Clinically significant cataract linked to increased risk of vascular death

Clinically significant cataract is associated with an increased risk of death from vascular causes, such as stroke and heart attack, suggests research published online in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Emotional bullying, and sexual harassment and physical assault of women is widespread in the military

Women serving in the UK military face a considerable risk of emotional bullying, sexual harassment and physical assault, which can have a serious and long-lasting impact on their mental health and wellbeing, finds research published online in the journal BMJ Military Health.

Urgent changes needed to global guidelines designed to stop surgical infection

Wound infections are the most common problem after surgery, particularly in developing countries, but promised innovations to tackle the issue do not work and global guidance needs changing, a new study reveals.

Seagrass restoration study shows rapid recovery of ecosystem functions

As the dominant seagrass species on the U.S. West Coast, eelgrass supports a wide range of ecosystem services and functions, making its preservation and restoration a top priority for the region. Eelgrass restoration has a spotty record of success, however, and studies of restoration sites have rarely assessed the full range of ecosystem functions.

Study shows environmental and social factors contribute to higher rates of pneumonia in children

A new study led by researchers in the LSU Superfund Research Program demonstrates that children who are exposed to a certain type of environmental air pollution are more likely to contract community acquired pneumonia, or CAP, and to be hospitalized for longer periods of time. Social factors, including race and socioeconomic status, were also found to be associated with living in high-risk areas for CAP.

Ammonia synthesis by mechanocatalysis in a ball mill

A breakthrough in the fight against hunger, three Nobel Prizes, and 150 million tonnes of annual production—yet still a tricky topic for research: For over 100 years, the chemical industry has been using the Haber-Bosch process to convert atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia, an important component of mineral fertilizers and many other chemical products. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung have now found a surprisingly simple way to produce ammonia at ambient temperature—and even at atmospheric pressure—and thus under much milder conditions than those required for the Haber-Bosch process. The reactants are passed through a mill that grinds the catalyst used to facilitate the reaction between the inert nitrogen and hydrogen. The result is a thin but continuous stream of ammonia.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-ammonia-synthesis-mechanocatalysis-ball-mill.html

Astronomers may have discovered the first planet outside of our galaxy

Signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way galaxy may have been detected for the first time. This intriguing result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, opens up a new window to search for exoplanets at greater distances than ever before.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-astronomers-planet-galaxy.html

Atomic-scale 'lasagna' keeps heat at bay

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have found new ways of controlling how heat flows through thin materials by stacking atomically thin layers of atoms into van der Waals heterostructures. By comparing different stacks of different materials, or even the same material after heat treatment, they found that weak coupling and mismatch between layers helped significantly reduce heat transport. Their finding promises sensitive control of heat flow at the nanoscale in thermoelectric devices.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-atomic-scale-lasagna-bay.html

Remember 3G? It's going away as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile shift to 5G. What to know about 3G shutdown

In 2002, Verizon was the first to launch a 3G network in the U.S., during a time when the BlackBerry was the top smartphone to own and we were five years away from the arrival of the iPhone.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-3g-att-verizon-t-mobile-shift.html

Identification of genes that cause resistance to treatment of the pathogenic fungus Candida

It is estimated that 80% of women will suffer from vaginal candidiasis at least once in their lives. In addition to superficial infections, which can be oral or vaginal and do not usually have a serious prognosis, fungi of the Candida  genus can cause systemic diseases in immunocompromised individuals and these are fatal in 40% of cases. Drugs are available to treat these conditions, but doctors are increasingly encountering varieties of fungi that have developed resistance to treatments, thus making candida infection a serious global health problem.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-identification-genes-resistance-treatment-pathogenic.html

Neutron star collisions are 'goldmine' of heavy elements, study finds

Most elements lighter than iron are forged in the cores of stars. A star's white-hot center fuels the fusion of protons, squeezing them together to build progressively heavier elements. But beyond iron, scientists have puzzled over what could give rise to gold, platinum, and the rest of the universe's heavy elements, whose formation requires more energy than a star can muster.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-neutron-star-collisions-goldmine-heavy.html

From waste to resource: Turning exhaust heat into energy with unprecedented efficiency

Thanks to the ongoing digital revolution, we are on the verge of transitioning to a hyper-connected world. However, the Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices and remote sensors that promise such a reality require energy. With sustainability as a top priority, the energy source must be abundant, ubiquitous, and renewable. Fortunately, low-grade waste heat (temperatures below 100 °C) could fit the bill provided we develop efficient energy harvesting technologies.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-resource-exhaust-energy-unprecedented-efficiency.html

A big leap forward in using iron catalysts for pharmaceuticals

If there were a classroom full of all the transition metals that could be used as catalysts for complex pharmaceutical reactions, iron would be the most promising but most unruly member.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-big-iron-catalysts-pharmaceuticals.html

Facebook accuses Ukrainian programmer of selling 178 million users' data, files lawsuit

Facebook is suing a Ukrainian programmer for allegedly scraping and selling publicly accessible information from millions of Facebook users.

