136 articles from WEDNESDAY 1.2.2023
Could a popular COVID-19 antiviral supercharge the pandemic?
A widely used COVID-19 drug may be driving the appearance of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, sparking concerns it could prolong and even reinvigorate the pandemic. The drug, molnupiravir, produced by Merck & Co., is designed to kill the virus by inducing mutations in the viral genome. A survey of viral genomes reported in a new preprint, however, suggests some people treated with the drug...
Looking beyond microplastics: Cotton and synthetic microfibers impact behavior and growth of aquatic organisms
While microplastics have received significant attention in recent years for their negative environmental impacts, a new study from Oregon State University scientists found microfibers from synthetic materials as well as cotton impacted the behavior and growth of water organisms.
Mistaken fossil rewrites history of Indian subcontinent for second time
In 2020, amid the first pandemic lockdowns, a scientific conference scheduled to take place in India never happened.
Digital revolution inspires new research direction in ecosystem structural diversity
A special issue of the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment lays the foundation for pursuing structural diversity as a new research direction in ecology. The issue also describes the digital data collection methods that enable the new research direction, and the applications of the work in various ecosystems.
Scientists are closing in on why the universe exists
The mysterious ‘neutrino’ has a nickname: the ‘ghost particle.’ Benjamin Tam is finishing his PhD in Particle Astrophysics at Queen’s University. He takes us two kilometres deep below the earth’s surface where he and fellow scientists hope to watch neutrinos finally explain the universe’s...
Neanderthals hunted, butchered massive elephants: study
Neanderthals may have lived in larger groups than previously believed, hunting massive elephants that were up to three times bigger than those of today, according to a new study.
Pit find in Germany reveals how Neanderthals hunted huge elephants
125,000-year-old bones of 70 animals – each about three times the size of today’s Asian elephants – discovered near HalleNeanderthals may have lived in larger groups than previously believed, hunting massive elephants that were up to three times bigger than those of today, according to a new study.The researchers reached their conclusions, published in the journal Science Advances on...
Getting ready for the next 'big' quake in Missouri's New Madrid Seismic Zone
There are hundreds of minor earthquakes each year in Missouri's New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ), but most of them are too small for people living in the area to feel. While several major earthquakes—magnitude 7.0 or greater—occurred between 1811-1812 in the NMSZ, none have happened since then, creating a knowledge gap in earthquake preparedness among people now residing in that area of...
Drilling campaign reaches a depth of 808 meters in the Antarctic ice sheet
In Antarctica, the second drilling campaign of the Beyond EPICA—Oldest Ice project, at the remote field site Little Dome C, has been successfully completed. This project is an unprecedented challenge for paleoclimatology studies and its goal is to go back 1.5 million years in time to reconstruct past temperatures and greenhouse gas concentrations through the analysis of an ice core extracted...
New method extracts antioxidant nutrients from corn processing waste
A process for extracting nutritious antioxidant dietary fibers from corn starch production waste could turn tons of nearly-worthless bran into a valuable, circular resource.
Quails could be the unknown reservoir of Tuscany and Sicilian viruses
Quails could be the unknown reservoir of the Toscana virus (TOSV) and the Sandfly Fever Sicilian virus (SFSV), mosquito-borne pathogens that can infect domestic animals and also cause disease in humans. This conclusion is drawn from a study published in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology, and led by Jordi Serra-Cobo, professor at the Faculty of Biology and the Biodiversity Research Institute...
Engineers examine safe drinking water management strategies
While residents in California are still dealing with damage from last month's floods—after years of devastating droughts—UBC Okanagan engineers are looking at better ways to manage the delivery of safe drinking water to homes.
War tourists fighting on a virtual front, since Ukraine-Russia war
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, a new group of "war tourists" has emerged—those who are fighting on a virtual front.
Wildfires are increasingly burning California's snowy landscapes, colliding with winter droughts to shrink snowpack
The early pandemic years overlapped with some of California's worst wildfires on record, creating haunting, orange-tinted skies and wide swaths of burned landscape. Some of the impacts of these fires are well known, including drastic declines in air quality, and now a new study shows how these wildfires combined with midwinter drought conditions to accelerate snowmelt.