150 articles from MONDAY 7.9.2020

Children use both brain hemispheres to understand language, unlike adults

Infants and young children have brains with a superpower, of sorts, say neuroscientists. Whereas adults process most discrete neural tasks in specific areas in one or the other of their brain's two hemispheres, youngsters use both the right and left hemispheres to do the same task. The finding suggests a possible reason why children appear to recover from neural injury much easier than adults.

'Mighty mice' stay musclebound in space, boon for astronauts

Bulked-up, mutant “mighty mice” held onto their muscle during a monthlong stay at the International Space Station, returning to Earth with ripped bodybuilder physiques, scientists reported Monday. A research team led by Dr. Se-Jin Lee of the Jackson Laboratory in Connecticut sent 40 young female black mice to the space station in December, launching aboard a SpaceX rocket. In a paper...

Back to the Roo-ture? Reconstructed face of medieval monk looks familiar

Image of 15th-century Abbot John of Wheathampstead bears likeness to contemporary figuresScholars involved in the digital reconstruction of the face of a medieval Benedictine abbot admit there is something “faintly familiar” about the results.The image was extrapolated by experts from CT scans of a well-preserved skull of Abbot John of Wheathampstead, whose skeleton was discovered during...

Are you a complete covidiot? It's what the government wants of all of us | Suzanne Moore

Denial of the basic facts of the coronavirus outbreak is not confined to conspiracy theorists but has crept into what passes for government policy. Covidiocy is now mainstreamWish you could stand the “covidiot” in the corner and laugh at him? There are not enough dunces’ caps for all the covidiots out there. They come in planeloads returning from the Greek island of Zante, they congregate in...

Coronavirus cases rise steeply among young people in England

Rates growing fastest among those aged 10-29, and decreasing in the older age groupsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe health secretary, Matt Hancock, implored young people to stick to the rules as Covid-19 infections in the UK rose to their highest levels since early May.It is not known why case rates are higher among young people, but England-level data shows they...

Fossil upends theory of how shark skeletons evolved, say scientists

Discovery of early bony fish casts doubt on accepted ideas about evolutionary history of vertebratesThe partial skull of an armoured fish that swam in the oceans over 400m years ago could turn the evolutionary history of sharks on its head, researchers have said.Bony fish, such as salmon and tuna, as well as almost all terrestrial vertebrates, from birds to humans, have skeletons that end up made...

Acorn woodpeckers wage days-long battles over vacant territories, radio tag data show

When acorn woodpeckers inhabiting high-quality territories die, nearby birds begin a battle royal to win the vacant spot. Researchers used radio tags to understand the immense effort woodpecker warriors expend traveling to and fighting in these dangerous battles. They also found spectator woodpeckers go to great lengths to collect social information, coming from kilometers around just to watch...

Genome sequencing accelerates cancer detection

Recent cancer studies have shown that genomic mutations leading to cancer can occur years, or even decades, before a patient is diagnosed. Researchers have developed a statistical model that analyses genomic data to predict whether a patient has a high or low risk of developing esophageal cancer. The results could enable early detection and improve treatment of oesophageal cancer in future.

'Wild West' mentality lingers in modern populations of US mountain regions

Scientists looked at links between the personality profiles of over 3.3m US residents and the 'topography' of 37,227 ZIP codes. Distinct psychological mix associated with mountain populations is consistent with theory that harsh frontiers attracted certain personalities. Researchers argue this may be residual from US frontier expansion during the 19th century, as personality pattern is strongest...

First 'plug and play' brain prosthesis demoed in paralyzed person

In a significant advance, researchers working towards a brain-controlled prosthetic limb at the UC San Francisco Weill Institute for Neurosciences have shown that machine learning techniques helped a paralyzed individual learn to control a computer cursor using their brain activity without requiring extensive daily retraining, which has been a requirement of all past brain-computer interface (BCI)...

A new twist on DNA origami

A team of scientists has just announced the creation of a new type of meta-DNA structures that will open up the fields of optoelectronics (including information storage and encryption) as well as synthetic biology.

Producing leather-like materials from fungi

Leather is used as a durable and flexible material in many aspects of everyday life including furniture and clothing. Leather substitutes derived from fungi are considered to be an ethical and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional bovine leather.