Archive for 2021

Wednesday, 22 December 2021

Year-End Review of History Uncovered in 2021

Wednesday, December 22, 2021 Leave a Reply
Year-End Review of History Uncovered in 2021
Year-End Review of History Uncovered in 2021
By Jeremy Menzies

As the year comes to an end, we are excited to present a selection of historic photos that were preserved in the SFMTA Photo Archive this year. Archive staff have been scanning and cataloguing archival Muni photos that date back 100+ years for over a decade now. Read more about our work in the 10 year milestone blog from 2018.  

The images below are a set of richly colored slides, some of which were originally used in presentations by Muni staff in the 1970s.  These photos have a wide range of subject matter from everyday street activity to scenic vistas, project documentation and important Muni milestones. 

view of traffic on market street from inside streetcar

A typical day in the life of a Muni Operator.  This shot was taken near Market and 5th Streets in the early 1970s

Passengers boarding 38 Geary bus with red white and blue paint scheme

Here, customers board a 38 Geary bus painted for the 1976 Bicentennial in a striking red, white, and blue paint job.

33 Ashbury bus with Twin Peaks in background

A rare snowfall is captured blanketing parts of Twin Peaks in this February 1976 photo.

two people standing in front of and pointing at map

This shot gives a peek inside the operations of Muni, showing Planning Dept. staff reviewing a map of bus lines.

overhead view of Market Street showing construction and Ferry Building

BART and Market Street Subway construction is underway in this early 1970s photo. During construction, Market Street was closed to all vehicles except for transit and local deliveries.

In addition to the color slides, Archive staff performed selective scanning of photos from the 1970s and 80s this year. These photos bring more recent history to view and shed light on life in the city during this time.

crowd of people and streetcars outside West Portal station

On April 2, 1979, the newly rebuilt West Portal Station opened with a ribbon cutting by the mayor, streetcar parade, and hundreds of citizens touring the station. Just a couple of weeks later, LRV service began on the K Line between Balboa Park and West Portal in advance of the full opening of Muni Metro the following year.

person pointing at map of subway system with lights

This 1981 shot, taken inside Muni Central Control, shows an electronic board indicating the position of streetcars within the Market Street Subway. At that time, this state-of-the-art tool was critical to monitoring rail traffic in the subway after it opened in 1980.

brick building with construction in foreground

Between 1982 and 84, the Cable Car system was shut down for a complete rebuild.  This 1983 photo shows the powerhouse and underground cable infrastructure under construction at Mason and Washington Streets.

bus with people boarding

 Muni purchased its first extra-long articulated buses in the 1980s to meet demand on high ridership lines like the 38L Geary Limited pictured here at Geary and Presidio in 1985.

person sitting in wheelchair boarding bus

Advocacy groups and federal law brought improvements to the accessibility of the Muni system in the 1980s. With the construction of boarding ramps on rail lines, elevators in subway stations, and the arrival of buses equipped with lifts, more people were able to ride public transit.

vintage streetcars and buses on street with people around

June 23, 1983 marked the first “Trolley Festival”, a celebration of the city’s long and unique transit history carried on today in the Muni Heritage festival. The open-air Boat Car, pictured here, has always been a popular attraction at the festivals.

person standing in front of row of buses smiling

Muni Operator of the Month Marshall Lacewell poses in Woods Division bus yard for this January 1989 shot. Employee award photos are a common subject among the files currently being archived.

building slumped over, with cracked and damaged walls after earthquake

On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck with devastating consequences across the region. Muni staff worked through the night to restore transit service and an estimated 65% of vehicles were running by the following morning to provide essential transportation following the disaster.

trolley bus painted with christmas decorations including fireplaces, santa claus figures and candy canes

One quirky “sign of the times” shot scanned this year was this photo of Muni bus painted with Christmas decorations and a fireplace. The bus, an old Marmon Herrington trolley coach, saw limited special service in December ’89.

cake and model of streetcar decorated to celebrate Muni's 75th Anniversary

To finish off the list, a shot of a huge cake and streetcar model from Muni's 75th birthday on December 28, 1987.  As we look ahead to celebrating our 109th birthday this year, we thank our riders, supporters and leaders for their commitment as we strive to provide the most safe, frequent and reliable service.

Closing out the year with over a decade of new photos from 1978-1990 scanned, staff will continue this work into 2022. We hope you’ve enjoyed this look back in time at some of the latest images to be archived this year.  To see more of these and thousands other historic photos dating back to 1903, check out our Photo Archive web page. 



Published December 22, 2021 at 08:44PM
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Monday, 20 December 2021

Livable Streets Look Back 2021

Monday, December 20, 2021 Leave a Reply
Livable Streets Look Back 2021
Livable Streets Look Back 2021
By Eillie Anzilotti

How We Made San Francisco Streets Safer In 2021

As 2021 comes to an end, we're reflecting on everything SFMTA has done to make San Francisco streets safer for all.

