From Phys.org
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Study says California's 2023 snowy rescue from megadrought was a freak event. Don't get used to it
Last year's snow deluge in California, which quickly erased a two decade long megadrought, was essentially a once-in-a-lifetime rescue from above, a new study found.
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'Sour Patch' adults: 1 in 8 grown-ups love extreme tartness, study shows
For most people, biting into a lemon would leave them puckered up and desperate to lose that sour flavor, but a new study by Penn State researchers revealed that roughly one in eight adults like intensely sour sensations. The cross-cultural study, recently published in the journal Food Quality and Preference, demonstrated there is a subset of "sour likers" who enjoy exceptionally sour foods.
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Long snouts protect foxes when they dive headfirst into snow, study finds
When hunting for mice in winter, red and Arctic fox are known to plunge headfirst at speeds of 2–4 meters per second, but their sharp noses reduce the impact force in snow and protect them from injury, according to a new Cornell University study.
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Revealing the origin of unexpected differences in giant binary stars
Using the Gemini South telescope a team of astronomers have confirmed for the first time that differences in binary stars' composition can originate from chemical variations in the cloud of stellar material from which they formed. The results help explain why stars born from the same molecular cloud can possess different chemical composition and host different planetary systems, as well as pose challenges to current stellar and planet formation models.
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Novel mechanisms for cleavage-independent activation of gasdermins revealed
Pyroptosis is a type of programmed cell death mediated by the gasdermin (GSDM) protein family, which plays important roles in the body's defense against pathogen infection, elimination of abnormal or harmful cells, and other processes. GSDMs are an evolutionarily conserved class of pore-forming proteins that are widely distributed among various bacteria, fungi, invertebrates, and all vertebrates.
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Hydride research pushes frontiers of practical, accessible superconductivity
Science is taking a step forward in the quest for superconductors that will not require ultra-high pressure to function, thanks to multinational research led by Xiaojia Chen at the University of Houston.
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Fading lights: Comprehensive study unveils multiple threats to North America's firefly populations
A study conducted by the University of Kentucky Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment; Bucknell University; Penn State University; and the USDA has shed light on the precarious situation facing firefly populations across North America. The study's results identified multiple factors impacting their numbers, offering a deep dive into how shifting environmental and human factors influence these iconic insects.
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Vaccinia virus: New insights into the structure and function of the poxvirus prototype
An outbreak of infections with the mpox virus—formerly known as monkeypox—in Europe in 2022 led to a rise in interest in poxviruses. An international research team has now investigated the structure of the poxvirus prototype, the vaccinia virus (VACV). The work is published in the journal Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
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Scientists discover a new type of porous material that can store greenhouse gases
A new type of porous material that can store carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases has been developed by a team of scientists jointly led by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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Physicists overcome two key operating hurdles in fusion reactions
A team of physicists from several institutions across the U.S. working with a colleague from China, at the DIII-D National Fusion Facility, in San Diego, California, has devised a way to overcome two key hurdles standing in the way of using fusion as a general power source.
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Here's why we should put a gravitational wave observatory on the moon
Scientists detected the first long-predicted gravitational wave in 2015, and since then, researchers have been hungering for better detectors. But the Earth is warm and seismically noisy, and that will always limit the effectiveness of Earth-based detectors.
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Human activities have an intense impact on Earth's deep subsurface fluid flow
The impact of human activities—such as greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation—on Earth's surface have been well-studied. Now, hydrology researchers from the University of Arizona have investigated how humans impact Earth's deep subsurface, a zone that lies hundreds of meters to several kilometers beneath the planet's surface.