Analogue quantum computers: Still wishful thinking?
Saitama, Japan (SPX) Feb 15, 2015 -
Traditional computational tools are simply not powerful enough to solve some complex optimisation problems, like, for example, protein folding. Quantum annealing, a potentially successful implementation of analogue quantum computing, would bring about an ultra-performant computational method.
A series of reviews in this topical issue of EPJ ST, guest-edited by Sei Suzuki from Saitama Medic ...
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NASA's Curiosity Analyzing Sample of Martian Mountain
Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 12, 2015 -
The second bite of a Martian mountain taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover hints at long-ago effects of water that was more acidic than any evidenced in the rover's first taste of Mount Sharp, a layered rock record of ancient Martian environments.
The rover used a new, low-percussion-level drilling technique to collect sample powder last week from a rock target called "Mojave 2."
Cur ...
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Ukraine rebels say no arms pull-back until 'full ceasefire'
Kiev (AFP) Feb 16, 2015 -
Pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine said Monday they will only start pulling back weapons from the frontline under a peace deal once there is a "full ceasefire".
"In accordance with the Minsk agreement, the withdrawal of military hardware can only happen under certain conditions and one of them is a full ceasefire," Eduard Basurin, a spokesman for the defence ministry of the self-proclaimed D ...
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Scientists fail to explain strange plumes spotted on Martian surface
Washington (UPI) Feb 16, 2015 -
In 2012, dozens of amateur astronomers spotted large plumes of dust rising off the surface of Mars. More than two years later, scientists still don't have a suitable explanation for the phenomenon.
In a new study, published this week in the journal Nature, scientists recount the strange occurrence and survey the various attempts to illuminate the plumes' origins or cause.
The phe ...
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Yet another blizzard hits US east coast
Washington (AFP) Feb 17, 2015 -
Yet another big storm hit the snow-weary eastern and central United States overnight Monday, piling more white stuff on people enduring a merciless winter.
As many as 50 million people were in the path of the glacial weather, which will see temperatures far more frigid than normal, the National Weather Service warned, adding that the misery was forecast to last through much of the week for ...
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Fukushima decommissioning made 'significant progress': IAEA
Tokyo (AFP) Feb 17, 2015 -
Japan has made "significant progress" in cleaning up the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a UN review mission said Tuesday as it again advised the country to consider discharging treated water into the sea.
"Japan has made significant progress since our previous missions" in 2013, said Juan Carlos Lentijo, who led a review mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"The situat ...
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China's Hypersonic Glide Vehicle: A Threat to the United States
New Delhi, India (SPX) Feb 18, 2015 -
Beijing's significant military advance has been furthered with its venture into hypersonic weapons systems. China is working on hypersonic cruise missiles for which it is working on scramjet engines and also on Hypersonic Glide Vehicle (HGV).
In 2014, Beijing has conducted three test-firings of its HGV, the Wu-14. The first test-firing was conducted in January, while the second one was con ...
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Close Encounters of a Scholz Kind
Rochester NY (SPX) Feb 17, 2015 -
group of astronomers from the US, Europe, Chile and South Africa have determined that 70,000 years ago a recently discovered dim star is likely to have passed through the solar system's distant cloud of comets, the Oort Cloud. No other star is known to have ever approached our solar system this close - five times closer than the current closest star, Proxima Centauri.
In a paper published ...
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Capturing and storing carbon in soil: Is it real and can it scale?
Tucson AZ (SPX) Feb 18, 2015 -
Can beef production help restore ecosystems? A team of scientists, advisors and communications specialists are banding together to explore whether ranching management can create robust soils, watersheds and wildlife habitat while sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The Arizona State University-SoilCarbon Nation team is examining the adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing management tech ...
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Fukushima decommissioning made 'significant progress': IAEA
Tokyo (AFP) Feb 17, 2015 -
Japan has made "significant progress" in cleaning up the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a UN review mission said Tuesday as it again advised the country to consider discharging treated water into the sea.
"Japan has made significant progress since our previous missions" in 2013, said Juan Carlos Lentijo, who led a review mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"The situat ...
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New paper-like material could boost electric vehicle batteries
Riverside CA (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering have developed a novel paper-like material for lithium-ion batteries. It has the potential to boost by several times the specific energy, or amount of energy that can be delivered per unit weight of the battery.
This paper-like material is composed of sponge-like silicon nanofibers more than 100 times th ...
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Size matters to adapt to diverse environments and avoid extinction
Toronto, Canada (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
A new University of Toronto study may force scientists to rethink what is behind the mass extinction of amphibians occurring worldwide in the face of climate change, disease and habitat loss.
The old cliche "size matters" is in fact the gist of the findings by graduate student Stephen De Lisle and Professor Locke Rowe of U of T's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in a paper pu ...
