion-himalayas-tectonic-movements-...

Erosion of the Himalayas governed by tectonic movements

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** https://phys.org/news/2020-06-women-travel-related-greenhouse-gas-e...

Women generate lower travel-related greenhouse gas emissions, study finds

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-astrophysicists-cornerstone-einstein-...

Astrophysicists confirm cornerstone of Einstein's Theory of Relativity

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-sun-clock-quantifies-extreme-space.ht...

New 'sun clock' quantifies extreme space weather switch on/off

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-bogus-contact-apps-deployed.htm...

Bogus 'contact tracing' apps deployed to steal data: researchers

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-scientists-neural-network-absor...

Scientists create a neural network for adaptive shock absorbers

After a century of searching, scientists find new liquid phase

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-century-scientists-liquid-phase.html?...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ancient-enzymes-contribute-greener-ch...

Ancient enzymes can contribute to greener chemistry

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-giant-jellyfish-deadly.html?utm_sourc...

What makes a giant jellyfish's sting deadly

The researchers used mass spectrometry to identify 13 toxin-like proteins in this lethal fraction. Some of the jellyfish proteins were similar to harmful enzymes and proteins found in poisonous snakes, spiders and bees. Instead of any one toxin being lethal, it's likely that multiple poisons work in concert to cause death, the researchers say.

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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01721-x?utm_source=Natur...

Thousands of scientists worldwide went on strike for Black lives
Academics and scientific organizations stopped research activities on 10 June to reflect and take action on systemic inequalities in science.

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https://elifesciences.org/articles/58874?utm_source=content_alert&a...

Memory: How the brain constructs dreams

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https://theconversation.com/weight-loss-heres-why-those-last-few-po...

Weight loss: here’s why those last few pounds can be hardest to lose – according to science

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Females Gain Ground as Biomedical Research Subjects

A study finds improvement in the proportion of scientific projects that include both sexes, but analyzing results by sex is not routine.

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/females-gain-ground-as-b...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-human-embryo-like-stem-cells.html?utm...

Human embryo-like model created from human stem cells

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-unexpected-widespread-eart...

Scientists detect unexpected widespread structures near Earth's core

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-quantum-state-space.html?utm_source=n...

Quantum 'fifth state of matter' observed in space for first time

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-reprogramming-immune-child-o...

Reprogramming of immune system cures child with often-fatal fungal infection $$

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-skyrmions-biological-cells.html?utm_s...

Researchers discover skyrmions can split like biological cells

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-factors-height-mountains.html?utm_sou...

Which factors control the height of mountains?

Which factors control the height of mountains?
A surprising answer: It is not erosion and weathering of rocks that determine the upper limit of mountain massifs, but rather an equilibrium of forces in the Earth's crust.

New insight into the Great Dying

New insight into the Great Dying: A new study shows for the first time that the collapse of terrestrial ecosystems during Earth's most deadly mass extinction event was directly responsible for disrupting ocean chemistry.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-insight-great-dying.html?utm_source=n...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-pretty-pink-india-crater-lake.html?ut...

Pretty in pink: India crater lake changes colour overnight

A crater lake in India's western Maharashtra state has turned pink overnight, delighting nature enthusiasts and surprising experts who attributed it to changing salinity levels and the presence of algae in the water.

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-drug-carrying-platelets-propel-...

Drug-carrying platelets engineered to propel themselves through biofluids

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-twitter-limit-unread-articles.h...

Twitter moves to limit sharing on unread articles : aimed at slowing the spread of unverified information.

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-aqua-fi-underwater-wifi-lasers....

Aqua-Fi: Underwater WiFi developed using LEDs and lasers

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-beacons-safer-tunnel-evacuation...

Sound beacons support safer tunnel evacuation

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-fraudulent-online-portals.html?...

How to handle fraudulent reviews on online portals? Study gives tips to managers

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https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200610102721.htm

Study of 62 countries finds people react similarly to everyday situations

Tear gas:

From chaos to free will

A crude understanding of physics sees determinism at work in the Universe. Luckily, molecular uncertainty ensures this isn’t so $$

https://aeon.co/essays/heres-why-so-many-physicists-are-wrong-about...

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https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_cox_what_is_a_coronavirus

** What is a coronavirus?

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https://www.sciencenews.org/article/humans-cannot-hear-difference-b...

No, you can’t hear the difference between sick and healthy coughs

Humans can’t seem to pick up on subtle variations in the sounds

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-physicists-publish-worldwide-consensu...

An international team of more than 170 physicists published the most reliable prediction so far for the theoretical value of the muon's anomalous magnetic moment

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ingredients-life-stellar-nurseries-st...

Ingredients for life appear in stellar nurseries long before stars are born

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-adding-noise.html?utm_source=nwletter...

Adding noise for completely secure communication

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-quantum-effect-large-metal.html?utm_s...

Quantum effect observed in 'large' metal

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-remixed-mantle-early-plate-tectonics....

