75 articles from FRIDAY 23.12.2022

U.S. mulls stronger protections for iconic Caribbean conch, raising concern among fishers

Overfishing may put the queen conch—a large marine snail known for its showy shell and delectable flesh—on the path to extinction, U.S. government researchers concluded earlier this year after an extensive review of the species. Federal officials are now considering whether to list the Caribbean species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, having wrapped up collecting...

Deadly sharp points found in Idaho could be first American-made tools

Lethally sharp projectile points found along the banks of a river in southwestern Idaho, dated to nearly 16,000 years ago according to a study published today , could represent the oldest evidence of the first tool technology brought to the Americas. Apparently deposited into a series of shallow pits by an ancient group of hunter-gatherers, the points are examples...

Reactive strip developed to quickly and easily detect and quantify allergens in foods

A team from the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), the Universitat de València (UV), and the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) has developed a lateral flow test that identifies and quantifies the level of allergens reliably in food with the help of a smartphone. The work has been published in the journal Biosensors.

Polarity proteins shape efficient 'breathing' pores in grasses

Grasses have "respiratory pores" (called stomata) that open and close to regulate the uptake of carbon dioxide for photosynthesis on the one hand and water loss through transpiration on the other. Unlike many other plants, stomata in grasses form lateral "helper cells." Thanks to these cells, the stomata of grasses can open and close more quickly, which optimizes plant-atmosphere gas exchange and...

Predicting calving problems before insemination

A small percentage of cows will experience problems when calving and breeders would like to know which cows are at risk. Using the vast dataset of the Dutch cattle breeding company CRV, computer scientists at the University of Groningen used artificial intelligence to develop a predictive model that in theory could halve the number of calving problems. They published their results in Preventive...

Scientists investigate potential regolith origin on Uranus' moon Miranda

In a recent study published in The Planetary Science Journal, a pair of researchers led by The Carl Sagan Center at the SETI Institute in California investigated the potential origin for the thick regolith deposits on Uranus' moon, Miranda. The purpose of this study was to determine Miranda's internal structure, most notably its interior heat, which could help determine if Miranda harbors—or...

Humans have been using bear skins for at least 300,000 years, suggests study

Humans have been using bear skins to protect themselves from cold weather for at least 300,000 years. This is suggested by cut marks on the metatarsal and phalanx of a cave bear discovered at the Lower Paleolithic site of Schöningen in Lower Saxony, Germany. This makes it one of the oldest examples of this type in the world.

sPHENIX assembly update: Magnet mapped, detectors prepared

Physicists, engineers, and technicians at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory are rounding out the year with key developments to a house-sized particle detector that will begin capturing collision snapshots for the first time next spring.