Dynamical X-ray diffraction simulations of very asymmetric diffraction from single crystals of silicon were made to accompany an experimental rocking-curve topography study reported in a seperate paper. Effects on rocking curves were found and are reported. The development of Uragami [(1969), J. Phys. Soc. Jpn, 27, 147–154] for Takagi–Taupin simulations was followed and applied to the case of both convex and concave surface undulations.

Described here are instructions for building and using an inexpensive automated microscope (AMi) that has been specifically designed for viewing and imaging the contents of multi-well plates. The X, Y, Z translation stage is controlled through dedicated software (AMiGUI) that is being made freely available. Movements are controlled by an Arduino-based board running grbl, and the graphical user interface and image acquisition are controlled via a Raspberry Pi microcomputer running Python. Images can be written to the Raspberry Pi or to a remote disk. Plates with multiple sample wells at each row/column position are supported, and a script file for automated z-stack depth-of-field enhancement is written along with the images. The graphical user interface and real-time imaging also make it easy to manually inspect and capture images of individual samples.

The Sun’s Active Region 1429 has been shooting off flares and coronal mass ejections since it rotated into Earth’s view on March 2, 2012. Two X-class flares have been released overnight, an X1.3 and an X5.4.

The post X-Class flares released by the Sun, March 6, captured by Atmospheric Imaging Assembly appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The only explanation for such symmetry across these vast distances, explains Smithsonian anthropologist Dennis Stanford, is that the method of creating the points was handed down from person to person.

The post 3-D imaging adds remarkable new understanding of North America’s mysterious Clovis people appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Cheeseburgers. Ice cream. French fries. These are a few of the culprits, doctors warn us, responsible for atherosclerosis, a disease commonly known as hardening of […]

The post Ancient mummies reveal atherosclerosis is very likely just a part of aging appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Magnetic field measurement techniques have long enabled scientists to probe the internal structure of biological and material samples. For example, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides […]

The post Magnetic Imaging of Living Cells appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The center of the Milky Way galaxy, with The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A–at center–is revealed in this image. Astronomers have used NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory to […]

The post Sagittarius A: Center of the Milky Way appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Leafcutter Ants—an amazing species that has been employing agriculture and antibiotics for some 50 million years.

The post Leafcutter ants—first in agiculture and antibiotics appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

On June 7 the Sun unleashed an spectacular solar flare with a substantial coronal mass ejection. A large cloud of plasma mushroomed up, and while some parts fell back into the Sun, most rushed off into space. The first two segments of this video are seen through the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. The AIA was developed by Smithsonian scientists.

The post Spectacular June 7 solar flare seen through the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly aboard Solar Dynamics Observatory appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

The Smithsonian has launched an ambitious project to scan millions of items and make them available to the world on a searchable database. CBS reporter […]

The post 3-D imaging takes Smithsonian from Washington to the world appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

What’s an Asian small-clawed otter’s favorite enrichment toy? Anything it can get its paws on! This species’ dexterous, partially-webbed digits are adept at feeling for […]

The post Otterly engaging: Zoo enrichment appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Changing lifestyles are causing city workers to ignore the positive experiences of urban green spaces during their working week. A recent study suggests city planners could do more to promote the benefits of going outdoors to city dwellers.

As society changes, it places new demands on its surroundings. New research has found that some EU countries are better able to manage the undesirable expansion of cities, the concept known as ‘urban sprawl’, because they have a flexible spatial planning policy that can easily adapt to changes. Urban sprawl is a term used to describe the expansion of residential suburbs around city centres, driven by peoples’ desire to live in larger houses and the ease of transport made possible by cars.

High schools that successfully engage students in learning have many things in common.

The aging of the U.S. population will have broad economic consequences for the country, particularly for federal programs that support the elderly, and its long-term effects on all generations will be mediated by how -- and how quickly -- the nation responds, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council.