Remixed mantle suggests early start of plate tectonics

India's 50-year drying period and subsequent reversal—battle between natural and anthropogenic variability

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-india-year-period-subsequent-reversal...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-horizons-interstellar-parallax.html?u...

New Horizons conducts the first interstellar parallax experiment

New Horizons conducts the first interstellar parallax experiment .... For the first time, a spacecraft has sent back pictures of the sky from so far away that some stars appear to be in different positions than we'd see from Earth.

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-bacteria-biological-reactions-sustain...

From bacteria to you: The biological reactions that sustain our rhythms

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-enzyme-responsible-gender-based-pluma...

Single enzyme responsible for gender-based plumage color differences in canaries

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https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-why-does-sci...

Why Does Science Come Last?

History shows us that there is no alternative to research in the battle against pandemics

Why children avoid the worst coronavirus complications might lie in their arteries

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01692-z?utm_source=Natur...

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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01684-z?utm_source=Natur...

The search for microbial dark matter

Why testing negative for coronavirus isn't a guarantee you don't have COVID-19

The timing of testing is critical. The amount of virus or viral load of the person being tested affects the test result. A low viral load, which can occur in the very early stage of the disease or during the recovery phase, could give a false negative result. Anyone with symptoms consistent with COVID should stay at home – period – even if their test is negative. "It's not that you don't have COVID; it's just that the test is not that reliable."

It could be negative because it's too early, it could be negative because it's too late, it could be negative because the test wasn't done properly. There are many, many reasons why the test could be negative. 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/coronavirus-test-false-negative-1.56...

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Females in India at Higher Risk of Death from Coronavirus Than Males, Shows Study

Coronavirus is Killing More Men than Women. In India, it seems, It’s the Opposite!
Females in India at Higher Risk of Death from Coronavirus Than Males, Shows Study

https://www.news18.com/news/india/females-in-india-at-higher-risk-o...

https://www.news18.com/news/buzz/more-men-are-dying-from-covid-19-i...

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https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-harness-plants-to-produce-e...

Scientists Say They've Figured Out How to Get Usable Energy From Plants: they have produced hydrogen from plants in a development that they hope could eventually lead to using vegetation to produce electricity.

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https://theconversation.com/the-next-once-a-century-pandemic-is-com...

The next once-a-century pandemic is coming sooner than you think – but COVID-19 can help us get ready

48,000-year-old arrowheads reveal early human innovation in the Sri Lankan rainforest

https://theconversation.com/48-000-year-old-arrowheads-reveal-early...

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https://www.sciencenews.org/article/scientists-want-build-noah-ark-...

Scientists propose to create the Microbiota Vault to preserve human microbiome collections that may one day be used to prevent disease.

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$$ https://wordonthegrapevine.co.uk/biodynamic-viticulture-pseudoscience/

https://www.vinography.com/2020/06/the-skeptics-guide-to-biodynamic...

The problem with biodynamics: myths, quacks and pseudoscience

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture#:~:text=Biodyn...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-protein-cancer-regenerate-...

Scientists engineer one protein to fight cancer and regenerate neurons

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https://www.space.com/universe-standard-model-hubble-constant-new-m...

'Standard model' of cosmology called into question by new measurements

A quantum memory that operates at telecom wavelengths

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-quantum-memory-telecom-wavelengths.ht...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-intelligent-life-galaxy.html?utm_sour...

Research sheds new light on intelligent life existing across the galaxy

--

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-artificial-synapse-cells.htm...

Researchers develop artificial synapse that works with living cells

--

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-tiny-sand-grains-trigger-massive.html...

Tiny sand grains trigger massive glacial surges

--

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-newly-phenomenon-quantum-devices.html...

Newly observed phenomenon could lead to new quantum devices

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-reveals-material-defects.html?utm_sou...

Research reveals how material defects influence melting process

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-pulsars-bright-half-century-old-myste...

Why pulsars shine bright: A half-century-old mystery solved

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-disrupted-circadian-rhythms-...

Disrupted circadian rhythms linked to later Parkinson's diagnoses

Spectacular bird's-eye view? Hummingbirds see diverse colors humans can only imagine

To find food, dazzle mates, escape predators and navigate diverse terrain, birds rely on their excellent color vision.

Humans are color-blind compared to birds and many other animals

Humans have three types of color-sensitive cones in their eyes—attuned to red, green and blue light—but birds have a fourth type, sensitive to ultraviolet light. "Not only does having a fourth color cone type extend the range of bird-visible colors into the UV, it potentially allows birds to perceive combination colors like ultraviolet+green and ultraviolet+red—but this has been hard to test.

To investigate how birds perceive their colorful world, a  research team established a new field system for exploring bird color vision in a natural setting. Working at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in Gothic, Colorado, the researchers trained wild broad-tailed hummingbirds (Selasphorus platycercus) to participate in color vision experiments.

