130 articles from MONDAY 20.9.2021

Modern activities follow the contours of ancient Teotihuacan

A lidar mapping study shows ancient residents of Teotihuacan moved astonishing quantities of soil and bedrock for construction and reshaped the landscape in a way that continues to influence the contours of modern activities in this part of Mexico. The paper also shows how Teotihuacan's engineers re-routed two rivers to align with points of astronomical significance, identified hundreds of...

Modern activities follow the contours of ancient Teotihuacan

A lidar mapping study using a cutting-edge aerial mapping technology shows ancient residents of Teotihuacan moved astonishing quantities of soil and bedrock for construction and reshaped the landscape in a way that continues to influence the contours of modern activities in this part of Mexico. The work is published in the open-access journal, PLOS One.

NASA’s Artemis Rover to Land Near Nobile Region of Moon’s South Pole

Portal origin URL: NASA’s Artemis Rover to Land Near Nobile Region of Moon’s South PolePortal origin nid: 474054Published: Monday, September 20, 2021 - 16:20Featured (stick to top of list): noPortal text teaser: In 2023, NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will land near the western edge of the Nobile Crater at the Moon’s South Pole to...

Research guides future of plastic waste chemical recycling

New research from the Cornell College of Engineering aims to ease the process of chemical recycling—an emerging industry that could turn waste products back into natural resources by physically breaking plastic down into the smaller molecules it was originally produced from.

Early long-distance trade links shaped Siberian dogs, study finds

Archeological finds show that people in the Arctic regions of Northwestern Siberia had already established long-range trading links with Eurasian populations some 2000 years ago. The initiation of trading relationships was one of a series of significant social changes that took place during this period. Moreover, these changes even had an impact on the genomes of Siberian dogs, as an international...

Solar electric propulsion makes NASA's Psyche spacecraft go

When it comes time for NASA's Psyche spacecraft to power itself through deep space, it'll be more brain than brawn that does the work. Once the stuff of science fiction, the efficient and quiet power of electric propulsion will provide the force that propels the Psyche spacecraft all the way to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The orbiter's target: A metal-rich asteroid also called...

RNA-targeting enzyme expands the CRISPR toolkit

Researchers at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research have discovered a bacterial enzyme that they say could expand scientists' CRISPR toolkit, making it easy to cut and edit RNA with the kind of precision that, until now, has only been available for DNA editing. The enzyme, called Cas7-11, modifies RNA targets without harming cells, suggesting that in addition to being a valuable research...

Loss of picky-eating fish threatens coral reef food webs

The networks of predator fish and their prey found on coral reefs all over the world are remarkably similar, and those predator fish are pickier eaters than previously thought. These delicate ecosystems become even more vulnerable when these specialized hunters go extinct.

New discovery about meteorites informs atmospheric entry threat assessment

Researchers watched fragments of two meteors as they ramped up the heat from room temperature to the temperature it reaches as it enters Earth's atmosphere and made a significant discovery. The vaporized iron sulfide leaves behind voids, making the material more porous. This information will help when predicting the weight of a meteor, its likelihood to break apart, and the subsequent damage...

Physicists probe light smashups to guide future research

Light has no mass, but Europe's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) can convert light's energy into massive particles. Physicists studied matter-generating collisions of light and showed the departure angle of their debris is subtly distorted by quantum interference patterns in the light prior to collision. Their findings will help physicists accurately interpret future experiments aimed at finding 'new...