Study unveils the minimum temperature for droplets levitating from smooth surfaces

The Leidenfrost effect is a well-known physical phenomenon first discovered in 1756. It occurs when a liquid is in the proximity of a surface that is significantly warmer than its boiling point. This produces an insulating vapor layer that prevents the liquid from quickly boiling. Due to this effect, a droplet would hover over the surface instead of physically touching it.

Hiding in the soil and building with urine: How cicadas survived France's summer wildfires

Over the course of a week this summer, the Massif des Maures in the Var region of southern France fell prey to the flames of an enormous wildfire. For successive days, the fire engulfed the region's unique ecosystems, fuelled by changes in wind, surprising firefighters and their reinforcements with sudden flare-ups as unforeseen as they were violent.

Rich kids and poor kids face different rules when it comes to bringing personal items to school

Poor preschoolers get fewer chances than wealthier children to bring their prized personal possessions to school. That's what I found in my two-year comparative ethnographic study of two preschools in Madison, Wisconsin. One of the preschools primarily serves middle-class white children and the other primarily serves poor children of color.

How fish can still be part of a more sustainable food future

If you want to reduce your personal impact on the environment, cutting back on eating animal products is one of the simplest things you can do. But becoming vegan and eating only plants is unlikely to be an appropriate solution for everyone in the world.

NASA ballistic air gun hurls rocks at space suits to test their micrometeorite protection

Shock testing is commonly used throughout engineering to determine how a product will do when impacted by something. That something could be anything from the ground to a cruise missile. Like so much else in space exploration, engineers at NASA are performing the same type of test, just scaled up. Instead of simply dropping the object under test, as is common in most settings, they shoot it with a steel ball going 3000 ft/second.

Bullying, racism and being 'different': Why some families are opting for remote learning regardless of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked a public debate about the value of learning online for elementary school students. Much of this dialog has been negative, with a focus on the experiences that children are missing by not being a part of in-person classrooms.

Creating chicory plants without bitter compounds

Researchers have used new breeding techniques to develop a chicory variety that no longer contains bitter compounds. Katarina Cankar, plant researcher at Wageningen University & Research: "In the European CHIC project, we are working on improved industrial chicory varieties (related to witloof) that contain dietary fiber and compounds that have potential medicinal properties." The research consortium published their results in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.

First glimpse of hydrodynamic electron flow in 3D materials

Electrons flow through most materials more like a gas than a fluid, meaning they don't interact much with one another. It was long hypothesized that electrons could flow like a fluid, but only recent advances in materials and measurement techniques allowed these effects to be observed in 2D materials. In 2020, the labs of Amir Yacoby, Professor of Physics and of Applied Physics at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), Philip Kim, Professor of Physics and Professor Applied Physics at Harvard and Ronald Walsworth, formerly of the Department of Physics at Harvard, were among the first to image electrons flowing in graphene like water flows through a pipe.

Physicists control the flow of electron pulses through a nanostructure channel

Particle accelerators are essential tools in research areas such as biology, materials science and particle physics. Researchers are always looking for more powerful ways of accelerating particles to improve existing equipment and increase capacities for experiments. One such powerful technology is dielectric laser acceleration (DLA). In this approach, particles are accelerated in the optical near-field which is created when ultra-short laser pulses are focused on a nanophotonic structure. Using this method, researchers from the Chair of Laser Physics at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) have succeeded in guiding electrons through a vacuum channel, an essential component of particle accelerators. The basic design of the photonic nanostructure channel was developed by cooperation partner TU Darmstadt. They have now published their joint findings in the journal Nature.

An experimental loop for simulating nuclear reactors in space

Nuclear thermal propulsion, which uses heat from nuclear reactions as fuel, could be used one day in human spaceflight, possibly even for missions to Mars. Its development, however, poses a challenge. The materials used must be able to withstand high heat and bombardment of high-energy particles on a regular basis.

'Ultra-potent' antibody against COVID-19 variants

A technology developed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has led to the discovery of an "ultra-potent" monoclonal antibody against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, including the delta variant.

EPA completes rule to phase out gases used as refrigerants

In what officials call a key step to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is sharply limiting domestic production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners.

Gas pipe workers find 800-year-old bodies in Peru

Peruvian workers laying gas pipes found the remains of eight people buried in a common tomb with food and musical instruments some 800 years ago, an archaeologist said Wednesday.

Lake Maracaibo, lightning capital of the world

One firebolt after another illuminates a stilt-house settlement where the Catatumbo river flows into Venezuela's Lake Maracaibo, the lightning capital of the world.

COVID-19 creates dire US shortage of teachers, school staff

One desperate California school district is sending flyers home in students' lunchboxes, telling parents it's "now hiring." Elsewhere, principals are filling in as crossing guards, teachers are being offered signing bonuses and schools are moving back to online learning.

US projections on drought-hit Colorado River grow more dire

The U.S. government released projections Wednesday that indicate an even more troubling outlook for a river that serves 40 million people in the American West.

Thousands fight wildfires threatening California's sequoias

Growing armies of firefighters battled wildfires in the heart of California's sequoia country on Wednesday.

Bat guts become less healthy through diet of 'fast food' from banana plantations

Nectar-feeding bats foraging in intensively managed banana plantations in Costa Rica have a less diverse set of gut microbes in comparison to bats feeding in their natural forest habitat or organic plantations, reveals new research published today in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. This the first study to show an association between habitat alteration, sustainable agriculture and the gut microbiota of wildlife.

Artificial intelligence may be set to reveal climate-change tipping points

Researchers are developing artificial intelligence that could assess climate change tipping points. The deep learning algorithm could act as an early warning system against runaway climate change.

Global ocean report shows unprecedented climate change impact, as Arctic registers record low ice levels

Arctic ice levels logged in the last two years have reached record lows, whilst per decade have—on average since 1979 to 2020—dropped by nearly 13%, a new vast report on the ocean worldwide shows.