Category Environment/Geology

A recent snow storm in New York

The research, carried out by an international team of scientists including the University of Sheffield, found that warming in the Arctic may be intensifying the effects of the jet stream’s position, which in the winter can cause extreme cold weather, such as the winter of 2014/15 which saw record snowfall levels in New York. Scientists previously had 2 schools of thought. One group believe that natural variability in jet stream’s position has caused recent severe cold winter weather seen in places such as the Eastern US and the UK...

Under the influence of interferons, chronic viral infections cause strong inflammation. This causes the B cells to initiate an inadequate immune response which first optimizes the production of antibodies for a short period, but then rapidly subsides. (Image: University of Basel)

Scientists at the University of Basel discovered a fundamental new mechanism explaining the inadequate immune defense against chronic viral infection. These results may open up new avenues for vaccine development. In the course of an infection or upon vaccination, B cells, produce antibodies that bind viruses and inactivate them. In the context of chronic viral infections such as HIV or hepatitis C virus, however, antibody production by B cells is quantitatively inadequate and starts too late.

A team of scientists...

Degrading wood with fungi — rather than burning it — could be a new way to heat indoor spaces. Credit: jirawat thawornpipatdej/Shutterstock.com

In colder weather, people have long been warming up around campfires and woodstoves. Lately, this idea of burning wood or other biomass for heat has surged in popularity as an alternative to using fossil fuels. Now, in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, scientists report a step toward a “greener” way to generate heat with biomass. Rather than burning it, which releases pollutants, they let fungi break it down to release heat.

The benefit of biomass, which consists of plant material and animal waste, is that there is no shortage...

The cosmic microwave background over the whole sky, with the unusual ‘Cold Spot’ feature circled at the lower right. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Portsmouth

The map of cosmic void positions – large empty spaces with relatively few galaxies – and superclusters – huge regions with many more galaxies than normal – can be used to measure the effect of dark energy ‘stretching’ the universe. The results confirm the predictions of Einstein’s theory of gravity. Lead author Dr Seshadri Nadathur from the University’s Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation said: “We used a new technique to make a very precise measurement of the effect that these structures have on photons from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) – light left over from shortly after the Big Bang – passing through them...