Other Sciences News

Neanderthal Extinction Caused by Inbreeding and Smallness of Their Populations, Study Suggests

Neanderthals are commonly thought to have relied on dangerous close range hunting techniques, using non-projectile weapons like the thrusting spears depicted here; this hunting approach is thought to have brought them into violent contact with large mammals, resulting in high levels of injury especially to the head and neck when compared to modern humans; Beier et al found similar head injury levels in both Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic humans, casting doubt on this hypothesis. Image credit: Gleiver Prieto.
Nov 28, 2019 by News Staff

A long-standing enigma in paleoanthropology is the demise of Neanderthals about 40,000 years ago. There is general agreement that their disappearance coincides with migration events starting 60,000 years ago by anatomically modern humans from Africa into the Near East and Europe. What is uncertain however, are the causes of Neanderthal extinction. New research suggests Neanderthals disappeared due to inbreeding, small populations and random demographic...

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Massive Asteroid Impacts Triggered Early Plate Tectonics, Study Suggests

Nov 27, 2019 by News Staff

When and how the Earth evolved from a molten mass into a rocky planetary body continually resurfaced by plate tectonics remain some of the biggest questions...

Overview of the study sites along the coastline of northern Oman: (a) Makran subduction zone (MSZ) and the Owen fracture zone (OFZ). White dots are earthquakes >M4.5; (b) the study site in Oman (black dots). Image credit: Hoffmann et al, doi: 10.1016/j.margeo.2019.106068.

Massive Tsunami Hit Northern Coast of Oman 1,000 Years Ago: Study

Nov 26, 2019 by News Staff

Sedimentological evidence and archaeological data show that huge tsunami hit the coast of today’s Sultanate of Oman around 1000 CE; the tsunami was almost...

Music is universal: it exists in every society (both with and without words), varies more within than between societies, regularly supports certain types of behavior, and has acoustic features that are systematically related to the goals and responses of singers and listeners. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Human Songs From Around the World Share Universal Features, Study Says

Nov 25, 2019 by News Staff

Songs from cultures spanning the globe exhibit universal patterns, according to a new study published in the journal Science. Music is universal: it exists...

Dietary pulses with or without other legumes are associated with reduced cardiovascular disease incidence with low certainty and reduced coronary heart disease, hypertension, and obesity incidence with very low certainty. Imager credit: Niek Verlaan.

Eating Legumes Reduces Heart Disease Risks, Says New Review

Nov 22, 2019 by News Staff

According to a review of previous prospective cohort studies, eating beans, lentils, peas, and other legumes reduces the risk for cardiovascular disease,...

Internet access should be considered a universal entitlement because it is necessary for people to be able to lead minimally decent lives. Image credit: Pete Linforth.

Internet Access Must Be Considered as Basic Human Right, Researcher Says

Nov 21, 2019 by News Staff

Internet access is a moral human right that requires that everyone has unmonitored and uncensored access to this global medium, which should be publicly...

A model of the molecular structure of ribose and an image of the Murchison meteorite. Image credit: Yoshihiro Furukawa.

Researchers Find Extraterrestrial Sugars in Meteorites

Nov 20, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists from Japan and the United States has found ribose and other bioessential sugars in two primitive meteorites, NWA 801...

Thin films of glassy alumina (Al2O3) subjected to mechanical stress. Image credit: Tampere University.

New Glass Bends Instead of Breaking

Nov 20, 2019 by News Staff

A new glass material, developed by Tampere University researcher Erkka Frankberg and colleagues, appears to possess metal-like ductility at room temperature. Thin...

This image illustrates the beginning stages of an influenza infection and shows what happens after the influenza viruses enter the human body. Image credit: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ketogenic Diet Protects against Influenza A Virus Infection, Animal Study Finds

Nov 19, 2019 by News Staff

A new study led by Professor Akiko Iwasaki of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor Vishwa Deep Dixit from Yale School of Medicine shows that...

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

Living Great Apes are Smarter than Australopithecines, New Research Suggests

Nov 18, 2019 by News Staff

New research challenges the long-held idea that, because the brain of human ancestors called australopithecines was larger than that of many modern great...

TAS2R38 predicted lower consumption of vegetables in people who possessed the PAV haplotype. Image credit: Jerzy Górecki.

Genetic Variants Play Role in Our Food Choices: Study

Nov 18, 2019 by News Staff

Genetic variants determine whether or not you can tolerate eating certain vegetables, according to new research. TAS2R38 predicted lower consumption of...

Tiny holes punched into a high-temperature superconducting material revealed that Cooper pairs can also conduct electricity the way metals do. Image credit: Brown University.

Scientists Uncover New State of Matter in Superconductor

Nov 15, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of physicists and materials scientists from the United States and China has discovered a new state of matter they’ve named ‘Cooper...

Healthy sleep linked to brain-wave bursts that mathematically mimic earthquakes. Image credit: Wang et al.

Animal Study Links Healthy Sleep to Earthquake-Like Brain-Wave Bursts

Nov 15, 2019 by News Staff

Cortical arousals and brief awakenings during sleep exhibit non-equilibrium dynamics and complex organization across time scales necessary for spontaneous...

The rise of the Neo-Assyrian Empire occurred during a two-centuries-long interval of anomalously wet climate in the context of the past 4,000 years, while megadroughts during the early-mid 7th century BCE, as severe as recent droughts in the region but lasting for decades, triggered a decline in Assyria’s agrarian productivity and thus contributed to its eventual political and economic collapse. Image credit: Carole Raddato / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Megadroughts Likely Triggered Fall of Neo-Assyrian Empire

Nov 14, 2019 by News Staff

Climate-related megadroughts built the foundation for the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (912 to 609 BCE), the largest and most powerful empire of...

The Nile is an international river as its drainage basin covers eleven countries: Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Republic of the Sudan, and Egypt. Image credit: Jande Canthus.

Nile River is 30 Million Years Old, Research Shows

Nov 12, 2019 by News Staff

The Nile is a 4,130-mile (6,650 km) long river in northeastern Africa. It has been suggested that the river in its present path is at least 6 million...

A male zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) in Karratha, Pilbara, Western Australia. Image credit: Jim Bendon / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Neuroscientists Identify Song-Learning Neurons in Birds

Nov 8, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Japan and South Korea has found that a set of neurons called corticobasal ganglia projecting neurons are important for vocal...

Moberg et al show that the smallest water clusters that can sustain ice contain only around 90 water molecules. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.

Smallest Possible Particle of Water Ice Contains Only 90 Molecules

Nov 8, 2019 by News Staff

The smallest droplet of water in which ice can form is only as big as 90 water molecules, according to new research. Moberg et al show that the smallest...

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Neanderthals May Have Gone Extinct Because of Human Tropical Infections

Nov 8, 2019 by News Staff

The initial encounter between Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo sapiens migrating out of Africa occurred more than 130,000 years ago in a region...

Cui et al examined the longitudinal effect of dog ownership and dog walking on mental health. Image credit: Susanne906.

Dog Ownership Has Positive Effect on Mental Health

Nov 7, 2019 by News Staff

A study led by the University of Western Australia has found a positive correlation between mental health benefits and dog ownership. Cui et al examined...

Danuvius guggenmosi, a great ape that lived some 12 million years ago (Miocene period) in what is now Germany. Image credit: Velizar Simeonovski.

Miocene-Period Great Ape Unearthed in Germany: Danuvius guggenmosi

Nov 7, 2019 by News Staff

A previously unknown species of great ape that was well adapted to both walking upright as well as using all four limbs while climbing has been identified...

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