268 articles from WEDNESDAY 21.10.2020

OSIRIS-REx TAGs Surface of Asteroid Bennu

Portal origin URL: OSIRIS-REx TAGs Surface of Asteroid BennuPortal origin nid: 465657Published: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 - 17:00Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: Captured on Oct. 20, 2020 during the OSIRIS-REx mission’s Touch-And-Go (TAG) sample collection event, this series of images shows the SamCam imager’s field of view as the NASA...

Obesity and disease tied to dramatic dietary changes

The 'mismatch hypothesis' argues that our bodies evolved to digest the foods that our ancestors ate, and that human bodies will struggle and largely fail to metabolize a radically new set of foods. This intuitive idea is hard to test directly, but the Turkana, a pastoralist population in remote Kenya, present a natural experiment: genetically homogenous populations whose diets stretch across a...

Genome sequencing shows climate barrier to spread of Africanized bees

Since the 1950s, 'Africanized' honeybees have spread north and south across the Americas until apparently coming to a halt in California and northern Argentina. Now genome sequencing of hundreds of bees from the northern and southern limits shows a gradual decline in African ancestry across hundreds of miles, rather than an abrupt shift.

NOAA report reveals condition of natural and cultural resources of Papahānaumokuākea

NOAA has published a peer-reviewed State of the Monument report that was jointly produced by the co-trustees of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. The report includes information on the status and trends of living resources, habitats, ocean conditions, maritime and cultural archaeological resources, and the human activities and natural events that affect them.

Genome sequencing shows climate barrier to spread of Africanized bees

Since the 1950s, "Africanized" honeybees have spread north and south across the Americas until apparently coming to a halt in California and northern Argentina. Now genome sequencing of hundreds of bees from the northern and southern limits shows a gradual decline in African ancestry across hundreds of miles, rather than an abrupt shift.

Tracking the SARS-CoV-2 virus with genome sequencing

A study published in Cell Reports shows how next generation genetic sequencing can track mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which can in effect help with transmission tracing, diagnostic testing accuracy and vaccine effectiveness.

Protected areas help waterbirds adapt to climate change

Climate change pushes species distribution areas northward. However, the expansion of species ranges is not self-evident due to e.g. habitat degradation and unsustainable harvesting caused by human activities. A new study led from the University of Turku, Finland, suggests that protected areas can facilitate wintering waterbird adaptation to climate warming by advancing their range shifts towards...

Looking for hidden states of the COVID-19 spike protein

The virus wreaking havoc on our lives is an efficient infection machine. Comprised of only 29 proteins (compared to our 400,000), with a genome 1/200,000 the size of ours, SARS-CoV-2 is expertly evolved to trick our cells to contribute its machinery to assist in its propagation.

Young Americans favor reforms, says national poll

The time has come for reform on how the United States deals with the electoral process, the environment and social justice, according to a new national poll released today by the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion that takes an in-depth look at the views of Americans age 18 to 39.

Novel method for measuring spatial dependencies turns less data into more data

The identification of human migration driven by climate change, the spread of COVID-19, agricultural trends, and socioeconomic problems in neighboring regions depends on data—the more complex the model, the more data is required to understand such spatially distributed phenomena. However, reliable data is often expensive and difficult to obtain, or too sparse to allow for accurate predictions.

Women aged 50-60 at greatest risk of ‘long Covid’, experts suggest

Study links age and number of symptoms to lasting health problems from coronavirusCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWomen aged 50-60 are at greatest risk of developing “long Covid”, analysis suggests. Older age and experiencing five or more symptoms within the first week of illness were also associated with a heightened risk of lasting health problems.The study, led...

Smile, wave: Some exoplanets may be able to see us, too

Three decades after astronomer Carl Sagan suggested that Voyager 1 snap Earth's picture from billions of miles away - resulting in the iconic Pale Blue Dot photograph - two astronomers now offer another unique cosmic perspective: Some exoplanets - planets from beyond our own solar system - have a direct line of sight to observe Earth's biological qualities from far, far away.

