Other Sciences News

An artist’s rendition of an early human habitat in Tanzania 1.8 million years ago. Image credit: M. Lopez-Herrera / Enrique Baquedano / Olduvai Paleoanthropology and Paleoecology Project.

Researchers Reconstruct African Landscape Where Early Humans Lived 1.8M Years Ago

Mar 10, 2016 by News Staff

Life in what is now Tanzania was difficult and dangerous 1.8 million years ago, according to a team of scientists from the United States, Switzerland and...

Multi-pixel electroluminescent displays fabricated via replica molding; the device measures 5 mm thick, with each of the 64 pixels measuring 4 mm; it can be deformed and stretched in various ways. Image credit: Organic Robotics Lab at Cornell University.

Researchers Develop Highly Stretchable Electroluminescent ‘Skin’

Mar 4, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists led by Dr. Rob Shepherd from Cornell University, Ithaca, has developed an artificial octopus-like skin that can stretch, sense internal...

Top image: filtered signals recorded in the two brain regions identify the almost perfect synchronization between the two regions during the expression of fear memories. Bottom image: spectral decomposition of the brain signals allows researchers to identify the frequency and power of neuronal rhythmic oscillations during fear behavior. Image credit: Nikolaos Karalis et al.

Neuroscientists: Specific Brain Waves Synchronize Brain Regions During Fear Behavior

Feb 23, 2016 by News Staff

A new study led by Nikolaos Karalis of the Ludwig-Maximilians Universität München and Dr. Cyril Herry of the Neurocentre Magendie has shed light on what...

Denisovans were probably dark-skinned, unlike the pale Neandertals. The picture shows a Neanderthal man. Image credit: Mauro Cutrona.

Scientists: Neanderthals Mated with Humans 100,000 Years Ago

Feb 17, 2016 by News Staff

A multinational group of researchers has found strong genetic evidence of an interbreeding event between Neanderthals and anatomically modern Homo sapiens...

An illustration of the ice XVII’s molecular configuration. Image credit: Yingying Huang / Chongqin Zhu.

Ice XVII: Chemists Predict Existence of New Form of Ice

Feb 15, 2016 by News Staff

An international team of scientists, led by Xiao Cheng Zeng from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Jijun Zhao from the Dalian University of Technology,...

A time-lapse image of a previously deformed shape-memory network during recovery to its original shape upon contacting a finger in a room temperature environment. The image was obtained by periodic flash exposure over a time period of about 10 seconds. Image credit: J. Adam Fenster / University of Rochester.

Researchers Create Unique Shape-Memory Polymer

Feb 12, 2016 by News Staff

A group of scientists at the University of Rochester has created a polymer material that undergoes a shape change that can be triggered by body temperature. A...

The fossilized skull of Australopithecus sediba specimen MH1 and a finite element model of its cranium depicting strains experienced during a simulated bite on its premolars: ‘warm’ colors indicate regions of high strain, ‘cool’ colors indicate regions of low strain. Image credit: Brett Eloff / Lee Berger / University of the Witwatersrand.

Study: Australopithecus sediba Didn’t Eat Hard Foods

Feb 8, 2016 by News Staff

According to a study published today in the journal Nature Communications, a recently discovered species of early human ancestor called Australopithecus...

The study supports a single and rapid dispersal of all non-Africans populations around 50,000 years ago not only across Asia but also into Europe. Image credit: Annette Guenzel / Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Pre-Neolithic DNA Suggests Major Late Glacial Population Turnover in Europe

Feb 5, 2016 by News Staff

DNA evidence lifted from the bones and teeth of hunter-gatherers who lived in Europe from 35,000 years ago (Late Pleistocene) to 7,000 years ago (early...

The smallest lattice in the world: its struts and braces are 0.2 µm in diameter; total size of the lattice is about 10 µm. Image credit: Jens Bauer / Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.

Researchers Create Smallest Ever Lattice Structure

Feb 2, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of scientists at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, has created a glassy carbon nanolattice with single struts shorter than 1 μm...

