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In a Huge First, Physicists Have Captured Individual Atoms And Watched Them Merge
To understand how atoms unite to turn into molecules, we need to catch them in action. But to do that, physicists must force atoms to pause long enough for their exchanges to be recorded. That's no easy task, and one physicists from the University of Otago have only just recently achieved.
…Growing Evidence Says People on Easter Island Were Still Okay When Europeans Landed
Still, even in the beginning, this was hardly a clean and simple case of 'ecocide'. Recent research suggests the forests on Rapa Nui might have disappeared much quicker than we thought, too rapidly for humans to achieve on their own, and it might have had something to do with an influx of hungry…
Giant Ocean Heatwave Called 'The Blob' Has Caused The Biggest Seabird Die-Off on Record
This concentrated marine heatwave lingered in the northeast Pacific between 2013 and 2016, and researchers now think it was largely responsible for the death of almost a million common murres (Uria aalge), amongst other wildlife. This makes it the largest seabird die-off in recorded history.
…Tardigrades Are Basically Indestructible, But Scientists Just Found Their Weak Point
Tardigrades are tough little critters. When conditions get nasty, they can dry out, reconfigure their bodies and enter suspended animation - called dessication - for years. You can throw virtually anything at them: frozen temperatures, zero oxygen, high pressures, the vacuum of space, cosmic rad…
Small Trial Reverses a Year of Alzheimer's Cognitive Decline in Just Two Months
In this case, the volunteers – who all have mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) – were fitted with what's called a MemorEM head cap, which uses specially developed emitters to create a custom flow of electromagnetic waves through the skull. Treatments are applied twice daily, for an hour, …
Scientists Develop a Material That Kills 99.9% of Bacteria in Drinking Water Using Nothing But Light
This type of technique for water cleaning is known as photocatalytic disinfection, and it is often talked about - and ardently researched - as an appealing alternative to current water filtration systems, such as chlorination or ozone disinfection, neither of which are particularly eco-friendly.…
Ocean Circulation Has Slowed Down Dramatically, And It Can't Be Fully Explained by Climate Change Models
Global warming isn't the cause of slowdown in a huge circulation pattern in the Atlantic Ocean, which is, in fact, part of regular, decades-long cycle that will affect temperatures in coming decades, according to a new study.