Turbulent era sparked leap in human behavior, adaptability 320,000 years ago

The first analysis of a sedimentary drill core representing 1 million years of environmental history in the East African Rift Valley shows that at the same time early humans were abandoning old tools in favor of more sophisticated technology and broadening their trade, their landscape was experiencing frequent fluctuations in vegetation and water supply that made resources less reliably available....

Is Your Science Classroom Currently Closed? Try Some Citizen Science!

NASA citizen science can be a great teaching tool, especially during times like these when it’s difficult to run in-person experiments. Dr. Stephany Taylor, Assistant Professor of Physics at Shaw University uses NASA’s Floating Forests citizen science project in her introductory science classes to help her students learn about the process of doing science and experience being part of...

Turbulent era sparked leap in human behavior, adaptability 320,000 years ago

For hundreds of thousands of years, early humans in the East African Rift Valley could expect certain things of their environment. Freshwater lakes in the region ensured a reliable source of water, and large grazing herbivores roamed the grasslands. Then, around 400,000 years ago, things changed. The environment became less predictable, and human ancestors faced new sources of instability and...

Building blocks of language evolved 30-40 million years ago

The capacity for language is built upon our ability to understand combinations of words and the relationships between them, but the evolutionary history of this ability is little understood. Now, researchers from the University of Warwick have managed to date this capacity to at least 30-40 million years ago, the last common ancestor of monkeys, apes and humans.

AOC’s Among Us livestream hints at Twitch’s political power

Just before 9 p.m. on October 20, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez went on Twitch to play the hottest game in America: Among Us. “Hi, everyone! This is crazy!” she began, urging viewers to make a plan for how they will vote with I Will Vote, an outreach program funded by the Democratic National Committee.  After a few technical difficulties, Ocasio-Cortez spent three and a half hours playing...

Captive-bred salmon in wild may do more harm than good

Releasing captive-bred Atlantic salmon into the ocean, a long-standing practice to boost stocks for commercial fishing, reduces the rate at which wild populations reproduce and may ultimately do more harm than good, researchers cautioned Wednesday.

Suit: Feds ignore risk of huge spills to endangered species

Environmental groups asked a federal court Wednesday to throw out the Trump administration's assessment of oil and gas activity's likely effects on endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico, saying it dismisses the chance of another disastrous blowout like the BP spill of 2010.

Chili-shaped device could reveal just how hot that pepper is

Some people love spicy food—the hotter, the better. Others go out of their way to avoid the palate-singeing burn of capsaicin, the compound that gives chili peppers their kick. Now, researchers have developed a portable device (whimsically shaped like a chili pepper) that can reveal how much capsaicin a pepper contains, before biting into it. They report their results in ACS Applied Nano...

Delivering proteins to testes could someday treat male infertility

According to the Mayo Clinic, about 15% of couples are infertile, and male infertility plays a role in over one-third of these cases. Often, problems with sperm development are to blame. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Nano have found a way to deliver a protein important for sperm cell production directly to mouse testicles, where it restored normal sperm development and allowed previously...

A flexible color-changing film inspired by chameleon skin

Chameleons can famously change their colors to camouflage themselves, communicate and regulate their temperature. Scientists have tried to replicate these color-changing properties for stealth technologies, anti-counterfeiting measures and electronic displays, but the materials have limitations. Now, researchers have developed a flexible film that changes color in response to stretching, pressure...

The soft power concept of German energy foreign policy

As part of its foreign policy, Germany hopes to promote energy transitions abroad through international energy partnerships. A new study by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) analyzes these bilateral energy partnerships. Building on its reputation as an energy transition frontrunner, Germany is currently pursuing a soft power strategy aimed at winning over foreign countries...

Study finds go-to hormone for cycad propagation ineffective

The newly published thesis research of University of Guam Master of Environmental Science graduate Benjamin Deloso now adds to the body of knowledge about asexual propagation of the most endangered plant group in the world, cycads. His work was part of a set of UOG studies, all focused on improving the asexual propagation of cycads, published in the September 2020 issue of HortScience, one of the...