But first, let’s wind back 50 years ago to 1971: the year the first bike lanes went in in San Francisco! The city’s first bike lanes on Lake Street came out of a community effort to calm traffic and make the neighborhood safer.

There’s an often-quoted expression that “change happens slowly, then all at once.” For San Francisco safe streets, 2021 is certainly in the “all at once” phase. Fifty years after the first bike lanes were installed in the city, we’re continuing to push the boundaries of what safe streets can look like in San Francisco. Here’s a look at some key progress from this past year:

Transforming the Tenderloin: In a neighborhood where every street is on the city’s Vision Zero High-Injury Network, we implemented a suite of projects to make the whole area safer. Some highlights:

  • Two Vision Zero Quick-Build projects: On Golden Gate Avenue, a new protected bike lane was added along with improved curb access for businesses, and Leavenworth was reduced from three travel lanes to two to promote safer speeds.
  • Pedestrian scrambles—which stop traffic in all directions to make it safer for everyone to cross—were implemented at 10 intersections
  • In a San Francisco first, 20 mph speed limits and No Turn on Red restrictions were implemented neighborhood-wide to improve safety.
  • Several COVID-19 response projects have evolved into permanent community features. A physical distancing lane on Jones Street, implemented to give people more space to walk during the pandemic, was turned into a permanent travel lane reduction on the street to calm traffic. A weekly block closure on Turk Street to provide place for gathering and recreating is now Turk Street Safe Passage Park, a full-time street closure that welcomes nearly 100 visitors a day and provides a new public space for the community. These street transformations in the Tenderloin were implemented with collaboration and support from local partners, like Code Tenderloin and the Tenderloin Community Benefit District Safe Passage Program.

A person rides a bike along the new protected bike lane on Golden Gate Avenue. The lane is painted green, and there are plastic buffer posts between the lane and the parked cars that separate it from traffic. Overhead, a golden-colored sign with 20 on it indicates the new 20 mile per hour speed limits throughout the Tenderloin.

Adding Quick-Builds in the Bayview: After the Bayview Community-Based Transportation Plan was approved by the SMFTA Board in 2020, the first projects were installed this year. Two quick-build projects to improve safety conditions in the Bayview–one on Williams Avenue and one on Evans/Hunters Point/Innes–were completed, along with spot improvements like continental crosswalks. The Quick-Build on Hunters Point Boulevard features concrete barriers painted with murals by local artists.

Expanding San Francisco’s bike network: Over 12 miles of new bike facilities, including 7 miles of new protected bike lanes, were added across the city. Some highlights include a new two-way bikeway on Alemany Boulevard, and a protected bike lane as part of the Folsom Street Quick-Build in SOMA. Nearly five miles of Anza Street have been updated with bikeway markings, speed cushions, and a travel-lane reduction to encourage safer speeds and create an important east-west bike route through the Richmond. You can read more about (and see!) how much San Francisco’s bike network has grown in the last several years in this blog post.

Construction crews striping Anza Street with new bike lanes next to a row of parked cars. The fresh bike lanes are on both sides of the street; there’s a construction truck with cones parked on the left, and cars moving in both directions in the background.

Evolving Slow Streets: Slow Streets have evolved from an emergency response to COVID-19 to one of the SFMTA’s most efficient ways to transform city streets to promote walking, biking, and rolling. In August, the first four post-pandemic Slow Streets–Sanchez, Shotwell, Lake, and Golden Gate–were approved to be extended beyond the pandemic. Sanchez and Shotwell are fully implemented with unique designs informed by extensive community outreach.   

Setting records for traffic calming: The traffic-calming program installed over 233 traffic calming devices across the city–the most ever completed in a year. Traffic calming devices like speed humps, speed cushions, and raised crosswalks make any street safer, and the team worked quickly and efficiently to respond to resident requests for safer conditions on their streets.

Thank you to everyone in the community who has advocated for, championed, and made use of these projects across the city. We look forward to continuing to make San Francisco streets safer in 2022!

 

 



Published December 20, 2021 at 09:24PM
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Thursday, 16 December 2021

Proposed Bond Introduced to the City’s Capital Planning Committee and the Board of Supervisors

Thursday, December 16, 2021 Leave a Reply
Proposed Bond Introduced to the City’s Capital Planning Committee and the Board of Supervisors
Proposed Bond Introduced to the City’s Capital Planning Committee and the Board of Supervisors
By Benjamin Barnett

Headline graphic of Transportation 2050 - 2022 Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond

The demands on San Francisco’s transportation system have grown and revenues from transit fares and parking fees have not kept up. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened this problem. New revenue sources to fund our system are needed. The first step is a proposed $400 million Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond that would support priority transportation capital investments across San Francisco. On Tuesday, December 7, the SFMTA Board of Directors voted to urge the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to place the Bond on the June 2022 ballot. Additionally, the Bond earlier this week was reviewed by City’s Capital Planning Committee and yesterday introduced to the Board of Supervisors.  

