Other Sciences News

3D render of the semiconductor nanostructure. Image credit: Hermann Edlbauer.

Researchers Control Quantum State of Single Electron Using High-Frequency Sound Waves

Oct 15, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists sent high-frequency sound waves across a modified semiconductor device to direct the behavior of a single electron,...

Nguyen et al examined the effect of an acute but moderate prenatal alcohol exposure on glucose metabolism, lipid levels and dietary preference in adolescent and/or adult rat offspring. Image credit: Bridgesward.

Even Small Amounts of Alcohol during Pregnancy Can Cause Insulin Resistance in Male Offspring

Oct 15, 2019 by News Staff

‘Special occasion drinking’ during pregnancy could cause insulin resistance, which increases the likelihood of diabetes, in male offspring, suggests...

In human skulls, division of the nasioiniac arc (from nasion to inion, NI) by bregma into a shorter frontal arc (from nasion to bregma, NB) and longer parietooccipital arc (from bregma to inion BI), creates a geometrical relationship in which the ratio of the nasioiniac arc over the bregma-inion arc (NI/BI) coincides with the ratio of the bregma-inion arc over the nasion-bregma arc (BI/NB), both 1.6. The subdivision of the nasioiniac arc by bregma into two unequal arcs emulates the geometrical division of a line into the Golden ratio. Image credit: Tamargo & Pindrik, doi: 10.1097/SCS.0000000000005610.

Human Skull Dimensions Follow Golden Ratio: Study

Oct 7, 2019 by News Staff

The Golden ratio principle is present in the architecture and evolution of the human skull, suggests a new study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins...

Cores from Phase D (48,000-34,000 years ago) and Phase C (13,000-12,000 years ago) of Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka: bipolar core (4, 5, 6), bipolar orthogonal core (1, 2, 7, 8), unidirectional abrupt core (3). Image credit: Wedage et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222606.

45,000-Year-Old Tiny Stone Tools Found in Sri Lanka

Oct 4, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists has found a collection of microliths — small, retouched, often-backed stone tools — at the cave site...

Dorsal view of the left hand of a 10-week old human embryo. The dorsometacarpales are highlighted: these muscles are present in adults of many other limbed animals, while in humans they normally disappear or become fused with other muscles before birth. Image credit: Diogo et al, doi: 10.1242/dev.180349.

Human Embryos Have ‘Lizard-Like’ Limb Muscles: Study

Oct 2, 2019 by News Staff

A new study, published in the journal Development, has confirmed the transient presence of atavistic muscles — present in our ancestors, but normally...

Increasing daily consumption of nuts is associated with less long-term weight gain and a lower risk of obesity in adults. Image credit: Piviso.

Increasing Daily Nut Consumption May Help Stave Off Gradual Weight Gain, Reduce Obesity Risk

Sep 26, 2019 by News Staff

Increasing nut consumption by just half a serving (14 g) a day may help mitigate the gradual weight gain common during adulthood, and beneficially contribute...

Pet cats show a similar capacity for the formation of secure and insecure attachments towards human caregivers previously demonstrated in children and dogs. Image credit: Pexels.

Pet Cats Really Bond with Their Owners, Says New Study

Sep 24, 2019 by News Staff

Domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) form attachments with their owners that are similar to the bonds formed by children and dogs with their caretakers,...

Scientists Reconstruct Skeletal Anatomy of Denisovans

Sep 19, 2019 by News Staff

A team of researchers from Israel and Spain has produced reconstructions of Denisovans, an extinct sister group of Neanderthals, based on patterns of methylation...

The structure of the Eustachian tube in a Neanderthal man. Image credit: SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University.

Chronic Ear Infections Contributed to Neanderthal Extinction

Sep 19, 2019 by News Staff

Neanderthals may have been doomed to extinction because they had persistent, life-long ear infections due to the structure of their Eustachian tubes, a...

