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Shining a Light on the Issue of Wine Fraud
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Shining a Light on the Issue of Wine Fraud

Wine researchers are developing a fast and simple method of authenticating wine – a potential solution against the estimated billions of dollars’ worth of wine fraud globally, but also offering a possible means of building regional branding. The team of scientists were able to identify the geographical origins of wines originating from three wine regions...

The Role of the Sun in the Spread of Viral Respiratory Diseases
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The Role of the Sun in the Spread of Viral Respiratory Diseases

Why do most viral epidemics spread cyclically in autumn and winter in the globe’s temperate regions? According to an interdisciplinary team of researchers of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, the University of Milan, the Lombardy regional agency for the environment and the Don Gnocchi Foundation, the answer is intimately related to our Sun: their...

Ancient Maya Built Sophisticated Water Filters
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Ancient Maya Built Sophisticated Water Filters

Ancient Maya in the once-bustling city of Tikal built sophisticated water filters using natural materials they imported from miles away, according to the University of Cincinnati (UC). UC researchers discovered evidence of a filter system at the Corriental reservoir, an important source of drinking water for the ancient Maya in what is now northern Guatemala....

Which Is More Creative, the Arts or the Sciences?
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Which Is More Creative, the Arts or the Sciences?

International expert in creativity and innovation, UniSA’s Professor David Cropley, is calling for Australian schools and universities to increase their emphasis on teaching creativity, as new research shows it is a core competency across all disciplines and critical for ensuring future job success. Conducted in partnership with visiting PhD researcher Kim van Broekhoven from Maastricht...

If the Glove Fits
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If the Glove Fits

Storage jars form one of the main ceramic types which were produced and abundantly used ever since pottery was invented. The need to collect, store, and distribute agricultural products such as grains, oils and wine in large vessels has littered excavation sites with an abundance of ceramic jar fragments of various designs, sizes and shapes....

Machine Learning Predicts How Long Museum Visitors Will Engage with Exhibits
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Machine Learning Predicts How Long Museum Visitors Will Engage with Exhibits

In a proof-of-concept study, education and artificial intelligence researchers have demonstrated the use of a machine-learning model to predict how long individual museum visitors will engage with a given exhibit. The finding opens the door to a host of new work on improving user engagement with informal learning tools. “Education is an important part of...

Wearable IT Devices: Dyeing Process Gives Textiles Electronic Properties
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Wearable IT Devices: Dyeing Process Gives Textiles Electronic Properties

Computer scientists at Saarland University show how these special textiles can be produced in a comparatively easy way, thus opening up new use cases. “Our goal was to integrate interactive functionalities directly into the fibers of textiles instead of just attaching electronic components to them,” says Jürgen Steimle, computer science professor at Saarland University. In...

Some Planets May Be Better for Life Than Earth
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Some Planets May Be Better for Life Than Earth

Earth is not necessarily the best planet in the universe. Researchers have identified two dozen planets outside our solar system that may have conditions more suitable for life than our own. Some of these orbit stars that may be better than even our sun. A study led by Washington State University scientist Dirk Schulze-Makuch recently...

When Bots Do the Negotiating, Humans More Likely to Engage in Deceptive Techniques
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When Bots Do the Negotiating, Humans More Likely to Engage in Deceptive Techniques

Recently computer scientists at USC Institute of Technologies (ICT) set out to assess under what conditions humans would employ deceptive negotiating tactics. Through a series of studies, they found that whether humans would embrace a range of deceptive and sneaky techniques was dependent both on the humans’ prior negotiating experience in negotiating as well as...

COVID-19 Vaccines: Open Source Licensing Could Keep Big Pharma from Making Huge Profits Off Taxpayer-Funded Research
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COVID-19 Vaccines: Open Source Licensing Could Keep Big Pharma from Making Huge Profits Off Taxpayer-Funded Research

An international, multi-billion-dollar race is underway to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, and progress is moving at record speed, but with nationalistic, competitive undertones. If and when an effective vaccine is invented, its production will require an unprecedented effort to vaccinate people across the globe. However, for the country that invents a safe and effective vaccine,...