ScienceDaily: Latest Science News

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• New galaxy images reveal a fitful start to the Universe
• First dinosaur era crab fully preserved in amber discovered
• Changing ocean currents are driving extreme winter weather
• How an enriched environment fires up our synapses
• Scientists enable a blind woman to see simple shapes
• Termite brains can grow in anticipation of a single moment of flight and light
• Quantum material to boost terahertz frequencies
• Researchers make hardened wooden knives that slice through steak
• Study of DNA repair boosts prospects for gene editing technology
• Europeans in the Americas 1000 years ago
• Origin of domestic horses finally established
• Hit the sleep ‘sweet spot’ to keep brain sharp
• Astronomers detect signs of an atmosphere stripped from a planet in a giant impact
• Humans did not cause woolly mammoths to go extinct -- climate change did
• Unmasking the magic of superconductivity in twisted graphene
• Lightweight electric wristband heaters for constant, portable warmth
• Plugging into ocean waves with a flexible, seaweed-like generator
• Male-female differences in heart disease could start before birth
• Urban wastes used as fertilizers contain higher PFAS than livestock manure
• In your face: Children’s expressions tell the story of poor sleep
• Scientists develop sperm cells from primate stem cells
• Brain activation in sleeping toddlers shows memory for words
• Small-scale foragers left more than footprints on the landscape
• Cat bacteria treats mouse skin infection, may help you and your pets as well
• How quickly does the climate recover?
• 'Ray guns' let scientists use light instead of DNA to tell plant populations apart
• Viral infections could promote neurodegeneration
• Amount of information in visible universe quantified
• More than 99.9% of studies agree: Humans caused climate change

New galaxy images reveal a fitful start to the Universe Posted: 20 Oct 2021 05:37 PM PDT New images have revealed detailed clues about how the first stars and structures were formed in the Universe and suggest the formation of the Galaxy got off to a fitful start.

First dinosaur era crab fully preserved in amber discovered Posted: 20 Oct 2021 12:02 PM PDT Researchers describe the first crab from the Cretaceous dinosaur era preserved in amber. The study used micro CT to examine and describe Cretapsara athanata, the oldest modern-looking crab (approximately 100 million years old) and the most complete fossil crab ever discovered.

Changing ocean currents are driving extreme winter weather Posted: 20 Oct 2021 11:00 AM PDT Slower ocean circulation as the result of climate change could intensify extreme cold weather in the U.S., according to new research.

How an enriched environment fires up our synapses Posted: 20 Oct 2021 11:00 AM PDT Processing of sensory impressions and information depends very much on how the synapses in our brain work. A team has now shown how lipid and protein regulation impact brain's processing of a beautiful and stimulating environment. The lipids located in the membranes of the synapses are central to signal transmission, the researchers report.

Scientists enable a blind woman to see simple shapes Posted: 20 Oct 2021 11:00 AM PDT Newly published research details how a team of scientists successfully created a form of artificial vision for a blind woman using a brain implant.

Termite brains can grow in anticipation of a single moment of flight and light Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT In a dampwood termite colony only a select few will, quite literally, see the light. The insects are unique due to their mating flights and the adaptability of their role within the colony, which is based on the overall needs of the group. King and queen termites must leave the nest and are the only members to go outside -- briefly --to partner off and tunnel into a new location to start another colony. Researchers investigated how this group of individuals, who are destined to leave the nest, evolve differently in the brain region that processes vision.

Quantum material to boost terahertz frequencies Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT They are regarded as one of the most interesting materials for future electronics: Topological insulators conduct electricity in a special way and hold the promise of novel circuits and faster mobile communications. A research team has now unraveled a fundamental property of this new class of materials: How exactly do the electrons in the material respond when they are 'startled' by short pulses of so-called terahertz radiation? The results are not just significant for our basic understanding of this novel quantum material, but could herald faster mobile data communication or high-sensitivity detector systems for exploring distant worlds in years to come, the team reports.

Researchers make hardened wooden knives that slice through steak Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT The sharpest knives available are made of either steel or ceramic, both of which are human-made materials that must be forged in furnaces under extreme temperatures. Now, researchers have developed a potentially more sustainable way to make sharp knives: using hardened wood. The method makes wood 23 times harder and a knife made from the material is nearly three times sharper than a stainless-steel dinner table knife.

Study of DNA repair boosts prospects for gene editing technology Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT Researchers have developed a new method to profile the activity of cellular genes involved in correcting DNA damage, and applied this method to pave the way for dramatic improvements to genome editing technologies.

Europeans in the Americas 1000 years ago Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT The Vikings were active in North America in the year 1021 AD. This now represents the earliest -- and only -- known year in which Europeans were present in the Americas prior to the arrival of Columbus in 1492 AD. It also represents a definitive point in time by which the Atlantic Ocean had been traversed and human migration had finally encircled the globe.

Origin of domestic horses finally established Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT The modern horse was domesticated around 2200 years BCE in the northern Caucasus. In the centuries that followed it spread throughout Asia and Europe. An international team of 162 scientists collected, sequenced and compared 273 genomes from ancient horses scattered across Eurasia to come up with this finding.

Hit the sleep ‘sweet spot’ to keep brain sharp Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT Older adults who sleep short or long experienced greater cognitive decline than those who sleep a moderate amount, even when the effects of early Alzheimer's disease were taken into account, according to a new study.

Astronomers detect signs of an atmosphere stripped from a planet in a giant impact Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT A team has discovered evidence of a giant impact in the nearby HD 17255 star system, in which an Earth-sized terrestrial planet and a smaller impactor likely collided at least 200,000 years ago, stripping off part of one planet's atmosphere.

