Coincidentally or not, this research from Australia was announced a little more than a month after reports of a major oil spill in the Russian Arctic. A July 10, 2020 news item on phys.org announces a new technology for mopping up oil spills (Note: Links have been removed), Oil spill disasters on land cause long-term damage for communities and the natural environment, polluting soils and sediments and contaminating groundwater.Current methods using synthetic sorbent materials can…

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Enhancing soap bubbles for your science explorations? It sounds like an entertaining activity you might give children for ‘painless’ science education. In this case, researchers at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have made an exciting discovery, The following video is where I got the phrase “explorers of experimental science,” A July 1, 2020 news item on Nanowerk announces the work (Note: A link has been removed), A team of researchers from the Technion –…

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Heidi Ledford’s June 25, 2020 article (Note: Links have been removed) for Nature focuses on three studies (not yet peer-reviewed) that viewed together suggest CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) gene-editing is less like using a pair of scissors to cut out unwanted mutations and more like using a catalyst (a chemical agent which increases chemical reactions) and getting unanticipated and unwatned reactions. Except, it’s an unpredictable catalyst. A suite of experiments that use…

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As temperatures rise and the Arctic melts, scientists are searching for ways to keep us and our buildings cool without adding unduly to our current problems. A July 8, 2020 University of California at Los Angeles news release (also on EurekAlert) announces a new paint, A research team led by UCLA materials scientists has demonstrated ways to make super white paint that reflects as much as 98% of incoming heat from the sun. The advance…

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Dr. Alexis Kirke first graced this blog about four years ago, in a July 8, 2016 posting titled, Cornwall (UK) connects with University of Southern California for performance by a quantum computer (D-Wave) and mezzo soprano Juliette Pochin. Kirke now returns with a study showing how teleportation helped to create a live performance piece, from a July 2, 2020 news item on ScienceDaily, Teleportation is most commonly the stuff of science fiction and, for many,…

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I have some news about conserving art; early bird registration deadlines for two events, and, finally, an announcement about contest winners. Canadian Light Source (CLS) and modern art Rita Letendre. Victoire [Victory], 1961. Oil on canvas, Overall: 202.6 × 268 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Jessie and Percy Waxer, 1974, donated by the Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1988. © Rita Letendre L74.8. Photography by Ian Lefebvre This is one of three pieces by Rita…

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Citrus greening is a worldwide problem. A particularly virulent disease that destroys citrus fruit, it’s a problem that is worsening. Before getting to the research from the University of California at Riverside (UCR), here’s more about the disease and how it’s developing from the UCR Huanglongbing, (HLB, Citrus Greening webpage, The Situation: Citrus huanglongbing (HLB), previously called citrus greening disease, is one of the most destructive diseases of citrus worldwide.  Originally thought to be caused by…

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With all the focus on COVID-19, viruses , and aerosols, it’s easy to forget that there are other kinds of contaminated air too. The last time I featured work on nanoparticles and air pollution was in a May 31, 2017 posting, “Explaining the link between air pollution and heart disease?” where scientists announced they may have discovered how air pollution (nanoparticles) were making their way from lungs to the heart. Answer: the bloodstream. A July…

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Where explosions are concerned you might expect to see some army research and you would be right. A June 29, 2020 news item on ScienceDaily breaks the news, Since World War I, the vast majority of American combat casualties has come not from gunshot wounds but from explosions. Today, most soldiers wear a heavy, bullet-proof vest to protect their torso but much of their body remains exposed to the indiscriminate aim of explosive fragments and…

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This was going to be written for January 2020 but sometimes things happen (e.g., a two-part overview of science culture in Canada from 2010-19 morphed into five parts with an addendum and, then, a pandemic). By now (July 28, 2020), Dr. He’s sentencing to three years in jail announced by the Chinese government in January 2020 is old news. Regardless, it seems a neat and tidy ending to an international scientific scandal concerned with germline-editing…

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