The recommended Bond would provide financial resources to improve the transportation system, increase street safety, and meet the long-term needs of the City. Based on both the agency’s infrastructure needs and priorities identified in the SFMTA community survey, as well as outreach, the proposed Bond is focused on keeping Muni equipment and facilities working efficiently, providing quick and convenient transit access, improving Muni service for communities that depend on transit, ensuring Muni service is inclusive and accessible to all, making street safety improvements for people walking and biking.  

The proposed Bond would fund repairs and upgrades to aging bus yards and equipment. This will allow the SFMTA have more modern facilities, maintenance bays and equipment to repair the Muni bus fleet, reducing vehicle breakdowns and supporting reliable Muni service. Additionally, funding on-street infrastructure improvements for public transit will support faster, more reliable, and more frequent Muni service. The proposed Bond would fund improvements to reduce congestion for transit, such as traffic signals that get buses through intersections quickly, wider sidewalks at bus stops for easier, more accessible boarding, and dedicated transit lanes. Finally, the Bond would provide funding to modernize the 20-year-old Muni train control system and leverage substantial state and federal matching funds for the project to increase subway capacity and reduce delays. 

Four circle graphics showing accessibility and services for families, infrastructure, transit including biking, wheelchair and hiking modes of mobility

Bond Components are split across two major programs: 

  1. Make the Transportation System Work Better Amount  

  • Speed up Muni repairs and keep public transit moving by repairing, upgrading and maintaining aging bus yards, facilities and equipment ($250 million) 

  • Enable faster, more reliable, and more frequent Muni service by improving on-street infrastructure for public transit ($26 million) 

  • Increase subway capacity, reduce delays, and deliver dependable, high-frequency transit by modernizing the Muni train control system ($10 million) 

  1. Improve Street Safety and Traffic Flow  

  • Improve safety and visibility at intersections by upgrading traffic signals, signage, and crossings ($42 million) 

  • Increase safety for walking and bicycling and access for Muni connections along major corridors by redesigning streets and sidewalks ($42 million) 

  • Slow speeds and reduce crashes by implementing traffic calming and speed reduction tools ($30 million) 

Transportation 2050 

The Transportation 2050 effort is based on transportation needs and priorities identified by the community over the last eight years through two Mayoral transportation task forces (T2030 and T2045) with additional input from the city’s Muni Reliability Working Group in 2020. Transportation 2050 evaluates the resources needed to achieve the community’s vision for transportation developed through the city’s ConnectSF planning process, as well as infrastructure needs identified in the SFMTA’s 20-Year Capital Plan. 

The proposed Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond is just one of the community’s recommended strategies to invest in the transportation system and is only one piece of the funding puzzle.  

Under-investment in transportation has been a decades-long trend. Existing transportation funding draws on multiple local, state, and federal sources, each of which can be uncertain. For example, funding from the city’s Proposition K transportation sales tax or local and federal grants make improvements to our streets and public transit but are not enough and are too variable to address the larger need.  

Transportation 2050 considers a package of revenue sources over several years to sustain a more reliable, affordable, and safer transportation system. Through a combination of local ballot measures, continued state and federal grants, and the development of SFMTA properties, we can put our transportation system on firmer financial footing. If you are interested in learning more, please sign up for regular updates. 



Published December 16, 2021 at 12:51AM
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Tuesday, 14 December 2021

Monday, 13 December 2021

Sunday, 12 December 2021

Friday, 10 December 2021

L Taraval Improvement Project “Segment B” Geared Up for Early 2022

Friday, December 10, 2021 Leave a Reply
L Taraval Improvement Project “Segment B” Geared Up for Early 2022
L Taraval Improvement Project “Segment B” Geared Up for Early 2022
By Stephen Chun

Over the summer, we shared the good news that the first segment of the L Taraval Improvement Project was completed on schedule and within budget. A notice to proceed for the next phase of work, Segment B was issued last week to NTK Construction. Project staff is now gearing up for work slated to begin in January 2022.  

What is the L Taraval Improvement Project? 

The L Taraval Improvement Project is a multi-agency collaboration partnered with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the Department of Public Works to improve and upgrade the aging infrastructure. The project will make pedestrian crossing safer, increase accessibility, improve transit reliability, rehabilitate water and sewer infrastructure, enhance landscaping and replace road pavement along the L Taraval line. To lessen the impact to the community, the project was split into two segments: Segment A and Segment B.  

Segment A included 46th Ave. to Sunset Blvd. and was completed in July 2021.   

