62 articles from FRIDAY 3.7.2020
Experts find early ocher mine in Mexican underwater caves
Experts and cave divers in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula have found ocher mines that are some of the oldest on the continent, which could explain why ancient skeletons were found in the narrow, twisting labyrinths of now-submerged sinkhole caves.
Canadian researchers help find evidence of ancient ochre mine in Mexican caves
An international research team including Canadians has discovered the best-preserved evidence ever found of the earliest humans to inhabit the western hemisphere, dating from 12,000 years...
First evidence of snake-like venom glands found in amphibians
- ScienceDaily
- 20/7/3 20:12
Caecilians are limbless amphibians that can be easily mistaken for snakes. Though caecilians are only distantly related to their reptilian cousins, researchers describe specialized glands found along the teeth of the ringed caecilian (Siphonops annulatus), which have the same biological origin and possibly similar function to the venom glands of snakes. As such, caecilians may represent the oldest...
Scientific 'red flag' reveals new clues about our galaxy
- ScienceDaily
- 20/7/3 20:12
By determining how much energy permeates the center of the Milky Way, researchers have moved closer to understanding the power behind our galaxy.
Divers uncover mysteries of earliest inhabitants of Americas deep inside Yucatan caves
Thousands of years ago, the first inhabitants of the Americas journeyed deep into caves to mine red ochre, a highly valued clay earth...
Scientific 'red flag' reveals new clues about our galaxy
Figuring out how much energy permeates the center of the Milky Way—a discovery reported in the July 3 edition of the journal Science Advances—could yield new clues to the fundamental source of our galaxy's power, said L. Matthew Haffner of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
UK buys £400m stake in bankrupt satellite rival to EU Galileo system
Investment with India made in US firm OneWeb after Brexit locks UK out of Europe’s satellite navigation systemThe UK government has pledged to invest $500m (£400m) in bankrupt satellite company OneWeb, giving it a stake in a business that provides broadband from space.The government, which has proven so far unwilling to take stakes in major British companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic,...
Boris Johnson's newt-counting claim questioned
The PM is accused of inventing an allegation that wildlife rules are holding back house-building.
'Fang'tastic: Biologists report snake-like dental glands in amphibians
Utah State University biologist Edmund 'Butch' Brodie, Jr. and colleagues from São Paulo's Butantan Institute report the first known evidence of oral venom glands in amphibians. Their research, supported by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, appears in the July 3, 2020, issue of iScience.
Toward super-fast motion of vortices in superconductors
An international team of scientists from Austria, Germany, and Ukraine has found a new superconducting system in which magnetic flux quanta can move at velocities of 10 to 15 km/s. This opens access to investigations of the rich physics of non-equilibrium collective systems and renders a direct-write Nb-C superconductor as a candidate material for single-photon detectors. The results are published...
Histone H3-H4 tetramer found to be a copper reductase enzyme
A team of researchers at the University of California has found that the histone H3-H4 tetramer is a copper reductase enzyme. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes two experiments they carried out that showed that histones are involved in reducing copper inside of cells. Johannes Rudolph and Karolin Luger with the University of Colorado at Boulder have published a...
Researchers propose novel method for plasmonic structural color generation
A research group led by Prof. Cao Hongtao at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has developed a novel direct growth method of vertically orientated nanocavity arrays to generate plasmonic structural colors, which feature wide gamut, improved color saturation, excellent stability in ambient condition and mass-production...
The sixth sense of animals: An early warning system for earthquakes?
Even today, nobody can reliably predict when and where an earthquake will occur. However, eyewitnesses have repeatedly reported that animals behave unusually before an earthquake. In an international cooperation project, researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz/Radolfzell and the Cluster of Excellence Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the...
Does DNA in the water tell us how many fish are there?
- ScienceDaily
- 20/7/3 15:49
Researchers have developed a new non-invasive method to count individual fish by measuring the concentration of environmental DNA in the water, which could be applied for quantitative monitoring of aquatic ecosystems.
Getting a grasp on India's malaria burden
- ScienceDaily
- 20/7/3 15:49
A new approach could illuminate a critical stage in the life cycle of one of the most common malaria parasites.
