Jul
14
2017
A significant number of national and international American banks hired new Chief Risk Officers to mitigate risk but may have actually helped lead the industry into widespread insolvency, new research suggests.
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No more queueing at the ladies' room
Jul
14
2017
Two queueing theorists investigated why queues at restrooms are invariably longer for ladies than for men. Time and time again. What are the main causes for this disparity? And how can it be overcome? Moving to unisex toilets, it appears from this study, may reduce waiting times for women from over 6 minutes to less than a minute and a half. Already a symbol for transgender equality, unisex toilets can hence boast excellent figures when it comes to reducing waiting times.
Climate change: Biodiversity rescues biodiversity in a warmer world
Jul
14
2017
Climate change leads to loss of biodiversity worldwide. However, ecosystems with a higher biodiversity in the first place might be less affected a new study. Scientists found that when they experimentally warmed meadows, the diversity of nematode worms living in the soil went down in monocultures, whereas the opposite was true for meadows with many different herbaceous plant species.
Fluorine grants white graphene new powers
Jul
14
2017
Fluorination of hexagonal boron nitride, a common insulator, turns it into a magnetic semiconductor. That may make the heat-resistant material suitable for electronics and sensors in extreme environments.
New transistor concept developed
Jul
14
2017
Transistors, as used in billions on every computer chip, are nowadays based on semiconductor-type materials, usually silicon. As the demands for computer chips in laptops, tablets and smartphones continue to rise, new possibilities are being sought out to fabricate them inexpensively, energy-saving and flexibly. A research group has now succeeded in producing transistors based on a completely different principle.
First genomic biomarkers in extracellular vesicles in veterinary patients
Jul
14
2017
Important biomarkers have been found in extracellular vesicles in dogs with myxomatous mitral valve disease and congestive heart failure. This is the first biomarker discovery based on extracellular vesicles in a veterinary disease. These findings could provide important insight into the molecular basis, diagnosis and therapies for myxomatous mitral valve disease in dogs, as well as mitral valve prolapse, a similar disease in humans.
Ecological underpinnings of rural poverty
Jul
14
2017
A first-of-its-kind effort to examine the ecological drivers of rural poverty combines economic, ecological and epidemiological models. The lessons learned could inform interventions to lift people out of poverty.
One of the brightest galaxies ever discovered
Jul
14
2017
Thanks to an amplified image produced by a gravitational lens, and the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS, a team of scientists has discovered one of the brightest galaxies known from the epoch when the universe had 20 percent of its present age.
Unabated climate change would reverse the development gains in Asia, report suggests
Jul
14
2017
Unabated climate change would bring devastating consequences to countries in Asia and the Pacific, which could severely affect their future growth, reverse current development gains, and degrade quality of life, according to a report.
Deep-sea coral reefs discovery in depths of the North-Pacific
Jul
14
2017
Scientists had long believed that the waters of the Central and Northeast Pacific Ocean were inhospitable to certain species of deep-sea corals, but a marine biologist's discovery of an odd chain of reefs suggests there are mysteries about the development and durability of coral colonies yet to be uncovered.