Other Sciences News

Britton et al. used a scanning electron microscope, scanning the mat with a focused beam of electrons and creating an image based on the pattern of electrons that are deflected or knocked-off; each individual strand is too narrow to be clearly captured by any form of visible light camera or microscope. Image credit: Beatrice Britton / Adam Clancy.

World’s Thinnest Spaghetti Created: Nanopasta

Nov 25, 2024 by News Staff

The world’s thinnest spaghetti is just 372 nm across — about 200 times thinner than a human hair. Britton et al. used a scanning electron microscope,...

Direct electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide capture species, i.e., carbamate and (bi)carbonate, can be promising for carbon dioxide capture and conversion from point-source. Image credit: Neves-Garcia et al., doi: 10.1021/jacs.4c09744.

Researchers Find New Way to Convert Carbon Dioxide into Methane

Nov 22, 2024 by News Staff

A new class of atomically dispersed nickel catalysts directly converts captured carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4), according to Dr. Tomaz Neves-Garcia,...

3D analysis of the perforated pebbles and the perforations. Image credit: T. Yashuv & L. Grosman, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0312007.

12,000-Year-Old Spindle Whorls Unearthed in Israel

Nov 15, 2024 by Enrico de Lazaro

Archaeologists have examined an exceptional assemblage of over a hundred perforated pebbles from the 12,000-year-old Natufian village of Nahal Ein-Gev...

Fermium isotopes studied by Warbinek et al. are highlighted in this chart. Image credit: S. Raeder.

Physicists Measure Nuclear Properties of Fermium

Nov 13, 2024 by News Staff

Physicists at the GSI/FAIR accelerator facility have gained insights into the structure of atomic nuclei of fermium, a synthetic chemical element of the...

Plaquette 341 from the Magdalenian site of Gönnersdorf, Germany. Image credit: Robitaille et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311302.

15,800-Year-Old Engraved Plaquettes Shed Light on Paleolithic Fishing Techniques

Nov 11, 2024 by Sergio Prostak

Scientists from the Leibniz Zentrum für Archäologie and Durham University have examined a collection of 406 engraved schist plaquettes found at the Magdalenian...

Several Denisovan Populations Introgressed into Modern Humans Multiple Times: Study

Nov 8, 2024 by News Staff

The identification of a new hominin group called Denisovans was one of the most exciting discoveries in human evolution in the last decade. Unlike Neanderthal...

Selected hand specimens of samples from sources included in the study: Ngwenya high grade (A-C), Ngwenya low grade (D-F), Kubuta (G), Bulembu (H-J), Lupholo Dam (K, L), Mnyongane (M, N), Maloma (O). Scale bar - 1 cm. Image credit: MacDonald et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-53050-6.

Lion Cavern in Eswatini is World’s Oldest Ochre Mine, Archaeologists Say

Nov 6, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists say they have discovered the oldest known evidence for intensive ochre mining worldwide, at least 48,000 years ago, in Lion Cavern at Ngwenya...

The versatility of somatosensation arises from heterogeneous dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. However, soma transcriptomes of individual human (h)DRG neurons -- critical information to decipher their functions -- are lacking due to technical difficulties. In their new study, Yu et al. isolated somata from individual hDRG neurons and conducted deep RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to detect, on average, over 9,000 unique genes per neuron, and they identified 16 neuronal types.

Neuroscientists Identify 16 Neuronal Types Involved in Human Sense of Touch

Nov 6, 2024 by News Staff

New research led by scientists from the University of Pennsylvania, Karolinska Institute and Linköping University provides a landscape view of the human...

Cylinder seal and sealing impression: the king-priest and his acolyte feeding the sacred herd. Uruk period, ca. 3200 BCE. Image credit: Marie-Lan Nguyen.

Study: Cylinder Seals and Sealing Practices Stimulated Invention of Writing in Ancient South-West Asia

Nov 5, 2024 by News Staff

Administrative innovations in south-west Asia during the 4th millennium BCE, including the cylinder seals that were rolled on the earliest clay tablets,...

