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UN spotlights transformational potential of family farming for world food supply

2022-09-23 14:10 A Global Forum highlighting the UN’s Decade of Family Farming (UNDFF) got underway on Monday, aimed at identifying priority policies to boost support for family farmers and agricultural development worldwide. The UNDFF runs through the end of 2028, and the Forum is being convened by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). FAO Director-...

An even simpler way of 3D printing buildings has been invented

2022-09-16 17:49 The first construction 3D printers have already begun to be used in practice: in China, they printed a concrete embankment, in the States - barracks. American inventor Alex Bell has figured out how to speed up and simplify this process. To do this, inflatable frames are needed, into which the solution is poured. In the past, Bell has already shown his engineering savvy by designing a strange front-wheel-dr...

MIPT scientists have identified key cancer driver genes

2022-09-09 10:23 Currently, oncogenic mutations in more than 300 genes are known to science, and it often becomes necessary to rank them in order to determine the targets for the main effect of treatment. But in most cases, mutations are ranked by frequency of occurrence, which does not necessarily correspond to their significance in the disease. MIPT scientists proposed to take as a basis the power of mutations. Using bioi...

Plants reprogram their cells to fight diseases

2022-09-02 14:19 Crops and other plants are often attacked by bacteria, viruses and other pathogens. Unlike animals, plants do not have specialized immune cells that can be delivered through the bloodstream to the site of infection. Therefore, each cell of the plant should be able to protect itself by quickly switching to "combat mode". When plants are attacked, they switch their priorities from growth to defense, so cells...

The oldest farmers were formed from three ancestral populations

2022-08-26 10:51 Paleogeneticists have found that the origin of the populations of Western Asia of the Pre-Ceramic Neolithic era can be modeled from three ancestral groups: Epipaleolithic inhabitants of Anatolia, representatives of the Natufian culture and hunter-gatherers from the Caucasus or Iran. They also found out that the pre-Ceramic Neolithic in Anatolia is probably associated with a population that arose from the mi...

Scientists have developed a new safe source of hydrogenated acid

2022-08-19 09:22 Russian scientists have proposed a method for the synthesis of a new, stable and non–explosive source of hydrogenated acid - 4-(dimethylamino)pyridinium azide. This compound can be obtained in multigram quantities and used for the synthesis of physiologically active substances used in the treatment of a variety of diseases: from cancer and AIDS to insomnia. Specialists of the N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Org...

Plesiosaur fossils found in the Sahara suggest they weren’t just marine animals

2022-08-12 09:58 Fossils of small plesiosaurs, long-necked marine reptiles from the age of dinosaurs, have been found in a 100-million year old river system that is now Morocco’s Sahara Desert. This discovery suggests some species of plesiosaur, traditionally thought to be sea creatures, may have lived in freshwater. Plesiosaurs, first found in 1823 by fossil hunter Mary Anning, were prehistoric reptiles with small heads, ...

UN General Assembly declares access to clean and healthy environment a universal human right

2022-08-05 18:26 With 161 votes in favour, and eight abstentions*, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on Thursday, declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right. The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organisations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy e...

Результаты Всероссийского конкурса научно-исследовательских работ «Я – исследователь»

2022-07-29 09:47 Уважаемые участники конкурса, руководители! Благодарим за интерес, проявленный к нашему конкурсу. Поздравляем победителей и призеров конкурса. Желаем Вам новых интересных идей и дальнейших успехов! Просим обратить внимание, что в соответствии с тематикой поступивших на конкурс работ были образованы дополнительные направления. Результаты конкурса можно скачать по следующим ссылкам: Школьники ...

Russian physicists demonstrate inexpensive synthesis of high-melting-point carbide materials

2022-07-22 18:40 Researchers from Skoltech and Tomsk Polytechnic University have used an unusual technique from the aerospace industry to synthesize hafnium-tantalum carbide, a hard-to-melt material for coating electrical and mechanical components that operate under extreme conditions. Inexpensive and effective, their plasma dynamic method can produce high-quality carbide both as powders and as coatings on diverse substrate...

