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Manatees congregate in warm waters near power plants as US winter storms graze Florida

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A polar vortex that has hit much of the U.S. with ice and snow has dealt a glancing blow to Florida, dropping coastal temperatures and causing the Sunshine State's manatee population, still recovering from a mass starvation event several…

Biden issues land protections after LA fires delay ceremony

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US President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated two large areas of California as protected national monuments, after the initial ceremony was called off due to wildfires breaking out in Los Angeles.

SpaceX set for seventh test of Starship megarocket

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Elon Musk's SpaceX is gearing up for the seventh orbital flight test of Starship, the colossal prototype rocket the company hopes will help humans colonize Mars.

Private US, Japanese lunar landers launch on single rocket

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One rocket, two missions: lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies launched their "rideshare" to the moon on Wednesday, showcasing the private sector's growing role in space exploration.

Not all Hot Jupiters orbit solo, observations suggest

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Hot Jupiters are giant planets initially known to orbit alone close to their star. During their migration towards their star, these planets were thought to accrete or eject any other planets present. However, this paradigm has been…

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Over 97 million US residents exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water, analysis reveals

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Nearly a third of people in the U.S. have been exposed to unregulated contaminants in their drinking water that could impact their health, according to a new analysis by scientists at Silent Spring Institute. What's more, Hispanic and…

Tuesday, Jan 14

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Fast control methods enable record-setting fidelity in superconducting qubit

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Quantum computing promises to solve complex problems exponentially faster than a classical computer, by using the principles of quantum mechanics to encode and manipulate information in quantum bits (qubits).

Wealth tax linked to increased savings, study finds

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With Uncle Sam running chronic trillion-dollar deficits, one proposal to increase revenue has been to raise it from the wealthiest Americans: through a tax, not on their yearly income, but on their accumulated wealth.

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Harnessing nature to defend soybean roots

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The microscopic soybean cyst nematode (SCN) may be small, but it has a massive impact. This pest latches onto soybean roots, feeding on their nutrients and leaving a trail of destruction that costs farmers billions in yield losses each…

Big business uses factual research to mislead the public—philosophers analyze the issue

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Even the truth can be manipulated to deliberately mislead us. That is the argument put forward in a paper titled "Industrial Distraction."

A cleaner vision: Research supports safe, sustainable suds

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Anyone who's ever lathered up knows the dilemma. The same qualities that make surfactants—the chemical compounds in soaps, shampoos and detergents that penetrate grease, dissolve stains and make those satisfying suds in the shower—so…

Neutron star measurements place limits on color superconductivity in dense quark matter

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At extremely high densities, quarks are expected to form pairs, as electrons do in a superconductor. This high-density quark behavior is called color superconductivity. The strength of pairing inside a color superconductor is difficult to…

Image: Earth in far-ultraviolet

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On April 21, 1972, NASA astronaut John W. Young, commander of the Apollo 16 mission, took a far-ultraviolet photo of Earth with an ultraviolet camera. Young's original black-and-white picture was printed on Agfacontour professional film…

Computational chemistry method can wring more information out of electronic structure calculations

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Back in the old days—the really old days—the task of designing materials was laborious. Investigators, over the course of 1,000-plus years, tried to make gold by combining things like lead, mercury, and sulfur, mixed in what they hoped…

The bacterium that transformed DNA sequencing

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DNA sequencing was revolutionized after scientists discovered a new bacterium in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park, and today it's a common research technique.

Quasiparticle research unlocks new insights into tellurene, paving the way for next-gen electronics

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To describe how matter works at infinitesimal scales, researchers designate collective behaviors with single concepts, like calling a group of birds flying in sync a "flock" or "murmuration." Known as quasiparticles, the phenomena these…

US, Japanese lunar landers set to launch on single rocket

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One rocket, two missions: Lunar landers built by US and Japanese companies are poised to "rideshare" to the moon, showcasing the private sector's growing role in space exploration.

Researchers explore microRNA's role in bird flu infection

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Is there a connection between bird flu and microRNA, the tiny bits of RNA which have different tasks in regulating genes and producing the body's building blocks?

Beach guardians: How hidden microbes protect coastal waters in a changing climate

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A hidden world teeming with life lies below beach sands. New Stanford-led research sheds light on how microbial communities in coastal groundwater respond to infiltrating seawater.

Webb reveals intricate layers of interstellar dust and gas

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Once upon a time, the core of a massive star collapsed, creating a shockwave that blasted outward, ripping the star apart as it went. When the shockwave reached the star's surface, it punched through, generating a brief, intense pulse of X…

Simulated universe previews panoramas from NASA's Roman Telescope

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Astronomers have released a set of more than a million simulated images showcasing the cosmos as NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will see it. This preview will help scientists explore Roman's myriad science goals.

New NOAA dataset to help improve flood mitigation tools, flood-risk assessment

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The first modeled, historical water level and wave dataset for the Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf coasts was released today by NOAA's National Ocean Service (NOS). This comprehensive dataset—known as Coastal Ocean Reanalysis (CORA)—advances…

Wildfires disproportionately impact Latino and other underserved L.A. communities, data shows

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A new data brief from the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute and the UCLA Center for Neighborhood Knowledge reveals that the Palisades, Hurst and Eaton wildfires have far-reaching effects. They extend beyond evacuation zones to…

Study reveals CIO tactics to boost IT-business collaboration

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It seems easy to ignore how your workplace's information technology system operates—at least until it acts glitchy and interrupts your routine. That's why companies rely on IT specialists to keep the virtual gears spinning in the right…

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Seizing generative AI to forecast economic trends

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There is no science to business forecasting, no common set of expectations or tools. Usually, the best you can hope for is to not be outrageously wrong. It's a low bar, and even then business forecasters rarely meet it. Or have you…

Americans lost out on $420B in bank loans because of the Federal Reserve, new research says

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In the years after the Great Recession, banks chose to keep some $420 billion in their reserves rather than loan it out to American people and businesses. While many tend to blame the banks themselves for that decision, one Wall Streeter…

Bird flu kills 20 million chickens in US, driving egg prices sky-high

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A deadly bird flu outbreak has wreaked havoc on U.S. chicken farms, claiming the lives of over 20 million egg-laying chickens last quarter, marking the worst impact on America's egg supply since the outbreak began in 2022.

Exploration of root-lesion nematodes in New Zealand maize crops reveals a potential new species

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A new study has lifted the lid on five species of root-lesion nematodes living in maize crops across New Zealand—and suggested the existence of a hitherto-unsuspected cryptic species.

Overlooked tree crops are crucial for sustainable development, researchers say

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Tree crops—for example, apple, cherry, olives, nuts, coffee, and cacao—cover more than 183 million hectares worldwide, yet remain largely overlooked in agricultural policies, despite their critical role in achieving the United Nation's…

Ancient artifacts unearthed in Iraq shed light on hidden history of Mesopotamia

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New discoveries by a UCF researcher and her team at the ancient Mesopotamian site of Kurd Qaburstan, including clay tablets with ancient cuneiform writing, a game board and large structural remains, may provide a wealth of knowledge about…