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Potential new treatment approach to fatal COVID-19

Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Pathways Bioscience in the United States have found that activating a transcription factor involved in oxidative stress regulation, antiviral activity, and inflammation may serve as a new treatment approach to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The scientists propose that the antiviral and anti-inflammatory effects of activating nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) may reduce symptoms and stop the “cytokine storm syndrome” that can be fatal in cases of COVID-19.

A pre-print version of the study can be accessed on the bioRxiv* server, while the manuscript undergoes peer review.

Manipulating non-magnetic atoms in a chromium halide enables tuning of magnetic properties

The magnetic properties of a chromium halide can be tuned by manipulating the non-magnetic atoms in the material, a team, led by Boston College researchers, reports in the most recent edition of Science Advances.

The seemingly counter-intuitive method is based on a mechanism known as an indirect exchange interaction, according to Boston College Assistant Professor of Physics Fazel Tafti, a lead author of the report.

An indirect interaction is mediated between two magnetic atoms via a non-magnetic atom known as the ligand. The Tafti Lab findings show that by changing the composition of these ligand atoms, all the can be easily tuned.

Strange metals: New state of matter shares properties with black holes

“Strange metals” have that name for a reason – these materials exhibit some unusual conductive properties and surprisingly, even have things in common with black holes. Now, a new study has characterized them in more detail, and found that strange metals constitute a new state of matter.

So-called strange metals differ from regular metals because their electrical resistance is directly linked to temperature. Electrons in strange metals are seen to lose their energy as fast as the laws of quantum mechanics allow. But that’s not all – their conductivity is also linked to two fundamental constants of physics: Planck’s constant, which defines how much energy a photon can carry, and Boltzmann’s constant, which relates the kinetic energy of particles in a gas with the temperature of that gas.

While these properties have been well observed over the years, scientists have had a hard time accurately modeling strange metals. So in a new study, researchers from the Flatiron Institute and Cornell University set out to solve the model, right down to absolute zero – lower than the lowest possible temperature for materials.

This punk band is made up entirely of robots

The One Love Machine band are a scrappy crew. They have an affinity for punk rock, and members of the band play the bass, drums and flute. Oh, and they’re all robots. The band is made up of scrap metal animatronics, created from salvaged junk from scrapyards around Berlin. For creator of the band Kolja Kugler, it’s all about giving new life to discarded objects.

Pivot to ‘green’: Russian gas & nuclear energy giants Gazprom and Rosatom to start producing ‘clean’ hydrogen

With much of the world planning to pivot away from oil and gas in the near future, the country’s government is looking ahead to a more diversified energy sector. The international ‘green’ trend is a significant threat to the Russian economy, which is at present largely dependent on the export of oil, gas, and coal. Starting from 2021, the government intends to build on the country’s reputation as a hydrogen supplier, aiming to make exports of the world’s most abundant gas a large part of its energy sector.

Hurricane Watch Issued for Hawaii as Douglas Nears With Strong Winds, Heavy Rain, Coastal Flooding

Hurricane Douglas is forecast to sweep through Hawaii as a tropical storm or hurricane this weekend, where it could produce flash flooding, strong winds and pounding surf.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for Oahu in addition to the Big Island of Hawaii and for Maui County, including Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe. Hurricane conditions are possible in this area Saturday night into Sunday, with tropical storm conditions possible as soon as Saturday evening.

After peaking at Category 4 intensity, Douglas is now slowly weakening as it churns several hundred miles east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii, moving quickly west-northwest.