The origin and legacy of the Etruscans
The Etruscan civilization, which flourished during the Iron Age in central Italy, has intrigued scholars for millennia. With remarkable metallurgical skills and a now-extinct, non-Indo-European language, the Etruscans stood out from their contemporary neighbors, leading to intense debate from the likes of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus on their geographical origins.
In a gene tied to growth, scientists see glimmers of human history
A new study delves into the evolution and function of the human growth hormone receptor gene, and asks what forces in humanity's past may have driven changes to this vital piece of DNA.
Spanish volcano still packs a punch 5 days after eruption
A volcano in Spain's Canary Islands kept nerves on edge Friday for a fifth day since it erupted, producing loud explosions, a huge ash cloud and cracking open a new fissure that spewed out more fiery molten rock.
Quasi-particles with tunable interactions
The laws of quantum mechanics allow for the existence of 'quasi-particles': excitations in materials that behave exactly like ordinary particles. A major advantage of quasi-particles over ordinary particles is that their properties can be engineered. In a Nature Materials News & Views article this week, IoP physicist Erik van Heumen describes recent experiments where even the interactions between...
World premiere for virtual laser lab "femtoPro"
In everyday life, we know lasers from numerous applications such as the laser printer or the supermarket scanner. Industrially, lasers are used in material processing for cutting, drilling and labeling, and in medicine for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Laser spectroscopy methods are also indispensable in scientific research.
Hubble captures a cluster in the heart of the Milky Way
This sparkling starfield, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 and Advanced Camera for Surveys, contains the globular cluster ESO 520-21 (also known as Palomar 6). A densely packed, roughly spherical collection of stars, it lies close to the center of the Milky Way, where interstellar gas and dust absorb starlight and make observations more challenging.
Exotic mix in China's delivery of moon rocks
On 16 December 2020 the Chang'e-5 mission, China's first sample return mission to the Moon, successfully delivered to Earth nearly two kilograms of rocky fragments and dust from our celestial companion. Chang'e-5 landed on an area of the Moon not sampled by the NASA Apollo or the Soviet Luna missions nearly 50 years ago, and retrieved fragments of the youngest lunar rocks ever brought back for...
New technique speeds measurement of ultrafast pulses
When we look at an object with our eyes, or with a camera, we can automatically gather enough pixels of light at visible wavelengths to have a clear image of what we see.
Scientists use seasons to find water for future Mars astronauts
An international team of researchers has used seasonal variations to identify likely sub-surface deposits of water ice in the temperate regions of Mars where it would be easiest for future human explorers to survive. The results are being presented this week by Dr. Germán Martínez at the European Planetary Science Conference (EPSC) 2021.
Guiding microbes along their path
The interdisciplinary field of active matter physics investigates the principles behind the behavior and self-organization of living organisms. The goal is to reveal general principles that allow to describe and predict the performance of living matter and thereby support the development of novel technologies. Recently, the groups of Oliver Bäumchen and Marco Mazza from the MPIDS, the University...
Organic molecule remnants found in nuclei of ancient dinosaur cells
A team of scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and from the Shandong Tianyu Museum of Nature (STM) has isolated exquisitely preserved cartilage cells in a 125-million-year-old dinosaur from Northeast China that contain nuclei with remnants of organic molecules and chromatin. The study was published in...
Image: Calabria, Italy, from space
Calabria is a region in southern Italy, famous for its irregular shape that stretches from north to south for around 250 km—separating the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west and the Ionian Sea to the east. The region covers an area of around 15,000 sq km (with over 740 km of coastline) of which agricultural land covers 49%.
Decoding human history with ancient DNA
This year is the 20th anniversary of sequencing the human genome. In honor of this event, a research team led by Prof. FU Qiaomei from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reviewed the most recent progress in the field of ancient DNA (aDNA), i.e., DNA obtained from the remains of past organisms.
Gamma rays and neutrinos from mellow supermassive black holes
The Universe is filled with energetic particles, such as X rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos. However, most of the high-energy cosmic particles' origins remain unexplained.
Light computes any desired linear transform without a digital processor
Different forms of linear transformations, such as the Fourier transform, are widely employed in processing of information in various applications. These transformations are generally implemented in the digital domain using electronic processors, and their computation speed is limited with the capacity of the electronic chip being used, which sets a bottleneck as the data and image size get large....
As autumn approaches here's why we see more spiders in our houses and why wasps are desperate for sugar
The tell-tale signs that autumn is here are clear to us; the days are getting shorter and the temperature is decreasing. We take this as a sign to pull out our winter woolies and think about turning on the radiators. But how do insects know that winter is coming? And what do they do to prepare?
National primary school tests have little effect on children's happiness and wellbeing
National Curriculum Key Stage 2 tests taken by 10- and 11-year-old children in England to assess progress in English and Mathematics do not seem to affect children's wellbeing, according to new UCL-led research.
Are domesticated oysters less prepared for climate change?
Pacific oyster faming is a multi-billion dollar industry, but there are strong concerns about the ability of oyster larvae to develop properly and survive in future ocean acidification scenarios. A recent study from University of Gothenburg shows that long-term breeding might reduce the genetic response to experimental ocean acidification in oyster larvae. The capacity to adapt to future...
Social media 'likes' found to positively influence healthy food choices
Social media users who view images of healthy foods that have been heavily endorsed with 'likes' are more likely to make healthier food choices, a new study has found.
Observations confirm that aerosols formed from plant-emitted compounds can make clouds brighter
Brighter clouds reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, thereby cooling the surface. Emissions of organic compounds from vegetation increase with increasing temperature, thus having the capability to slow down climate warming.
New models to explore the microstructure of polymer mixtures
A well-known method for making polymer materials is to blend or mix multiple polymers. For disperse blends, two liquid polymers do not mix well with each other, leading to a so-called droplet-in-matrix microstructure which is similar to emulsions of oil and water. The material properties of the polymer blend depend on the final microstructure, so the material properties can be tuned during...
Ranked choice, multimember districts blunts gerrymandering
New research from the College of Engineering lays out in detail why ranked-choice voting, combined with multi-member legislative districts, promotes fair representation, particularly when it comes to blunting gerrymandering—the party in power's ability to map a district to its political advantage.
Diversity matters: Species richness keeps ecosystems running
Microorganisms, plants, and animals accomplish great feats every day. For example, by decomposing material, producing plant biomass, or pollinating flowers, they keep nature 'up and running," thereby securing the livelihood of humans. Numerous studies have shown that a high biodiversity can have a positive impact on these as well as on other ecosystem functions.
All-female crew in water-tank spaceflight study
This week 20 women are tucking themselves in a waterbed for five days as part of a dry immersion study to recreate some of the effects of spaceflight on the body. The campaign kicked off yesterday with the first two subjects at the Medes space clinic in Toulouse, France.
New heat exposure model can protect citizens
Increasingly extreme heat threatens the health and comfort of city dwellers. That's why researchers from the University of Georgia have developed a new dynamic heat exposure index that captures varying heat exposure within urban environments.