Segment B will begin in January 2022 and take place along the L Taraval line from Sunset Blvd. to 15th Ave., and on Ulloa St. near West Portal. Work is expected to last through 2024. 

Permanent stop changes will be added to improve safety and reliability:  

  • Taraval St. and 17th Ave. (eastbound) will be relocated from the near side to the far side of the intersection once the new island is constructed  

  • 15th Ave. and Taraval St. (eastbound) will be removed once the boarding island at 17th Ave. is constructed 

  • Ulloa St. and Forest Side Blvd. (westbound and eastbound) will be relocated to Ulloa St. and 14th Ave. 

What to Expect During Segment B Construction  

  • Construction is scheduled to begin in January 2022 and will occur in phases to minimize long-term disruptions 

  • Work hours are scheduled for Monday – Friday, 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. with occasional weekend work*  

  • Substitution of Muni rail service with bus shuttles during portions of the project* 

* subject to change based on construction or operational needs 

Using community input, equipment staging locations were identified: 

  • Santiago St. between 22nd and 24th avenues 

  • 20th Ave. between Ulloa and Wawona streets 

  • Wawona St. between 21st and 23rd avenues 

  • 36th Ave. between Taraval and Ulloa streets 

  • Taraval St. between 12th and 15th avenues 

  • Additional temporary staging locations will be identified over the course of the project 

The project team will be hosting three open houses in the coming weeks. Please join us:  

  1. Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, Virtual Meeting at 6:00 p.m.  

  1. Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, In-person Meeting, Taraval Police Station Community Room, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. 

  1. Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, In-person Meeting, West Portal Clubhouse (Lenox and Ulloa), 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 

The nearly five-mile-long corridor from West Portal to the Zoo will boast new transit priority traffic signals, bulb outs to make pedestrian crossing safer, new trees, high visibility crosswalks, safety boarding islands and increased accessibility. Once completed in 2024, the Taraval corridor will be more inviting and welcoming for all residents and visitors. 

To follow the progress of this project as we move into the next phase, please visit the project webpage and sign up for updates.  

For questions or comments, please email LTaravalProject@SFMTA.com or call 415.646.4771. 



Published December 10, 2021 at 12:44AM
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Tuesday, 7 December 2021

New type of earthquake discovered

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
New type of earthquake discovered
A research team has documented a new type of earthquake in an injection environment in British Columbia, Canada. The seismic events are slower than conventional earthquakes. Their existence supports a scientific theory that until now had not been sufficiently substantiated by measurements.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113108.htm

Too dry, too hot, or too wet: Increasing weather persistence in European summer

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Too dry, too hot, or too wet: Increasing weather persistence in European summer
Global warming makes long lasting weather situations in the Northern hemisphere's summer months more likely -- which in turn leads to more extreme weather events, a novel analysis of atmospheric images and data finds. These events include heatwaves, droughts, intense rainy periods. Especially in Europe, but also in Russia, persistent weather patterns have increased in number and intensity over the last decades with weather extremes occurring simultaneously at different locations.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113059.htm

Researchers crack the synthetic code of rare molecules sought after in drug development

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Researchers crack the synthetic code of rare molecules sought after in drug development
A research team has succeeded in producing two molecules that are otherwise only formed by microorganisms from extremely contaminated wastewater in an abandoned mine in South Korea. The method, which took four years to develop, could pave the way for new types of drugs.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113057.htm

Liquid crystals for fast switching devices

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Liquid crystals for fast switching devices
An international team has investigated a newly synthesized liquid-crystalline material that promises applications in optoelectronics. Simple rod-shaped molecules with a single center of chirality self-assemble into helical structures at room temperature. Using soft X-ray resonant scattering at BESSY II, the scientists have now been able to determine the pitch of the helical structure with high precision. Their results indicate an extremely short pitch at only about 100 nanometres which would enable applications with particularly fast switching processes.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113049.htm

Male spiders are attracted by a female like planets orbiting a star

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Male spiders are attracted by a female like planets orbiting a star
The tiny male golden orb-weaving spider faces a considerable challenge when searching for a mate. He is a fraction of the size of the massive female, but must carefully enter her web and approach her without being noticed, because the cannibalistic female will kill and eat him if he makes one wrong move on her web. Add to this gamble the competition he faces from other males also on the delicate arena of the web, and you have a complex optimization problem that even human analysts would find daunting. Yet these little spiders barely have what we would recognize as a brain. How then do they manage?

