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Categories: Ecology: Endangered Species, Physics: Optics
Published Epiphytes, amazing plants like moss and bromeliads found in trees, face growing threats



Epiphytes, plants such as orchids and mosses that grow in trees, draw nutrients from the air and create refuge for all sorts of other life forms. They are the foundation of forest canopy ecosystems, but they are facing threats from human and natural disturbances.
Published Killing remains a threat to Bornean orangutans



New research has found despite considerable conservation efforts, the illegal killing of critically endangered orangutans on Borneo may be an ongoing threat to the species.
Published Bringing out the color in zinc



Researchers have synthesized a zinc complex based on two zinc centers that absorbs visible light. They demonstrated that this capability depends on the proximity of the zinc ions, where the complex responds to visible light when the zinc atoms are closer. This new property is expected to expand the utility of zinc, which already offers advantages including biological relevance, cost effectiveness, and low toxicity.
Published Titanium oxide material can remove toxic dyes from wastewater



Discharged in large quantities by textile, cosmetic, ink, paper and other manufacturers, dyes carry high-toxicity and can bring potential carcinogens to wastewater. It’s a major concern for wastewater treatment — but researchers may have found a solution, using a tiny nanofilament.
Published Medical imaging fails dark skin: Researchers fixed it



A team found a way to deliver clear pictures of anyone's internal anatomy, no matter their skin tone.
Published Ancient Maya reservoirs offer lessons for today's water crises



Ancient Maya reservoirs, which used aquatic plants to filter and clean the water, 'can serve as archetypes for natural, sustainable water systems to address future water needs.' The Maya built and maintained reservoirs that were in use for more than 1,000 years. These reservoirs provided potable water for thousands to tens of thousands of people in cities during the annual, five-month dry season and in periods of prolonged drought.
Published Natural GM crops: Grasses take evolutionary shortcut by borrowing genes from their neighbors



Grass may transfer genes from their neighbors in the same way genetically modified crops are made, a new study has revealed.
Published Groundbreaking study shows defects spreading through diamond faster than the speed of sound



Settling a half century of debate, researchers have discovered that tiny linear defects can propagate through a material faster than sound waves do. These linear defects, or dislocations, are what give metals their strength and workability, but they can also make materials fail catastrophically – which is what happens every time you pop the pull tab on a can of soda. The fact that they can travel so fast gives scientists a new appreciation of the unusual types of damage they might do to a broad range of materials in extreme conditions.
Published Physicists find evidence for magnetically bound excitons



Physicists have experimentally detected how so-called Hubbard excitons form in real-time.
Published Fear of humans pervades the South African savanna



Mammals living in South Africa's Greater Kruger National Park, home to one of the world's largest remaining lion populations, are far more afraid of hearing human voices than lion vocalizations or hunting sounds such as dogs barking or gunshots.
Published Survival of the newest: the mammals that survive mass extinctions aren't as 'boring' as scientists thought



For decades, scientists have assumed that mammals and their relatives that survived challenging times (like those during mass extinctions) made it because they were generalists that were able to eat just about anything and adapt to whatever life threw at them. A new study into the mammal family tree through multiple mass extinctions revealed that the species that survived aren't as generic as scientists had thought: instead, having new and different traits can be the key to succeeding in the aftermath of a catastrophe.
Published New technology could reduce lag, improve reliability of online gaming, meetings



Whether you’re battling foes in a virtual arena or collaborating with colleagues across the globe, lag-induced disruptions can be a major hindrance to seamless communication and immersive experiences. That’s why researchers have developed new technology to make data transfer over optical fiber communication faster and more efficient.
Published Meadow Spittlebug's record-breaking diet also makes it top disease carrier for plants



New research fueled in part by citizen scientists reveals that the meadow spittlebug—known for the foamy, spit-like urine released by its nymphs—can feed on at least 1,300 species of host plants, more than twice the number of any other insect.
Published AI drones to help farmers optimize vegetable yields



For reasons of food security and economic incentive, farmers continuously seek to maximize their marketable crop yields. As plants grow inconsistently, at the time of harvesting, there will inevitably be variations in quality and size of individual crops. Finding the optimal time to harvest is therefore a priority for farmers. A new approach making heavy use of drones and artificial intelligence demonstrably improves this estimation by carefully and accurately analyzing individual crops to assess their likely growth characteristics.
Published Honeybees are more selective in their choices for nutrition than previously thought



An international research group examined which plants honeybees favor when collecting nectar and pollen. The choices honeybees make have an impact on their health and also on humans, as honeybees pollinate important crop plants.
Published Lasers deflected using air



Using a novel method, beams of laser light can be deflected using air alone. An invisible grating made only of air is not only immune to damage from the laser light, but it also preserves the original quality of the beam.
Published Next-generation printing: Precise and direct, using optical vortices



Researchers have succeeded in printing uniformly sized droplets with a diameter of approximately 100 µm using a liquid film of fluorescent ink. This ink, with a viscosity roughly 100 times that of water, was irradiated with an optical vortex, resulting in prints of exceptional positional accuracy at the micrometer scale.
Published Intense lasers shine new light on the electron dynamics of liquids



The behavior of electrons in liquids is crucial to understanding many chemical processes that occur in our world. Using advanced lasers that operate at the attosecond, a team of international researchers has revealed further insights into how electrons behave in liquids.
Published Timing plant evolution with a fast-ticking epigenetic clock



Recent discoveries in the field of epigenetics, the study of inheritance of traits that occur without changing the DNA sequence, have shown that chronological age in mammals correlates with epigenetic changes that accumulate during the lifetime of an individual. In humans, this observation has led to the development of epigenetic clocks, which are now extensively used as biomarkers of aging. While these clocks work accurately from birth until death, they are set back to zero in each new generation. Now, an international team shows that epigenetic clocks not only exist in plants, but that these clocks keep ticking accurately over many generations.
Published 3D-printed plasmonic plastic enables large-scale optical sensor production



Researchers have developed plasmonic plastic -- a type of composite material with unique optical properties that can be 3D-printed. This research has now resulted in 3D-printed optical hydrogen sensors that could play an important role in the transition to green energy and industry.