 "Nonspectral" color combinations, which involve hues from widely separated parts of the color spectrum, as opposed to blends of neighboring colors like teal (blue-green) or yellow (green-red) were studied. For humans, purple is the clearest example of a nonspectral color. Technically, purple is not in the rainbow: it arises when our blue (short-wave) and red (long-wave) cones are stimulated, but not green (medium-wave) cones.

While humans have just one nonspectral color—purple, birds can theoretically see up to five: purple, ultraviolet+red, ultraviolet+green, ultraviolet+yellow and ultraviolet+purple.

The experiments revealed that hummingbirds can see a variety of nonspectral colors, including purple, ultraviolet+green, ultraviolet+red and ultraviolet+yellow. For example, hummingbirds readily distinguished ultraviolet+green from pure ultraviolet or pure green, and they discriminated between two different mixtures of ultraviolet+red light—one redder, one less so.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-spectacular-bird-eye-view-hummingbird...

More information: Mary Caswell Stoddard el al., "Wild hummingbirds discriminate nonspectral colors," PNAS (2020). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1919377117

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Probing dark matter with the Higgs boson

Visible matter—everything from pollen to stars and galaxies—accounts for roughly 15% of the total mass of the universe. The remaining 85% is made of something entirely different from things we can touch and see: dark matter. Despite overwhelming evidence from the observation of gravitational effects, the nature of dark matter and its composition remain unknown.

How can physicists study dark matter beyond gravitational effects if it is practically invisible? Researchers are pursuing three approaches:

• indirect detection with astronomical observatories searching for the decay products of dark-matter annihilation in galactic centres
• direct detection with highly sensitive low-background experiments looking for dark matter scattering off nuclei
• creating dark matter in the controlled laboratory environment of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.

Although successful at describing elementary particles and their interactions at low energies, the Standard Model of particle physics does not include a viable dark-matter particle. The only possible candidates, neutrinos, do not have the right properties to explain the observed dark matter. To remedy this problem, a simple theoretical extension of the Standard Model posits that existing particles, such as the Higgs boson, act as a "portal" between known particles and dark-matter particles. Since the Higgs boson couples to mass, massive dark-matter particles should interact with it. The Higgs boson still has large uncertainties associated with the strength of its interaction with Standard Model particles; up to 30% of the Higgs-boson decays can potentially be invisible, according to the latest ATLAS combined Higgs-boson measurements.

Could some of the Higgs bosons decay into dark matter? As dark matter does not interact directly with the ATLAS detector, physicists look for signs of "invisible particles," inferred through momentum conservation of the proton–proton collision products. According to the Standard Model, the fraction of Higgs bosons decaying to an invisible final state (four neutrinos!) accounts for just 0.1% and is thus negligible. Should such events be observed, it would be a direct indication of new physics and potential evidence of Higgs bosons decaying into dark-matter particles.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-probing-dark-higgs-boson.html?utm_sou...

 Search for invisible Higgs boson decays with vector boson fusion signatures with the ATLAS detector using an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1: atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS … ATLAS-CONF-2020-008/

Disclosure of climate-related financial risks not enough to drive action

While risk disclosure can support a market-driven transition towards a more sustainable financial system, it is only one part of the puzzle. To ensure its success the TCFD Framework should be updated to incorporate consideration of other crucial factors."

The study identified that in addition to disclosure, it is equally important to ensure the appropriate incentives to disclose, the mechanisms to enable market discipline and supply chain compliance.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-disclosure-climate-related-financial-...

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Scientists discover three-dimensional structure in smaller water droplet

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-three-dimensional-smaller-...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-history-insightful-hiv-neutron-approa...

History of insightful HIV research inspires neutron scattering approach to studying COVID-19

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https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-ai-algorithm-age-photos-wrinkle...

AI algorithm identifies age of faces in photos using wrinkles, spots

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The first programming language for quantum computers

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-intuitive-language-quantum.html

Why West Antarctica is warming faster than East Antarctica

How insulin works to control your blood sugar

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Coronavirus: Under the microscope

New species extinction target proposed for global nature rescue plan

In proposals published today in the journal Science, conservation experts are suggesting a long-term goal to reduce species extinctions towards natural rates, with an easily measurable objective of fewer than 20 extinctions a year.

It would apply to all described species across the major taxonomic groups (fungi, plants, invertebrates and vertebrates) and ecosystem types, whether freshwater, marine or terrestrial.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-species-extinction-global-nature.html...

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Measuring the spin of a black hole

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-black-hole.html

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-young-embryos-quality.html?utm_source...

How young embryos conduct quality control to become  healthy fetuses ...

The first few days of embryonic development are a critical point for determining the failure or success of a pregnancy. Because relatively few cells make up the embryo during this period, the health of each cell is vital to the health of the overall embryo. But often, these young cells have chromosomal aneuploidies—meaning, there are too many or too few chromosome copies in the cell. Aneuploid cells lead to the failure of the pregnancy, or cause developmental defects such as Down syndrome later in gestation.