Perovskite solar cells with atomically coherent interlayers on SnO₂ electrodes

A research team, led by Professor Sang Il Seok in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has set a new efficiency record for a perovskite solar cell (PSC) at 25.8% by forming an interlayer between electron-transporting and perovskite layers to minimize interfacial defects, contributing to the decrease in the power conversion efficiencies. The new record, according to the research team, is the world's highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) reported so far. Besides, the record, certified by National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is also the highest confirmed conversion efficiency of 25.5%.

Ammonia synthesis by mechanocatalysis in a ball mill

A breakthrough in the fight against hunger, three Nobel Prizes, and 150 million tonnes of annual production—yet still a tricky topic for research: For over 100 years, the chemical industry has been using the Haber-Bosch process to convert atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen into ammonia, an important component of mineral fertilizers and many other chemical products. Scientists at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung have now found a surprisingly simple way to produce ammonia at ambient temperature—and even at atmospheric pressure—and thus under much milder conditions than those required for the Haber-Bosch process. The reactants are passed through a mill that grinds the catalyst used to facilitate the reaction between the inert nitrogen and hydrogen. The result is a thin but continuous stream of ammonia.

Why are cases of pancreatic cancer rising in young women?

In his work with patients who have pancreatic cancer, Dr. Srinivas Gaddam was bothered by something that he was seeing.

Astronomers may have discovered the first planet outside of our galaxy

Signs of a planet transiting a star outside of the Milky Way galaxy may have been detected for the first time. This intriguing result, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, opens up a new window to search for exoplanets at greater distances than ever before.

Mapping the path to carbon neutrality

Ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, the University of Surrey has published a paper in Sustainability detailing how it will reduce its carbon emissions and reach Net-Zero by 2030. In the paper, Surrey's researchers share ideas and provide guidance on how other universities can apply the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). 

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-path-carbon-neutrality.html

Facebook staff say core products make misinformation worse

For years, Facebook has fought back against allegations that its platforms play an outsized role in the spread of false information and harmful content that has fueled conspiracies, political divisions and distrust in science, including COVID-19 vaccines.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-facebook-staff-core-products-misinformation.html

Insect digestive enzyme activates sugar-containing plant defence substance

Plants are not entirely at the mercy of their herbivore enemies. Often, chemical defenses ensure that the plants are inedible, or even toxic, and as a result insects and other hungry animals steer clear of them. A new study has shown, for the first time, that the degradation of plants' defense substances by insects' digestive enzymes can influence the insects' preference for certain food plants. Researchers at the University of Münster, the University of Bern (Switzerland) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena investigated this phenomenon in the larvae of cockchafers (Melolontha melolontha) and the plant they feed on, dandelion (Taraxacum officinale).

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-insect-digestive-enzyme-sugar-containing-defence.html

The underestimated impact of vapor pressure deficit on terrestrial carbon cycle

This study is led by Dr. Bin He (College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University) and Dr. Wenping Yuan (School of Atmospheric Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University). Terrestrial ecosystem, as a major carbon sink, plays an important role in regulating the global carbon cycle and atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio. Traditionally, atmospheric temperature or land water availability have been considered as the two dominant drivers of interannual variability of global terrestrial carbon sink. In 2019, Wenping Yuan's group observed an apparent shift in global vegetation growth from greening to browning in the 1990s, and attributed this shift to the sharp increase in vapor pressure deficit (VPD). Inspired by this study, Bin He proposed that VPD should regulate the global terrestrial carbon cycle to a significant extent, which has been ignored by previous studies. "When I found the strong correlation between VPD and atmospheric CO2 growth rate, and the latter is an integrated measurement of global land carbon sink, I realized this finding may bring a completely new research objective in the field of global carbon cycle and climate change" Bin He says.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-underestimated-impact-vapor-pressure-deficit.html

Interglobular dentine identified in cremated human teeth

The cremation process destroys a lot of information that can usually be obtained from the human skeleton. Diseases are especially difficult to observe. This has caused a paucity in our knowledge of the disease load in populations that practiced cremation as their main funerary ritual. Dr. Barbara Veselka and Prof. Christophe Snoeck, of the Brussels Bioarchaeology Lab and research groups MARI and AMGC for the first time have detected vitamin D deficiency in cremated human remains.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-interglobular-dentine-cremated-human-teeth.html