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    A year of surprising Science from NASA’s InSight Mars mission

    February 27, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    In this artist’s concept of NASA’s InSight lander on Mars, layers of the planet’s subsurface can be seen below and dust devils can be seen in the background.Credit: IPGP/Nicolas Sarter

    New papers summarize the lander’s findings above and below the surface of the Red Planet. A new understanding of Mars is beginning to emerge, thanks to the first year of NASA’s InSight lander mission. Findings described in a set of six papers published today reveal a planet alive with quakes, dust devils and strange magnetic pulses.

    Five of the papers were published in Nature Geoscience. An additional paper in Nature Communications details the InSight spacecraft’s landing site, a shallow crater nicknamed “Homestead hollow” in a region called Elysium Planitia.

    InSight is the first mission dedicate...

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    Study of 418,000 Europeans finds Different Foods linked to Different Types of Stroke

    February 25, 2020, Categories  Biology/Biotechnology, Health/Medical

    This is the largest study on multiple dietary factors and subtypes of stroke. Ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke have markedly different patterns of dietary associations. For ischaemic stroke, lower risks were associated with higher consumption of dietary fibre, fruit and vegetables, and dairy foods. For haemorrhagic stroke, higher risk was associated with higher egg consumption. The results highlight the importance of examining stroke subtypes separately.
    This is the largest study on multiple dietary factors and subtypes of stroke. Ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke have markedly different patterns of dietary associations. For ischaemic stroke, lower risks were associated with higher consumption of dietary fibre, fruit and vegetables, and dairy foods. For haemorrhagic stroke, higher risk was associated with higher egg consumption. The results highlight the importance of examining stroke subtypes separately.

    Different types of food are linked to risks of different types of stroke, according to the largest study to investigate this, published in the European Heart Journal today (Monday).

    Until now, most studies have looked at the association between food and total stroke (all types of stroke combined), or focused on ischaemic stroke o...

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    Black phosphorus tunnel field-effect transistor as an alternative ultra-low power switch?

    February 25, 2020, Categories  Physics, Technology/Electronics

    Figure. A: Optical image and band diagram of the heterojunction formed by the thickness variation of black phosphorus 2D material. B: Schematic of the tunnel field-effect transistor and the thickness-dependent bandgap. C: Characteristic transfer curve showing steep subthreshold swing and high on-current.
    Optical image and band diagram of the heterojunction formed by the thickness variation of black phosphorus 2D material. B: Schematic of the tunnel field-effect transistor and the thickness-dependent bandgap. C: Characteristic transfer curve showing steep subthreshold swing and high on-current.

    Researchers have reported a black phosphorus transistor that can be used as an alternative ultra-low power switch. A research team led by Professor Sungjae Cho in the KAIST Department of Physics developed a thickness-controlled black phosphorus tunnel field-effect transistor (TFET) that shows 10-times lower switching power consumption as well as 10,000-times lower standby power consumption than conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) transistors.

    The research team said t...

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    Magnetic field at Martian Surface 10X Stronger than expected

    February 25, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Sources of magnetism detected by magnetic sensor aboard the Mars InSight Lander. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

    Fluctuations in field provide clues about upper atmosphere. New data gleaned from the magnetic sensor aboard NASA’s InSight spacecraft is offering an unprecedented close-up of magnetic fields on Mars.

    In a study published today in Nature Geoscience, scientists reveal that the magnetic field at the InSight landing site is ten times stronger than anticipated, and fluctuates over time-scales of seconds to days.

    “One of the big unknowns from previous satellite missions was what the magnetization looked like over small areas,” said lead author Catherine Johnson, a professor at the University of British Columbia and senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute...

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