ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• Little swirling mysteries: Uncovering dynamics of ultrasmall, ultrafast groups of atoms
• New evidence suggests sexual division of labor as farming arose in Europe
• To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data
• Lower COVID-19 rates seen in U.S. states with higher adherence to mask wearing
• 3D-printed material to replace ivory
• Dietary cocoa improves health of obese mice; likely has implications for humans
• Using sound waves to make patterns that never repeat
• Tiny wireless implant detects oxygen deep within the body
• Fast-spinning black holes narrow the search for dark matter particles
• Suppression of COVID-19 waves reflects time-dependent social activity, not herd immunity
• ER visits for suicidal behavior declined during the first 8 months of pandemic, Michigan study finds
• Air pollution may affect severity and hospitalization in COVID-19 patients
• Roadside invader: The higher the traffic, the easier the invasive common ragweed disperses
• Climate change is making it harder to get a good cup of coffee
• Get your head in the game -- One gene's role in cranial development
• Innovative technique developed to destroy cancerous kidney cells
• Gigantic flying pterosaurs had spoked vertebrae to support their 'ridiculously long' necks
• Genetic admixture in the South Pacific: From Denisovans to the human immune response
• Transforming circles into squares
• Auxin makes the spirals in gerbera inflorescences follow the Fibonacci sequence
• Mindfulness can make you selfish
• The chillest ape: How humans evolved a super-high cooling capacity
• Climate change is making Indian monsoon seasons more chaotic
• Indigenous land-use reduced catastrophic wildfires on the Fish Lake Plateau
• Superbug killer: New nanotech destroys bacteria and fungal cells
• Toxic gas in rat brains shows potential for new dementia treatments
• Ancient pottery reveals the first evidence for honey hunting in prehistoric West Africa
• Most differences in DNA binding compounds found at birth in children conceived by IVF not seen in early childhood
• Telescopes unite in unprecedented observations of famous black hole
• A mother's fat intake can impact infant infectious disease outcomes
• Physical inactivity linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and death

Little swirling mysteries: Uncovering dynamics of ultrasmall, ultrafast groups of atoms Posted: 14 Apr 2021 01:00 PM PDT Exploring and manipulating the behavior of polar vortices in material may lead to new technology for faster data transfer and storage.

New evidence suggests sexual division of labor as farming arose in Europe Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:50 PM PDT A new investigation of stone tools buried in graves provides evidence supporting the existence of a division of different types of labor between people of male and female biological sex at the start of the Neolithic.

To improve climate models, an international team turns to archaeological data Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:50 PM PDT To improve climate models, an international team turned to archaeological data. The resulting classification from the project, called LandCover6k, offers a tool the researchers hope might generate better predictions about the planet's future and fill in gaps about its past.

Lower COVID-19 rates seen in U.S. states with higher adherence to mask wearing Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT A new state-by-state analysis shows a statistical association between high adherence to mask wearing and reduced rates of COVID-19 in the United States.

3D-printed material to replace ivory Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT A new material called 'Digory' has been developed, which can be processed in 3D printers and is extremely similar to ivory. It can be used to restore old ivory artefacts.

Dietary cocoa improves health of obese mice; likely has implications for humans Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT Supplementation of cocoa powder in the diet of high-fat-fed mice with liver disease markedly reduced the severity of their condition, according to a new study. The researchers suggest the results have implications for people.

Using sound waves to make patterns that never repeat Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT Mathematicians and engineers have teamed up to show how ultrasound waves can organize carbon particles in water into a sort of pattern that never repeats. The results, they say, could result in materials called 'quasicrystals' with custom magnetic or electrical properties.

Tiny wireless implant detects oxygen deep within the body Posted: 14 Apr 2021 12:49 PM PDT Engineers have created a tiny wireless implant that can provide real-time measurements of tissue oxygen levels deep underneath the skin. The device, which is smaller than the average ladybug and powered by ultrasound waves, could help doctors monitor the health of transplanted organs or tissue and provide an early warning of potential transplant failure.

Fast-spinning black holes narrow the search for dark matter particles Posted: 14 Apr 2021 10:20 AM PDT An MIT study narrows the search for particles called ultralight bosons, which, if they exist, could be an important component of dark matter. Certain ultralight bosons would be expected to put the brakes on the spin of black holes, but the new results show no such slowdown.

Suppression of COVID-19 waves reflects time-dependent social activity, not herd immunity Posted: 14 Apr 2021 10:20 AM PDT Scientists developed a model showing that a fragile, temporary state of immunity emerged during the early epidemic but got destroyed as people changed their social behaviors over time, leading to future waves of infection.

ER visits for suicidal behavior declined during the first 8 months of pandemic, Michigan study finds Posted: 14 Apr 2021 10:19 AM PDT While people may expect suicide rates to rise during a worldwide crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, a new study suggests the onset of the pandemic and state of emergency executive orders likely did not increase suicide-related behavior in the early months of the outbreak. The report found that emergency room visits related to suicide attempt and self-harm decreased by 40 percent during the first eight months of Michigan's lockdown.

Air pollution may affect severity and hospitalization in COVID-19 patients Posted: 14 Apr 2021 10:17 AM PDT Patients who have preexisting respiratory conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and live in areas with high levels of air pollution have a greater chance of hospitalization if they contract COVID-19, according to new research.

Roadside invader: The higher the traffic, the easier the invasive common ragweed disperses Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT Common ragweed is an annual plant whose allergenic pollen affects human health. It's an invasive species particularly well-adapted to living at roadsides. New research found high population growth along high-traffic roads even in shaded and less disturbed road sections, suggesting that seed dispersal by vehicles and by road maintenance can compensate, at least partly, for less favorable habitat conditions.