3D virtual reconstruction of the Bronze Age town of al-Natah. Image credit: Charloux et al., doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309963 / AFALULA-RCU-CNRS.

Bronze Age Town of Al-Natah Represents ‘Slow Urbanism,’ Archaeologists Say

Oct 30, 2024 by News Staff

Northwestern Arabia — the region between Mecca and Aqaba — during the Bronze Age was dotted with interconnected monumental walled oases centered...

Outcrop area of CAMP rocks in Pangea showing paleolatitudes at CAMP time (201 million years ago) of key localities with the terrestrial end-Triassic extinction including the Newark Basin (NB) in northeastern North America, the Fundy Basin (FB) of Atlantic Canada, and the Central High Atlas (CHA) Basin of Morocco. Image credit: Kent et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2415486121.

New Research Casts More Light on Mechanisms of End-Triassic Mass Extinction

Oct 29, 2024 by News Staff

The end-Triassic extinction along with the end-Permian and end-Cretaceous events are the most severe mass extinctions in the past 270 million years. The...

Pistachios are the only nut that provides a measurable source of lutein, a powerful antioxidant that helps protect the eyes. Image credit: Erika Varga.

Daily Consumption of Pistachios Could Be Effective Dietary Strategy for Preserving Eye Health

Oct 25, 2024 by News Staff

Dietary interventions with pistachios — a bioavailable source of the xanthophyll lutein — are efficacious in increasing macular pigment optical...

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, originating in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, is a defining mode of interannual climate variability with profound impact on global climate and ecosystems. Image credit: Li et al., doi: 10.1073/pnas.2404758121.

El Nino-Southern Oscillation is At Least 250 Million Years Old, New Study Suggests

Oct 24, 2024 by News Staff

The El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which is characterized by irregular alternations between anomalously warm (El Niño) and cold (La Niña) conditions,...

An artist’s impression of a Palaeoloxodon sp. Image credit: Chen Yu.

Scientists Find Evidence for Hominin Exploitation of Extinct Straight-Tusked Elephants in India

Oct 24, 2024 by News Staff

In 2000, archaeologists discovered the 300,000 to 400,000-year-old remains of three ancient elephants along with 87 stone tools at the Pampore in the Kashmir...

Ancient humans. Image credit: sjs.org / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Early Humans Were Infected by Two Distinct Types of Helicobacter Bacteria, New Study Reveals

Oct 21, 2024 by News Staff

Two ecospecies of Helicobacter pylori — named ‘Hardy’ and ‘Ubiquitous’ — co-existed in the stomachs of modern humans since before they...

Strawberries are a natural and delicious way to support heart health and manage cholesterol. Image credit: D. Сroisy.

Study: Regular Strawberry Consumption May Improve Heart Health and Manage Cholesterol

Oct 18, 2024 by News Staff

Daily strawberry consumption (between one and four cups per day) improves outcomes of lipid metabolism and inflammation in those at increased cardiovascular...

Excavations in Tam Pà Ling, northeastern Laos. Image credit: Hernandez et al., doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108982.

New Excavations Provide Insights into Early Human Activity in Jungles of Laos

Oct 11, 2024 by News Staff

Archaeologists excavating Tam Pà Ling (Cave of Monkeys) in northeastern Laos have recovered fossil evidence for some of the earliest Homo sapiens presence...

Orefice et al. studied the role of caffeine intake on endothelial function in lupus patients by assessing its effect on circulating endothelial progenitor cells. Image credit: Sci.News.

Consuming More Caffeine Improves Vascular Health, New Study Suggests

Oct 9, 2024 by News Staff

In a study led by the Sapienza University of Rome, caffeine intake was positively correlated with the percentage of circulating endothelial progenitor...

Cryo-EM structure of α-latrotoxin in two distinct tetrameric states. Image credit: Klink et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52635-5.

Researchers Decode Structure of Vertebrate-Specific Toxin in Black Widow Spider Venom

Oct 8, 2024 by News Staff

The venom of black widow spiders contains a cocktail of seven specific latrotoxins, but only one — α-latrotoxin — targets vertebrates, including...