Researchers have found that the prevalence of aneuploidy is drastically lower as the embryo grows and develops

aneuploid cells are under chronic stress due to an imbalance in the production of proteins caused by the abnormal number of chromosomes. This stress in turn activates a process called autophagy that leads to the death of the abnormal cells.

Shruti Singla et al. Autophagy-mediated apoptosis eliminates aneuploid cells in a mouse model of chromosome mosaicism, Nature Communications (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16796-3

Gametophytic pollen tube guidance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDbmWz0t9rg&feature=emb_logo

Wounded plants: How they coordinate their healing

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-wounded.html?utm_source=nwletter&...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-growth-world-deepest-photosynthetic-c...

Surprising growth rates discovered in world's deepest photosynthetic corals

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https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/06/15/biotechnology-in...

Biotechnology innovation during COVID-19

 three therapeutic classes that have been especially innovative and disruptive in recent years: adoptive T-cell therapy for cancer, precision oncology drugs and gene therapy. We expect these three categories to transform the standard of care for many difficult-to-treat diseases.

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Almost 90% of astronauts have been men. But the future of space may be female

https://theconversation.com/almost-90-of-astronauts-have-been-men-b...

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https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-is-time-travel-possible-fo...

is time travel possible for humans?

https://theconversation.com/time-travel-is-possible-but-only-if-you...

Time travel is possible – but only if you have an object with infinite mass

Why one-size-fits-all diets don’t work – new study

https://theconversation.com/why-one-size-fits-all-diets-dont-work-n...

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https://theconversation.com/autoimmune-diseases-we-discovered-how-t...

Autoimmune diseases: scientists discovered how to turn white blood cells from attacking the body to protecting it

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https://theconversation.com/why-it-could-be-dangerous-to-exercise-w...

Why it could be dangerous to exercise with a face mask on

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-crucial-step-toward-pr...

A Crucial Step Toward Preventing Wildlife-Related Pandemics

We need to reform the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

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https://www.the-scientist.com/infographics/infographic-puncture-thi...

Infographic: How Cells Use Decoys to Defend Against Pathogens

Specialized exosomes sop up bacterial toxins, a study finds.

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https://www.sciencealert.com/no-this-2014-mars-photo-does-not-show-...

That 'Human Bone' Found in a NASA Mars Photo Isn't Even New. Here's The Real Story

Dark Energy Survey detects thousands of low-surface-brightness galaxies

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-dark-energy-survey-thousands-low-surf...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-exomars-unique-green-red-planet.html?...

ExoMars spots unique green glow at the Red Planet

ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has detected glowing green oxygen in Mars' atmosphere—the first time that this emission has been seen around a planet other than Earth.

On Earth, glowing oxygen is produced during polar auroras when energetic electrons from interplanetary space hit the upper atmosphere. This oxygen-driven emission of light gives polar auroras their beautiful and characteristic green hue.

The aurora, however, is just one way in which planetary atmospheres light up. The atmospheres of planets including Earth and Mars glow constantly during both day and night as sunlight interacts with atoms and molecules within the atmosphere. Day and night glow are caused by slightly different mechanisms: night glow occurs as broken-apart molecules recombine, whereas day glow arises when the sun's light directly excites atoms and molecules such as nitrogen and oxygen.

On Earth, green night glow is quite faint, and so is best seen by looking from an 'edge on' perspective—as portrayed in many spectacular images taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This faintness can be an issue when hunting for it around other planets, as their bright surfaces can drown it out.

This green glow has now been detected for the first time at Mars by the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO), which has been orbiting Mars since October 2016.

Studying the glow of planetary atmospheres can provide a wealth of information about the composition and dynamics of an atmosphere, and reveal how energy is deposited by both the sun's light and the solar wind—the stream of charged particles emanating from our star.

J.-C. Gérard et al. Detection of green line emission in the dayside atmosphere of Mars from NOMAD-TGO observations, Nature Astronomy (2020). DOI: 10.1038/s41550-020-1123-2

Your brain shows if you are lonely or not

Your brain shows if you are lonely or not: A study finds that the closer you feel to people emotionally, the more similarly you represent them in your brain. People who feel social disconnection appear to have a lonelier, neural self-representation.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-loneliness-brain-social-netw...

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-scientists-explanation-baffl...

Scientists propose explanation for baffling form of childhood OCD: Research identifies antibodies that bind to particular brain cells called interneurons as an explanation.

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-savanna-like-landscapes-jet-fuel-brai...

Hunting in savanna-like landscapes may have poured jet fuel on brain evolution

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-persistent-dna-placenta-affe...

Persistent DNA damage in the placenta affects pregnancy outcomes

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-previously-undetected-brain-...

Previously undetected brain pulses may help circuits survive disuse, injury

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-flushing-toilets-clouds-virus-contain...

Flushing toilets create clouds of virus-containing particles

Researchers used a computer simulation to show how a flushing toilet can create a cloud of virus-containing aerosol droplets that is large and widespread and lasts long enough that the droplets could be breathed in by others.