Towards lasers powerful enough to investigate a new kind of physics
- ScienceDaily
- 20/7/3 15:49
Researchers have demonstrated an innovative technique for increasing the intensity of lasers. This approach, based on the compression of light pulses, would make it possible to reach a threshold intensity for a new type of physics that has never been explored before: quantum electrodynamics phenomena.
Is coronavirus really in retreat in the UK?
Key questions about Covid-19 answered as lockdowns ease across the four nationsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEngland is approaching a significant relaxation of lockdown on Saturday, while in Scotland, outdoor cafes and beer gardens will begin to reopen from Monday. But with rises in infection cropping up around the UK is Covid-19 really on the wane? Continue...
Wiring a new path to scalable quantum computing
Last year, Google produced a 53-qubit quantum computer that could perform a specific calculation significantly faster than the world's fastest supercomputer. Like most of today's largest quantum computers, this system boasts tens of qubits—the quantum counterparts to bits, which encode information in conventional computers.
Rare-metal abundance points to a missing companion star for the supernova Cassiopeia A
The massive star that exploded to form the supernova known as Cassiopeia A most likely had a companion star that has yet to be spotted, a spectroscopic analysis by RIKEN astrophysicists suggests. This will provide fresh impetus to efforts to locate the companion.
Sports are coming back–but there's more at stake than who wins or loses
When major sports leagues and events shut down or were postponed earlier this year, the move was a powerful message for many that the COVID-19 pandemic needed to be taken seriously—even these bastions of social life around the world were taking measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Giant sea scorpions were the underwater titans of prehistoric Australia
Let's turn back time. Before extinction knocked dinosaurs off their pillar, before the "Great Dying" extinction wiped out 95% of all organisms—we had the Paleozoic Era.
Industrial 'borrow pits' benefit beavers and wolverines, study shows
Beavers and wolverines in northern Alberta are using industry-created borrow pits as homes and feeding grounds, according to a new study by University of Alberta ecologists.
New species of Ichthyosaur discovered in museum collection
Hauffiopteryx altera (Latin for different from) has been identified as a new species of Ichthyosaurs by researchers from McGill University and the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany.
Can Asia end its uncontrolled consumption of wildlife? Here's how North America did it a century ago
It was a dark time for animals. Poaching was rampant. Wild birds and mammals were being slaughtered by the thousands. An out-of-control wildlife trade was making once-common animals hard to find and pushing rare species into extinction.
White-tailed deer 'invasion' threatens food chain balance in Alberta's boreal forest: study
Herds of invasive white-tailed deer continue to migrate north in Alberta's boreal forest — bolstered by milder winters and human development that cuts through the vast wilderness, a new study...
UK government takes £400m stake in satellite firm OneWeb
The UK helps rescue company from bankruptcy as part of a plan to replace the EU's Galileo sat-nav system.
Comment: COVID-19 compounded the English pub industry's problems
Coronavirus has had an unprecedented impact on pubs in Britain. The British Beer and Pub Association estimates that the industry lost over £100m each month of lockdown.
New breakthrough in 'spintronics' could boost high speed data technology
Scientists have made a pivotal breakthrough in the important, emerging field of spintronics—which could lead to a new high speed energy efficient data technology.
Heatwave trends accelerate worldwide
The first comprehensive worldwide assessment of heatwaves down to regional levels has revealed that in nearly every part of the world heatwaves have been increasing in frequency and duration since the 1950s.
Making food beautiful—and toxic
Toxic chemicals are being used by food sellers across sub-Saharan Africa to improve the look of meat and fish, scientists and food inspectors say, putting the health of millions at risk.
The world endured 2 extra heatwave days per decade since 1950 – but the worst is yet to come
The term "heatwave" is no stranger to Australians. Defined as when conditions are excessively hot for at least three days in a row, these extreme temperature events have always punctuated our climate.
New group of trapdoor spiders discovered in eastern Australia
A new group of trapdoor spiders that builds burrows hidden by camouflaged doors has been discovered in eastern Australia. One of the almost 20 new species found in this group occurs in the suburbs of Brisbane.
