Other Sciences News

Uenoyama et al. improve our understanding of the mechanism of scent marking via the spraying of urine for chemical communication in cats.

New Research Explains Why Sprayed Cat Urine Emits Pungent Odor

Apr 10, 2024 by News Staff

Spraying urine on vertical objects by raising the tail is a commonly observed functional behavior for chemical communication in felids, including domestic...

An artist’s impression of LTT 1445Ab in the triple-star system LTT 1445. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Scientists Discuss Physics and Mathematics behind ‘3 Body Problem’

Apr 10, 2024 by News Staff

Based on the book trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past by Chinese computer engineer Cixin Liu, Netflix’s sci-fi television series 3 Body Problem introduces...

The upper (a) and lower (b) surfaces of the purported sand sculpture from South Africa. Image credit: Helm et al.

120,000-Year-Old Stingray Sand ‘Sculpture’ Found in South Africa

Apr 9, 2024 by News Staff

Nelson Mandela University researcher Charles Helm and his colleagues have found an intriguing rock about 30 km (18.6 miles) east of the South African Blombos...

Jama et al. call for the inclusion of dietary fiber in clinical guidelines for hypertension.

Dietary Fiber Consumption Reduces Blood Pressure, Prevents Cardiovascular Disease, Review Says

Apr 9, 2024 by News Staff

According to several international, regional, and national guidelines on high blood pressure, or hypertension, lifestyle interventions are the first-line...

The wooden spears from the Schöningen site, Germany. Image credit: Minkusimages / Matthias Vogel, NLD.

Study: Woodworking Played Important Role in Human Evolution

Apr 8, 2024 by News Staff

Wooden tools rarely survive in the Paleolithic record limiting our understanding of Pleistocene hunter-gather lifeways. With 187 wooden artifacts, the...

Tang et al. discovered neutronic molecules, in which neutrons can be made to cling to quantum dots, held just by the strong force: the red item represents a bound neutron, the sphere is a hydride nanoparticle, and the yellow field represents a neutron wavefunction. Image credit: Tang et al., doi: 10.1021/acsnano.3c12929.

Scientists Discover ‘Neutronic Molecules’

Apr 8, 2024 by News Staff

Neutrons are subatomic particles that have no electric charge, unlike protons and electrons. That means that while the electromagnetic force is responsible...

Chettih et al. propose that animals recall episodic memories by reactivating hippocampal barcodes. Image credit: Chettih et al., doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.032.

Chickadees Have Unique Neural Barcodes for Episodic Memories, Researchers Say

Apr 2, 2024 by News Staff

Black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), small North American passerine birds that live in deciduous and mixed forests, have extraordinary memories...

Jörges et al. tackled the question of whether body posture influences human perception of self-motion and distance; they found some evidence that the same amount of optic flow can elicit the sensation of having traveled further when supine versus when sitting upright, that is, optic flow is more effective at eliciting a sense of self-motion when supine; this constitutes evidence that visual and non-visual cues are at least partially integrated even when self-motion is presented only visually; however, they did not find any significant differences between performance on Earth and in the microgravity of the ISS, suggesting that vestibular cues play a minor role, if any, in the estimation of visually presented self-motion.

Astronauts Have Surprising Ability to Orient Themselves and Gauge Distance Traveled in Space: Study

Mar 28, 2024 by News Staff

New research has implications for crew safety in space and could potentially give clues to how aging affects people’s balance systems here on Earth. Jörges...

The human occupied vehicle Alvin arriving at the seafloor. Image credit: J. McDermott, Lehigh University / T. Barreyre, CNRS / R. Parnell-Turner, Scripps Institution of Oceanography / D. Fornari, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution / National Deep Submergence Facility / Alvin Group.

Researchers Discover Five New Hydrothermal Vents in Pacific Ocean

Mar 27, 2024 by News Staff

Scientists aboard the research vessel Atlantis have discovered five new deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites on the seafloor at 2,550 m (1.6 miles) depth....

Soltoggio et al. say we are set to see the emergence of Collective AI, where numerous artificial intelligence units, each capable of continuously acquiring new knowledge and skills, form a network to share information with each other.

AI’s Future is Similar to that of Star Trek’s Borg, Scientists Say

Mar 24, 2024 by News Staff

In a new paper in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, leading computer scientists from around the world review recent machine learning advances converging...

The sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). Image credit: Svdmolen / CC BY-SA 3.0 Deed.

Sea Buckthorn Berries are Rich Source of Natural Antioxidants, New Study Shows

Mar 21, 2024 by News Staff

Berries of the sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) grown in Canada showed promising health benefits induced by their rich and diverse polyphenolic profile...

This composite image, taken by JAXA’s Akatsuki spacecraft, shows Venus. Image credit: JAXA / ISAS / DARTS / Damia Bouic.

Clouds of Venus Could Be Hospitable for Some Forms of Life, New Research Suggests

Mar 20, 2024 by News Staff

Planetary scientists have long speculated about the potential habitability of Venus, not at its hot surface, but in the cloud layers located at 48-60 km...

Cranberry supplementation for 28 days appeared to improve running speed as well as aerobic performance in trained runners. Image credit: Michael Reichelt.

Study: Cranberry Consumption Improves Physiological Markers of Performance in Trained Runners

Mar 19, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Cranberries have the highest polyphenol and antioxidant capacity among fruits and vegetables and may protect against exercise-induced free radical production,...

Miassite is one of only four minerals found in nature that act as a superconductor when grown in the lab and the only mineral known so far that reveals unconventional superconductivity in its clean synthetic form. Image credit: Paul Canfield.

Physicists Identify First Unconventional Superconductor with Composition Also Found in Nature

Mar 13, 2024 by News Staff

Solid state chemistry has produced a plethora of materials with properties not found in nature. For example, high-temperature superconductivity in copper-oxide...

This image from Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera shows the globe of Mars set against a dark background. The disk of the planet features yellow, orange, blue and green patches, all with an overall muted grey hue, representing the varying composition of the surface. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / G. Michael / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Drives Deep-Ocean Circulation in Earth’s Oceans, Study Suggests

Mar 13, 2024 by News Staff

Geoscientists from Australia and France have used the geological record of Earth’s deep oceans to discover a connection between the orbits of our home...

This side of a commemorative plate mounted on NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft features U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón’s handwritten In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

NASA Scientists Unveil Design for Europa Clipper’s ‘Golden Record’

Mar 12, 2024 by News Staff

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft will carry a triangular metal plate with a special message when it launches in October 2024 and heads toward Jupiter’s...

GluK2 KO mice are defective in cold sensing. Image credit: Cai et al., 10.1038/s41593-024-01585-8.

Neuroscientists Identify Cold-Sensing Receptor in Mice

Mar 12, 2024 by News Staff

Neuroscientists at the University of Michigan have identified a thermoreceptor that mediates cold sensing in somatosensory neurons. GluK2 KO mice are defective...

First peopling of Europe. Image credit: Garba et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-024-07151-3.

1.4-Million-Year-Old Stone Tools Found in Ukraine Document Earliest Hominin Occupation of Europe

Mar 7, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Archaeologists have dated an assemblage of ancient stone tools excavated from the archaeological site of Korolevo on the Tysa River in western Ukraine...

Tomson et al. found that the interplay of macro and micromorphology in green wall plant species determines their particulate matter removal potential. Image credit: Tomson et al. 2024., doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170950.

Study: Green Walls Can Strip Pollution from Air, Some Plants Do It Better than Others

Mar 5, 2024 by Natali Anderson

Biologists at the University of Surrey have investigated inter-species variation in particulate matter accumulation, wash-off, and retention on ten broadleaf...