Future Nobel laureate Lev Landau came along in 1941, predicting that superfluid helium-4 should contain an exotic, particle-like excitation called a roton. But scientists, including Landau, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman and Wolf Prize recipient Philippe Nozières have debated what structure the roton would take ever since. (more…)
Small retailers willing to sacrifice fairness for success
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Fairness is not always the most important priority for small retailers. In an international study, University of Missouri researchers found that some small retailers are less concerned about whether they are treated fairly by business suppliers than other factors, such as cash flow and company survival. (more…)
UCLA researchers say finding could lead to strategies to reduce risky sex
Like most things, sex requires motivation. An attractive face, a pleasant fragrance, perhaps a sexy image. Yet people differ in their response to sex cues, some react strongly; some don’t. A greater responsiveness to sexual cues might provide greater motivation for a person to act sexually, and risky sexual behaviors typically occur when a person is motivated by particularly potent, sexual reward cues. (more…)
Das Leben in der Innenstadt ist für Turmfalken eine “ökologische Falle”. Durch attraktive Nistplätze in Wiens Altbauten angezogen, kämpfen Turmfalken mit Nahrungsmangel. Dies fand ein Team um die Zoologin Petra Sumasgutner von der Universität Wien heraus. Im Rahmen einer Studie wurden über 400 Turmfalken-Nester in Wien über Jahre beobachtet. Ergebnis: Die Nachkommen der in der Innenstadt brütenden Turmfalken haben weniger Überlebenschancen, weil es an tagaktiven Beutetieren mangelt. Aktuell erschien dazu eine Publikation im open access journal “Frontiers in Zoology”.
Seit 2010 wird in Wien, initiiert von der Zoologin Petra Sumasgutner, ein Turmfalkenmonitoring durchgeführt. Die vorliegende Studie gibt nun erstmals einen Überblick über das inzwischen umfangreich gesammelte Datenmaterial, und es konnten Rückschlüsse auf die Brutbiologie der Tiere in der Stadt gemacht werden. (more…)
Southwestern Bird and Reptile Distributions to Shift as Climate Changes
Dramatic distribution losses and a few major distribution gains are forecasted for southwestern bird and reptile species as the climate changes, according to just-published research by scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of New Mexico, and Northern Arizona University.
Overall, the study forecasted species distribution losses – that is, where species are able to live – of nearly half for all but one of the 5 reptile species they examined, including for the iconic chuckwalla. The threatened Sonoran (Morafka’s) desert tortoise, however, is projected to experience little to no habitat losses from climate change. (more…)
As mating season approaches, male animals are faced with a question that can make or break their chances at reproducing: does it pay to be a lover or a fighter? Or both?
Researchers from The University of Manchester and Syracuse University in New York working with the University of Western Australia, found that where animals fall on the lover/fighter scale depends on how much they are able to ensure continued mating rights with females.
In species where fighting for the right to mate means greater control of females, such as in the elephant seal, males invest more in weapons and less in testes size. (more…)
Online education is now considered as one of the most dynamic paradigms of learning. It may be a new player in the academic field but it has taken center stage for the past decade.
Today, there are over 7.1 million individualswho have taken part in this innovation. Just imagine, seven million students learning while facing their computers instead of sitting in a classroom. It’s too large a number to imagine, but it’s happening in this very moment. (more…)
The coexistence of two opposing phenomena might be the secret to understanding the enduring mystery in physics of how materials heralded as the future of powering our homes and communities actually work, according to Princeton University-led research. Such insight could help spur the further development of high-efficiency electric-power delivery.
Published in the journal Science, the findings provide a substantial clue for unraveling the inner workings of high-temperature superconductors (HTS) based on compounds containing copper and oxygen, or copper oxides. Copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors are prized as a material for making power lines because of their ability to conduct electricity with no resistance. It’s been shown that the material can be used to deliver electrical power like ordinary transmission lines, but with no loss of energy. In addition, typical superconductors need extremely low temperatures of roughly -243 degrees Celsius (-405 degrees Fahrenheit) to exhibit this 100-percent efficiency. A copper oxide HTS, however, can reach this level of efficiency at a comparatively toasty -135 degrees Celsius (-211 degrees Fahrenheit), which is achievable using liquid nitrogen. (more…)
