https://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. The citrus industry in Florida, a historic hub for citrus (Citrus sp.) production, has been grappling with the devastating effects of Huanglongbing (HLB), also known as citrus greening disease (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus). In the face of this challenge, a recent study delves into the potential economic viability of incorporating cover crops in citrus groves to enhance soil health and overall tree well-being. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-analysis-crops-citrus-production.html Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:58:04 EST news626029082 Do music pupils in primary school suffer from performance anxiety? https://phys.org/news/2024-02-music-anxiety-children.html Education Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:56:03 EST news626028961 How to reduce aggression when two parties are at odds? Ph.D. research by psychologist Lennart Reddmann shows that it can help to offer them a peaceful alternative. However, the attacking party benefits the most from such a solution. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-peace-chance-conflict-eased-social.html Social Sciences Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:42:02 EST news626028121 A wave of layoffs at high-profile legacy media outlets such as the Los Angeles Times and Time magazine has rippled across the news industry just as journalists at other major outlets are engaged in union negotiations with their employers. The industry seems to have reached a pivotal point amid a confluence of financial, political, social and technological challenges. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-mass-layoffs-social-media-bias.html Economics & Business Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:39:04 EST news626027941 A stretch of unusually warm weather has forced federal officials to suspend researchers' annual wolf-moose count in Isle Royale National Park for the first time in more than six decades. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-weather-isle-royale-wolf-decades.html Ecology Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:35:23 EST news626027718 Sierra Space's shuttle-like Dream Chaser has been put through its paces at a powerful NASA vibration facility that mimics conditions during launch and atmospheric reentry, officials said Thursday ahead of its planned first flight to the ISS this year. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-rattle-chaser-spaceplane-vibration.html Space Exploration Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:35:07 EST news626027703 A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist is part of a research team shedding new light on how to access the sugars locked up in plant materials in order to convert byproducts into new feedstocks for production of fuels, materials and chemicals. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-agricultural-residues-fuel-chemicals.html Biotechnology Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:34:20 EST news626027657 Scientists have spent decades finding ways to efficiently and affordably degrade plant materials so that they can be converted into useful bioproducts that benefit everyday life. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-leafcutter-ants-cultivate-fungal-garden.html Ecology Cell & Microbiology Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:28:04 EST news626027281 A new study investigates the sinks and sources of key greenhouse gases of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide in the Arctic landscape with a spatial resolution of only a few square meters. Vegetation and soil conditions explain the differences in greenhouse gas emissions. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-arctic-greenhouse-gas-source-field.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:18:03 EST news626026681 Photonic integrated circuits are an important next-wave technology. These sophisticated microchips hold the potential to substantially decrease costs and increase speed and efficiency for electronic devices across a wide range of application areas, including automotive technology, communications, health care, data storage, and computing for artificial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-team-laser-printer-photonic-chips.html Optics & Photonics Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:10:14 EST news626026201 Ugandans are at increased risk of diabetes and cancer in the wake of the country's expulsion from a trade pact with the U.S., nutritionists say. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-uganda-pesticide-agoa-expulsion.html Other Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:09:57 EST news626026194 UGC 3912 is classified as a spiral galaxy, but you wouldn't know it from this detailed NASA Hubble Space Telescope image. UGC 3912's distorted shape is typically indicative of a gravitational encounter with another galaxy. When galaxies interact—either brush up against each other's gravitational fields or even collide—their stars, dust, and gas can be pulled into new paths. UGC 3912 might have once been an organized-looking spiral, but it looks like it's been smudged out of shape by a giant thumb. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-hubble-captures-galaxy-encounter.html Astronomy Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:06:36 EST news626025994 Intimidation at school is a widespread and worrying phenomenon being examined through psychology and genomics. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-skin-bullying-hidden-health-effects.html Social Sciences Education Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:06:28 EST news626025983 A new study led by the University of Stirling has revealed for the first time substantial benefits from adopting smallholder aquaculture for Zambian farmers. The research provides compelling evidence of how fish farming diversifies livelihoods and improves food and nutrition security in rural areas. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-reveals-power-aquaculture-zambia.html Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:04:02 EST news626025841 Combining two twins-tech—electrospinning and electrospraying—to fabricate novel nanomaterials is an urgent area of research for materials scientists and biomedical engineers, according to a new paper by Professor Hu Jinlian of City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) published in Matter. