Other Sciences News

Social gathering of six bonobos at San Diego Zoo. Image credit: William H. Calvin, University of Washington / CC BY-SA 4.0.

First Detailed Anatomical Study of Bonobos Contradicts Key Dogmas about Human Evolution

May 24, 2018 by News Staff

Bonobos (Pan paniscus) and other apes, such as common chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and gorillas (Gorilla sp.), have muscles long-believed to be only...

Novel drugs could one day protect astronauts on deep-space missions from dangerous cosmic radiation. Image credit: Jonny Lindner.

New Drug Prevents Memory Impairment in Mice Exposed to Simulated Deep Space Radiation

May 23, 2018 by News Staff

A team of neuroscientists from the University of California, San Francisco, and Loma Linda University has identified the first potential treatment for...

Assembly of nanostructured CNF fibers. Upper image: schematic of double flow-focusing channel used for CNF assembly; the CNF suspension is injected in the core flow (light brown color), deionized water (blue color) in the first sheath, and acid at low pH (light green color) in the second sheath flows; arrows show the flow direction; hydrodynamic and electrostatic interactions at different positions along the channel are illustrated schematically on the right. Bottom images: SEM image (left) of the fiber surface, where the dense fibrillar network with well-preserved anisotropic arrangement can be seen; SEM image (right) of the cross section of the fiber, showing the aligned nanofibrils. Scale bars are 3 μm; in insets are 400 nm. Image credit: Mittal et al, doi: 10.1021/acsnano.8b01084.

Newly-Developed Biomaterial is Stronger than Steel and Spider Silk

May 22, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has developed a new biodegradable material which is stronger than steel and even than dragline spider silk. The results...

Shivaji et al demonstrated a green, biogenic synthesis route for making quantum dots with 2-5 nm particle size using tea leaf extract as a toxic-free particle stabilizing agent. Image credit: Mushayev Masrur.

Nanoparticles Derived from Tea Leaves Kill Lung Cancer Cells

May 22, 2018 by News Staff

According to new research led Swansea University, UK, nanoparticles derived from leaves of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) inhibit the growth of lung...

Lipson et al identify at least three major waves of human migration into Southeast Asia over the last 50,000 years.

Ancient DNA Study Reveals Prehistory of Southeast Asia

May 21, 2018 by News Staff

The first whole-genome analysis of ancient human DNA from Southeast Asia, defined as the area east of India and south of China, identifies at least three...

A day in Ancient Rome, being a revision of Lohr’s ‘Aus dem alten Rom,’ with numerous illustrations, by Edgar S. Shumway. Image credit: Internet Archive Book Images.

Lead Pollution Recorded in Deep Greenland Ice Shows Rise and Fall of Ancient Civilizations

May 18, 2018 by News Staff

Annual lead emissions in Europe closely varied with historical events, including imperial expansion, wars, and major plagues, according to new research...

A reconstruction of Homo naledi’s head by paleoartist John Gurche, who spent some 700 hours recreating the head from bone scans. The find was announced by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African National Research Foundation and published in the journal eLife. Image credit: John Gurche / Mark Thiessen / National Geographic.

Homo naledi Had Small but Surprisingly Complex Brain

May 16, 2018 by News Staff

A species of extinct hominin called Homo naledi was discovered in 2013 in a remote cave chamber of the Rising Star cave system in South Africa. This species...

Panoz-Brown et al show that rats remember a stream of multiple episodes and the order in which they occur by engaging hippocampal-dependent episodic memory replay; rats remember the order of events using episodic memory replay and that replay is part of long-term memory, resistant to interference, and hippocampal dependent. The discovery could help advance the development of new drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease. Image credit: Panoz-Brown et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2018.04.006.

Non-Human Animals Can Mentally Replay Past Events: Study

May 15, 2018 by News Staff

A team of Indiana University researchers has reported the first evidence that non-human animals (rats) can replay a stream of multiple episodic memories....

