Other Sciences News

Top: map of South Africa with the location of Ga-Mohana Hill (GHN); inset map shows the approximate extent of the Kalahari Basin in southern Africa and the location of the region of interest in relation to it. Bottom: representative photographs of each of the tufa morphologies identified on the Ga-Mohana hillside. Image credit: von der Meden et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0270104.

Ancient Humans Lived in Kalahari Desert More Than 20,000 Years Ago

Aug 18, 2022 by News Staff

Detailed, well-dated palaeoclimate and archaeological records are critical for understanding the impact of environmental change on human evolution. In...

Ultrasound exposure improved depressive-like behavior in olfactory bulbectomized rats and reduced their plasma corticosterone levels. Image credit: Mary Theresa McLean.

Ultrasound Exposure Improves Depressive-Like Behavior in Rats, New Study Shows

Aug 16, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Scientists from the Tokyo University of Science and FUJIMIC, Inc. have investigated the effects of ultrasound exposure in olfactory bulbectomized rats...

The larynx is an organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. Image credit: OpenStax College / CC BY 3.0.

Simplified Voice Box Enabled Complex Humans Speech, New Research Suggests

Aug 12, 2022 by News Staff

Human speech and language are highly complex, consisting of a large number of sounds. The human larynx (voice box) has acquired the capability to create...

Grape consumption reduces fatty liver, extends lifespan, alters gene expression in the brain, changes metabolism, and has positive effects on behavior and cognition. Image credit: Nicky Pe.

Addition of Grapes to Diet Improves Health and Lifespan, New Studies Suggest

Aug 11, 2022 by News Staff

Grapes contain polyphenols and flavonoids that are known for their antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects. Grape consumption reduces fatty liver,...

Giant Meteorite Impacts Played Key Role in Creation of Earth’s Continents

Aug 10, 2022 by News Staff

Earth is the only planet known to have continents, although how they formed and evolved is unclear. An artist’s concept of meteors impacting the ancient...

Dr. Daron Duke speaks with visitors to an archaeological site on the Utah Test and Training Range, July 18, 2022. Image credit: R. Nial Bradshaw, U.S. Air Force.

12,000-Year-Old Human Footprints Discovered in Utah

Aug 9, 2022 by News Staff

A team of researchers has discovered 88 fossilized human footprints in Utah’s West Desert, the United States. Dr. Daron Duke speaks with visitors to...

Embryological series of Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) showing the transition from ancestral to derived pelvic states across avian prehatching ontogeny: (a) pelvic reconstructions along the evolutionary transition to living birds; note that pelves are shown as examples of character states and are not in one-to-one correspondence with ontogenetic stages; (b) during ontogeny, the ilium extends first posteriorly and then anteriorly, the pubis retroverts, the tail becomes relatively reduced and a transient pubic boot appears at intermediate ontogenetic stages; (c) the CFL (M. caudofemoralis longus homologue) is large during early ontogenetic stages; the IF (M. iliofemoralis homologue) originates smaller and further back on the ilium before expanding anteriorly to the derived condition and never splits into two muscles as seen in the adult; and PIFE1+2 (Mm. puboischiofemoralis externus 1 et 2 homologues) fail to fully differentiate until after the pubis is retroverted; muscles that are not highlighted are in gray; (d) the derived pelvic spinal nerve arrangement in birds (top), with additional spinal nerves contributing to the sacral plexus and nerves in Coturnix embryos (bottom). Scale bars - 1 mm in (b and d), 2 mm in (c). Image credit: Griffin et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04982-w.

Study: Developing Bird Hip Bone Passes through Ancestral Dinosaurian Conditions

Aug 8, 2022 by News Staff

Living birds have bodies substantially modified from the ancestral reptilian condition. The bird pelvis (hip bone) in particular experienced major changes...

This map shows that lightning occurs mostly over land compared to ocean; the gray rectangle indicates the region of interest from 50°W to 50°E and 20°S to 20°N. Image credit: Pan et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-31714-5.

Salt in Sea Spray Aerosols Inhibits Lightning during Marine Thunderstorms: Study

Aug 4, 2022 by News Staff

In a study published this week in the journal Nature Communications, scientists tested the hypothesis that fine and coarse marine aerosols have opposite...