Schmitz et al argue that the mid-Ordovician ice age was caused by global cooling, triggered by extra dust in the atmosphere of Earth from the breakup of a giant asteroid in the main asteroid belt. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Dust from Disintegrated Asteroid Triggered Mid-Ordovician Ice Age

Sep 19, 2019 by News Staff

There’s always a lot of extraterrestrial dust floating down to Earth, but this dust is normally only a tiny fraction of the other dust in our atmosphere...

Rudapithecus hungaricus was pretty ape-like and probably moved among branches like apes do now. However, it would have differed from modern great apes by having a more flexible lower back, which would mean when Rudapithecus hungaricus came down to the ground, it might have had the ability to stand upright more like humans do. Image credit: John Siddick.

Miocene Hominid Fossil Sheds New Light on Evolution of Human Bipedalism

Sep 18, 2019 by News Staff

Researchers have analyzed a pelvis of the 10 million-year-old fossil ape Rudapithecus hungaricus and found that human bipedalism might possibly have deeper...

Organic solar cell. Image credit: Thor Balkhed.

Newly-Developed Solar Cells Convert Ambient Indoor Light into Electricity

Sep 17, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers from Sweden and China has developed organic photovoltaic cells that convert ambient indoor light into electricity. Organic...

Li et al provide the first evidence of the positive contribution of tea drinking to brain structure. Image credit: Larisa Myshun.

Drinking Tea Improves Brain Efficiency, New Study Shows

Sep 16, 2019 by News Staff

Habitual tea drinking has positive effects on brain organization and gives rise to greater efficiency in functional and structural connectivity, according...

Raman et al highlighted the remarkable possibility and potential of generating small amounts of power by radiative cooling at night using low-cost, off-the-shelf, commodity components (less than $30 USD for the initial proof of concept demonstration). In off-grid locations throughout the world, this approach of generating light from darkness highlights an entirely new way of maintaining lighting, entirely passively, at night. The power generated could also be used to power small sensors in remote locations, with their lifetimes not being limited by batteries but the lifetime of the thermoelectric module, which can be an order of magnitude longer. Image credit: Raman et al, 10.1016/j.joule.2019.08.009.

Thermoelectric Device Generates Light from ‘Darkness of Space’

Sep 13, 2019 by News Staff

A thermoelectric generator device developed by researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles and Stanford University harnesses the cold darkness...

Mathematicians Solve Sum-of-Three-Cubes Problem for Number 42

Sep 9, 2019 by News Staff

University of Bristol’s Professor Andrew Booker and MIT Professor Andrew Sutherland have found a solution to x3 + y3 + z3 = 42, the famous 65-year-old...

An artist’s reconstruction of the gateway and drain at the ancient city of Harappa. Image credit: Chris Sloan.

Researchers Sequence Genome of Ancient Harappan Woman

Sep 9, 2019 by News Staff

A multinational team of scientists has sequenced the first genome of an individual from the Harappan Civilization. The genome, which belongs to a woman...

In a population-based study, young children with severe (at ages 5 and 16 years) and externalizing (at ages 5 and 10 years) behavioral problems were associated with elevated risk of reporting insomnia symptoms in middle adulthood. Image credit: B.A.

Study Reveals Link between Childhood Behavioral Problems and Insomnia Later in Life

Sep 9, 2019 by News Staff

A new study has demonstrated an association of early-life behavioral problems, particularly early- and middle-childhood externalizing problems (restlessness,...

$Mathematicians often describe arguments as beautiful or dull, and famous scientists have claimed that mathematical beauty is a guide toward the truth. Do laypeople, like mathematicians and scientists, experience mathematics aesthetically? Three studies by Johnson & Steinerberger suggest that they do. Image credit: Gerd Altmann.$

Ordinary People Can See Beauty in Complex Math, New Research Reveals

Sep 6, 2019 by News Staff

According to a series of experiments by Yale University and University of Bath researchers, ordinary people see beauty in complex mathematical arguments...

A reconstruction of a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Neanderthal Museum.

Denisovan Fingers are Indistinguishable from Those of Modern Humans, Researchers Say

Sep 5, 2019 by Enrico de Lazaro

An international team of scientists from Canada and Europe has identified the missing part of a fifth finger bone from the Denisova Cave, revealing that...