Barley is one of the world's most widely-cultivated cereals. To improve hardiness, yield, or other desired traits, barley breeders cross different varieties to enrich beneficial genes. This is achieved through a process known as homologous recombination, which results in genetic diversity through the exchange of materials between chromosomes....

 Using a new technique, researchers at the University of Basel have succeeded in cooling a small membrane down to temperatures close to absolute zero using only laser light. Such extremely cooled membranes could, for instance, find applications in highly sensitive sensors.As long as 400 years ago, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler came up ...

Researchers have completed Phase One of a U.S. Space Force project looking at the feasibility of updating software on orbiting satellites.We've all heard that we should "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" to save the planet, but what about applying any of the "three R's" to space?Researchers at USC Viterbi's Information Sciences Institute (ISI) are tackling t...

 The newly upgraded Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) at the Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory successfully produced its first X-rays Sept. 14, and researchers around the world are already lined up to kick off an ambitious science program.The upgrade, called LCLS-II, creates unparalle...

 Donor-supported initiative leverages research excellence at UCalgary and universities of Alberta and LethbridgeSome of the tiniest particles of matter in the universe — from quarks to neutrinos to atoms and molecules — hold the power to fuel major scientific breakthroughs to positively transform the human condition.An understanding of these s...

 POLITO hosted in hybrid mode at the Energy Center Auditorium the M31 consortium meeting of the PRELUDE project – Prescient building Operation utilizing Real Time data for Energy Dynamic Optimization – that received funds from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement N° 958345 (Call identifier: ...

 1st place in EuropeMost of the material in the earth's interior, in our solar system, and in our universe is under extremely high pressure. Investigating material properties under extreme high-pressure and high-temperature conditions is thus crucial to understanding geological processes in the earth and other planets.The Bavarian Research Ins...

 Dr Lauren McWhinnie from Heriot-Watt's Institute of Life and Earth Sciences contributed to a new study investigating the nature and extent of whale entanglements in Scottish fishing gear.The report identifies potential solutions to avoid and reduce such entanglements in the future.Dr McWhinnie was working with the Scottish Entanglement Allian...

Physicists have invented a new type of analogue quantum computer that can tackle hard physics problems that the most powerful digital supercomputers cannot solve.New research published in Nature Physics by collaborating scientists from Stanford University in the USA and University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland has shown that a novel type of highl...

 The technology can increase the lifetime and controllability of miniature satellites.A micropropulsion system developed at the George Washington University successfully launched into space at the end of May. The technology could pave the way for controlling inexpensive satellites made out of objects found in your desk drawer or purse.Research...

 A parabolic dish on the EPFL campus is easily overlooked, resembling a satellite dish or other telecommunications infrastructure. But this dish is special, because it works like an artificial tree. After concentrating solar radiation nearly 1,000 times, a reactor above the dish uses that sunlight to convert water into valuable and renewable h...

 Johns Hopkins researchers develop a model that uses autonomous decision-making to make the skies safer.Autonomous drone aircraft traffic in uncontrolled airspace below 400 feet altitude is expected to substantially increase in the next few years. Experts anticipate a fleet of nearly 1 million commercial uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) in the ...

 Researchers at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have suggested new ways of thinking which could help people with depression tackle personal problems.A study led by DMU's Dr Saima Noreen considered the way people with depression think when tackling issues within themselves, known as intrapersonal problems.To conduct the research, a team ...

 September is coupled with the arrival of spring, which inspires a flurry of activity in the animal world as breeding season for many different species cranks up a notch.September is also Save The Koala month, which aims to highlight the threats to koalas, including habitat loss, climate change, disease and human activity, contributing to popu...

 The Pacific oyster has taken over in the Swedish west coast county of Bohuslän. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have found that the invasive species accounts for two-thirds of the biomass of all mussel and oyster species. This is not necessarily a bad thing, except for beachgoers, who can cut themselves easily on the razor-sharp s...

 Aging stars go through an incredible transformation—they expand to become hundreds of times larger than their original size and are believed to thus destroy any planets in their inner systems. The recent study, "A close-in giant planet escapes engulfment by its star" co-authored by Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy,...

 A University of Minnesota team has, for the first time, synthesized a thin film of a unique topological semimetal material that has the potential to generate more computing power and memory storage while using significantly less energy. The researchers were also able to closely study the material, leading to some important findings about the ...

 Chemists at King's College London have made a breakthrough in the way they develop artificial helix shapes for the amino acids that constitute proteins. These new synthetic shapes have the potential to transform processes such as chemical reactions through catalysis and advance medicine through novel drug development techniques.Amino acids fo...

 A Kent team, led by Professors Ben Goult and Jen Hiscock, has created and patented a ground-breaking new shock-absorbing material that could revolutionise both the defence and planetary science sectors.This novel protein-based family of materials, named TSAM (Talin Shock Absorbing Materials), represents the first known example of a SynBio (or...

 SRUC scientists' research into reducing cattle methane emissions using a chemical from daffodils is part of a project awarded £2.8 million by the Department for Environmental Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).The scientists have successfully extracted a chemical called haemanthamine from the plants.In the laboratory, using an artificial cow's st...