Selected artifacts from the Panga ya Saidi site: (a) Levallois core; (b) two backed lithic artifacts; (c) backed lithic artifact; (d-e) notched bones; (f) ocher crayon; (g) ostrich eggshell bead; (h) conus shell bead; (i) gastropod shell bead. Image credit: Shipton et al, doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04057-3.

Kenyan Cave Provides New Insights into Later Stone Age

May 10, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has discovered more than 30,000 artifacts at Panga ya Saidi, a cave in the humid coastal forest of Kenya, which is...

Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber), a mother and her kit. Image credit: Ray Scott / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Study: Beavers Could Help Curb Soil Erosion, Clean Up Polluted Rivers

May 10, 2018 by News Staff

A new study, undertaken by a team of University of Exeter researchers using captive Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber), has demonstrated the significant impact...

The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Image credit: Mark Skillen.

Engineers and Soil Scientists May Have Solved Mystery of Pisa’s Leaning Tower

May 9, 2018 by News Staff

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, or simply the Tower of Pisa, is a bell tower of the Cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended...

An artist’s impression of a ‘Snowball Earth.’ Image credit: NASA.

‘Snowball Earth’ Resulted from Plate Tectonics, Geologists Say

May 8, 2018 by News Staff

A team of geologists at the University of Texas at Dallas and Austin has put forward an intriguing new hypothesis that links the dawn of plate tectonics...

Gravity of Venus and Jupiter Elongates Earth’s Orbit Every 405,000 Years

May 8, 2018 by News Staff

A research team led by Rutgers University’s Professor Dennis Kent has documented a gradual shift in Earth’s orbit that repeats regularly every 405,000...

An archaic hominin. Image credit: Ninara / CC BY 2.0.

Archaic Hominins Arrived in Philippines as Early as 700,000 Years Ago

May 7, 2018 by News Staff

An international team of scientists has unearthed 57 stone tools and butchered animal bones at Kalinga in the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon, the largest...

The engraved flint flake from the Kiik-Koba site, Crimea, Ukraine; the arrow indicates the point of impact. Scale bar - 1 cm. Image credit: Majkić et al, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195049.

Engraved Flint Flake Found in Ukraine May Demonstrate Neanderthal Symbolism

May 4, 2018 by News Staff

According to a study published in the journal PLoS ONE, a 35,000-year-old flint flake found at a Middle Paleolithic site in Crimea, Ukraine, was likely...

Photo-a-day practice has complex benefits for improving wellbeing. Image credit: SplitShire.

Photo-A-Day: Daily Digital Practice Improves Wellbeing

May 3, 2018 by News Staff

Taking a photo each day and posting it online has multiple benefits for wellbeing, according to a study carried out by Dr. Liz Brewster of Lancaster University...

Earth’s magnetic field connects the North Pole (orange lines) with the South Pole (blue lines) in this NASA-created image. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Earth’s Magnetic Field is Not in Early Stage of Reversal, Says Study

May 1, 2018 by News Staff

The intensity of Earth’s magnetic field has been dropping for the last two centuries, at a rate that some researchers suspect may cause the field to...

The findings by Aspy et al discount the theory that Vitamin B6 enhances dream recall by disrupting sleep. Image credit: Peter Pyw.

Study: Taking Vitamin B6 Before Bed Could Help You Remember Your Dreams

May 1, 2018 by News Staff

A new study on the effects of B vitamins on dreaming and sleep has found that Vitamin B6 taken before bed increased dream recall compared to placebo. The...

This image shows curious holes in Arctic sea ice, located about 50 miles (80.5 km) northwest of Canada’s Mackenzie River Delta. Image credit: John Sonntag / NASA’s Operation IceBridge Mission.

Mysterious Holes in Beaufort Sea Ice Puzzle Researchers

Apr 25, 2018 by News Staff

On April 14, 2018, scientists working on NASA’s Operation IceBridge — a multi-year airborne science mission to study changing ice conditions at...