COF-505 is the first 3D covalent organic framework to be made by weaving together helical organic threads. Image credit: Berkeley Lab.

Researchers Create Material with Fabric-Like Woven Nanostructure

Jan 22, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A 3D covalent organic framework (COF) constructed from helical organic threads, designed to be mutually weaving at regular intervals, has been synthesized...

Lonchura striata. Image credit: Thimindu Goonatillake / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Songbirds Sing Like Humans, Researchers Say

Jan 12, 2016 by News Staff

Vocal muscles of songbirds work like those of human speakers and singers, according to Emory University scientist Dr Samuel Sober and his colleagues from...

Neanderthal. Image credit: Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London.

Neanderthal DNA Gave Humans Allergies, Immunity Boost

Jan 8, 2016 by News Staff

Interbreeding of anatomically modern Homo sapiens with Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) around 40,000 years ago may have left humans with gene variants...

Periodic table of the elements. Image credit: International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry / Sci-News.com.

Periodic Table’s 7th Period is Finally Complete, IUPAC-IUPAP Officials Say

Jan 5, 2016 by News Staff

The 7th period of the periodic table now has four new elements: element 113 (temporarily named as Ununtrium, or Uut), element 115 (Ununpentium, or Uup),...

The CSU team has successfully produced a completely recyclable, biodegradable polymer. Image credit: Colorado State University.

Chemists Develop Fully Recyclable Polymer

Jan 2, 2016 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Colorado State University (CSU) has successfully produced a completely recyclable, biodegradable polymer. A graphical illustration...

Reconstruction of Ballynahatty Neolithic skull by Elizabeth Black. Her genes tell us she had black hair and brown eyes. Image credit: Barrie Hartwell.

Ancient Genomes from Ireland Sequenced for the First Time

Dec 30, 2015 by Enrico de Lazaro

A large team of researchers reported this week that it had sequenced the whole genomes of four prehistoric Irish individuals: a Neolithic woman (3343 –...

Heatmap of gradient of expression of M1 and M3 spanning fetal development to late adulthood and in topographically distinct cortical regions: A1C - auditory cortex; AMY - amygdala; CBC - cerebellar cortex; DFC - dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; HIP - hippocampus; IPC - posterior inferior parietal cortex; ITC - inferior temporal cortex; M1C - primary motor cortex; MD - mediodorsal nucleus of thalamus; MFC - medial prefrontal cortex; OFC - orbital prefrontal cortex; S1C - primary somatosensory cortex; STC - superior temporal cortex; STR - striatum; V1C - primary visual cortex; VFC - ventrolateral prefrontal cortex. Image credit: Michael R. Johnson et al, doi: 10.1038/nn.4205.

Researchers Identify Intelligence Gene Networks

Dec 22, 2015 by News Staff

A group of scientists led by Imperial College London researcher Michael Johnson has identified two ‘gene networks’ associated with human cognitive...

Artist’s reconstruction of a Red Deer Cave man. Image credit: Peter Schouten.

14,000-Year-Old Bone Found in Red Deer Cave Points to Archaic Human Species

Dec 18, 2015 by News Staff

An archaic species of the genus Homo from China, thought to be long extinct, likely survived until as recently as 14,000 years ago, a thigh bone found...

University of Copenhagen researcher Christoph Korte and his colleagues have shed light on the causes behind an ‘Ice Age’ that took place on our planet 174 million years ago. Image credit: Gerhard Boeggemann / CC BY-SA 2.5.

Scientists Shed Light on Causes behind Jurassic ‘Ice Age’

Dec 14, 2015 by News Staff

A group of researchers has found evidence of an abrupt, mid-latitude cooling of seawater during the Jurassic period, around 174 million years ago. University...

Upper respiratory system, with soft palate labeled near center. Image credit: BruceBlaus / CC BY 3.0.

Swedish Scientists Discover Unique Muscle Fibers in Human Soft Palate

Dec 8, 2015 by News Staff

A team of scientists at Umeå University in Sweden has discovered a special group of muscle fibers in the soft palate of the human mouth. Upper respiratory...