The observatory’s innovative method may enable early identification of volcanic activity in Alaska. According to computer modeling based on satellite data, magma at Mount Edgecumbe is rising from a depth of approximately 12 miles to around 6 miles, causing substantial surface deformation and earthquakes. “That’s the fastest rate of volcanic deformation that we currently have in Alaska,” said the research paper’s lead author, Ronni Grapenthin, a University of Alaska Fairbanks associate professor of geodesy....

A versatile technique employed in chemistry, physics, and materials research, magnetic resonance describes a resonant excitation of electron or atomic nuclei spins residing in a magnetic field by means of electromagnetic waves. Magnetic resonance also provides the basis for magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI — the central noninvasive tool in diagnostic medicine and medical research. “Two of my undergraduate students developed the demonstration experiment based on a compass, an object everybody can relate to,” said Igor Barsukov, an assistant professor in the UC Riverside Department of Physics and Astronomy, who supervised the project....

The grazing land in northern Fennoscandia is increasingly disturbed by cumulative land-use pressures. These include intensive forestry, outdoor tourism, and road and railway traffic. Additionally, mining and wind farms are developing in the north. A newly published study has mapped and estimated the overall extent of these cumulative pressures, together with other stressors, namely predator presence and climate change. The new study will be published today (September 30, 2022) in the journal Scientific Reports....

The surprising discovery of a massive outburst in a neighboring galaxy is giving astronomers a tantalizing look at what likely is a powerful belch by a gorging black hole at the galaxy’s center. The scientists were conducting a long-term study of molecules in galaxies, when one of the galaxies showed a dramatic change. “The discovery was entirely serendipitous. Our observations were spread over a few years, and when we looked at them, we found that one galaxy had changed over that time from being placid and quiescent, to undergoing a hugely energetic outburst at the end,” said Robert Minchin, of Arecibo Observatory, who presented the research....

Quantum entanglement is perhaps one of the most intriguing phenomena known to physics. It describes how the fates of multiple particles can become entwined, even when separated by vast distances. Importantly, the probability distributions needed to define the quantum states of these particles deviate from the bell-shaped, or ‘Gaussian’ curves which underly many natural processes. Non-Gaussian curves don’t apply to quantum systems alone, however. They can also be composed of mixtures of regular Gaussian curves, producing difficulties for physicists studying quantum entanglement....

Overall, the Paxlovid treatment benefited everyone in the study. All patients recovered, including those who developed rebound symptoms, which were generally mild. The findings were published on June 14, 2022, in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. “We found that rebound phenomenon was uncommon in this group of patients,” says senior author Aditya Shah, M.B.B.S., a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases physician and researcher. “The four individuals who experienced rebound (symptoms) represent only 0....

Algae. It’s what’s for dinner. This spin on a famous U.S. advertising tagline from the beef industry may appear amusing, it’s no joke that the existing agricultural system is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and ecological degradation. These issues, in turn, pose a significant threat to food security for billions of people globally due to the adverse effects of climate change and ecosystem destruction. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) believe that algae could be a new type of superfood, thanks to its high protein and nutrient content....

In the initial proof-of-concept study, the microscope simultaneously developed a lighting pattern and classification system that allowed it to quickly identify red blood cells infected by the malaria parasite more accurately than trained physicians and other machine learning approaches. The results appear online on November 19 in the journal Biomedical Optics Express. “A standard microscope illuminates a sample with the same amount of light coming from all directions, and that lighting has been optimized for human eyes over hundreds of years,” said Roarke Horstmeyer, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke....

Now, new research from the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Engineering and Applied Science shows how simple, microscopic robots, remotely driven by magnetic fields, can use capillary forces to manipulate objects floating at an oil-water interface. This system was demonstrated in a study published in the journal Applied Physics Letters on January 28, 2020. The study was led by Kathleen Stebe, Richer & Elizabeth Goodwin Professor in Penn Engineering’s Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and Tianyi Yao, a graduate student in her lab....

