Other Sciences News

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

Neanderthals Used Pine Resin as Glue to Haft Stone Tools into Handles

Jun 27, 2019 by News Staff

The hafting of stone tools was an important advance in the technological evolution of Paleolithic humans. Joining a handle to a knife or scraper and attaching...

Soft pretzels have a uniform brown crust color and elicit a characteristic aroma that is clearly different from those of other small types of bread. Image credit: Kerstin Riemer.

Chemists Identify Key Aroma Compounds in Pretzels

Jun 26, 2019 by News Staff

A team of scientists at the Technische Universität München in Germany has identified the key compounds that give soft pretzels their distinctive scent. Soft...

A radiograph of a 28-year-old male participant. Image credit: Shahar & Sayers, doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-21625-1.

Study: Young People are Developing ‘Hornlike Spikes’ at Back of Their Skull Due to Poor Posture

Jun 26, 2019 by News Staff

Aberrant postures have led to an increase in young adults developing a bone growth at the back of the skull, according to a study by University of the...

Regular coffee consumers can sniff out even small amounts of coffee and are faster at recognizing the aroma. Image credit: StockSnap.

Coffee Directly Stimulates Your Body’s Brown Fat, New Study Finds

Jun 26, 2019 by News Staff

Drinking a cup of coffee can stimulate brown adipose tissue (also known as brown fat), an important part of the human body which plays a key role in how...

Device structure: (a) schematic of the processed device with control gate (CG), source (S) and drain (D) contacts (gold); the red spheres represent stored charge in the floating gate (FG); (b) details of the layer structure within the device. In both (a, b) InAs is colored blue, AlSb gray and GaSb dark red. Image credit: Tizno et al, doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-45370-1.

New Type of Computer Memory Invented

Jun 21, 2019 by News Staff

An oxide-free, floating-gate memory cell invented and patented by Lancaster University researchers promises to transform daily life with its ultra-low...

Mycobacterium vaccae. Image credit: Christopher Lowry, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Novel Anti-Inflammatory Molecule Isolated from Soil-Dwelling Bacterium

Jun 19, 2019 by News Staff

About three decades after scientists coined the term ‘hygiene hypothesis’ to suggest that increased exposure to microorganisms could benefit health,...

This is an artist’s impression of Çatalhöyük. Image credit: Dan Lewandowski.

Neolithic Çatalhöyük Experienced Modern Urban Problems

Jun 18, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has found that the inhabitants of the Neolithic settlement Çatalhöyük (7100-5950 BCE) experienced overcrowding,...

Aldridge & Rose suggest that although some children struggle to recognize when a dog is frightened, the more concerning issue is their lack of understanding of how to behave appropriately around dogs, especially those that are frightened. Image credit: Pexels.

Study: Children Often Misread Fear in Dogs, Making Bite More Likely

Jun 17, 2019 by The Conversation

The benefits of growing up with a pet are well documented — these days dogs are even used in the classroom. That said, we sometimes forget that dogs...

Scholars argue that consciousness is a fundamental quality of the Universe. Image credit: NASA / ESA / JPL-Caltech / STScI / Sci-News.com.

Is Consciousness a Fundamental Quality of the Universe?

Jun 14, 2019 by The Conversation

Scientists have long been trying to understand human consciousness — the subjective ‘stuff’ of thoughts and sensations inside our minds. There...

NO-Scv gel-mediated anti-inflammation therapy. Image credit: Pohang University of Science and Technology.

Nitric Oxide-Scavenging Nanogel Could Treat Rheumatoid Arthritis

Jun 12, 2019 by News Staff

Nitric oxide (NO), a radical gas molecule produced by nitric oxide synthase, prevents high blood pressure and artery plaque build-up in the human body....

The study sheds new light on the link between sleep deprivation and obesity. Image credit: Sweet Briar College.

Study: People Who Sleep Less Than Seven Hours Show Lower Intakes of Micro- and Macronutrients

Jun 10, 2019 by News Staff

In a new study, a team of researchers from Pharmavite LLC and Nutrition Impact LLC found that people who got fewer than seven hours of sleep per night...