The best indicator of whether a disabled adult who receives Social Security benefits is capable of managing his or her benefits is evidence of real-world performance of meeting his or her own basic needs, rather than an office-based assessment of financial competence, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Cognitive training, blood pressure management for people with hypertension, and increased physical activity all show modest but inconclusive evidence that they can help prevent cognitive decline and dementia, but there is insufficient evidence to support a public health campaign encouraging their adoption, says a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

To answer significant questions about planetary systems, such as whether our solar system is a rare phenomenon or if life exists on planets other than Earth, NASA should lead a large direct imaging mission – an advanced space telescope – capable of studying Earth-like exoplanets orbiting stars similar to the sun, says a new congressionally mandated report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examines the effects and efficacy of using dispersants in marine oil spill response.

Mike Okamoto poses as Shogun Santa with visitors to Japanese Village. ; Credit: Chava Sanchez/KPCC

LA’s Asian Santa tradition is back. Shogun Santa has returned to Little Tokyo after a big loss in the community last year.  

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

My new book LOSERTHINK, available now on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/rqmjc2a Content: Making the most of our lockdown opportunities The future of the coronavirus task force Testing our way out, versus reality The economy and recovery If you would like to enjoy this same content plus bonus content from Scott Adams, including micro-lessons on lots of useful […]

The post Episode 959 Scott Adams: Join Me in My Fortress of Garagitude appeared first on Scott Adams' Blog.

A new analysis of how to encourage pro-environmental behaviour highlights four effective techniques: goal-setting, prompts or reminders, witnessing the behaviour of others and introducing new behaviours that correspond with existing beliefs.

Increasing the use of recycled materials could substantially reduce the carbon footprint of plastic packaging, research suggests. A new study of the life-cycle of plastic trays has shown that increasing the proportion of recycled material could lead to a significant reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

A new analysis of how to encourage pro-environmental behaviour highlights four effective techniques: goal-setting, prompts or reminders, witnessing the behaviour of others and introducing new behaviours that correspond with existing beliefs.

Researchers from the University of Oxford's Bodleian Libraries and from universities in the Netherlands have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before the colonization of the Americas. The newly revealed codex, or book, has been hidden from view for almost 500 years, concealed beneath a layer of plaster and chalk on the back of a later manuscript known as the Codex Selden, which is housed at the Bodleian Libraries. Scientists have used hyperspectral imaging to reveal pictographic scenes from this remarkable document and have published their findings in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

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As society changes, it places new demands on its surroundings. New research has found that some EU countries are better able to manage the undesirable expansion of cities, the concept known as ‘urban sprawl’, because they have a flexible spatial planning policy that can easily adapt to changes. Urban sprawl is a term used to describe the expansion of residential suburbs around city centres, driven by peoples’ desire to live in larger houses and the ease of transport made possible by cars.

Effective flood-risk management requires accurate risk-analysis models. Conventional analysis approaches, however, are based on the evaluation of spatially homogenous scenarios, which do not account for variation in flooding across a river reach/ region. Since flood events are often spatially heterogeneous (i.e. unevenly distributed), this paves the way for error. Now, scientists have developed a novel framework for risk analysis that accounts for their heterogeneity, and successfully demonstrated the accuracy of the approach by applying it in a proof-of-concept exercise in Vorarlberg, Austria. By facilitating improved prediction and quantification of flood events, this model is likely to inform future flood-risk management and related decision-making.

Health experts have called for a proactive, joined-up approach to public health in Europe under a changing climate. A recent study has examined the evidence for the influence of the climate on infectious disease and proposes a new integrated network for environmental and health data.

To meet demand, more and more water is being abstracted from the land and transported long distances. This thematic issue addresses the most pressing policy issues within this field as Europe looks for an effective strategy to deal with water supply and consumption.

Published to mark the 20th anniversary of the Habitats Directive, this latest Thematic issue examines the challenges and successes in managing and restoring biodiversity in the Natura 2000 network.

Nearly 85% of residents in central Dublin, Ireland, could be exposed to damaging levels of night-time traffic noise, according to a recent study. The researchers explain how they assessed population exposure to noise and calculate the impacts of several noise reduction measures, providing information that could help EU Member States meet the Environmental Noise Directive’s requirements.

A recent Spanish study has examined the implications of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) related to sustainable development, as well as the role public administrations play in this process. The findings offer ideas that could be included in government policies aimed at promoting social responsibilities and sustainability, especially for SMEs.