Climate change is making it harder to get a good cup of coffee Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT Ethiopia may produce less specialty coffee and more rather bland tasting varieties in the future. This is the result of a new study by an international team of researchers that looked at the peculiar effects climate change has on Africa's largest coffee producing nation. Their results are relevant both for the country's millions of smallholder farmers, who earn more on specialty coffee than on ordinary coffee, as well as for baristas and coffee aficionados around the world.

Get your head in the game -- One gene's role in cranial development Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT Researchers have found that certain cells in mouse craniums respond to increased expression of a gene called Dlx5 during early stages of embryonic development. They observed that a layer of these cells formed more bone and cartilage in mice engineered with high Dlx5 levels. Their interesting results provide crucial information for the mechanistic role of this gene in cell fate during cranial development.

Innovative technique developed to destroy cancerous kidney cells Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT An innovative new technique that encourages cancer cells in the kidneys to self-destruct could revolutionize the treatment of the disease.

Gigantic flying pterosaurs had spoked vertebrae to support their 'ridiculously long' necks Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:35 AM PDT One of the azhdarchid pterosaur's most notable features for such a large flighted animal was a neck longer than that of a giraffe. Now, researchers report an unexpected discovery: their thin neck vertebrae got their strength from an intricate internal structure unlike anything that's been seen before.

Genetic admixture in the South Pacific: From Denisovans to the human immune response Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:34 AM PDT Scientists have looked at understudied human populations from the South Pacific, which are severely affected by a variety of diseases, including vector-borne infectious diseases such as Zika virus, dengue, and chikungunya, and metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Using genome sequencing of 320 individuals, the scientists have investigated how human populations have biologically adapted to the environments of the Pacific islands and how this has affected their current state of health.

Transforming circles into squares Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:34 AM PDT Researchers have developed a method to change a cellular material's fundamental topology at the microscale.

Auxin makes the spirals in gerbera inflorescences follow the Fibonacci sequence Posted: 14 Apr 2021 08:34 AM PDT The meristem of the gerbera is patterned on the molecular level already at a stage where no primordia or other changes are discernible by even an electron microscope.

Mindfulness can make you selfish Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT A new article demonstrates the surprising downsides of mindfulness, while offering easy ways to minimize those consequences -- both of which have practical implications for mindfulness training.

The chillest ape: How humans evolved a super-high cooling capacity Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT Researchers have discovered how a uniquely high density of sweat glands evolved in the human genome. Researchers showed that the higher density of sweat glands in humans is due mostly to accumulated changes in a regulatory region of DNA -- called an enhancer region -- that drives the expression of a sweat gland-building gene, explaining why humans are the sweatiest of the Great Apes.

Climate change is making Indian monsoon seasons more chaotic Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT If global warming continues unchecked, summer monsoon rainfall in India will become stronger and more erratic. This is the central finding of an analysis by a team of researchers that compared more than 30 state-of-the-art climate models from all around the world. The study predicts more extremely wet years in the future - with potentially grave consequences for more than one billion people's well-being, economy, food systems and agriculture.

Indigenous land-use reduced catastrophic wildfires on the Fish Lake Plateau Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT Researchers compared lake sediment, tree ring data and archaeological evidence to reconstruct a 1,200 history of fire, climate, and human activity of the Fish Lake Plateau, a high-elevation forest in central Utah in the U.S. They found that Indigenous people used small, frequent fires, a practice known as cultural burning, which reduced the risk for large-scale wildfire activity in mountain environments even during periods of drought more extreme and prolonged than today.

Superbug killer: New nanotech destroys bacteria and fungal cells Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT A new dual bug killer is one of the thinnest antimicrobial coatings to date. The coating works by tearing bacteria and fungal cells apart, offering a smart solution to the twin global health threats of drug-resistant bacterial and fungal infections.

Toxic gas in rat brains shows potential for new dementia treatments Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT A potential treatment for dementia and epilepsy could look to reduce the amounts of a toxic gas in the brain has been revealed in a new study using rat brain cells.

Ancient pottery reveals the first evidence for honey hunting in prehistoric West Africa Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT A team of scientists has found the first evidence for ancient honey hunting, locked inside pottery fragments from prehistoric West Africa, dating back some 3,500 years ago.

Most differences in DNA binding compounds found at birth in children conceived by IVF not seen in early childhood Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT Compared to newborns conceived traditionally, newborns conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) are more likely to have certain chemical modifications to their DNA, according to a new study. The changes involve DNA methylation -- the binding of compounds known as methyl groups to DNA -- which can alter gene activity. Only one of the modifications was seen by the time the children were 9 years old.

Telescopes unite in unprecedented observations of famous black hole Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT In April 2019, scientists released the first image of a black hole in galaxy M87 using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). However, that remarkable achievement was just the beginning of the science story to be told.

A mother's fat intake can impact infant infectious disease outcomes Posted: 14 Apr 2021 07:01 AM PDT A team of researchers has determined that the type of fats a mother consumes while breastfeeding can have long-term implications on her infant's gut health. Their study suggests that the type of fat consumed during breastfeeding could differentially impact an infant's intestinal microbial communities, immune development and disease risk.

Physical inactivity linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and death Posted: 13 Apr 2021 04:40 PM PDT Physical inactivity is linked to more severe COVID-19 infection and a heightened risk of dying from the disease, finds a large U.S. study.

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