Airline industry official defends response to pandemic

The airline industry has been shaken to its core by the pandemic, pushing some foreign carriers into bankruptcy and driving a few small U.S. ones out of business.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-10-airline-industry-defends-response-pandemic.html

God's work, or man's? Storm-battered Louisianans are unsure

Daniel Schexnayder has water up to his ankles as he stands outside, surveying damage to his home inflicted by Hurricane Laura six weeks before Louisiana was pummeled by a second storm, Delta.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-god-storm-battered-louisianans-unsure.html

World Food Program wins Nobel Peace Prize for hunger fight

The World Food Program won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for fighting hunger and seeking to end its use as "a weapon of war and conflict" at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has driven millions more people to the brink of starvation.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-world-food-nobel-peace-prize.html

France braces for wider COVID restrictions

France was preparing Thursday for tighter coronavirus restrictions in several major cities, two days after a maximum alert protocol went into force in Paris.

Women are more concerned about COVID-19 than men, study finds

A Dartmouth-Gallup study finds that women are more concerned about COVID-19 than men, a difference that transcends party lines. This female perspective towards the pandemic may be overlooked due to the underrepresentation of women in the workplace that is compounded by an underrepresentation in politics, creating what the researchers refer to as a representational "double whammy" effect. The study's findings are published in Politics & Gender.

Ants adapt tool use to avoid drowning

Researchers have observed black imported fire ants using sand to draw liquid food out of containers, when faced with the risk of drowning. This is the first time this sophisticated tool use has been reported in animals. These findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology.

Hurricane Delta bears down on Mexico's Caribbean coast

Hurricane Delta churned towards Mexico's Caribbean coast on Wednesday as thousands of tourists hunkered down in emergency shelters in a string of major beach resorts.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-hurricane-delta-mexico-caribbean-coast.html

California's August Complex largest fire in state's history

NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP satellite captured another startling image of the August Complex of fires that has grown to over 1,000,000 acres burned (1,006,140 acres total) and because of that grim milestone the complex has been dubbed a "gigafire." The August Complex is only 58% contained. Inciweb reports that: "In the northeast zone, active behavior continues. Structures in Hidden Valley, Trinity Pines/Post Mountain, Wildwood and Platina are threatened by fire spread. Short range spotting and fire spread toward Hidden Valley has increased potential for impact to structures."

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-california-august-complex-largest-state.html

Study finds 'missing link' in the evolutionary history of carbon-fixing protein rubisco

A team of scientists has discovered an ancient form of rubisco, the most abundant enzyme on Earth and critical to life as we know it.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-link-evolutionary-history-carbon-fixing-protein.html

New study rebuts 75-year-old belief in reptile evolution

Challenging a 75-year-old notion about how and when reptiles evolved during the past 300 million-plus years involves a lot of camerawork, loads of CT scanning, and, most of all, thousands of miles of travel. Just check the stamps in Tiago R. Simões ' passport.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-rebuts-year-old-belief-reptile-evolution.html

New 3-D model could explain the formation of a hexagon storm on Saturn

With its dazzling system of icy rings, Saturn has been a subject of fascination since ancient times. Even now the sixth planet from the sun holds many mysteries, partly because its distance away makes direct observation difficult and partly because this gas giant (which is multiple times the size of our planet) has a composition and atmosphere, mostly hydrogen and helium, so unlike that of Earth. Learning more about it could yield some insights into the creation of the solar system itself.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-d-formation-hexagon-storm-saturn.html

NASA catches development of Tropical Storm Norbert as Marie declines

NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over the Eastern Pacific Ocean and captured the birth of a depression that became Tropical Storm Norbert while Marie continued weakening while headed toward the Central Pacific.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-nasa-tropical-storm-norbert-marie.html

Infrared NASA imagery finds Chan-hom organizing, consolidating

NASA's Aqua satellite analyzed the large Tropical Storm Chan-hom as it tracked through the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. Aqua imagery showed the storm was consolidating, indicating a strengthening trend.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-infrared-nasa-imagery-chan-hom.html

Fighting pandemics with plasma

Most types of personal protective equipment, like N95 masks, gowns, and gloves, are designed for single use, which has led to both scarcity and waste during the COVID-19 pandemic. But new research suggests these vital supplies can be safely disinfected and reused.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-pandemics-plasma.html

Plasma scientists optimize plant growth and yield

Ever since scientists discovered that plasma treatment leads to faster growth and higher yields of some agricultural crops, physicists, chemists, and biologists have been working together to tease out the mechanisms driving this phenomenon.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-plasma-scientists-optimize-growth-yield.html

Protective factors against suicidal behaviors among black college students

Having a strong ethnic identity was linked with a lower risk of suicidal behaviors among Black college students in a recent study published in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-factors-suicidal-behaviors-black-college.html

Risk of human-to-wildlife transmission of the COVID-19 virus

There's considerable risk that humans transmit SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to wildlife, according to a perspective article published in Mammal Review.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-human-to-wildlife-transmission-covid-virus.html

This 'squidbot' jets around and takes pics of coral and fish

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have built a squid-like robot that can swim untethered, propelling itself by generating jets of water. The robot carries its own power source inside its body. It can also carry a sensor, such as a camera, for underwater exploration.

source https://techxplore.com/news/2020-10-squidbot-jets-pics-coral-fish.html

Applying artificial intelligence to science education

A new review published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching highlights the potential of machine learning—a subset of artificial intelligence—in science education. Although the authors initiated their review before the COVID-19 outbreak, the pandemic highlights the need to examine cutting-edge digital technologies as we re-think the future of teaching and learning.

source https://phys.org/news/2020-10-artificial-intelligence-science.html