Access to trees and greenspaces is consistently low across English cities, according to a new study led by the University of Leeds. Researchers used a recognized three-part framework for measuring tree and greenspace access in urban neighborhoods in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, York, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and Plymouth, and found that at best, only 2% of buildings in any city region met all three components of the rule. [...]
When university students get to create real value for others, their motivation, self-confidence, and academic performance increase. This is shown by a new study published in The International Journal of Management Education that examines how university teachers use value creation pedagogy. "Value creation pedagogy can make education more meaningful and relevant for society—but it takes courage, time, and support to succeed," says Martin Lackéus, researcher at Chalmers University of Technology. [...]
Students with disabilities account for almost 15% of the K-12 student population in the United States. Yet they are often underrepresented in charter schools, which are publicly funded schools open to all students. While there are discussions about what type of school environment best supports these students, it is important to take a closer look at the difference in learning environments. [...]
For decades, astronomers have been watching WOH G64, an enormous heavyweight star in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a galaxy visible with the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere. This star is more than 1,500 times larger than the sun and emitting over 100,000 times more energy. For a long time, red supergiant WOH G64 looked like a star steadily reaching the end of its life, shedding material and swelling in size as it began to run out of fuel. [...]
A research team affiliated with UNIST has developed stable and efficient chalcogenide-based photoelectrodes, addressing a longstanding challenge of corrosion. This advancement paves the way for the commercial viability of solar-driven water splitting technology—producing hydrogen directly from sunlight without electrical input. [...]
With a world literally and figuratively burning around them, high school social studies teachers are charged with engaging students in sensitive topics. [...]
A team of researchers at Queen's University has developed a powerful new kind of computing machine that uses light to take on complex problems such as protein folding (for drug discovery) and number partitioning (for cryptography). Built from off-the-shelf components, it also operates at room temperature and remains remarkably stable while performing billions of operations per second. The research was published in Nature. [...]
In the pursuit of solutions to complex global challenges including disease, energy demands, and climate change, scientific researchers, including at MIT, have turned to artificial intelligence, and to quantitative analysis and modeling, to design and construct engineered cells with novel properties. The engineered cells can be programmed to become new therapeutics—battling, and perhaps eradicating, diseases. [...]
Most public debate about schooling focuses on what happens inside the classroom—on lessons, tests and academic results. [...]
Using advanced computer simulations, researchers from the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) have concluded how and why strong ocean currents modify surface waves. "Our primary finding is that hurricane-generated ocean currents can substantially reduce both the height and the dominant period of hurricane waves," said Isaac Ginis, URI professor of oceanography. "The magnitude of wave reduction depends strongly on how accurately ocean currents are predicted. This highlights the importance of using fully coupled wave-ocean models when forecasting hurricane waves." [...]
Phil is in prep for surgery. As the anesthetic is about to be administered, the anesthetist says, "Oh, and by the way, during the procedure the surgical team will be listening to the hard rock classic, You Shook Me All Night Long." [...]
Astronomers from the University of Tokyo in Japan and elsewhere have employed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe a distant ultraviolet-luminous galaxy known as CEERS2-588. Results of the observational campaign, published January 29 on the arXiv preprint server, shed more light on the nature and properties of this galaxy. [...]
From dyes to pharmaceuticals to emulsifiers—ethylamine (EA) is a versatile component used in many industries. The downside of EA is that its production is terribly complicated and energy intensive. However, it is not a simple task to simplify EA production in a way that can also be scaled up to industrial levels. Researchers at Tohoku University's WPI-AIMR may have found an answer to this problem. Rare earth Eu atoms were modified on Cu2O nanoneedles to produce a catalyst (Eu-Cu2O) that can increase the efficiency of the chemical reaction that produces EA. [...]
Recent storms washed away large sections of roads in the UK after sea defenses were damaged. For residents, it was a shock. But for coastal scientists, it was not unexpected. [...]
In a study published in American Antiquity, Dr. David Madsen and his colleagues address the proposition that the lower Lahontan drainage basin (LLDB), located in the Intermountain West, is "unique" for the use of caves and rock shelters as burial locations. They found that, compared with the Bonneville Basin (BB), the Great Basin's other major lake basin, the LLDB is not unique, and burial beyond it is neither rare nor uncommon. [...]
