On May 7, Patrick Robinson took a boat to Ao Nuevo Island to observe the sea lions that give birth on this rocky outcrop north of Monterey Bay. The shore was littered with stillborn babies who looked like they had been born too early and were therefore too weak and small to nurse, or had … Read more
Recent research has revealed a common genetic link between the larynx vocal organ of mammals, reptiles and amphibians and the syrinx vocal organ of birds. This figure illustrates the evolution of the larynx and syrinx in different animal lineages. Although birds are direct descendants of dinosaurs and have a larynx and a syrinx, it is … Read more
The stars of Star Trek will get a taste of real-life space exploration when they attend the 2024 International Space Development Conference in Los Angeles this weekend, and you have a chance to join them in fixing up your space. On Friday (May 24), actor William Shatner, who originated the role of Captain James T. … Read more
The Doppler effect can be heard especially clearly when a train passes. The presence of the same effect in the generalized telegraphic equation indicates the wave nature of heat transport over small distances. Credit: IFJ PAN When a train approaches or an ambulance approaches us with its siren blaring, we hear the sound at an … Read more
A survey team found the remains of an endangered North Atlantic right whale 75 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, earlier this month in a “horrifying” discovery that has a conservation organization calling for action before the species disappear. The Marine Animal Response Society (MARS) discovered the carcass on May 12 after a … Read more
Pluto’s surface, suitable for a world whose surface vibrates at a temperature of -364 F (-220 C), is frozen. But beneath that nitrogen ice may lie an underground ocean of liquid water. A recent study suggested what that ocean might look like: It could be deeper than Earth’s crust and denser than seawater. It may … Read more
A study from the University of Adelaide has revealed that the molecular pathways regulated by a gene traditionally used to control the flowering behavior of wheat can be altered to achieve greater yields. The gene is called Photoperiod-1 (PDP-1) and is regularly used by breeders to ensure that wheat crops flower and set grain earlier … Read more
Wenge Huang inspects material samples in Jiangtao Cheng’s lab. Credit: Alex Parrish for Virginia Tech. Sprinkle a few drops of water on a hot pan and if the pan is hot enough, the water will sizzle and the water droplets will appear to swirl and float, hovering above the surface. The temperature at which this … Read more
Structures of AlGaN/GaN TLMs studied in this work. (a) Selectively regrown n++ ([Si]11020cm3) GaN contacts in the Ohmic region only with the different contributions of the contact resistances Rc, 1Rc, 2and Rc, 3 labeled. (b) Regrown n++ GaN over entire TLM region. (c) Ti/Al/Ni/Au alloyed contacts. Credit: Applied Physics Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1063/5.0191297 The scorching … Read more
After the tornadoes, our neighborhood rallied with resilience I would like to focus on the good that came from this terrible event. Immediately after the storm, the whole neighborhood came together. Within days, neighborhood leaders had coordinated with city officials to orchestrate a massive trash cleanup. This brought many new partners into our network who … Read more