Best of Last Week—Groundwater system in Antarctica, drones flying through forests, vegetarian diets and children
It was a good week for Earth science as a team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in the U.S. discovered a giant groundwater system in sediments below a section of Antarctic ice. Mapping it, they suggest, could have implications for helping to understand conditions there as the planet continues to warm. And an international team of researchers homed in on the date of the Thera volcano eruption at approximately 1628 B.C.
In technology news, a team at Reed College, collaborating with the University of Illinois and Portland State University, found that green roofs are worth the cost for urban residents. Also known as rooftop gardens, they can be a good way to reduce rainwater runoff. Also, a team with members from several institutions in China developed a drone swarm that was able to fly autonomously through a thick forest. And a team at Delft University of Technology developed a new approach to improving the power control of wind farms—an active controller that is better able to manage the power fluctuations typically found with wind farms. Also, a team at Clarkson University found that it was possible to identify anxious individuals by their walking gait using a machine-learning application.
In other news, a collaboration between researchers at Harvard University, MIT, QuEra Computing Inc., and the University of Innsbruck resulted in observations of a quantum speed-up in optimization problems on a neutral-atom quantum processor. Also, a team with members from the La Jolla Institute for Immunology Center for Cancer Immunotherapy and the University of Liverpool, while investigating the toxicity of cancer drugs, made a critical discovery regarding dangerous side effects. In doing so, they may have found a better strategy for treating patients with solid tumors. And finally, a team led by St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto analyzed data from 8,907 children age six months to eight years and report evidence that children who grow up eating a vegetarian diet have similar growth and nutrition compared to children who eat meat.
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