focus

Controversial U.S. China Initiative gets new name, tighter focus on industrial espionage | Science

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University scientists and civil rights groups in the United States are offering qualified praise for the federal government’s decision last week to rename and revise the China Initiative, a controversial, 3-year-old law enforcement campaign intended to prevent the Chinese government from stealing U.S.-funded technologies. “Dropping the name is good,” says Steven Pei, an electrical engineer … Read more

‘Ghost particle’ coming into focus: Scientists put upper limit on mass of neutrinos

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Every second, about 100 trillion neutrinos pass through your body. These ghostly particles are fundamental to our understanding of the universe. But they’re extremely small — so small that scientists once thought they had no mass at all.  Neutrinos do indeed have mass, however, and physicists have now managed to put a new upper limit … Read more

Russian Cyberattacks against the U.S. Could Focus on Disinformation

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The following essay is reprinted with permission from The Conversation, an online publication covering the latest research. As tensions mount between Russia and the West over Ukraine, the threat of Russian cyberattacks against the U.S. increases. The Department of Homeland Security issued an intelligence bulletin on Jan. 23, 2022, warning that Russia has the capability to carry … Read more

With James Webb Space Telescope’s huge sunshield in place, focus shifts to big mirrors

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We can all take a deep breath before the James Webb Space Telescope’s next major deployment. On Tuesday (Jan. 4), Webb finished bringing its huge, five-layer sunshield up to the proper tension, wrapping up the most complex and tricky operation of the $10 billion observatory’s lengthy deployment phase.  The mission team can therefore now turn … Read more

The First FDA-Approved Eye Drops to Treat Blurry Vision Are Now Available in The US

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The joke about “needing longer arms” when you grow older and try to read small print is common enough. The cause – a natural decline in our eyes’ ability to focus on nearby objects, or presbyopia – is the reason so many people end up getting reading glasses in older age.   Now, for the first … Read more