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113047.htm

Minimal effort required: A ten-minute run can boost brain processing

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Minimal effort required: A ten-minute run can boost brain processing
Researchers found that as little as ten minutes of moderate-intensity running could benefit mental health. In study participants, both mood and cognitive functions improved, and the activation of bilateral prefrontal subregions associated with cognitive function and mood also increased. These results demonstrate the potential advantages of exercise prescriptions for various conditions including mental health treatment.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113037.htm

The sunshine vitamin that ‘D’elivers on cardio health

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
The sunshine vitamin that ‘D’elivers on cardio health
Free from the sun, vitamin D delivers a natural source for one of the hormones essential to our bodies, especially the bones. But when you're down on this essential nutrient, it's not only your bones that could suffer, but also your cardio health, according to new research.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113025.htm

Spaceflight wreaks havoc on liver metabolism

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Spaceflight wreaks havoc on liver metabolism
Researchers have demonstrated that microgravity and other environmental factors in space play different roles in inducing oxidative stress, which, in turn, alters the metabolism of sulfur-containing compounds in the liver of mice. The study highlighted steps that can be taken, such as boosting antioxidant capacity with dietary supplements, to safeguard astronaut health.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113023.htm

Diagnosis from the sky: Catching insect infestations within forests before it’s too late

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Diagnosis from the sky: Catching insect infestations within forests before it’s too late
Researchers are working to improve remote sensing technology's ability to detect subtle changes in real-time across the landscape, namely to diagnose insect infestations in forests before irreparable damage is done.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113020.htm

Glucose control is a key factor for reduced cancer risk in obesity and type 2 diabetes

Tuesday, December 07, 2021 Leave a Reply
Glucose control is a key factor for reduced cancer risk in obesity and type 2 diabetes
Good glucose control is important for reduction of cancer risk in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Large durable weight loss, as such, appears to afford protection against cancer, but with good glucose control the number of cancer cases also drops radically, a new study shows.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211206113015.htm

Monday, 6 December 2021

Sunday, 5 December 2021

Probiotics improve nausea and vomiting in pregnancy

Sunday, December 05, 2021 Leave a Reply
Probiotics improve nausea and vomiting in pregnancy
Researchers found that probiotics significantly improve the symptoms of pregnancy-related nausea, vomiting and constipation. Nausea and vomiting affect about 85% of pregnancies and can significantly impact quality of life, particularly during early pregnancy.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211204190916.htm

How you speak up at work can affect whether you’re picked for a team

Sunday, December 05, 2021 Leave a Reply
How you speak up at work can affect whether you’re picked for a team
Business leaders and management experts often encourage people to speak up in the workplace. Suggesting a creative idea or a more efficient way to work can help companies overcome challenges and meet goals. But new research shows another, more subtle and often overlooked form of speaking up has a big effect on the way work gets done and how teams come together.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211204190835.htm

Understanding mouthfeel of food using physics

Sunday, December 05, 2021 Leave a Reply
Understanding mouthfeel of food using physics
Our understanding of how microscopic structure and changes in the shape of food affect food texture remains underdeveloped, so researchers from Denmark and Germany conducted a series of experiments relating food microstructure and rheology to texture. They used coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy to relate the molecular makeup of the fat in foods with the rheological and mechanical properties of the food. The foods in question: foie gras and pâté.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203151355.htm

Printing technique creates effective skin equivalent, heals wounds

Sunday, December 05, 2021 Leave a Reply
Printing technique creates effective skin equivalent, heals wounds
Researchers have developed an approach to print skin equivalents, which may play a future role in facilitating the healing of chronic wounds. They used suspended layer additive manufacturing, creating a gel-like material to support the skin equivalent that can then support a second phase of gel injection. During printing, the skin layers are deposited within the support gel. After printing, the team washed away the support material, leaving behind the layered skin equivalent.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203131213.htm

ALS therapy should target brain, not just spine

Sunday, December 05, 2021 Leave a Reply
ALS therapy should target brain, not just spine
The brain is indeed a target for treating ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), scientists have discovered. This flips a long-standing belief the disease starts in the spinal motor neurons and any therapy would need to target the spine as the key focus. The new study shows the brain degenerates early in ALS, sends warning signals and shows defects very early in the disease. Degeneration of brain motor neurons is not merely a byproduct of the spinal motor neuron degeneration, as had been previously thought.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202191146.htm

Brain drain: Scientists explain why neurons consume so much fuel even when at rest

Sunday, December 05, 2021 Leave a Reply
Brain drain: Scientists explain why neurons consume so much fuel even when at rest
Pound for pound, the brain consumes vastly more energy than other organs, and, puzzlingly, it remains a fuel-guzzler even when its neurons are not firing signals called neurotransmitters to each other. Now researchers have found that the process of packaging neurotransmitters may be responsible for this energy drain.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203151430.htm

Saturday, 4 December 2021

Immune system-stimulating nanoparticle could lead to more powerful vaccines

Saturday, December 04, 2021 Leave a Reply
Immune system-stimulating nanoparticle could lead to more powerful vaccines
Researchers designed a new nanoparticle adjuvant that may be more potent than others now in use. Studies in mice showed it significantly improved antibody production following vaccination against HIV, diphtheria and influenza.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203151420.htm