A scientific illustration of the Upward Sun River camp in what is now Interior Alaska. Image credit: Eric S. Carlson / Ben A. Potter.

Genetic Analysis Reveals Previously Unknown Group of Ancient Siberians

Jun 7, 2019 by News Staff

Northeastern Siberia has been inhabited by humans for more than 40,000 years but its deep population history remains poorly understood. In a new study,...

A large rhyolite flake at the site of Bokol Dora 1, Ethiopia. Image credit: Braun et al, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1820177116.

Researchers Find 2.6-Million-Year-Old Oldowan Tools in Ethiopia

Jun 5, 2019 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has unearthed a collection of 2.6-million-year-old systematically flaked stone tools at the site of Bokol Dora 1 (BD1)...

Moderate to heavy coffee consumption is not associated with having stiffer arteries. Image credit: Katie175.

Study: Moderate to Heavy Coffee Consumption Doesn’t Increase Arterial Stiffness

Jun 5, 2019 by News Staff

Arteries carry blood containing oxygen and nutrients from your heart to the rest of your body. If they become stiff, it can increase the workload on the...

Zhang et al studied catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics over activated carbon catalyst. Image credit: Zhang et al, doi: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113337.

Scientists Find Way to Turn Waste Plastics into Jet Fuel-Range Hydrocarbons

Jun 4, 2019 by News Staff

In experiments described in the journal Applied Energy, a team of researchers from China and the U.S. melted plastic waste at high temperature with activated...

A daily intake of one cup of blueberries improved endothelial function, systemic arterial stiffness and attenuated cyclic guanosine monophosphate concentrations. Image credit: Heidelbergerin.

Eating Blueberries Daily Reduces Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: Study

Jun 4, 2019 by News Staff

Eating one cup (150 g) of blueberries daily reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 15%, according to a new study. A daily intake of one cup...

Backscattered electron images of experimental charges. Locations of images (A) to (D) from sediment-peridotite reaction experiments are schematically shown in capsule on the left. (A, C, and D) - reaction experiments at 5 GPa/1000 degrees Celsius with superimposed energy-dispersive x-ray maps of chlorine [green in (C) and (D)]. The sediment half of two-layer experiments recrystallized to garnet and clinopyroxene (Cpx), whereas orthopyroxene (Opx), magnesite (Mgs), and Na-K chlorides formed at the leading edge of the reaction zone against the peridotite. (B) - peridotite layer in the reaction experiment at 3 GPa/900 degrees Celsius contained phlogopite (Phl) behind the magnesite plus orthopyroxene zone, and Na-K chlorides were absent. (E and F) - sediment melting experiment (no peridotite included) at 4 GPa/1000 degrees Celsius showing silicate melt (E) in equilibrium with garnet (Gt), coesite (Coe), and Mg calcite (Mg-Cc) shown in (F). Scale bars - 100 μm (A and B) and 20 μm (C to F). Image credit: Förster et al, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aau2620.

Study: Salts Trapped inside Fibrous Diamonds Came from Ancient Seabeds

May 31, 2019 by News Staff

So-called fibrous diamonds, which are cloudy and less appealing to jewelers — and less often, gem-quality diamonds — trap and preserve fluids...

Prehistoric rock paintings in Manda Guéli Cave in the Ennedi Mountains, Chad, Central Africa. Image credit: David Stanley / CC BY 2.0.

Ancient DNA Study Tells Story of East Africa’s First Herders and Farmers

May 30, 2019 by News Staff

How food production entered sub-Saharan Africa some 5,000 years ago and the ways in which herding and farming spread through the continent in ancient times...

Scholz’s star flew through the Oort Cloud 70,000 years ago. Image credit: José A. Peñas / SINC.

Did Nearby Supernovae Induce Hominins to Walk on Two Legs?

May 30, 2019 by News Staff

Between 8 and 2 million years ago, cosmic-ray energy from one or more nearby supernovae reached Earth and pummeled the planet’s atmosphere, initiating...