$Optical manufacture of stretchable color-changing materials at the macroscale: (a) structural color patterns are recorded as periodic refractive index variations in the photo-elastomer via standing waves that result from exposure to a projected light pattern that reflects off the mirror backing; (b) the resulting structural color matches the spectral distribution of the exposure pattern; when the material is stretched or compressed, the periodicity of the recorded photonic structure changes, causing a predictable and reversible color change. Image credit: Miller et al., doi: 10.1038/s41563-022-01318-x / MIT Communication Initiatives.$

Scientists Create Chameleon-Like, Color-Shifting Materials

Aug 3, 2022 by News Staff

Materials scientists at MIT have unlocked a rich and easily controlled material design space, previously unattainable using any competing technique, by...

This mix of ribs, broken cranial bones, a molar, bone fragments, and stone cobbles is a refuse pile from the butchered mammoths; it was preserved beneath the adult mammoth’s skull and tusks at the site of Hartley in New Mexico, the United States. Image credit: Timothy Rowe / University of Texas at Austin.

Humans Lived in New Mexico 37,000 Years Ago, New Study Claims

Aug 2, 2022 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have found butchered bones from a mother mammoth and her calf and signs of controlled fire at the Hartley locality, an open-air site on...

Intake of 35 g of peanuts prior to two main meals per day resulted in weight loss comparable to a traditional low-fat weight loss diet without preloads; greater systolic blood pressure reductions were observed with peanut intake, which may lower cardiovascular disease risk. Image credit: Three-shots.

Peanut-Enriched Diet Promotes Weight Loss, Reduces Blood Pressure

Aug 1, 2022 by Natali Anderson

In a two-arm, parallel randomized controlled trial, scientists from the University of South Australia and Texas Tech University examined the effect of...

Clark et al. show that a double graphene liquid cell makes it possible to monitor with atomic resolution the dynamics of platinum adatoms on the monolayer in an aqueous salt solution. Image credit: Clark et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05130-0.

Physicists Capture Images of Single Atoms ‘Swimming’ in Liquid

Jul 28, 2022 by News Staff

Using a transmission electron microscope and a double graphene liquid cell, physicists at the UK’s National Graphene Institute have monitored the dynamics...

Song et al. show that damaging effects of blue light at the organismal level are strongly age dependent and are associated with reduced activity of specific components of energy-producing pathways in mitochondria. Image credit: Pexels.

Damaging Effects of Blue Light Exposure Worsen with Age, New Research Suggests

Jul 28, 2022 by News Staff

Blue light is a predominant component of light emitting devices, which are increasingly present in our environment. There is already accumulating evidence...

Bapir et al. confirm that cocoa can decrease blood pressure and arterial stiffness in everyday life when elevated within the normal range. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Study: Cocoa Only Decreases Blood Pressure When Elevated

Jul 27, 2022 by News Staff

New research led by Professor Christian Heiss from the University of Surrey and NHS Healthcare Trust reduces concerns that cocoa as a treatment for raised...

Hodges et al. found that consuming green tea extract for four weeks can reduce blood sugar levels and improve gut health by lowering inflammation and decreasing gut permeability. Image credit: Sci-News.com.

Green Tea Extract Consumption May Help Reduce Blood Sugar Levels, Improve Gut Health

Jul 26, 2022 by News Staff

Dietary interventions with catechin-rich green tea extract confections in healthy adults and persons with with metabolic syndrome decreased fasting glucose...

Moncrieff et al. suggest that depression is not likely caused by a chemical imbalance, and call into question what antidepressants do. Image credit: Chenspec.

Serotonin Theory of Depression Debunked

Jul 21, 2022 by News Staff

In a systematic umbrella review of previous relevant studies, a team of scientists from the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Italy synthesized and evaluated...

An assistant referee with a flag. Image credit: Chiraphat Phaungmala.

Soccer’s VAR Technology Is Not Precise Enough to Make Accurate Offside Decisions, Study Says

Jul 20, 2022 by News Staff

New research suggests that Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in soccer is useful for preventing obvious mistakes but is not precise enough to give...

The language network in native speakers of diverse languages. Image credit: Malik-Moraleda et al., doi: 10.1038/s41593-022-01114-5.

New Study Across 45 Languages Reveals Universal Language Network

Jul 19, 2022 by News Staff

In a large-scale functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, neuroscientists from MIT and Harvard University evaluated the claim of language universality...

Brine pools are one of the most extreme environments on Earth, yet despite their high salinity, exotic chemistry, and complete lack of oxygen, these pools are teeming with life. Image credit: Purkis et al., doi: 10.1038/s43247-022-00482-x.

Marine Researchers Discover Deep-Sea Complex of Brine Pools in Red Sea

Jul 18, 2022 by News Staff

Scientists from the University of Miami have discovered one 10,000 m2 brine pool and three minor pools of less than 10 m2 in the Gulf of Aqaba, a northern...