Q&A: La Nina's back and it's not good for parts of dry West

For the second straight year, the world heads into fall and winter with a La Nina weather event. This would tend to dry out parts of an already parched and fiery American West and boost an already busy Atlantic hurricane season.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-qa-la-nina-good-west.html

For 50 years, mass incarceration has hurt American families. Here's how to change it

For nearly 50 years, the incarceration rate in the U.S. has grown at an exponential rate. Today, the U.S. has the largest prison population in the world. Incarceration is especially common in poor communities of color where nearly 70% of Black men who did not finish high school and are approaching midlife will be in prison at some point in their lives.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-years-mass-incarceration-american-families.html

Facial recognition, cameras and other tools police use raise questions about accountability

Facial recognition, body cameras and other digital technologies are increasingly used by police departments, municipalities and even gated communities, but these tools manufactured by private companies raise the specter of unchecked surveillance, a University of California, Davis researcher suggests.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-facial-recognition-cameras-tools-police.html

Electric sheep: Grazing in solar arrays supports economy, climate

As industrial-sized solar installations pop up throughout New York and New England states, residents fear the loss of agricultural land. One solution is simple: Sheep.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-electric-sheep-grazing-solar-arrays.html

How bacteria create a piggy bank for the lean times

Bacteria can store extra resources for the lean times. It's a bit like keeping a piggy bank or carrying a backup battery pack. One important reserve is known as cyanophycin granules, which were first noticed by an Italian scientist about 150 years ago. He saw big, dark splotches in the cells of the blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) he was studying without understanding either what they were or their purpose. Since then, scientists have realized that cyanophycin was made of a natural green biopolymer, that bacteria use it as a store of nitrogen and energy, and that it could have many biotechnological applications. They have tried producing large amounts of cyanophycin by putting the enzyme that makes it (known as cyanophycin synthetase) in everything from E. coli to tobacco, but without being able to make enough of it to be very useful.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-bacteria-piggy-bank.html

Early modern human from Southeast Asia adapted to a rainforest environment

Although there has been evidence of our species living in rainforest regions in Southeast Asia from at least 70,000 years ago, the poor preservation of organic material in these regions limits how much we know about their diet and ecological adaptations to these habitats. An international team of scientists led by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig and the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has now applied a new method to investigate the diet of fossil humans: The analysis of stable zinc isotopes from tooth enamel. This method proves particularly helpful to learn whether prehistoric humans and animals were primarily eating meat or plants.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-early-modern-human-southeast-asia.html

China set to send 3 astronauts on longest crewed mission yet

China is preparing to send three astronauts to live on its space station for six months—a new milestone for a program that has advanced rapidly in recent years.

Death threats, law suits: COVID experts targeted

Marc Van Ranst, a virologist famous in Belgium for providing expertise about the COVID-19 pandemic, was at home for his first afternoon off in months in May, unaware that his life was under threat and that he would soon be forced to go into hiding.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-death-threats-law-covid-experts.html

Researchers build $400 self-navigating smart cane

Most know the white cane as a simple-but-crucial tool that assists people with visual impairments in making their way through the world. Researchers at Stanford University have now introduced an affordable robotic cane that guides people with visual impairments safely and efficiently through their environments.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-self-navigating-smart-cane.html

Embattled Facebook releases new curbs on harassment

Facebook unveiled fresh protections Wednesday against online attacks on journalists, activists and celebrities as the social media giant battles a crisis over its platforms' potential harms.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-embattled-facebook-curbs.html

Death toll in Philippines storm rises to 19

The death toll from a storm that triggered landslides and flash floods across the Philippines has risen to at least 19, authorities said Thursday, linking the extreme rainfall to climate change.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-death-toll-philippines-storm.html

Streaming wars heat up

World domination is no longer the preserve of evil dictators and Bond villains.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-streaming-wars.html

Prince William tells space tourists: fix Earth instead

Britain's Prince William has launched an attack on space tourism, urging more attention on problems closer to home ahead of the COP26 climate summit.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-prince-william-space-tourists-earth.html

From cars to gasoline, surging prices match a 13-year high

Another jump in consumer prices in September sent inflation up 5.4% from where it was a year ago, matching the largest increase since 2008 as tangled global supply lines continue to create havoc.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2021-10-cars-gasoline-surging-prices-year.html

Improvements in microscopy home in on biology's elusive details

In the late 1600s, the Dutch tradesman Anthoni van Leeuwenhoek began investigating the world of the very small using the first microscope, discovering a riotous world of protists, bacteria, and other previously unseen organisms. Subsequent generations of scientists have developed ever-more-sophisticated means of probing the microscopic world, bringing many mysteries of the biological realm into stunning relief.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-microscopy-home-biology-elusive.html

After two hours, sunscreen that includes zinc oxide loses effectiveness, becomes toxic: study

Sunscreen that includes zinc oxide, a common ingredient, loses much of its effectiveness and becomes toxic after two hours of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, according to a collaboration that included Oregon State University scientists.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-hours-sunscreen-zinc-oxide-effectiveness.html

Outdated attitudes risk widening inequalities in hybrid workplace, think-tank warns

Employers could undo the progress made over the last 18 months and deepen workplace inequalities if organisations fail to override the deep-rooted perceptions of 'office culture', a leading think tank has warned.

source https://phys.org/news/2021-10-outdated-attitudes-widening-inequalities-hybrid.html

Death threats, law suits: COVID experts targeted

Marc Van Ranst, a virologist famous in Belgium for providing expertise about the COVID-19 pandemic, was at home for his first afternoon off in months in May, unaware that his life was under threat and that he would soon be forced to go into hiding.

Death toll in Philippines storm rises to 19

The death toll from a storm that triggered landslides and flash floods across the Philippines has risen to at least 19, authorities said Thursday, linking the extreme rainfall to climate change.

Prince William tells space tourists: fix Earth instead

Britain's Prince William has launched an attack on space tourism, urging more attention on problems closer to home ahead of the COP26 climate summit.

Improvements in microscopy home in on biology's elusive details

In the late 1600s, the Dutch tradesman Anthoni van Leeuwenhoek began investigating the world of the very small using the first microscope, discovering a riotous world of protists, bacteria, and other previously unseen organisms. Subsequent generations of scientists have developed ever-more-sophisticated means of probing the microscopic world, bringing many mysteries of the biological realm into stunning relief.

After two hours, sunscreen that includes zinc oxide loses effectiveness, becomes toxic: study

Sunscreen that includes zinc oxide, a common ingredient, loses much of its effectiveness and becomes toxic after two hours of exposure to ultraviolet radiation, according to a collaboration that included Oregon State University scientists.

Outdated attitudes risk widening inequalities in hybrid workplace, think-tank warns

Employers could undo the progress made over the last 18 months and deepen workplace inequalities if organisations fail to override the deep-rooted perceptions of 'office culture', a leading think tank has warned.