Science

Sep192017 by adminNo Comments

Size matters when it comes to extinction risk

The biggest and the smallest of the world's animals are most at risk of dying out, according to a new analysis.Size matters when it comes to extinction risk, with vertebrates in the so-called "Goldilocks zone" - not too big and not too small - winning out, say scientists.Action is needed to protect animals at both ends of the scale, they say.Heavyweights are threatened mainly by hunting, while featherweights are losing out to pollution and logging. "The largest vertebrates are mostly threatened by direct killing by humans," said a team led by Prof Bill Ripple of Oregon State University in Corvallis, US."Whereas the smallest species are more likely to have restricted geographic ranges - an important predictor of extinction risk - and be threatened by habitat degradation."The research adds t...

Sep182017 by adminNo Comments

Physicists discover super stable tri-anion particle

Science

Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University have discovered a new tri-anion particle, a type of particle with three more electrons than protons.The new particle is extremely stable and its discovery apply to a variety of applications in the fields of physics and chemistry. The imbalance between electrons and protons on all other tri-anions makes the particle inherently unstable.Tri-anion particles can often disrupt chemical reactions, as they refuse to take on any more electrons.Researchers discovered the particle through a computer middle. Scientists built the model to prove a stable tri-anion particle was theoretical property."This is very important in this field, nobody has ever found such a tri-anion," Dr. Puru Jena, a physics professor at VCU, said in a news rele...

Sep182017 by adminNo Comments

Study shows star formation influenced by environmental conditions

Science

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Scientists at Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have determined that new star formation is influenced by local environmental conditions.According to the classical model, a star is formed when a prestellar core, a roundish accumulation containing 99 percent gas and 1 percent dust, collapses due to overweight, resulting in the formation of a star in the center of the collapse. This is followed by the formation of a disk of gas and dust rotating around said star."This is the star's protoplanetary disk, and planets are thought to be formed in such disks -- planet Earth being no exception," Michael Küffmeier, astrophysicist at the institute, said in a press release.Researchers from the institute carried out computer simulations of the formation of hundreds o

Sep172017 by adminNo Comments

Paris climate deal: US denies it will stay in accord

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The US has insisted it will leave the Paris climate accord, despite reports that it may be softening its stance.Following a meeting of environment ministers on Saturday, the EU climate commissioner, Miguel Arias Canete, said Trump officials had indicated the US would either stay in the 2015 accord or review its terms.But the White House insisted there had been "no change" in the US position.In June President Donald Trump said the US would withdraw from the deal.He said it was part of his "solemn duty to protect America" and he would seek a new deal that would not disadvantage US businesses.But opponents say withdrawing from the accord is an abdication of US leadership on a key global challenge.The Paris agreement commits the US and 187 other countries to keeping rising global temperatures ...

Sep172017 by adminNo Comments

Study finds wolves understand cause and effect better than dogs

Science

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Scientists from the Wolf Science Center of the Vetmeduni Vienna have shown that wolves understand the connection between cause and effect better than dogs.The study, published today in Scientific Reports, found that domesticated dogs could not make the connection between cause and effect when tested with an object that contained food made noise when shaken, but wolves could.Researchers tested whether wolves and dogs can make use of communicative cues, such as direct eye contact and pointing gestures to choose a correct object, and if the animals had to rely on behavioral cues where they were only shown the location of a hidden food through the researcher's behavior without making eye contact with the animals.The animals were also tested to make inferences about the locati...