Humans did not cause woolly mammoths to go extinct -- climate change did Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT Humans did not cause woolly mammoths to go extinct -- climate change did. For five million years, woolly mammoths roamed the earth until they vanished for good nearly 4,000 years ago -- and scientists have finally proved why. The hairy cousins of today's elephants lived alongside early humans and were a regular staple of their diet -- their skeletons were used to build shelters, harpoons were carved from their giant tusks, artwork featuring them is daubed on cave walls, and 30,000 years ago, the oldest known musical instrument, a flute, was made out of a mammoth bone.

Unmasking the magic of superconductivity in twisted graphene Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT Researchers report an uncanny resemblance between the superconductivity of magic graphene and that of high temperature superconductors. Magic graphene may hold the key to unlocking new mechanisms of superconductivity, including high temperature superconductivity.

Lightweight electric wristband heaters for constant, portable warmth Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:59 AM PDT As the fall chill settles in across the U.S., people are getting out their cozy sweaters and electric blankets, or stocking up on handheld heat packets for extra warmth. But sweaters and blankets are bulky, and heat packs only work for a little while. Now, researchers demonstrate a conductive, durable yarn for lightweight wearable heaters that are re-usable and provide constant, portable warmth.

Plugging into ocean waves with a flexible, seaweed-like generator Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:58 AM PDT Ocean waves can be powerful, containing enough energy to push around sand, pebbles and even boulders during storms. These waves, as well as smaller, more gentle ones, could be tapped as a source of renewable energy. Now, researchers have developed flexible power generators that mimic the way seaweed sways to efficiently convert surface and underwater waves into electricity to power marine-based devices.

Male-female differences in heart disease could start before birth Posted: 20 Oct 2021 10:58 AM PDT New research suggests that male-female differences in protein expression occur immediately after embryonic cells become heart cells called cardiomyocytes. This is the earliest stage of heart development, well before the embryo is exposed to sex hormones.

Urban wastes used as fertilizers contain higher PFAS than livestock manure Posted: 20 Oct 2021 05:38 AM PDT Because of their useful surfactant properties, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been massively produced for non-stick coatings, water-repellant fabrics and firefighting foams. However, scientists have detected these highly stable 'forever chemicals' throughout the environment, prompting toxicity concerns. Now, researchers have characterized PFAS in contemporary and historical organic waste products applied to agricultural fields in France, finding the highest amounts in urban samples, with compounds changing over time.

In your face: Children’s expressions tell the story of poor sleep Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:32 PM PDT When children are overtired, their facial expressions can forecast social problems years later, according to a new report published by a psychologist.

Scientists develop sperm cells from primate stem cells Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:32 PM PDT A new study shows that functional sperm cells can be made in a dish using primate embryonic stem cells.

Brain activation in sleeping toddlers shows memory for words Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:32 PM PDT Very young children learn words at a tremendous rate. Now researchers have seen how specific brain regions activate as two-year-olds remember newly learned words -- while the children were sleeping.

Small-scale foragers left more than footprints on the landscape Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:31 PM PDT Archaeological sites like the Great Wall of China and the pyramids can be seen with the naked eye from space, but for ancient societies that did not build, their traces on the landscape are more difficult to find. Now researchers have used satellite data to identify areas in coastal southwest Madagascar where indigenous foragers altered their surroundings.

Cat bacteria treats mouse skin infection, may help you and your pets as well Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:35 AM PDT Researchers identify a strain of bacteria on healthy cats that produces antibiotics against severe skin infections. The findings may soon lead to new bacteriotherapies for humans and their pets, wherein cat bacteria is applied via topical cream or spray.

How quickly does the climate recover? Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:35 AM PDT It took the climate 20,000 to 50,000 years to stabilize after the rise in global temperatures of five to eight degrees Celsius 56 million years ago. Climate change today is causing temperatures to rise and is also increasing the likelihood of storms, heavy rain, and flooding -- the recent flood disaster in the Ahr valley in Germany is just one such example. What we need to ask ourselves in this connection is how quickly the climate can recover from the warming caused by an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

'Ray guns' let scientists use light instead of DNA to tell plant populations apart Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:35 AM PDT Using a handheld device that looks a little like a ray gun, scientists recorded how plant leaves on different Alaskan mountains reflect light. And, it turns out, different populations of plants of the same species -- for instance, plants living on neighboring mountaintops -- reflect light differently, in ways that echo their genetic variation from each other.

Viral infections could promote neurodegeneration Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:01 AM PDT Some viral diseases could possibly contribute to neurodegeneration. Researchers found that certain viral molecules facilitated intercellular spreading of protein aggregates that are hallmarks of brain diseases like Alzheimer's. These findings may provide clues how acute or chronic viral infections could contribute to neurodegeneration.

Amount of information in visible universe quantified Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:01 AM PDT Researchers have long suspected a connection between information and the physical universe, with various paradoxes and thought experiments used to explore how or why information could be encoded in physical matter. A researcher attempts to shed light on exactly how much of this information is out there and presents a numerical estimate for the amount of encoded information in all the visible matter in the universe -- approximately 6 times 10 to the power of 80 bits of information.

More than 99.9% of studies agree: Humans caused climate change Posted: 19 Oct 2021 05:27 AM PDT More than 99.9% of peer-reviewed scientific papers agree that climate change is mainly caused by humans, according to a new survey of 88,125 climate-related studies.

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