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Categories: Geoscience: Geography, Physics: Quantum Physics
Published Scientists develop most sensitive way to observe single molecules



A technical achievement marks a significant advance in the burgeoning field of observing individual molecules without the aid of fluorescent labels. While these labels are useful in many applications, they alter molecules in ways that can obscure how they naturally interact with one another. The new label-free method makes the molecules so easy to detect, it is almost as if they had labels.
Published People are altering decomposition rates in waterways



Humans may be accelerating the rate at which organic matter decomposes in rivers and streams on a global scale, according to a new study. That could pose a threat to biodiversity in waterways around the world and increase the amount of carbon in Earth's atmosphere, potentially exacerbating climate change. The study is the first to combine a global experiment and predictive modeling to illustrate how human impacts to waterways may contribute to the global climate crisis.
Published Historic iceberg surges offer insights on modern climate change



A great armada entered the North Atlantic, launched from the cold shores of North America. But rather than ships off to war, this force was a fleet of icebergs. And the havoc it wrought was to the ocean current itself. The future of the Atlantic circulation will be determined by a tug-o-war between Greenland's decreasing ice flux and its increasing freshwater runoff.
Published Local bright spot among melting glaciers: 2000 km of Antarctic ice-covered coastline has been stable for 85 years



A whaler's forgotten aerial photos from 1937 have given researchers the most detailed picture of the ice evolution in East Antarctica to date. The results show that the ice has remained stable and even grown slightly over almost a century, though scientists observe early signs of weakening. The research offers new insights that enhance predictions of ice changes and sea level rise.
Published The thinnest lens on Earth, enabled by excitons



Lenses are used to bend and focus light. Normal lenses rely on their curved shape to achieve this effect, but physicists have made a flat lens of only three atoms thick which relies on quantum effects. This type of lens could be used in future augmented reality glasses.
Published Indian Ocean surface temperature could help anticipate dengue outbreaks



Although dengue outbreaks cannot be prevented, it is possible to anticipate them. Scientists have recently identified a global climate indicator that may help improve predictions about the magnitude of dengue outbreaks several months in advance. This indicator, which can be used for any world region, is based on temperature fluctuations at the surface of the Indian Ocean. Obtaining reliable long-term predictions could facilitate efforts to tackle this infection, which has been on the rise for several decades and threatens half of the world's population.
Published A drying Salton Sea pollutes neighboring communities



Dust particles from the Salton Sea's exposed lakebed increased air pollution in local communities, found a new study. The pollution coincides with reduced flows into the lake and diversions to San Diego.
Published Theoretical quantum speedup with the quantum approximate optimization algorithm



Researchers demonstrated a quantum algorithmic speedup with the quantum approximate optimization algorithm, laying the groundwork for advancements in telecommunications, financial modeling, materials science and more.
Published Abandoned farmlands could play a role in fighting climate change: A new study shows exactly where they are



The team used machine learning to map nearly 30 million acres of United States cropland abandoned since the 1980s, creating a tool that could guide decisions about how to balance production of energy and food.
Published Fatal attraction: When endangered species try to mate with domestic relatives, both wildlife and people lose



Sticks and stones aren't enough to thwart biological attraction, but sometimes those are the only tools available to pastoralists trying to prevent wildlife from eloping with their livestock. A new study brings awareness to both the human impacts of these encounters -- ranging from economic loss to death -- and conservation concerns for the wild animals that are often endangered.
Published Health risk from global warming predictor of city climate action during COVID-19, study finds



City officials were more likely to maintain climate action during the pandemic in places with more climate-related health issues affecting residents.
Published Study is step towards energy-efficient quantum computing in magnets



Researchers have managed to generate propagating spin waves at the nanoscale and discovered a novel pathway to modulate and amplify them. Their discovery could pave the way for the development of dissipation free quantum information technologies. As the spin waves do not involve electric currents these chips will be free from associated losses of energy. The rapidly growing popularity of artificial intelligence comes with an increasing desire for fast and energy efficient computing devices and calls for novel ways to store and process information. The electric currents in conventional devices suffer from losses of energy and subsequent heating of the environment.
Published Improved refrigeration could save nearly half of the 1.3 billion tons of food wasted each year globally



A new study concludes that nearly half of the food waste, about 620 million metric tons, could be eliminated by fully refrigerated food supply chains worldwide. At the same time, fully refrigerated supply chains, or 'cold chains,' could cut food waste-related emissions of climate-warming greenhouse gases by 41% globally, according to a new study.
Published Simple food swaps could cut greenhouse gas emissions from household groceries by a quarter



Switching food and drink purchases to very similar but more environmentally friendly alternatives could reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from household groceries by more than a quarter (26%), according to a new study.
Published Global activity of seafloor biodiversity mapped



A team of scientists has used artificial intelligence (AI) to map the activities of seafloor invertebrate animals, such as worms, clams and shrimps, across all the oceans of the world.
Published Secrets of sargassum: Scientists advance knowledge of seaweed causing chaos in the Caribbean and West Africa



A research team tracked and studied floating sargassum in order to unlock its potential to be used to produce sustainable products.
Published Theory and experiment combine to shine a new light on proton spin



Nuclear physicists have long been working to reveal how the proton gets its spin. Now, a new method that combines experimental data with state-of-the-art calculations has revealed a more detailed picture of spin contributions from the very glue that holds protons together.
Published More than spins: Exploring uncharted territory in quantum devices



Many of today's quantum devices rely on collections of qubits, also called spins. These quantum bits have only two energy levels, the '0' and the '1'. However, spins in real devices also interact with light and vibrations known as bosons, greatly complicating calculations. Researchers now demonstrate a way to describe spin-boson systems and use this to efficiently configure quantum devices in a desired state.
Published How a tiny device could lead to big physics discoveries and better lasers



Researchers have fabricated a device no wider than a human hair that will help physicists investigate the fundamental nature of matter and light. Their findings could also support the development of more efficient lasers, which are used in fields ranging from medicine to manufacturing.
Published Shedding light on the chemical enigma of sulfur trioxide in the atmosphere



Researchers discovered that sulfur trioxide can form products other than sulfuric acid in the atmosphere by interacting with organic and inorganic acids. These previously uncharacterized acid sulfuric anhydride products are almost certainly key contributors to atmospheric new particle formation and a way to efficiently incorporate carboxylic acids into atmospheric nanoparticles. Better prediction of aerosol formation can help curb air pollution and reduce uncertainties concerning climate change.