Other Sciences News

DLR researchers spotted an unusual ozone mini-hole over the Arctic. Image credit: DLR / BIRA / ESA.

Researchers Spot Ozone Mini-Hole over Arctic

Apr 10, 2020 by News Staff

Using data from the Tropomi instrument on ESA’s Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite (also known as Sentinel-5P), a team of scientists from the...

The paper device is folded and unfolded in steps to filter the nucleic acids of pathogens from wastewater samples, then a biochemical reaction with preloaded reagents detects whether the nucleic acid of SARS-CoV-2 infection is present; the results are visible to the naked eye: a green circle indicating positive and a blue circle negative. Image credit: Cranfield University.

Paper-Based Device Could Detect SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus in Wastewater

Apr 6, 2020 by News Staff

An approach called the wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE), which is already recognized as an effective way to trace illicit drugs and obtain information...

This is an artist's reconstruction of female Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia. Image credit: Elisabeth Daynes, via tabula.ge.

Homo erectus Existed 200,000 Years Earlier than Previously Thought

Apr 3, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of paleoanthropologists has unearthed a 2-million-year-old skull of Homo erectus, the first of our ancestors to be nearly human-like...

Reconstruction of the West Antarctic mid-Cretaceous temperate rainforest. The painting is based on paleofloral and environmental information inferred from palynological, geochemical, sedimentological and organic biomarker data obtained from cores at the site of PS104_20-2, Antarctica. Image credit: J. McKay / Alfred-Wegener-Institut / CC-BY 4.0.

90-Million-Year-Old Fossilized Rainforest Discovered in Antarctica

Apr 3, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of paleontologists and geologists has uncovered well-preserved fossilized roots, pollen and spores of 90-million-year-old (mid-Cretaceous...

The occasional use of stone tools as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among Neanderthals in France.

Homo sapiens Interbred with Various Neanderthal Populations, Study Says

Apr 2, 2020 by News Staff

Modern humans in Eurasia carry genetic material inherited from Altai Neanderthals, according to a study published in the journal Genetics. This is noteworthy...

Forensic facial reconstruction of another Australopithecus species - A. afarensis. Image credit: Cicero Moraes / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Australopithecus afarensis Had Ape-Like Brain Organization, But Prolonged Brain Growth Like Humans

Apr 2, 2020 by News Staff

Human brains are three times larger, are organized differently, and mature for a longer period of time than those of our closest living relatives, the...

Fish were captured and stored by the Calusa people in complex walled structures called watercourts, constructed of shell and other sediments. Image credit: Merald Clark.

Calusa People Stored Live Fish in Watercourts

Apr 2, 2020 by News Staff

In the 16th century, the Calusa, a fisher-gatherer-hunter society, were the most politically complex polity in Florida, and Mound Key, an island in Estero...

Hu et al reveal a novel mechanism regulating reversal learning and provide potential targets for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders characterized by cognitive inflexibility. Image credit: Alexas Fotos.

Newly-Discovered Gene Mutation Improves Cognitive Flexibility in Mice

Apr 1, 2020 by News Staff

A team of U.S. researchers has discovered a genetic mutation that improves cognitive flexibility in mice. Hu et al reveal a novel mechanism regulating...

Zhang et al designed a peptide that can bind to part of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein. Image credit: Christine Daniloff, MIT.

Newly-Synthesized Peptide Could Disarm SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus

Mar 31, 2020 by News Staff

Chemists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have chemically synthesized a new peptide (a short protein fragment) that can bind to part...

Transmission electron micrograph of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles, isolated from a patient. Image credit: NIAID.

Artificial Intelligence Identifies Potential Anti-COVID-19 Drugs

Mar 30, 2020 by News Staff

Scientists from Gero Pte. Ltd., Singapore, have used a deep neural network to search for host-target acting antivirals among experimental and approved...

Walker et al developed a solid-state ultrasound contrast agent for monitoring pH fluctuations. Image credit: Walker et al, doi: 10.1021/acssensors.0c00245.

Researchers Create First Ultrasound Biosensor

Mar 30, 2020 by News Staff

A team of scientists from Monash University and the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute has developed a new biosensor that can be used inside a body and...

Diet of Figueira Brava Neanderthals Was Rich in Seafood, Archaeologists Say

Mar 27, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists found that the Neanderthals who occupied Gruta da Figueira Brava in the Arrábida range, Portugal, between 86,000...

Model of the hemolithin molecule: space-filling mode (top), ball and stick (center), enlarged view of iron, oxygen and lithium termination (bottom). White = H; orange = Li; gray = C; blue = N; red = O and green = Fe. Hydrogen bonds are shown by dotted lines. Image credit: McGeoch et al, arXiv: 2002.11688.

Researchers Find Extraterrestrial Protein in Meteorite Acfer 086

Mar 26, 2020 by Sergio Prostak

A research team led by Harvard University scientist Julie McGeoch has found a never-before-seen protein inside a meteorite called Acfer 086. A sample of...

Scientists Using Supercomputer to Build All-Atom Model of SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Envelope

Mar 24, 2020 by News Staff

Using the NSF-funded Frontera supercomputer at the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), researchers are preparing...

Third-hand smoke originates from the direct contamination of surfaces (e.g., smokers’ bodies and clothes, indoor furnishings and surfaces, and building materials) with hazardous organic compounds from tobacco combustion but does not include airborne primary particles. Image credit: Aamir Mohd Khan.

Third-Hand Tobacco Smoke is Real Threat to Public Health, Study Shows

Mar 23, 2020 by News Staff

Third-hand smoke is a residual contamination from cigarette smoking that adheres to walls and other surfaces in places where smoking has previously occurred....

The new flat lens could drastically reduce the weight, complexity and cost of cameras and other imaging systems, while increasing their functionality. Image credit: Rajesh Menon, University of Utah.

Scientists Develop Focus-Free Camera with Flat Lens

Mar 18, 2020 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and Oblate Optics, Inc. has created a camera that does not require focusing. The new...

The internal sctructure of Earth. Image credit: NASA / JPL / Université Paris Diderot / Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris.

‘Basal Magma Ocean’ Generated Early Earth’s Magnetic Field, New Research Suggests

Mar 18, 2020 by News Staff

In a new study published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, a team of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the...

Little Foot (Australopithecus prometheus) in the Sterkfontein cave, central South Africa. Image credit: Purdue University.

3.67-Million-Year-Old Fossil Unveils More about Australopithecus prometheus

Mar 17, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of paleoanthropologists led by the University of the Witwatersrand has examined the first cervical vertebra (atlas) of the ‘Little...

Turner et al estimated a LEGO brick could survive in the ocean for as many as 1,300 years. Image credit: Turner et al, doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114299.

LEGO Bricks Could Survive in Ocean for as Many as 1,300 Years

Mar 17, 2020 by News Staff

A team of researchers from the University of Plymouth, Rame Peninsula Beach Care and the Lego Lost at Sea Project examined the extent to which classic...