Could the cure for Irritable Bowel Disease be inside your mouth?

From heart disease to diabetes, poor oral health is often a reflection of a person's overall health and may even be the cause of systemic disease

A new collaborative study from the U-M Medical and Dental Schools reveals that inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which included Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis and afflicts millions of adults around teh world, may be the latest condition made worse by poor oral health. The team has been studying the gut microbiome—the collection of bacteria that are normally present in the gut— for years. It noted an emerging link in research literature between an overgrowth of foreign bacterial species in the guts of people with IBD—bacteria that are normally found in the mouth. 

The new mouse study, published in Cell, shows two pathways by which oral bacteria appear to worsen gut inflammation.

In the first pathway, periodontitis, the scientific name for gum disease, leads to an imbalance in the normal healthy microbiome found in the mouth, with an increase of bacteria that cause inflammation. These disease-causing bacteria then travel to the gut.

However, this alone may not be enough to set off gut inflammation. The team demonstrated that oral bacteria may aggravate gut inflammation by looking at microbiome changes in mice with inflamed colons.

The normal gut microbiome resists colonization by exogenous, or foreign, bacteria. However, in mice with IBD, the healthy gut bacteria are disrupted, weakening their ability to resist disease-causing bacteria from the mouth." The team found that mice with both oral and gut inflammation had significantly increased weight loss and more disease activity.

In the second proposed pathway, periodontitis activates the immune system's T cells in the mouth. These mouth T cells travel to the gut where they, too, exacerbate inflammation. The gut's normal microbiome is held in balance by the action of inflammatory and regulatory T cells that are fine-tuned to tolerate the resident bacteria. But oral inflammation generates mostly inflammatory T cells that migrate to the gut, where they, removed from their normal environment, end up triggering the gut's immune response, worsening disease.

"This exacerbation of gut inflammation driven by oral organisms that migrate to the gut has important ramifications in emphasizing to patients the critical need to promote oral health as a part of total body health and wellbeing. This study importantly implies that clinical outcomes in IBD may be improved by monitoring oral inflamation—an intriguing concept.

"The intermucosal connection between the mouth and gut in commensal pathobiont-driven colitis," Cell, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.05.048

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-ibd-mouth.html?utm_source=nw...

Feel the beat: implanted microlasers scan heart from inside

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-implanted-microlasers-scan-heart.html...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-smallest-motor-world.html?utm_source=...

The smallest motor in the world which consists of only 16 atoms and rotates reliably in one direction. It could allow energy harvesting at the atomic level.

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ideas-dark.html?utm_source=nwletter&a...

New ideas in the search for dark matter

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-button-particles.html?utm_source=nwle...

A 'pause button' for light particles: Scientists are attempting the seemingly impossible: stopping light for tiny fractions of a second ... the researchers are even stopping individual light particles.

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-hurricane-season-combined-covid-pande...

Hurricane season combined with COVID-19 pandemic could create perfect storm

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-coal-burning-siberia-climate-million-...

Coal-burning in Siberia led to climate change 250 million years ago that led to massive extinctions

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-life.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm...

Instruments aboard future space missions are capable of detecting amino acids, fatty acids and peptides, and can even identify ongoing biological processes on ocean moons in our solar system.

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-sunlight-satellites-fate-space-junk.h...

Using sunlight to save satellites from a fate of 'space junk'

Do you know your behaviour on social media could be limiting the quality of your news feeds?

More than half the world's population use social media to keep up with the latest news and find a source of truth. But are they getting the facts and the right information? NO!

Some content is hidden from you while some news is made available to you based on your ‘mental make up’. So you are made to believe only a part of the world that suits you exist and that you are on the right path to seek it!

A lot of people may be unaware of the extent their news feed is altered by the click of a button when they dislike a post, or opt to see less of something on their news feed.

Throughout social media, a series of complex algorithms are in place to keep users engaged and visiting social media sites as long as possible. They want the user to have the feeling of 'you're right' so content is tailored to that person. This creates an environment of like-minded users who reinforce that person's opinions rather than providing balanced information.

So experts are making specific recommendations to empower individuals online, drawing on two approaches from behavioural sciences: nudging and boosting.

Nudging aims to steer people's behaviour by highlighting important information without imposing rules or bans. Nudging could be used, for example, to indicate whether content meets certain quality criteria—such as whether it stems from trustworthy sources.

Some sites recently took a step in this direction and started flagging some tweets with a fact-check warning.

The researchers say another possibility would be to make it more difficult for users to share information when an article fails to cite external references. For example, users might be required to click past a pop-up window.

Another option is what is called boosting, to enhance user competence in the long-term. This could, for instance, mean teaching people to determine the quality of a news item by looking at a set of variables, such as the sources being cited, that determine its likely quality.

It 's important to strengthen the Internet's potential to inform decision-making processes in democratic societies, bolstering them rather than undermining them.

