103 articles from MONDAY 1.5.2023

Measuring the value that US residents place on clean water

A new special edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) focuses on helping federal regulators measure the value that U.S. residents place on clean water, just months before the Supreme Court is set to decide a case with significant implications for the Clean Water Act.

Do people and monkeys see colors the same way?

New findings in color vision research imply that humans can perceive a greater range of blue tones than monkeys do. Distinct connections found in the human retina may indicate recent evolutionary adaptations for sending enhanced color vision signals from the eye to the brain.

The science behind the life and times of the Earth's salt flats

Researchers have characterized two different types of surface water in the hyperarid salars -- or salt flats -- that contain much of the world's lithium deposits. This new characterization represents a leap forward in understanding how water moves through such basins, and will be key to minimizing the environmental impact on such sensitive, critical habitats.

The science behind the life and times of the Earth's salt flats

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Alaska Anchorage are the first to characterize two different types of surface water in the hyperarid salars—or salt flats—that contain much of the world's lithium deposits. This new characterization represents a leap forward in understanding how water moves through such basins, and will be key to minimizing the...

Thrift shops thrive when disorder is balanced with high seller knowledge

One person's trash may well be another's "come up," or what the rapper Macklemore calls hidden treasures in the song "Thrift Shop," but only if secondhand shoppers follow the rapper's lead and dig through what are sometimes messy bins. New research from Penn State and Texas Christian University shows that shoppers looking to "pop some tags" may be drawn to disordered thrift shop displays because...

Interactive 3D model recreates Old Man of the Mountain

Twenty years after the Old Man of the Mountain collapsed, audiences around the world will now be able to explore the iconic symbol of New Hampshire through an online interactive 3D model created by Matthew Maclay, a graduate student in earth sciences at Dartmouth's Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies.

New 50-year study offers insight into effects of climate on bird reproduction

A new study reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has assessed changes in the reproductive output of 104 bird species around the world between 1970 and 2019. The study reveals that a warming climate appears to have more worrisome effects on larger birds and migratory birds than on smaller, sedentary species.

People in comas showed ‘conscious-like’ brain activity as they died, study says

‘Potential neuro-signatures of consciousness’ observed in unresponsive patients at time of death, scientists saySome recall bright lights at the end of a tunnel, feeling the presence of loved ones or floating above their body after a near-death experience. Now, scientists say they have captured “conscious-like” brain activity in dying patients in findings that give new insights into the...

Webb finds water vapor, but from a rocky planet or its star?

The most common stars in the universe are red dwarf stars, which means that rocky exoplanets are most likely to be found orbiting such a star. Red dwarf stars are cool, so a planet has to hug it in a tight orbit to stay warm enough to potentially host liquid water (meaning it lies in the habitable zone). Such stars are also active, particularly when they are young, releasing ultraviolet and X-ray...

West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreated far inland, re-advanced since last Ice Age

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is melting rapidly, raising concerns it could cross a tipping point of irreversible retreat in the next few decades if global temperatures rise 1.5 to 2.0 degrees Celsius (2.7 to 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. New research finds that 6,000 years ago, the grounded edge of the ice sheet may have been as far as 250 kilometers (160 miles) inland from...

Exposure to airplane noise increases risk of sleeping fewer than 7 hours per night

As major airline officials predict another record summer air travel season, a new analysis has found that exposure to even moderate levels of airplane noise may disrupt sleep, building upon a growing body of research on the adverse health effects of environmental noise. People who were exposed to airplane noise at levels as low as 45 dB were more likely to sleep less than 7 hours per night. For...

Massive radio array to search for extraterrestrial signals from other civilizations

One of the world's most powerful radio telescope arrays is joining the hunt for signals from other galactic civilizations. The National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), situated about 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, is collecting data that scientists will analyze for the type of emissions that only artificial transmitters make, signals that would betray the...

Researchers pin down PFAS prevalence in firefighter gear

A firefighter's protective clothing, called turnout gear, is essential for operating in the dangerous conditions of a fire. However, the firefighting community has raised concerns regarding the presence of a class of chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—some of which have been linked to cancer—in the gear.

Drones offer more efficient way to survey vital oyster reefs

Skimming 100 feet above the Gulf waters at 13 miles per hour and blasting out 700,000 laser pulses every second, a drone flies over this oyster reef off the Big Bend coast of western Florida in early 2021. A few minutes later, the drone lands on shore and, with a little computer magic back at the lab, spits out what the drone operators want to know: How are these reefs doing?

Couple unearths one of world’s greatest fossil finds in mid-Wales

Discovery could help plug gaps in understanding of evolution after Cambrian explosion more than 500m years agoMany people discovered new interests closer to home as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns. For Dr Joseph Botting and Dr Lucy Muir, it was a 10-metre-wide quarry in a sheep field near to their home in Llandrindod, central Wales, which appeared to be teeming with tiny fossils.Now researchers...