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-positive-electrospinning-electrospraying-synergism-nanomaterials.html Nanomaterials Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:00:01 EST news626002725 The "cone of uncertainty" produced by the National Hurricane Center to forecast the location and ferocity of a tropical storm is getting an update this year to include predictions for inland areas, where wind and flooding are sometimes more treacherous than damage to the coasts. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-center-tropical-storm-inland-outstrip.html Environment Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:59:48 EST news626025582 Humans will need to both drastically reduce emissions and remove at least 10 gigatons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere per year to avoid the worst effects of climate change, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2023 synthesis report. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-carbon-capacities-anoxic-basins.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:56:54 EST news626025412 In a study published in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering, researchers from Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) have unveiled a breakthrough in the detection of hydrogen peroxide H2O2, a vital biomarker in biological processes, with the development of dual-functional portable sensors based on Pt-Ni hydrogels. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-portable-sensors-hydrogen-peroxide.html Polymers Analytical Chemistry Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:56:38 EST news626025396 New research from Dartmouth College provides the first evidence that the Arctic's frozen soil is the dominant force shaping Earth's northernmost rivers. Permafrost, the thick layer of soil that stays frozen for two or more years at a time, is the reason that Arctic rivers are uniformly confined to smaller areas and shallower valleys than rivers to the south, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-permafrost-arctic-rivers-lot-carbon.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:56:07 EST news626025363 First-of-its-kind research on cryptocurrency finds that the most regulated coins create the most efficient markets. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-crypto-efficient.html Economics & Business Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:55:15 EST news626025310 Surface acoustic wave (SAW) technologies, known for their high precision and rapid actuation, are essential to microfluidics and affect a broad spectrum of research areas. However, traditional fabrication methods are time-consuming, intricate, and necessitate costly cleanroom facilities. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-aerosol-jet-revolutionize-microfluidic-device.html Nanomaterials Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:52:03 EST news626025121 A new study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem unveils critical insights into bacterial fruit blotch, a severe disease affecting melon and watermelon crops. The research focuses on the role of the effector AopW1, shedding light on its significance in host adaptation and providing new perspectives on the HopW1 family of bacterial effectors. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-critical-insights-bacterial-fruit-blotch.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:41:03 EST news626024461 On the international level, there is broad consensus that it is essential to recognize and implement Indigenous rights as well as to correct inequalities and historical injustices. Yet many nation-states struggle with effective implementation. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-indigenous-policies-differ-majority-populations.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:35:02 EST news626024101 Soil salinity, impacting about 1 billion square hectometers worldwide, significantly hinders crop growth. Plants counteract this through signaling pathways involving molecules such as H2O2 and ABA. NAC transcription factors, which are unique to plants, play a central role in the regulation of these stress responses. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-transcription-factor-key-role-grafted.html Molecular & Computational biology Agriculture Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:09:03 EST news626022542 While much of the world is grappling with rising sea levels due to the melting of Greenland's ice sheet, the situation on the Greenlandic mainland is almost the opposite. The land is rising faster than the current sea level. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-rapid-climate-greenland-bedrock-small.html Earth Sciences Environment Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:05:03 EST news626022302 Chemists at RIKEN have developed a method for making synthetic derivatives of the natural dye indigo that doesn't require harsh conditions. This discovery could inspire advances in electronic devices, including light-responsive gadgets and stretchy biomedical sensors. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-method-synthetic-derivative-natural-indigo.html Analytical Chemistry Materials Science Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:00:02 EST news626022001 In the initial post-war judicial proceedings to establish what had happened under Nazism, and to punish the perpetrators of crimes, victims' accounts were often discredited. Only in 1961, with the high-profile trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, did the focus shift. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-social-nazi-germany-bystander-society.html Social Sciences Political science Thu, 01 Feb 2024 15:00:01 EST news626014774 In light of recent cases of plagiarism and academic fraud at institutions across the country, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor's new study provides a timely review of the current state of research findings in academia, especially fields related to psychology and management. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-literature-crisis-confidence-due-lack.html Economics & Business Education Thu, 01 Feb 2024 14:38:03 EST news626020682 In this image from Jan. 30, 2024, an uncrewed Cygnus cargo spacecraft launches atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, starting its journey to the International Space Station. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-image-cygnus-flies-international-space.html Space Exploration Thu, 01 Feb 2024 14:36:01 EST news626020561 Reproducible in-vitro canine skin has been grown in a laboratory setting for the first time by researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology IGB. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-lab-grown-canine-skin-canvas.html Biotechnology Veterinary medicine Thu, 01 Feb 2024 14:34:03 EST news626020441