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Researcher finds evidence of climate change in ancient Northern China
Waco TX (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
Using a relatively new scientific dating technique, a Baylor University geologist and a team of international researchers were able to document--for the first time--a drastic climate change 4,200 years ago in northern China that affected vegetation and led to mass migration from the area.
Steve Forman, Ph.D., professor of geology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and researchers--using ...
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Potential new breathalyzer for lung cancer screening
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
Researchers from Chongqing University in China have developed a high sensitive fluorescence-based sensor device that can rapidly identify cancer related volatile organic compounds - biomarkers found exclusively in the exhaled breath of some people with lung cancer.
Their work, described in a paper published this week in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, from AIP Publishing, de ...
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Turning smartphones into personal, real-time pollution monitors
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
As urban residents know, air quality is a big deal. When local pollution levels go up, the associated health risks also increase, especially for children and seniors. But air pollution varies widely over the course of a day and by location, even within the same city.
Now scientists, reporting in the ACS journal Environmental Science and Technology, have used smartphone and sensing technolo ...
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UI engineers find switchgrass removes PCBs from soils
Ames IO (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
University of Iowa researchers have found a type of grass that was once a staple of the American prairie can remove soil laden with PCBs, toxic chemicals once used for cooling and other industrial purposes.
The researchers report that switchgrass successfully removed up to 40 percent of the PCBs from contaminated soils in lab experiments. When boosted by a PCB-oxidizing microorganism, the ...
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Myanmar aid group urges ceasefire to evacuate trapped civilians
Lashio, Myanmar (AFP) Feb 19, 2015 -
Aid workers called Thursday for a ceasefire to allow the evacuation of people trapped around a town at the centre of fierce fighting between Myanmar's army and ethnic rebels, after the deaths of two more civilians in an area cloaked in a state of emergency.
Tens of thousands of civilians have already fled the remote and rugged Kokang area of northeastern Shan State over the last 10 days, wit ...
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Toxic 'Tet' kumquats highlight Vietnam's pesticide problem
Hanoi (AFP) Feb 19, 2015 -
At Lunar New Year, most Vietnamese families buy a kumquat tree - a symbol of prosperity - but where once its fruits were candied and enjoyed as a delicacy, now they are left uneaten as food safety scandals batter consumer confidence in local produce.
While communist Vietnam may not make as many global headlines for safety lapses as neighbouring China, the problems facing its consumers are ...
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Clearing up Europe's air pollution hotspots
Laxenburg, Austria (SPX) Feb 20, 2015 -
Current air quality legislation in Europe will lead to significant improvements in particulate matter pollution, but without further emission control efforts, many areas of Europe will continue to see air pollution levels above the limits of the EU and the World Health Organization. Strict control of vehicle emissions alone will not be sufficient to achieve the limit values.
Under current ...
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Is urbanization pushing Earth's evolution to a tipping point?
Seattle WA (SPX) Feb 20, 2015 -
That humans and the cities we build affect the ecosystem and even drive some evolutionary change in species' traits is already known. The signs are small but striking: Spiders in cities are getting bigger and salmon in rivers smaller; birds in urban areas are growing tamer and bolder, outcompeting their country cousins.
What's new is that these evolutionary changes are happening much more ...
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'Nature's medicine cabinet' helps bees reduce disease load
Amherst MA (SPX) Feb 20, 2015 -
Researchers studying the interaction between plants, pollinators and parasites report that in recent experiments, bees infected with a common intestinal parasite had reduced parasite levels in their guts after seven days if the bees also consumed natural toxins present in plant nectar.
In this early and most comprehensive study of its kind, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Am ...
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White sharks grow more slowly than previously thought
Woods Hole MA (SPX) Feb 20, 2015 -
A new study on white sharks in the western North Atlantic indicates they grow more slowly and mature much later than previously thought. The findings, published online in Marine and Freshwater Research, present the first reliable growth curve for this species in the western North Atlantic.
The results: males are sexually mature around age 26 and females around age 33, much later than curre ...
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Lab-in-a-box takes aim at doctors' computer activity
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 19, 2015 -
San Diego CA (SPX) Feb 15, 2015
They call it "the Lab-in-a-Box." According to Nadir Weibel, a research scientist in the Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) department at the University of California, San Diego, inside the box are assorted sensors and software designed to monitor a doctor's office, particularly during consultations with patients.
The goal is to analyze the physician's b ...
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Cattle damage to riverbanks can be undone
Corvallis OR (SPX) Feb 20, 2015 -
Simply removing cattle may be all that is required to restore many degraded riverside areas in the American West, although this can vary and is dependent on local conditions. These are the findings of Jonathan Batchelor and William Ripple of Oregon State University in the US, lead authors of a study published in Springer's journal Environmental Management.
Their team analyzed photographs t ...
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