254 articles from TUESDAY 14.7.2020

‘Disk Detective’ Needs Your Help Finding Disks Where Planets Form

Eyebrow: Citizen Science NewsBody: Planets form from gas and dust particles swirling around baby stars in enormous spinning disks. But because this process takes millions of years, scientists can only learn about these disks by finding and studying a lot of different examples. Through a project called Disk Detective, you can help.Link: Learn...

Biden steps up his clean-energy plan, in a nod to climate activists

Joe Biden has raised the ambitions of his climate plan, in a clear sign his campaign is responding to demands for greater action among the progressive flank of his party. In a speech on Tuesday, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president announced proposals to spend $2 trillion on clean-energy projects and eliminate carbon emissions from the electricity sector by 2035, stepping up his...

Could the willow help us fight cancer?

An ingredient in its bark led to aspirin, now researchers are looking into the properties of another compound in the treeWillow trees are a pharmaceutical treasure trove. The ancient Egyptians used its bark for relieving pain, inflammation and fevers, and science has since shown these medical powers came from an ingredient called salicin, named after salix, the Latin name for the tree. That...

The plight of the Kalahari San

Over the past few decades, San (Bushmen) communities in southern Africa, former hunter-gatherers, have developed new adaptive strategies to cope with climate change, the presence of other groups on their land, and the impacts of globalization. While San have likely lived in southern Africa for 20,000 to 40,000 years, they remain politically and economically marginalized in relation to other social...

A biologist and a historian are looking for art to trace fruit and vegetable evolution

Plant geneticists seeking to understand the history of the plants we eat can decode the genomes of ancient crops from rare, well-preserved samples. However, this approach leaves significant gaps in the timelines of where and when many modern-day fruits, vegetables, and cereal crops evolved, and paints an incomplete picture of what they looked like. A Science & Society article publishing July 14th...

Scientists achieve first complete assembly of human X chromosome

Although the current human reference genome is the most accurate and complete vertebrate genome ever produced, there are still gaps in the DNA sequence, even after two decades of improvements. Now, for the first time, scientists have determined the complete sequence of a human chromosome from one end to the other ('telomere to telomere') with no gaps and an unprecedented level of accuracy.

Ancient oyster shells provide historical insights

An interdisciplinary team of scientists studying thousands of oyster shells along the Georgia coast, some as old as 4,500 years, has published new insights into how Native Americans sustained oyster harvests for thousands of years, observations that may lead to better management practices of oyster reefs today.