New metrological technique uses stress for nanotomography

2022-07-15 12:58 Researchers from Skoltech and their colleagues in Russia and Spain have reported a proof-of-concept demonstration of a new radiation-safe method for mapping the internal structure and stress distribution in samples of materials at the nanoscale, with a resolution about 100 times higher than that of the currently available techniques: X-ray and neutron tomography. The team believes that its 3D stress nanotom...

MSU chemists have found a more effective carrier for antitumor drugs

2022-07-08 16:23 Employees of the Departments of Radiochemistry and High-Molecular Compounds of the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University with colleagues from the V.N. Orekhovich Research Institute of Biomedical Chemistry investigated the antitumor activity of complexes of biocompatible microgel polysaccharide carboxymethylcellulose crosslinked with copper radionuclides. The cytotoxicity of such complexes in relat...

Botanists have described the first predatory plant with underground hunting pitchers

2022-07-01 12:41 Botanists have described the first predatory plant with underground hunting pitchers. The species, called nepenthes bashful, grows only in the north of Borneo and hunts mainly ants. Probably, moving the pitchers underground allows this plant not to compete with other nepenthes or survive droughts.Nepenthes (Nepenthes) are one of the most famous hish plants. They are easily recognized by their characteristic...

Most schools in the world are poorly equipped to provide a healthy and inclusive learning environment

2022-06-24 10:22 The number of schools without basic water, sanitation and hygiene services is constantly decreasing, but there is still a deep inequality in this indicator between countries and even within them. Schoolchildren in the least developed countries suffer the most. This is stated in a joint report published on Thursday by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). "A lot of children attend schools where th...

The molecule decomposed to form phosphorus mononitride

2022-06-17 16:17 Chemists from the USA and Germany synthesized a compound capable of decomposing to form phosphorus mononitride PN. The resulting mononitride quickly turned into a polymer, but chemists managed to intercept it with an iron complex. As a result, a complex compound was formed with phosphorus mononitride as a ligand. The molecules of phosphorus mononitride PN are similar in electronic structure to nitrogen mol...

Scientists have proposed a new way to fight cancer

2022-06-10 10:31 The collaboration of researchers with the participation of specialists from the HSE International Bioinformatics Laboratory has presented a new way to combat intractable melanoma. Scientists have discovered that one of the forms of the DNA molecule, getting into cancer cells, can cause an immune response similar to the body's reaction to the virus. As a result, the cells that support the growth of the t...

Rescue us from our environmental ‘mess’, UN chief urges Stockholm summit

2022-06-03 08:00 Global wellbeing is at risk – and it’s in large part because we haven’t kept our promises on the environment – UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday.Although there have been successes in protecting the planet since 1972, including rescuing the ozone layer, Mr. Guterres warned that “Earth’s natural systems cannot keep up with our demands”.Triple planetary crisis“Lead us out of this mess”, he...

Результаты Всероссийского конкурса научно-исследовательских работ «Наука. Новый взгляд».

2022-05-27 20:00 Уважаемые участники конкурса, руководители! Благодарим за интерес, проявленный к нашему конкурсу. Поздравляем победителей и призеров конкурса. Желаем Вам новых интересных идей и дальнейших успехов! Просим обратить внимание, что в соответствии с тематикой поступивших на конкурс работ были образованы дополнительные направления. Результаты конкурса можно скачать по следующим ссылкам: Школьники Сту...

TPU chemists synthesized a new stable non-covalent organic framework

2022-05-27 11:50 Tomsk Polytechnic University scientists have obtained a non-covalent organic framework based on zwitter-ion iodonium salts. Iodonium salts were first used as a structural element to create a framework that showed high stability and the possibility of sorption and desorption of water.Obtaining a non—covalent organic framework is a continuation of the cycle of work on the synthesis of diaryliodonium salts and...

Zoologists of Moscow State University have described four new species of tropical mollusks

2022-05-20 18:55 A team of biologists led by a malacologist from the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University studied common tropical nudibranchs Coryphellina rubrolineata. Molecular genetic analyses, as well as the study of the external and internal structure of animals have shown that this is not one species, but at least five. As a result, the authors described four new species of nudibranchs that differ in mitochon...