Daytime meals may reduce health risks linked to night shift work

Saturday, December 04, 2021 Leave a Reply
Daytime meals may reduce health risks linked to night shift work
A small clinical trial has found that eating during the nighttime -- like many shift workers do -- can increase glucose levels, while eating only during the daytime might prevent the higher glucose levels now linked with a nocturnal work life.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211203151433.htm

Friday, 3 December 2021

Stellar cocoon with organic molecules at the edge of our galaxy

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
Stellar cocoon with organic molecules at the edge of our galaxy
Astronomers have detected a newborn star and the surrounding cocoon of complex organic molecules at the edge of our Galaxy, which is known as the extreme outer Galaxy. The observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array reveal the hidden chemical complexity of our Universe.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202141600.htm

TESS discovers a planet the size of Mars but with the makeup of Mercury

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
TESS discovers a planet the size of Mars but with the makeup of Mercury
The TESS mission has discovered an ultra-short-period planet (USP) that is also super light. The planet is named GJ 367 b, and it orbits its star in just eight hours. The planet is about the size of Mars, and half as massive as the Earth, making it one of the lightest planets discovered to date.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202141430.htm

Green information technologies: Superconductivity meets spintronics

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
Green information technologies: Superconductivity meets spintronics
Superconducting coupling between two regions separated by a one micron wide ferromagnetic compound has been proved by an international team. This macroscopic quantum effect, known as Josephson effect, generates an electrical current within the ferromagnetic compound made of superconducting Cooper-pairs. Magnetic imaging of the ferromagnetic region at BESSY II has contributed to demonstrate that the spin of the electrons forming the Cooper pairs are equal. These results pave the way for low-power consumption superconducting spintronic-applications where spin-polarized currents can be protected by quantum coherence.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202132440.htm

Language used by researchers to describe human populations has evolved over the last 70 years

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
Language used by researchers to describe human populations has evolved over the last 70 years
Researchers have found that the words that scientists use to describe human populations -- such as race, ancestry, and ethnicity -- significantly changed from 1949 to 2018. Such changes and their timing, along with new descriptors for certain population groups, may be linked to structural racism, social trends, and how people view social constructs such as race.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202123017.htm

Two-photon microscope provides unprecedented brain-imaging ability

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
Two-photon microscope provides unprecedented brain-imaging ability
Advancing our understanding of the human brain will require new insights into how neural circuitry works in mammals, including laboratory mice. These investigations require monitoring brain activity with a microscope that provides resolution high enough to see individual neurons and their neighbors.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202123008.htm

Scientists pinpoint protein’s role in critical gene expression

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
Scientists pinpoint protein’s role in critical gene expression
New research has implications for cancer research because it explains part of the paradox for how cells can transcribe genes in the absence of high-energy sources, a situation that unfolds in cancer and has puzzled researchers for years.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202113450.htm

How does the climate crisis affect the Antarctic fur seal?

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
How does the climate crisis affect the Antarctic fur seal?
The climate crisis is limiting the availability of krill -- small crustaceans that are vital in the marine food chain -- during summer in some areas of the Antarctica. This involves a decrease in the food abundance for female Antarctic fur seals in summer and a decrease in their reproductive success. Moreover, the predation of pups by the leopard seal has also increased due to a lower abundance of penguins, the main prey of this voracious Antarctic predator. However, the impact of the climate crisis on the Antarctic fur seal in winter has been ignored to date, when the cold, wind and ice make it harder to study the Antarctic ecosystems.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202113448.htm

Studies of children’s stories shows differences in Russian, US approaches to emotion

Friday, December 03, 2021 Leave a Reply
Studies of children’s stories shows differences in Russian, US approaches to emotion
Recent research of parents in Russia and the United States, as well as children's literature in both countries, highlights how cultural differences in socializing emotions begin before children even start attending school. Specifically, the research found that Russian parents are more likely than U.S. parents to read stories to their children that feature negative emotions, such as fear, anger and sadness.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202113435.htm

Thursday, 2 December 2021

3D laser nanoprinters become compact

Thursday, December 02, 2021 Leave a Reply
3D laser nanoprinters become compact
Lasers in conventional laser printers for paper printouts are very small. 3D laser printers for 3-dimensional microstructures and nanostructures, by contrast, have required big and expensive laser systems so far. Researchers now use another process for this purpose. Two-step absorption works with inexpensive and small, blue laser diodes. As a result, much smaller printers can be used.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130101506.htm

Diversity of the gut microbiome in gorillas

Thursday, December 02, 2021 Leave a Reply
Diversity of the gut microbiome in gorillas
A new study sheds light on the gut microbiome of gorillas, moving researchers closer to developing tools that can use the microbiome to diagnose potential health challenges for gorillas in human care. Specifically, the study found significant diversity among gorilla microbiomes, suggesting that what constitutes a 'healthy' microbiome can vary between individuals.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130101446.htm

