ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• After 20 years of trying, scientists succeed in doping a 1D chain of cuprates
• Young female black bears in Asheville, North Carolina, are big, have cubs early
• Preventing the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury
• How serotonin curbs cocaine addiction
• Scientists solve mystery of icy plumes that may foretell deadly supercell storms
• Too much free time may be almost as bad as too little
• Breakthrough achievement in quantum computing
• Ancient sea ice core sheds light on modern climate change
• Moth wingtips an ‘acoustic decoy’ to thwart bat attack
• Researchers enlist robot swarms to mine lunar resources
• 500-million-year-old fossil represents rare discovery of ancient animal in North America
• Ancient marsupial 'junk DNA' might be useful after all, scientists say
• Large herbivore can reduce fire risks
• Link between ADHD and dementia across generations
• Sunlight can break down marine plastic into tens of thousands of chemical compounds, study finds
• Study reveals dramatic impact of climate change in the Sierra Nevada
• After 10,000 years of inbreeding, endangered flightless parrots from New Zealand are in surprisingly good genetic health
• Surprise: The Milky Way is not homogeneous
• Steps per day matter in middle age, but not as many as you may think
• Research uncovers new mechanism that promotes wound healing in skin
• Soft components for the next generation of soft robotics
• ‘MRI’ scan reveals spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea
• Who was king before Tyrannosaurus? Uzbek fossil reveals new top dino
• Think bad news before it's delivered, new research suggests

After 20 years of trying, scientists succeed in doping a 1D chain of cuprates Posted: 09 Sep 2021 01:22 PM PDT After 20 years of trying, scientists doped a 1D copper oxide chain and found a surprisingly strong attraction between electrons that may factor into the material's superconducting powers.

Young female black bears in Asheville, North Carolina, are big, have cubs early Posted: 09 Sep 2021 01:22 PM PDT Black bears (Ursus americanus) reproduced at a younger age in urban areas and were nearly twice the size of bears in national forests shortly after their first birthdays.

Preventing the long-term effects of traumatic brain injury Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:12 AM PDT Researchers have identified a specific molecule in a part of the brain called the thalamus that plays a key role in secondary effects of traumatic brain injury, such as sleep disruption, epileptic activity, and inflammation. They also showed that an antibody treatment could prevent the development of these negative outcomes.

How serotonin curbs cocaine addiction Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:12 AM PDT Contrary to common thinking, cocaine triggers an addiction only in 20% of the consumers. But what happens in their brains when they lose control of their consumption? Thanks to a recent experimental method, neuroscientists have revealed a brain mechanism specific to cocaine, which has the particularity of triggering a massive increase in serotonin in addition to the increase in dopamine common to all drugs. Indeed, serotonin acts as an intrinsic brake on the overexcitement of the reward system elicited by dopamine, the neurotransmitter that causes addiction.

Scientists solve mystery of icy plumes that may foretell deadly supercell storms Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:12 AM PDT The most devastating tornadoes are often preceded by a cloudy plume of ice and water vapor billowing above a severe thunderstorm. New research reveals the mechanism for these plumes could be tied to 'hydraulic jumps' -- a phenomenon Leonardo Da Vinci observed more than 500 years ago.

Too much free time may be almost as bad as too little Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:44 AM PDT As an individual's free time increases, so does that person's sense of well-being -- but only up to a point. Too much free time can be also be a bad thing, according to new research.

Breakthrough achievement in quantum computing Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:43 AM PDT Researchers have set a world record for innovation in quantum computing.

Ancient sea ice core sheds light on modern climate change Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:42 AM PDT A 170 m record of marine sediment cores extracted from Adélie Land in Antarctica is yielding new insights into the complicated relationship between sea ice and climate change.

Moth wingtips an ‘acoustic decoy’ to thwart bat attack Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:42 AM PDT Wingtips of certain species of silkmoth are structured to reflect sound and throw off attackers, according to a new study.

Researchers enlist robot swarms to mine lunar resources Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:42 AM PDT Building a base on the moon was once something out of science fiction, but now scientists are starting to consider it more seriously. Researchers are investigating methods for mining lunar resources to build such a base, using swarms of autonomous robots.

500-million-year-old fossil represents rare discovery of ancient animal in North America Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:40 AM PDT Many scientists consider the 'Cambrian explosion' -- which occurred about 530-540 million years ago -- as the first major appearance of many of the world's animal groups in the fossil record. Like adding pieces to a giant jigsaw puzzle, each discovery dating from this time period has added another piece to the evolutionary map of modern animals. Now, researchers have found a rare, 500-million-year-old 'worm-like' fossil called a palaeoscolecid, which is an uncommon fossil group in North America. The researchers believe this find, from an area in western Utah, can help scientists better understand how diverse the Earth's animals were during the Cambrian explosion.