'It's important for people to have autonomy to be able to control the content they receive, but at the same time be aware of the trustworthiness of their feeds and have more control over what information is provided.

https://techxplore.com/news/2020-06-behaviour-social-media-limiting...

How deadly is the coronavirus? Scientists are close to an answer

Researchers use a metric called infection fatality rate (IFR) to calculate how deadly a new disease is. It is the proportion of infected people who will die as a result, including those who don’t get tested or show symptoms.

“The IFR is one of the important numbers alongside the herd immunity threshold, and has implications for the scale of an epidemic and how seriously we should take a new disease.

Calculating an accurate IFR is challenging in the midst of any outbreak because it relies on knowing the total number of people infected — not just those who are confirmed through testing. But the fatality rate is especially difficult to pin down for COVID-19.

That’s partly because there are many people with mild or no symptoms, whose infection has gone undetected, and also because the time between infection and death can be as long as two months. Many countries are also struggling to count all their virus-related deaths, he says. Death records suggest that some of those are being missed in official counts.

Data from early in the pandemic overestimated how deadly the virus was, and then later analyses underestimated its lethality. Now, numerous studies — using a range of methods — estimate that in many countries some 5 to 10 people will die for every 1,000 people with COVID-19. “The studies I have any faith in are tending to converge around 0.5–1%,” says Russell.

But some researchers say that convergence between studies could just be coincidence. For a true understanding of how deadly the virus is, scientists need to know how readily it kills different groups of people. The risk of dying from COVID-19 can vary considerably depending on age, ethnicity, access to healthcare, socioeconomic status and underlying health conditions. More high-quality surveys of different groups are needed, these researchers say.

IFR is also specific to a population and changes over time as doctors get better at treating the disease, which can further complicate efforts to pin it down.

Getting the number right is important because it helps governments and individuals to determine appropriate responses.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01738-2?utm_source=Natur...

Why Do People Avoid Facts That Could Help Them?

Several studies suggest that individuals widely prefer to remain ignorant about information that would benefit them when it’s painful—and sometimes when it’s pleasurable

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-people-avoid-fact...

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/specially-shaped-artific...

Specially Shaped Artificial Particles Detoxify Blood

Camouflaged nanoparticles can soak up toxins like red bloods cells do 

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https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/in-south-africa-covid-19...

COVID-19 Breath Test Trial Set for June

If proven successful, the five-minute test could be a good temporary indicator before a confirmatory PCR test.

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-nanosponges-intercept-coronavirus-inf...

Nanosponges could intercept SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus infection and neutralize the virus

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-hard-eggshells-evolved-dinosaur-famil...

New study suggests that hard eggshells evolved at least three times in dinosaur family tree

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-knock-knock-coral-symbiotic-algae.htm...

 How coral let symbiotic algae in

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Soap bubbles pollinated a pear orchard without damaging delicate flowers: Soap bubbles may present a low-tech complement to robotic pollination technology designed to supplement the work of vanishing bees.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-soap-pollinated-pear-orchard-delicate...

$$ Study sheds light on a classic visual illusion: this phenomenon relies on brightness estimation that takes place before visual information reaches the brain's visual cortex, possibly within the retina.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-classic-visual-illusion.html...

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https://sciencex.com/news/2020-06-schrdinger-cat.html?utm_source=nw...

Schrödinger's cat explained!

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-expose-powerful-magnetic-fields-after...

Experiments expose how powerful magnetic fields are generated in the aftermath of supernovae

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-physicists-theory-bose-einstein-conde...

Physicists develop a new theory for Bose-Einstein condensates

Bose-Einstein condensates are often described as the fifth state of matter: At extremely low temperatures, gas atoms behave like a single particle. The exact properties of these systems are notoriously difficult to study.

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Science in Action - The medical complexity of Covid -19 - BBC Sounds

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-unusual-underwater-rivers-...

Scientists discover unusual underwater rivers along Australia's coastline

Scientists have discovered underwater rivers along most of Australia's continental shelf that are unique and do not occur at this scale anywhere else in the world.

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_chemical_elements_naming_co...

List of chemical elements naming controversies

How Toxoplasma parasites glide so swiftly

Toxoplasma gondii parasites can be transmitted through contaminated food, water or cat feces. Now, scientists have studied how these microscopic parasites glide so swiftly through the body.

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-toxoplasma-parasites-glide-swiftly.ht...

Quasar jets are particle accelerators thousands of light-years long

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-quasar-jets-particle-thousands-light-...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-lab-space-discovery-molecule-interste...

Discovery of a new organic molecule in an interstellar molecular cloud

Discovery of a new organic molecule in an interstellar molecular cloud: called propargylimine this chemical species may play a fundamental role in the formation of amino acids, among the key ingredients for life as we know it.

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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15610419/

Biotechnology Applied to Cultural Heritage: Biorestoration of Frescoes Using Viable Bacterial Cells and Enzymes

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https://theconversation.com/is-the-k-number-the-new-r-number-what-y...

What you need to know about the K number in epidemiology ....