Breakthrough tool to show how much exoskeletons reduce back injury risk

Thursday, December 02, 2021 Leave a Reply
Breakthrough tool to show how much exoskeletons reduce back injury risk
A study reveals a breakthrough tool to assess the effect of exoskeletons on injury risk. The tool, called Exo-LiFFT, is an interactive calculator that will help companies looking for ways to overcome workforces struggling with musculoskeletal injuries, missed work, and accelerated retirement amongst skilled laborers.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130101441.htm

Ancient lineage of algae found to include five 'cryptic' species

Thursday, December 02, 2021 Leave a Reply
Ancient lineage of algae found to include five 'cryptic' species
All land plants originated from a single evolutionary event when freshwater algae got a foothold on land. The group of algae that would later give rise to land plants had already been living in freshwater and terrestrial habitats for over one billion years. A tiny group of these algae, most distantly related to land plants, still lives. A team homed in on one species, Chlorokybus, which lives in wet soil and rock cracks, to find that it contains not one, but at least five different species.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130101428.htm

Potential new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease would be relatively cheap

Thursday, December 02, 2021 Leave a Reply
Potential new treatment for Alzheimer’s disease would be relatively cheap
Researchers have discovered a protein involved in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Studies in mice showed that eliminating this protein entirely or using drugs to block its function reduced physical changes in the brain associated with the disease and improved memory. Drug therapy that aims to block the protein's activity could be a more effective treatment than what is currently available, as well as being cheaper.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130101245.htm

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Summer rains in American Southwest are not your typical monsoon

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
Summer rains in American Southwest are not your typical monsoon
Monsoons are continental weather events produced when intense summer sunlight heats land more than ocean. But new supercomputer simulations show that North America's only monsoon works differently. The North American monsoon, which drenches western Mexico and the American Southwest each summer, is generated when the jet stream collides with the Sierra Madre mountains, which diverts it southward and upward, condensing moisture laden air from the eastern Pacific into torrential rains.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130150444.htm

Holistic framework can assess fisheries’ strengths and potential weaknesses

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
Holistic framework can assess fisheries’ strengths and potential weaknesses
A new decision-making framework designed by an international team of fisheries researchers can help fisheries bolster their ability to adapt to a warming world. The tool is meant to take a lot of the guesswork out of finding resilience in a time of climate change.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130130234.htm

A Green Light for Muni Customers

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
A Green Light for Muni Customers
A Green Light for Muni Customers
By Stephen Chun

Have you ever been on a Muni vehicle and realized that if the light had only stayed green for just a few more seconds you wouldn’t have been trapped at a red light? SFMTA’s Connected Corridor Pilot approached this problem with a new state of the art solution.  

Most signals in San Francisco do not have sensors to detect vehicles at an intersection. However, through a grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, our project team was able to test an advanced technology for signal timing based on who is present at an intersection. In this way, transit platform and traffic signal sensor data can be used to activate signal timing adjustments, responding to traffic conditions in real time. These adjustments provide more opportunities for transit vehicles to make it through intersections on a green light.   

The project team turned on the adaptive signal timing program during several days in July and August 2021, with traffic engineers and traffic signal electricians monitoring intersections both in-person and by observing traffic cameras. Our priority was to reduce transit vehicle travel times. Once in place, we compared travel times for trains both before and after the new technology was implemented.  

We found that with our pilot project, the average light rail vehicle (LRV) travel time along the 1-mile corridor was reduced by 66 seconds, resulting in an average travel speed increase of 21% from 8.2 miles per hour (MPH) to 9.9 MPH. With this system, the chance that a train will reach an intersection on a green light improved from 62.1% to 85.8%, meaning almost no red-light delay.     

Connected Corridor - Pilot Performance, Before and After Comparisons

Figure 1. Pilot Corridor Performance, Before and After Comparisons 

During the pilot, 60% of LRV corridor trips had 10 seconds or less of red-light delay, compared to only 5% previously.  In fact, 20% of trains saw no red-light delay at all on the corridor, compared to the previous study period when not a single train avoided red light delay entirely.   

Improving signal timing for just one specific mode or direction can potentially result in negative impacts for others.  To evaluate this, we measured travel impacts to pedestrians and non-Muni vehicles to evaluate the potential effects from prioritizing transit.  Fortunately, our data show that there was a 1% increase in the overall odds that other vehicles would encounter a green light and only a 1% increase in the odds that pedestrians would reach an intersection on a Do Not Walk symbol. 

Vehicles on side streets were generally unaffected unless they were also held to prioritize train through traffic. Heavier volume side streets such as Mariposa Street had increased average wait times of up to 78% for vehicles, from an average wait of 46 seconds previously, to an average wait of 87 seconds during the pilot. Fortunately, the adaptive signal system only increased the average wait time by 4 seconds for pedestrians if they arrived on a Do Not Walk symbol, from 22 seconds to 26 seconds.  Further refinement of the signal timing logic could help address these concerns. 