Ancient marsupial 'junk DNA' might be useful after all, scientists say Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:40 AM PDT Viral fossils buried in DNA may protect against future virus infections, a new marsupial study suggests.

Large herbivore can reduce fire risks Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:40 AM PDT The use of large herbivores can be an effective means to prevent and mitigate wildfires, especially in places facing land abandonment. They can replace much more costly solutions like firefighting or mechanical vegetation removal.

Link between ADHD and dementia across generations Posted: 09 Sep 2021 09:39 AM PDT A large study has found a link between ADHD and dementia across generations. The study shows that parents and grandparents of individuals with ADHD were at higher risk of dementia than those with children and grandchildren without ADHD.

Sunlight can break down marine plastic into tens of thousands of chemical compounds, study finds Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:07 PM PDT Sunlight was once thought to only fragment plastics in the marine environment into smaller particles that chemically resemble the original material and persist forever. However, scientists more recently have learned that sunlight also chemically transforms plastic into a suite of polymer-, dissolved-, and gas-phased products.

Study reveals dramatic impact of climate change in the Sierra Nevada Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:06 PM PDT The new study reveals just how dramatically climate change has impacted aquatic ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada. Scientists can use the data to anticipate changes coming in the near future, and how those changes might influence water availability.

After 10,000 years of inbreeding, endangered flightless parrots from New Zealand are in surprisingly good genetic health Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:06 PM PDT Before humans made their way to New Zealand, the critically endangered flightless parrot known as the k?k?p? likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands. By 1995, their numbers had dwindled to just 51 birds, including 50 isolated on tiny Stewart Island and a single male, known as Richard Henry, all alone on the mainland. Today, those numbers have grown to about 200 individuals. Now, the first genome sequencing of the species offer some surprisingly good news: despite 10,000 years of island isolation and inbreeding, the k?k?p? appear to have lost potentially deleterious mutations rather than accumulating them. In fact, they now carry fewer deleterious mutations than now-extinct populations on the mainland once did.

Surprise: The Milky Way is not homogeneous Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:06 PM PDT In order to better understand the history and evolution of the Milky Way, astronomers are studying the composition of the gases and metals that make up an important part of our galaxy. Three main elements stand out: the initial gas coming from outside our galaxy, the gas between the stars inside our galaxy -- enriched with chemical elements --, and the dust created by the condensation of the metals present in this gas. Until now, theoretical models assumed that these three elements were homogeneously mixed throughout the Milky Way and reached a level of chemical enrichment similar to the Sun's atmosphere, called the Solar metallicity. Today, a team of astronomers demonstrates that these gases are not mixed as much as previously thought, which has a strong impact on the current understanding of the evolution of galaxies. As a result, simulations of the Milky Way's evolution will have to be modified.

Steps per day matter in middle age, but not as many as you may think Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:05 PM PDT Walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people's risk of premature death from all causes by 50% to 70%, compared to that of other middle-aged people who took fewer daily steps.

Research uncovers new mechanism that promotes wound healing in skin Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:05 PM PDT A study identifies a new molecular pathway that promotes the healing of wounds in the skin.

Soft components for the next generation of soft robotics Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:05 PM PDT Researchers have developed electrically-driven soft valves to control hydraulic soft actuators. These valves could be used in assistive and therapeutic devices, bio-inspired soft robots, soft grippers, surgical robots, and more.

‘MRI’ scan reveals spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:05 PM PDT Spectacular ice age landscapes beneath the North Sea have been discovered using 3D seismic reflection technology. Similar to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) the images reveal in unprecedented detail huge seafloor channels - each one 10 times wider than the River Thames.

Who was king before Tyrannosaurus? Uzbek fossil reveals new top dino Posted: 08 Sep 2021 03:04 PM PDT A new dinosaur from the lower Upper Cretaceous of Uzbekistan, Ulughbegsaurus uzbekistanensis, was described from a single maxilla fossil. The research team estimated that this carcharodontosaurian weighed over 1000 kg and measured 7.5--8.0 meters in length, much larger than previously described predators from the same formation. The fossil's age, location, and co-occurrence with the smaller tyrannosaurid Timurlengia shed light on the transition from carcharodontosaurians to tyrannosaurids occupying the apex predator niche.

Think bad news before it's delivered, new research suggests Posted: 07 Sep 2021 08:06 AM PDT Psychologists have known there's value in finding a 'silver lining,' in coaxing oneself through bad news. But there has been little consideration of whether there's a benefit to looking for those upsides in bad news before the news arrives.

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