Warmer summers risk chilling energy bill hikes at supermarkets
A new report from Imperial and Sainsbury's outlines how well-managed fridges can keep food cooler, be greener, and cut costs.
Harvesting hydrogen from nanogardens
Easily produced, nature-like nanostructures of cobalt phosphide are highly effective catalysts for the electrolysis of water, according to research performed by chemist Ning Yan and his team at the University of Amsterdam's Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences together with co-workers from the School of Physics and Technology at Wuhan University, China. In a paper featured on the front...
How to get rid of the coffee-stain effect
The coffee-stain effect is a well-known effect in physics and daily life in which a dark-colored edge remains when a fluid containing particles evaporates. This is caused by an "avalanche" of particles moving to the outer edge, University of Twente scientists showed in a past study. In inkjet and 3-D printing, this is an undesired effect. Now, researchers have demonstrated that the effect can be...
Governments working with one hand tied when it comes to data on vulnerable groups
A new discussion paper published in Policy Sciences by two Leiden researchers claims that governments are working with one hand tied when it comes to data on vulnerable groups. At the core of this paper is the idea that even though the volume of data has increased in recent years, the quality of the data in combination with potential known or unknown data gaps limits government's ability to create...
Civil society groups that mobilized around COVID-19 face important choices
Civil society groups have played an important role in responding to the COVID-19 social crisis in South Africa. Examples include the "community action networks" in Cape Town and Gauteng, as well as similar initiatives in more rural areas, such as the Eastern Cape. They also include extraordinary crisis response efforts by pre-existing NGOs, such as Boost Africa and Umgibe, and novel social...
Researchers solve a 60-year-old puzzle about a superhard material
Skoltech researchers, together with their industrial colleagues and academic partners, have cracked a 1960s puzzle about the crystal structure of a superhard tungsten boride that can be extremely useful in industrial applications, including drilling technology. The research, supported by Gazpromneft Science & Technology Center, was published in the journal Advanced Science.
Image: Hubble captures one galaxy, two asteroids
At first sight, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope portrays the sparkling stars of AGC111977, a dwarf galaxy located around 15 million light years away and visible in the lower left part of the image. Other galaxies appear sprinkled across the frame, along with foreground stars from our own galaxy, the Milky Way.
Enhancing the performance of solar cells with 'graphene armor'
A team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has come up with a novel electrode that could greatly improve the stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), the most promising candidate for the next generation solar cells due to their low cost and high power conversion efficiency. This is because inserting a protection layer between the metal-based electrode and the perovskite film can prevent...
Using DNA in the water tell us how many fish are there
River water, lake water, and seawater contain DNA belonging to organisms such as animals and plants. Ecologists have begun to actively analyze such DNA molecules, called environmental DNA, to assess the distribution of macro-organisms. Challenges yet remain, however, in quantitative applications of environmental DNA.
Toward lasers powerful enough to investigate a new kind of physics
In a paper that made the cover of the journal Applied Physics Letters, an international team of researchers has demonstrated an innovative technique for increasing the intensity of lasers. This approach, based on the compression of light pulses, would make it possible to reach a threshold intensity for a new type of physics that has never been explored before: quantum electrodynamics phenomena.
More ecosystem engineers create stability, preventing extinctions
Biological builders like beavers, elephants, and shipworms re-engineer their environments. How this affects their ecological network is the subject of new research, which finds that increasing the number of "ecosystem engineers" stabilizes the entire network against extinctions.
Sea turtles find protection from Senegal fishermen
In a classic case of "poacher turning gamekeeper", the fishermen of Senegal have joined forces to protect one of the ocean's most endangered species—the sea turtle.
Are we making spacecraft too autonomous?
When SpaceX’s Crew Dragon took NASA astronauts to the ISS near the end of May, the launch brought back a familiar sight. For the first time since the space shuttle was retired, American rockets were launching from American soil to take Americans into space.
Inside the vehicle, however, things couldn’t have looked more different. Gone was the sprawling dashboard of lights and switches...