With detailed information collected through the advanced sensors, our project team was able to make refinements and real-time signal timing adjustments that account for time of day, direction of travel, and the real-time volume of pedestrians, vehicles, and transit vehicles.  

These promising results will lead the SFMTA to consider applying this technology in other locations to better understand how the system could work more widely around the city and any trade-offs that could arise in regard to overall traffic flows. 

Looking forward, we are also exploring other new technologies. For example, the LiDAR (sensors that use lasers to identify objects) used in this project provides a new way to capture and classify objects at intersections, but there may be a need for additional sensors or different mounting locations to improve detection accuracy. Project staff will build upon the lessons learned from the pilot to inform future efforts to optimize the signal timing to make our streets better for all users.   

 



Published December 01, 2021 at 02:31AM
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Ubiquitous food additive alters human microbiota and intestinal environment

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
Ubiquitous food additive alters human microbiota and intestinal environment
New clinical research indicates that a widely used food additive, carboxymethylcellulose, alters the intestinal environment of healthy persons, perturbing levels of beneficial bacteria and nutrients. These findings demonstrate the need for further study of the long-term impacts of this food additive on health.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130130223.htm

Scientists can control brain circuits, behavior, and emotion using light

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
Scientists can control brain circuits, behavior, and emotion using light
Scientists can control brain circuits, behavior, and emotion using light. Researchers developed a new optogenetic tool, 'Opto-vTrap', which is expected to contribute to treatment for epilepsy, muscle spasms, and skin wrinkles.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130112506.htm

Reduced meat diet has many advantages

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
Reduced meat diet has many advantages
Which diet is better: moderately reduce meat consumption and eat more fruit, vegetables and wholegrain products or eating more fish and seafood? Or even switch completely to a vegan diet? A new study shows that the answer to these questions is not as clear-cut as one might think -- depending on which impacts one closely looks.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130101449.htm

As LA traffic slowed amid the pandemic, researchers gained new insight into air pollution

Wednesday, December 01, 2021 Leave a Reply
As LA traffic slowed amid the pandemic, researchers gained new insight into air pollution
Car tailpipes spew out molecules of ammonia, a harmful air pollutant that can lead to thousands of premature deaths every year. New research shows that vehicles may produce a lot more of these emissions than federal and state regulators have believed.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211130130228.htm

Tuesday, 30 November 2021

In the quantum realm, not even time flows as you might expect

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 Leave a Reply
In the quantum realm, not even time flows as you might expect
A team of physicists has shown how quantum systems can simultaneously evolve along two opposite time arrows - both forward and backward in time. The study necessitates a rethink of how the flow of time is understood and represented in contexts where quantum laws play a crucial role.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211126130851.htm

Loss of ancient grazers triggered a global rise in fires

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 Leave a Reply
Loss of ancient grazers triggered a global rise in fires
From 50,000 years to 6,000 years ago, many of the world's largest animals, including such iconic grassland grazers as the woolly mammoth, giant bison, and ancient horses, went extinct. The loss of these grazing species triggered a dramatic increase in fire activity in the world's grasslands, according to a new study.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211125154838.htm

'Magic wand' reveals a colorful nano-world

Tuesday, November 30, 2021 Leave a Reply
'Magic wand' reveals a colorful nano-world
Researchers describe a revolutionary imaging technology that compresses lamp light into a nanometer-sized spot. It holds that light at the end of a silver nanowire like a Hogwarts student practicing the 'Lumos' spell, and uses it to reveal previously invisible details, including colors, in nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211125154829.htm

Monday, 29 November 2021

A new artificial material mimics quantum entangled rare earth compounds

Monday, November 29, 2021 Leave a Reply
A new artificial material mimics quantum entangled rare earth compounds
Physicists have created a new ultra-thin two-layer material with quantum properties that normally require rare earth compounds. This material, which is relatively easy to make and does not contain rare earth metals, could provide a new platform for quantum computing and advance research into unconventional superconductivity and quantum criticality.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211124153917.htm

Friday, 26 November 2021

Clear as (quasi) crystal: Scientists discover the first ferromagnetic quasicrystals

Friday, November 26, 2021 Leave a Reply
Clear as (quasi) crystal: Scientists discover the first ferromagnetic quasicrystals
Since the discovery of quasicrystals (QCs), solids that mimic crystals in their long-range order but lack periodicity, scientists have sought physical properties related to their peculiar structure. Now, an international group of researchers report a long-range magnetic order in QCs with icosahedral symmetry that turn ferromagnetic below certain temperatures. This groundbreaking discovery opens doors to future research on these exotic materials.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/11/211122135444.htm

Thursday, 25 November 2021