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** https://theconversation.com/why-are-black-and-asian-people-at-great...

Why are black and Asian people at greater risk of coronavirus? Here’s what we found

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https://theconversation.com/in-the-future-your-phone-could-test-you...

In the future, your phone could test you for coronavirus – here’s how

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https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/female-medical-research?reb...

Liver perfusion could save 7 in 10 rejected donor livers

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-liver-perfusion-donor-livers...

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-light-activated-crispr-trigg...

Light-activated 'CRISPR' triggers precision gene editing and super-fast DNA repair

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https://theconversation.com/healthier-food-can-contain-more-contami...

Healthier food can contain more contaminants

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/slimy-mudflat-biofilms-f...

Slimy Mudflat Biofilms Feed Migratory Birds—and Could Be Threatened

The highly nutritious, shimmering goo is a vital source of energy for long-distance fliers

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https://www.the-scientist.com/the-literature/gut-microbiome-composi...

Gut Microbiome Composition Linked to Human Behavior

A study uncovers connections between the bacteria in our guts and our social lives.

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https://www.asianscientist.com/2020/06/health/east-asian-diabetes-g...

The Unique Genetics Of Diabetes In Asians: Researchers have found 61 new genetic variants that are linked to type 2 diabetes in East Asians, which could help to personalize treatment for the chronic disease.

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https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-scientists-decode-brain.html...

Scientists decode how the brain senses smell

Do you know these things about thorns? 

The thorns help protect against hungry animals that like to munch on the plants.

Where do they come from? 

 This is for non-botanists: Many plants have sharp, spiky armour that can be classified as thorns, prickles or spines.

Now get surprised: Rose bushes do not have thorns; they have prickles, as do raspberry and blackberry bushes. Prickles are like thick hairs on your arm, and in roses and other prickly plants, the prickles grow from their epidermis, or "skin". 

Other plants, including cacti, have spines, another type of sharp, pointy weaponry that forms instead of leaves. Thorns arise from shoots in plants such as bougainvillea, hawthorn and citrus.

Scientists have found that in citrus plants, thorns arise from the plants' stem cell populations. Unlike typical stem cells in animals or plants, which continue to divide, thorn stem cells undergo a programmed arrest. The scientists found that two regulators of stem cell production, TI1 and TI2, gradually shut down stem cell activity in the developing thorn, so that it tapers off until nothing is left but the sharp pointy end.

When the researchers genetically eliminated the two regulators, stem cell activity continued, and instead of thorns, the citrus plants produced new branches.

The insight could lead to orchards of orange trees with more fruit-bearing branches—ones that pose less danger to labourers who pick the fruit.

Source: Report in the June 18 issue of Current Biology

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-thorny-problem.html?utm_so...

Studying the Neandertal DNA found in modern humans using stem cells and organoids

Studies have found that about 2% of the genomes of modern humans from outside Africa are composed of Neandertal DNA. This archaic DNA is a result of mating between the two groups tens of thousands of years ago.

In the new study, the team used resources from the Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Initiative (HipSci), an international consortium that provides data and cell lines for research. Nearly all of the data and cell lines in HipSci are from people of UK and Northern European descent. The researchers analyzed this cell line resource for its Neandertal DNA content and annotated functional Neandertal variants for each of the cell lines.

"Some Neandertal alleles have relatively high frequency in this population," Camp explains. "Because of that, this iPSC resource contains certain genes that are homozygous for Neandertal alleles, including genes associated with skin and hair color that are highly prevalent in Europeans."

Camp's team used five cell lines to generate brain organoids and generated single-cell RNA sequencing data to analyze their cell composition. They showed that this transcriptomic data could be used to track Neandertal-derived RNA across developmental processes

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-neandertal-dna-modern-humans-stem.htm...

tem Cell Reports, Dannemann et al.: "Human stem cell resources are an inroad to Neandertal DNA functions" www.cell.com/stem-cell-reports … 2213-6711(20)30190-9 , DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2020.05.018

Researchers develop urine test that identifies pregnancy outcome after threatened miscarriage

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-urine-pregnancy-outcome-threatened-mi...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-nanotorch-highlights-ultrafast-bioche...

'Nanotorch' highlights ultrafast biochemical reactions

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-virus-crisis-throwaway-plastic-lease....

Virus crisis gives throwaway plastic a new lease on life

Single-use plastic is making a comeback, be it for throwaway facemasks, gloves or shrink-wrapped vegetables because of the virus crisis

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-astronomers-composition-elusive-black...

Astronomers make composition drawing of elusive wandering black holes

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-scientists-reveal-lost-billion-years....

Scientists reveal a lost eight billion light years of universe evolution

Earth’s rock-solid connections between Canada and Australia contain clues about the origin of life

The rocks at the surface of the modern Earth are broadly divided into two types: felsic and mafic. Felsic rocks are generally relatively low density—for a rock—and light in color because they are made from whitish minerals rich in silicon and aluminum. Half Dome in California is made of granite that is a felsic rock. Mafic rocks, in contrast, are relatively high in density and dark in color because they contain minerals rich in iron and magnesium; Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland is made of basalt, which is a mafic rock.

