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. Astronomers have made the first measurement of spin-orbit alignment for a distant 'super-Jupiter' planet, demonstrating a technique that could enable breakthroughs in the quest to understand how exoplanetary systems form and evolved. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-spin-orbit-alignment-planet-beta-pictoris.html Astronomy Mon, 29 Jun 2020 04:48:29 EDT news512624901 A giant panda gifted by China to Taiwan has given birth to a second female cub after being artificially inseminated, Taipei Zoo announced Monday. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-panda-gifted-china-birth-cub.html Plants & Animals Mon, 29 Jun 2020 03:58:39 EDT news512621891 Fears of confirming stereotypes about pregnant workers as incompetent, weak or less committed to their job can drive pregnant employees to work extra hard, risking injury. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-pregnancy-stereotypes-workplace-accidents.html Social Sciences Mon, 29 Jun 2020 03:32:26 EDT news512620342 A deep-sea soft coral garden habitat has been discovered in Greenlandic waters by scientists from UCL, ZSL and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, using an innovative and low-cost deep-sea video camera built and deployed by the team. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-soft-coral-garden-greenland-deep.html Plants & Animals Ecology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 03:30:09 EDT news512620185 Environmental destruction may make pandemics more likely and less manageable, new research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ecosystem-degradation-pandemics.html Ecology Mon, 29 Jun 2020 03:22:23 EDT news512619739 Gold mining significantly limits the regrowth of Amazon forests, greatly reducing their ability to accumulate carbon, according to a new study. The researchers warn that the impacts of mining on tropical forests are long-lasting and that active land management and restoration will be necessary to recover tropical forests on previously mined lands. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-gold-restricts-amazon-rainforest-recovery.html Environment Mon, 29 Jun 2020 03:21:39 EDT news512619686 A Russian mining giant behind an enormous Arctic fuel spill last month said Sunday it had suspended workers at a metals plant who were responsible for pumping wastewater into nearby tundra. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-russian-giant-violations-arctic.html Environment Sun, 28 Jun 2020 16:18:50 EDT news512579926 A lucky Buddha figurine, a flight suit, several 3-cent stamps, a crumpled 1952 Mass schedule for St. Patrick's Church in Washington, D.C., and 480 bags containing individual human remains. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-fragments-alaska-glacier.html Archaeology & Fossils Sat, 27 Jun 2020 09:17:36 EDT news512468251 A slice of the Australian outback almost the size of greater London will be turned into a national park to help protect threatened species, authorities said Saturday, in a move welcomed by green groups. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-australian-outback-station-national.html Ecology Sat, 27 Jun 2020 09:11:46 EDT news512467899 Reservoirs in the heart of an ancient Maya city were so polluted with mercury and algae that the water likely was undrinkable. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ancient-maya-reservoirs-toxic-pollution.html Archaeology & Fossils Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:36:03 EDT news512411751 Fires have spread across the majority of the landscape in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in this NOAA/NASA Suomi NPP satellite image using the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) instrument from June 25, 2020. Fires of this number are not uncommon at this time of year in Africa. During the agricultural season of clearing field and planting new ones, farmers set fire to the remains of old crop fields to rid them of the leftover grasses and scrub. This action also helps return nutrients to the soil to ensure a good crop during the next planting season. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-agricultural-central-africa-suomi-npp.html Environment Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:33:22 EDT news512411599 Dust storms from Africa's Saharan Desert traveling across the Atlantic Ocean are nothing new, but the current dust storm has been quite expansive and NASA satellites have provided a look at the massive June plume. NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite showed the blanket of dust had moved over the Gulf of Mexico and extended into Central America and over part of the eastern Pacific Ocean. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-suomi-npp-satellite-saharan-aerosol.html Environment Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:33:08 EDT news512411585 Kindergartners in face masks. Closed playground structures. Random COVID-19 testing. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-parents-states-children-school-covid-.html Education Fri, 26 Jun 2020 17:32:04 EDT news512411516 Workplace gender bias is being kept alive by people who think it's no longer an issue, new research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-gender-bias-alive-people-dead.html Social Sciences Economics & Business Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:00:03 EDT news512374365 Thank goodness for the Earth's crust: It is, after all, that solid, outermost layer of our planet that supports everything above it. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-geochemists-mystery-earth-crust.html Earth Sciences Fri, 26 Jun 2020 14:00:02 EDT news512374183 In a new study, scientists from around the world—including a professor at the University of Rhode Island—warn that the threats posed by invasive alien species are increasing. They say that urgent action is required to prevent, detect and control invaders at both local and global levels. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-international-team-scientists-threats-posed.html Ecology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 13:09:13 EDT news512395749 A Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution researcher became one of just a handful of people to visit the deepest part of the ocean following a successful dive in the deep-submergence vehicle Limiting Factor on Monday. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-deep.