The 2020 Decadal Survey for Astronomy and Astrophysics has recommended federal support for the final construction stages of the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) as part of the U.S. Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP). The Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA) is part of an international consortium contributing key instrumentation technology and philanthropic support for the GMT. The highly anticipated report ranked the US-ELTP as the top frontier project for ground-based observatories and detailed that the construction of an extremely large telescope “is absolutely essential if the United States is to maintain a position as a leader in ground-based astronomy....

Face masks have been shown to be effective at filtering out viruses such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, thereby reducing the risk of infection. A team of researchers from MIT now hopes to go one step further and create a mask that inactivates viruses using heat. The researchers aim to build masks that incorporate a heated copper mesh. As the person wearing the mask breathes in and out, air flows repeatedly across the mesh, and any viral particles in the air are slowed and inactivated by the mesh and high temperatures....

Researchers have developed a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the form of an ultra-long fiber that could be woven into fabrics. The battery could enable a wide variety of wearable electronic devices, and might even be used to make 3D-printed batteries in virtually any shape. The researchers envision new possibilities for self-powered communications, sensing, and computational devices that could be worn like ordinary clothing, as well as devices whose batteries could also double as structural parts....

Administering the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine could serve as a preventive measure to dampen septic inflammation associated with COVID-19 infection, say a team of experts in this week’s mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. Long-time collaborators and spouses Dr. Paul Fidel, Jr., Department Chair, Oral and Craniofacial Biology, and Associate Dean for Research, Louisiana State University Health School of Dentistry and Dr. Mairi Noverr Professor of Microbiology & Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans co-authored the perspective article based on ideas stemming from research in their labs....

It sounds like alchemy: take a clump of white dust, squeeze it in a diamond-studded pressure chamber, then blast it with a laser. Open the chamber and find a new microscopic speck of pure diamond inside. A new study from Stanford University and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory reveals how, with careful tuning of heat and pressure, that recipe can produce diamonds from a type of hydrogen and carbon molecule found in crude oil and natural gas....

New nanoscale drills have been developed that are effective at killing bacteria. These novel molecular machines are activated by visible light and can punch holes through the cell membranes of bacteria in just two minutes. As bacteria have no natural defenses against this mechanism, it could be a useful strategy to treat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The latest iteration of nanoscale drills developed at Rice University are activated by visible light rather than ultraviolet (UV), as in earlier versions....

As the average annual temperature rises in high-latitude regions, rain and snow magnitudes and the flow of water through the landscape also change. These changes affect living conditions, for example, for insects that may be carriers of various diseases. Researchers at the Department of Physical Geography at Stockholm University have studied the effect of such changes on tularemia, a disease that primarily affects small rodents but can also infect humans....

Soil viruses feature genes that seem to have a metabolic role, but they are not essential for normal viral replication. These genes are known as auxiliary metabolic genes (AMGs), and they produce proteins, some of which are enzymes with a variety of roles. Scientists have previously speculated if certain AMG proteins have a role in crucial soil processes such as carbon cycling. To learn more about soil AMGs, researchers determined the atomic structure of a protein expressed by a specific AMG....

This video shows an experiment in which a dissolving block of candy develops into an array of sharp spikes. The block starts out with internal pores and is entirely immersed under water, where it dissolves and becomes a “candy forest” before collapsing. Credit: NYU’s Applied Mathematics Lab A team of scientists has now shed new light on how these natural structures are created. Its research, reported in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), also offers promise for the manufacturing of sharp-tipped structures, such as the micro-needles and probes needed for scientific research and medical procedures....

“Bob and Doug, together, have written the first page of a new chapter in the history of American spaceflight,” said Harris, who chairs the National Space Council. “Bob and Doug represent the best of our nation – there’s no question about it. The courage; the commitment; the brilliance; the vision; the ability to see and understand what is possible and then to go for it, represents the best of who we are as a nation....

As NASA prepares to go to the Moon with the Artemis program, in-situ resource utilization is paramount, and there is no hotter commodity than water. To that effect, 13 teams from across the United States have won a share of a $500,000 prize in a competition that asked for ideas for digging and hauling icy Moon “dirt” – or regolith. NASA’s Break the Ice Lunar Challenge opened in November 2020, incentivizing new approaches for excavating resources astronauts will need during long-duration missions on the Moon....