A group of US astronomers may have uncovered the first evidence for a dark matter sub-halo lurking just beyond our stellar neighborhood. Reporting their findings in Physical Review Letters, a team led by Sukanya Chakrabarti at the University of Alabama in Huntsville suggests that an unseen clump of dark matter could be subtly tugging on nearby pulsars. If confirmed, the result could shed new light on the elusive nature of dark matter and how it is distributed throughout our galaxy. [...]
For centuries, work with donated bodies has shaped anatomical knowledge and medical training. [...]
In medicine, security, nuclear safety and scientific research, X-rays are essential tools for seeing what remains hidden. The materials used to create X-ray detectors can be rigid, expensive and laborious to produce. But new research led by FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Professor Biwu Ma is creating lower-cost, adaptable materials that could revolutionize X-ray detection technologies. [...]
European coastal areas are under increasing pressure. Researchers are investigating ways to reverse this trend and help communities adapt to climate change. From Arctic fjords to Mediterranean seagrass meadows, centuries of human activity have damaged habitats that were once full of life. [...]
The world is warming. This fact is most often discussed for Earth's surface, where we live. But the climate is also changing from the top of the atmosphere to the bottom of the ocean. And there is a clear fingerprint of humanity's role in causing these changes through greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels. [...]
The western U.S. is a geologists' dream, home to the Rocky Mountains, the Grand Canyon, active volcanoes and striking sandstone arches. But one landform simply doesn't make sense. [...]
In collaboration with international partners, researchers at the University of Stuttgart have experimentally demonstrated a previously unknown form of magnetism in atomically thin material layers. The discovery is highly relevant for future magnetic data storage technologies and advances the fundamental understanding of magnetic interactions in two-dimensional systems. The results have now been published in Nature Nanotechnology. [...]
This week in science news: Nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas, may break down more rapidly in the atmosphere than previously thought due to climate change. A new, experimental pill dramatically reduces bad cholesterol. And physicists believe they detected an exploding black hole, representing scary new behavior from what we once thought was a more limited arsenal of gravity-based terror and awe. [...]
Calling a friend "cousin" might not be just a term of affection among some African Americans. Now, a mathematical model shows that there is a good chance there is some type of family connection between 185 and 410 years ago for many pairs of African Americans of the same age. [...]
Public sector organizations in emerging economies could improve their performance and resilience by taking a more systematic approach to knowledge management, according to a review in the International Journal of Business Excellence. [...]
Fresh, affordable and nutritious food is an essential human need. But for many city-dwellers, accessing it can be difficult and time-consuming, especially for those who are elderly or have mobility challenges. This is true even in Montreal, a city that prides itself on its active transportation network and compact population distribution. [...]
Eucalyptus trees, laden with flammable oils, could spread into Portugal's south-central region by 2060 if changing climate conditions make the area more hospitable to their growth, creating wildfire hotspots that would evade detection by conventional prevention approaches. [...]
Hybrid climate modeling has emerged as an effective way to reduce the computational costs associated with cloud-resolving models while retaining their accuracy. The approach retains physics-based models to simulate large-scale atmospheric dynamics, while harnessing deep learning to emulate cloud and convection processes that are too small to be resolved directly. In practice, however, many hybrid AI-physics models are unreliable. When simulations extend over months or years, small errors can accumulate and cause the model to become unstable. [...]
Passerine (perching) birds make up 60% of all bird species, including some familiar Australian favorites, like the superb fairy-wren and willie wagtail. Until now, they were believed to only be capable of shallow reductions in body temperature, with deeper and longer torpor restricted to a few non-passerine bird groups, such as hummingbirds and nightjars. New research reveals that this largest group of bird species can enter deep torpor—a power-saving mode of reduced body temperature and metabolism—overturning a long-held understanding of their limits. [...]
A new study examining education policymaking in Ireland over the last 30 years finds long-standing conservative practices have significantly constrained meaningful reform. Published in Irish Educational Studies, the research draws on perspectives from academic research, government experience, and school leadership to show how education policy has historically been shaped by cautious decision-making, short-term political horizons, and inherited institutional structures. [...]