As wind power becomes more important in the energy mix, so too does the need to manage its variability. A new study has reviewed the options and indicates that, although state-of-the art technologies exist to maximise gains from wind power, they need proper and insightful management.

Policies to reduce packaging are effective as long as they remain in place for at least five years and aim for an absolute reduction in packaging volume, experiences from the Netherlands suggest. A study of Dutch packaging policy found that packaging levels fell when such policies were in place, but that the amount of packaging has since risen as policies have become more short-term and focused on reducing packaging levels relative to changes in GDP.

Consumers in France, Germany and the USA perceive ‘environmentally friendly’ packaging to be reusable, recyclable and ‘biodegradable’1, finds a new study. These results suggest that producers should emphasise the end-of-life merits of packaging to appeal to consumers’ environmental concerns, and design packaging that is reusable, recyclable and ‘biodegradable’. However, they also indicate a need to raise public awareness of packaging’s true life-cycle environmental impacts, such as those during production and transport, which are greater than consumers generally perceive them to be.

Food packaging waste is currently under scrutiny. In the context of its Circular Economy Action Plan, the EU is addressing this through, among others, its Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) initiative , which aims to enhance the reliability of environmental claims — both in a business-to-consumer and in a business-to-business context. The initiative aims, therefore, to boost the market of green and circular products. However, a review of the methods available for assessing the environmental sustainability of packaging now highlights the difficulty of clearly characterising packaging's environmental impact. The study suggests a new, fully quantifiable framework that could help to standardise assessment methods and bring 'environmental footprint labelling' to fruition.

As electronics manufacturers are set to resume operations in India, it is apparent that in the short term there is no alternative to sourcing from China, as urgent replenishment of inventories clearly implies continued dependence on it.

BT decided to showcase its technology by hosting a virtual media summit for AMEA and we knew that we could save money and invite more people if we made it virtual.

BT Compute brings you a choice of data centre and expert services that enable you to deliver applications and services where and when you need them -- Global services delivered locally. Our hybrid cloud services blend intelligent network and compute resources giving you the IT infrastructure you need to adapt, quickly and cost effectively.

Trefil, James, 1938- author

Controlling energy demand instead of supply could help solve the problems of variability associated with wind power, according to new research. In the case of Portugal, it was estimated that measures to reduce electricity demand could reduce the peak consumption by 17.4 per cent in 2020.

Many EU businesses are failing to cover the net cost of recycling packaging waste, new research suggests. Industry is required to take responsibility for treating and recycling waste packaging in the EU; however, this study shows that producers in France, Portugal and Romania do not fully cover waste management costs.

A Portuguese waste management system for packaging has brought a range of environmental, economic and social benefits, according to a recent study. One of the scheme’s main achievements was that it avoided around 116 kilotons (kt) of CO2 equivalent emissions in a single year, equal to the emissions associated with the electricity use of 124 000 households. These emissions were largely circumvented because the system recovers large amounts of energy and materials from the waste packaging.

Human-generated noise can reduce the foraging activity of wildlife and should be taken into account during conservation planning, a new study suggests. The test showed that traffic noise decreased the foraging activity of Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii) by inducing an avoidance response. The new experimental approach could be used to identify how noise disturbs any species capable of detecting noise.

A new study has analysed water shortages around the world over the past two millennia. Population growth has been a significant pressure on supplies and will continue to increase in threat in future. Dealing with water scarcity will therefore increasingly require improved water governance, management and policy measures, which are fully integrated into societal development.

The EU Water Framework Directive1 requires policymakers to consider the management of water e.g. in rivers, lakes and streams, at the scale of the river basin, but can wastewater treatment systems be managed at the same scale? To help policymakers answer this question, a team of Spanish researchers have created a method for assessing the integrated operation of wastewater treatment plants in a river basin. Uniquely, the method considers both local and global environmental factors and an economic assessment.

Plastic pollution in the ocean is a growing problem. This study, which is the first to investigate the presence of plastic debris in large pelagic fish in the central Mediterranean Sea, found that over 18% of fish had ingested plastics.