Modified T-cells have shown good results in the fight against stomach cancer

2022-05-13 18:46 Scientists at Peking University reported good results achieved during clinical trials of the CAR T cells they created. Interim results of the first phase of clinical trials showed that tumors in almost half — 48.6% — of 37 patients treated decreased after therapy. Although the purpose of the first phase of the trials was only to demonstrate the safety of the method, the researchers believe that genetically ...

Theorists have clarified the frequencies of transitions in pionic helium

2022-05-06 19:45 Physicists from Canada, China and Russia have carried out a detailed calculation of the energies and widths of several levels of pion helium. In their calculations, they achieved a relative error of four billionths of a fraction, which is almost a thousand times more accurate than previous calculations. Such accuracy will be enough for the upcoming experiment with pion helium to significantly improve the va...

Dairy farming in the foothills of the North Caucasus appeared 7 thousand years ago

2022-04-29 19:26 An international team, which included Russian researchers, analyzed food proteins preserved in the tartar of people who lived 9-3,5 thousand years ago. Scientists have managed to determine when exactly the peoples of the Caucasus and the Eurasian steppes began to consume dairy products, and therefore to breed dairy cattle. Cattle breeding became an important part of the life of the inhabitants of Europe, As...

Объявлен Всероссийский конкурс научно-исследовательских работ "Наука. Новый Взгляд"

2022-04-29 18:35 Уважаемые коллеги! Приглашаем принять участие во Всероссийском конкурсе научно-исследовательских работ «Наука. Новый взгляд» (далее – Конкурс). Организацию и проведение Конкурса осуществляет научно-образовательный центр «Science Idea» (далее – научно-образовательный центр). Конкурс проводится в заочной форме. В Конкурсе могут принять участие учащиеся школ и организаций дополнительного образования, ст...

Chemists of St. Petersburg State University have come up with a warming thermos for conducting reactions

2022-04-22 16:26 Scientists of St. Petersburg University together with researchers of the N. D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences have developed a type of "pipe in a pipe" reactor that ensures the efficient flow of chemical reactions without the use of external heaters. This approach significantly reduces energy costs during chemical research. Chemical reactions may be accompanied by...

Psilocybin increased the integration of neural networks in the brain

2022-04-15 17:15 British researchers have described the therapeutic effect of psilocybin in the treatment of depression. Scientists have described two clinical trials with psilocybin, which confirmed its effect on reducing the symptoms of major depressive disorder and on increasing the integration of neural networks of the brain. Depression is a mental disorder, the prevalence of which is estimated by WHO at 3.8 percent. S...

UNESCO calls for more active involvement in the development of groundwater

2022-04-08 10:44 Groundwater accounts for 99 percent of all fresh water on Earth. However, this huge natural resource is still poorly studied and used inefficiently. This is stated in the UNESCO report. A new UNESCO study on groundwater will be discussed at the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal, which started today. The authors of the study call on States to commit themselves to develop an adequate and effective stra...

World Health Day: Take climate action, take care of each other

2022-04-08 10:36 An urgent call to protect health and mitigate the climate crisis was issued by the UN health agency on Wednesday, to mark World Health Day on Thursday. In its call-to-action, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a shocking report on Monday, noting that 99 per cent of people breathe unhealthy air – mainly resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. “The climate crisis is a health crisis: The same uns...

UN chief hails launch of new expert group to boost net-zero climate change fight

2022-04-01 20:05 UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday urged private investors businesses, cities, states and regions, to do more to cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions, launching a new group of experts to help with realizing a net-zero future. Mr. Guterres’s comments came as he unveiled his new initiative to develop stronger standards for “net-zero” pledges by partners below the national government level, in ...

Protein on carbon nanotube: molecular spotlight and memory cell rolled into one

2022-04-01 19:58 Russian researchers and their international collaborators have developed a full-function bioelectronic photocell using one molecule of a fluorescent protein attached to a carbon nanotube. When exposed to light, the system can change its electronic properties and operate either as a spotlight or memory cell depending on how the protein is attached to the tube. The team’s findings open the door to new environ...

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