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:58:29 EDT news512395107 In biology, phylogenetic trees represent the evolutionary history and diversification of species—the "family tree" of Life. Phylogenetic trees not only describe the evolution of a group of organisms but can also be constructed from the organisms within a particular environment or ecosystem, such as the human microbiome. In this way, they can describe how this ecosystem evolved and what its functional capabilities might be. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-pattern-analysis-phylogenetic-trees-reveal.html Evolution Ecology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:58:13 EDT news512395089 NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite provided forecasters with visible image of the Eastern Pacific Ocean's second tropical storm of the season, Boris. Boris formed just east of the Central Pacific Ocean's boundary as it was moving into that region. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-suomi-npp-satellite-tropical-storm.html Environment Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:57:50 EDT news512395068 Since the 1980s, in seaweed farms dotted along the coastline of the subtropical islands of Okinawa, farmers have cultivated the edible brown alga Okinawa mozuku (Cladosiphon okamuranus). Popular in Japanese cuisine, this superfood produces high levels of fucoidan—a slimy substance that has a myriad of health benefits, including the suppression of blood clots and tumors. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-genome-pathway-sustainable-edible-seaweed.html Biotechnology Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:36:43 EDT news512393800 The more interactions and connections a firm's social media marketing strategy generates, the more customer engagement value it brings. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-customer-engagement-strategic-social-media.html Economics & Business Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:36:33 EDT news512393780 Subalpine ecosystems are natural laboratories to study the evolution of global warming, since their dynamics are particularly sensitive to temperature changes. However, the impacts of past pandemics and land-use changes on mountain forest dynamics are still overlooked. An international study based on the establishment date of pine trees shows that a large-scale rewilding occurred after the late-medieval Black Death pandemic and successive pandemics, which led to a profound landscape transformation in southern European mountains. This evidence helps to understand the long-term human legacies on mountain forests. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-trees-witness-rewilding-mediterranean-mountain.html Ecology Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:36:17 EDT news512393774 Since the discovery of graphene, two-dimensional materials have been the focus of materials research. Among other things, they could be used to build tiny, high-performance transistors. Researchers at ETH Zurich and EPF Lausanne have now simulated and evaluated one hundred possible materials for this purpose and discovered 13 promising candidates. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-simulation-microscope-transistors-future.html Nanomaterials Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:36:04 EDT news512393761 Using state-of-the-art ocean robots and scientific sensors attached to seals, researchers in Marine Sciences at the University of Gothenburg have for the first time observed small and energetic ocean currents in the Southern Ocean. The currents are critical at controlling the amount of heat and carbon moving between the ocean and the atmosphere—information vital for understanding our global climate and how it may change in the future. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-unknown-currents-southern-ocean.html Earth Sciences Environment Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:35:56 EDT news512393754 In a system with self-replicating molecules, previously shown to have the capability to grow, divide and evolve, chemists from the University of Groningen have now discovered catalytic capabilities that result in a basic metabolism. Furthermore, they linked a light-sensitive dye to the molecules, which enabled them to use light energy to power growth. These findings, which bring artificial life one step closer, were published simultaneously in the journals Nature Chemistry and Nature Catalysis on 26 June. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-life-emulating-molecules-basic-metabolism.html Materials Science Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:34:49 EDT news512393684 Adding an exotic particle known as a Xi hyperon to a helium nucleus with three nucleons could produce a nucleus that is temporarily stable, calculations by RIKEN nuclear physicists have predicted. This result will help experimentalists search for the nucleus and provide insights into both nuclear physics and the structure of neutron stars. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-nucleus-stable-strange-quarks.html General Physics Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:34:36 EDT news512393674 Chemically engineered peptides, designed and developed by a team of researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, could prove valuable in the battle against some of the most persistent human health challenges. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-peptides-potential-blocking-viruses-future.html Biochemistry Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:34:30 EDT news512393667 In a new study of axion motion, researchers propose a scenario known as "kinetic misalignment" that greatly strengthens the case for axion/dark matter equivalence. The novel concept answers key questions related to the origins of dark matter and provides new avenues for ongoing detection efforts. This work, published in Physical Review Letters, was conducted by researchers at the Institute for Advanced Study, University of Michigan, and UC Berkeley. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-case-axion-dark-gains-traction.html General Physics Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:34:21 EDT news512393658 Finnish children will have a free hobby during the school day thanks to funding from the government of Finland. Behind the scenes the art education researchers together with different cultural organizations have worked actively to make the dream come true. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-free-hobby-school-day-children.html Education Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:33:37 EDT news512393609 Composite binders are important materials used in furniture, flooring and other consumer products, but they can pose health hazards. https://phys.org/news/2020-06-sustainable-method-composite-fiberboard.html Materials Science Fri, 26 Jun 2020 12:33:23 EDT news512393601