The difference in density between felsic and mafic rocks means that felsic rocks are more buoyant, and therefore sit at higher elevations above the Earth's mantle (the layer inside the Earth between the crust and the core). For this reason, felsic rocks make up Earth's continents whereas the lower elevation....

The mechanisms that separated the rocks at Earth's surface into these two groups may have also created the environment needed for life to flourish 4.3 billion years ago, very early in the history of Earth.

The separation into these two rock types is the result of plate tectonics: where the tectonic plates separate and move apart, the rocks below become depressurized, melt and fill in the gap between them, like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). The rock that fills the gap between the plates is mafic.

When one plate slides below another, fluids released from the lower plate cause melting in the mantle. These melts have to pass through the upper plate to reach the surface. On their way to the surface, they undergo a series of processes called fractional crystalization, which can change mafic melts into felsic melts.

When this separation happened is a matter of great debate in the Earth sciences because it may allow us to determine when the Earth became habitable for life. Many Earth scientists believe that the weathering of continental crust may have provided the nutrients for life to thrive; identifying when the first continents formed indicates when this may have occurred.

The exact mechanism is important for understanding the history and evolution of Earth, and may help understand the processes that could be occurring on other planets.

https://theconversation.com/earths-rock-solid-connections-between-c...

Glaciers may record the story of the coronavirus pandemic for future generations

The coronavirus pandemic will be remembered for decades to come through history books, oral narratives and an abundance of personal protective equipment. However, the glaciers of the Himalayas, the Alps, Patagonia and other regions may also hold the story of this time. Among the layers of ice lay records of many things—volcanic eruptions, other pandemics, ancient civilizations, and anthropogenic climate change. The precipitous decline in air pollutants, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and changes in atmospheric composition during the coronavirus pandemic might eventually be observed in glacial ice.

Atmospheric wind currents carry gases, particulates, and other substances to glaciers. When snow containing these particulates and dissolved chemicals from the air collects on glaciers, it traps the transported substances. Air bubbles—samples of the gases in the atmosphere (e.g. long-lived gases like carbon dioxide)—also form. Over months and years as more snow accumulates, older layers of snow and gas are compressed and sealed—preserving samples of atmospheric conditions at the time of precipitation. By drilling below the surface, scientists extract ice cores which contain these substances. The chemical composition of the ice and air trapped within it serves as a proxy for researchers to analyze atmospheric changes over time.

The atmospheric changes caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns could similarly be recorded in glacial ice for future scientists to analyze. With planes, trains, and cars coming to a grinding halt, polluting factories stopping their work, the effects of a drastic drop in transportation and work has already been seen in reductions in nitrogen dioxide emissions. In the atmosphere, nitrogen oxides transform to nitrates, which are deposited on surfaces such as glaciers where they are preserved. Scientists think that human activity dominates NOx emissions so we might be able to see a signal of that potentially in glaciers and ice cores. And because we have seen a decrease in concentrations in the atmosphere at least in cities, we might expect to see a decrease in nitrate concentrations in glaciers.

Future paleoclimatologist can study glaciers and find out about our agony during the pandemic!

https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/06/18/glaciers-record-coronaviru...

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-glaciers-story-coronavirus-pandemic.h...

How do ice cores allow researchers to look at global climate change? In this video researchers tell you how they do it ....

Planets must be formed early, study finds

https://phys.org/news/2020-06-planets-early.html?utm_source=nwlette...

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https://theconversation.com/girls-score-the-same-in-maths-and-scien...

Girls score the same in maths and science as boys, but higher in arts – this may be why they are less likely to pick STEM careers

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/coronavirus-antibody-tes...

Coronavirus Antibody Tests Have a Mathematical Pitfall

The accuracy of screening tests is highly dependent on the infection rate

How Do One-Way Mirrors Work?

COVID-19 Is “Very Different” in Young Kids Versus Adults

The rate we acquire genetic mutations could help predict lifespan, fertility

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-06-genetic-mutations-lifespan-f...

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-physics-neural-networks-chaos.html?ut...

Teaching physics to neural networks removes 'chaos blindness' in AI

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-bacterial-death-stars.html?utm_source...

Bacterial 'Death Stars' could be tricked into destroying themselves

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-physical-link-rna-epigenetic-silencin...

Physical link between RNA processing and epigenetic silencing discovered

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-tunnel-cholesterol-scientists-bad-cel...

Scientists show how 'bad' cholesterol gets into cells

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https://phys.org/news/2020-06-social-role-echolocation.html?utm_sou...

A new social role for echolocation in bats that hunt together: Social information encoded in their echolocation calls may facilitate this foraging strategy

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https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01838-z?utm_source=Natur...

How cells’ ‘lava lamp’ effect could make cancer drugs more powerful