ScienceDaily: All - November 07, 2023
Today's top research news
Window to the past: New microfossils suggest earlier rise in complex life
Microfossils may capture a jump in the complexity of life that coincided with the rise of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere and oceans, according to an international team of scientists.
Frank Nagel/shutterstock.com
Cracking the code: Genome sequencing reveals why songbirds are larger in colder climates
Scientists have unlocked the genetic basis underlying the remarkable variation in body size observed in song sparrows, one of North America's most familiar and beloved songbirds. This discovery also provides insights into this species' capacity to adapt to the challenges of climate change. The study used genomic sequencing to successfully pinpoint eight genetic variants, or DNA mutations, largely responsible for the nearly threefold difference in body size observed across the song sparrow range from Mexico to Alaska.
Africa's dangerous air pollution levels are a global problem, says new research
A new report has brought to light the challenge of air pollution levels in Africa and why international action is needed to combat it.
Infection with common cat-borne parasite associated with frailty in older adults
A new study of 601 older adults found that those with higher serointensity -- or a higher concentration of antibiodies -- to the cat-borne parasite Toxoplasma gondii are more likely to show signs of frailty, including exhaustion, loss of muscle mass and other indications of declining health. T. Gondii has previously been associated with risk-taking behavior and mental illness.
French love letters confiscated by Britain finally read after 265 years
Over 100 letters sent to French sailors by their fiancées, wives, parents and siblings -- but never delivered -- have been opened and studied for the first time since they were written in 1757-8.
450-million-year-old organism finds new life in Softbotics
Researchers have used fossil evidence to engineer a soft robotic replica of pleurocystitids, a marine organism that existed nearly 450 million years ago and is believed to be one of the first echinoderms capable of movement using a muscular stem.
Studies of geologic faulting on icy moons aid exploration of extraterrestrial watery worlds
Earth and space scientists document and reveal the mechanisms behind strike-slip faulting on the largest moon of Saturn, Titan, and Jupiter's largest moon, Ganymede.
Want the secret to less painful belly flops? These researchers have the answer
Researchers investigated belly flop mechanics and found surprising insights about air-to-water impacts that could be useful for marine engineering applications. They set up a belly flop-like water experiment using a blunt cylinder but added an important vibrating twist to it.
Researchers have discovered several factors that affect field mouse behavior using seeds from dwarf bamboo plants, a plant that flowers once in a century. Their findings not only suggest the previously underappreciated role of mice in the forest ecosystem, but also show that they store small sasa seeds for later use. These challenge a previously held model of mouse behavior.
Two fins are better than one: Fish synchronize tail fins to save energy
They say two heads are better than one. But in the world of fish, it appears two fins are better than one. Researchers have produced a theoretical model that demonstrates the underlying mechanisms behind how fish will synchronize their fin movements to ride each other's vortices, thereby saving energy.
Mystery resolved: Black hole feeding and feedback at the center of an active galaxy
Almost every large galaxy has a supermassive black hole at its center. An international research team has recently observed the Circinus galaxy, which is one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way, with high enough resolution to gain further insights into the gas flows to and from the black hole at its galactic nucleus.
Long-distance weaponry identified at the 31,000-year-old archaeological site of Maisières-Canal
The hunter-gatherers who settled on the banks of the Haine, a river in southern Belgium, 31,000 years ago were already using spearthrowers to hunt their game. The material found at the archaeological site of Maisières-Canal permits establishing the use of this hunting technique 10,000 years earlier than the oldest currently known preserved spearthrowers. This discovery is prompting archaeologists to reconsider the age of this important technological innovation.
Brain implant may enable communication from thoughts alone
A speech prosthetic developed by a collaborative team of neuroscientists, neurosurgeons and engineers can translate a person's brain signals into what they're trying to say. The new technology might one day help people unable to talk due to neurological disorders regain the ability to communicate through a brain-computer interface.
Food waste prevention in Europe can generate major footprint savings
New calculations show that the European countries have great potential for reducing the demand for global food resources and the associated GHG footprint. Researchers have estimated the climate footprint savings that may be obtained from reducing food loss and waste along Europe's food supply chain by 50 % by 2030.
Fossils tell tale of last primate to inhabit North America before humans
Paleontologists have shed light on the long-standing saga of Ekgmowechashala, based on fossil teeth and jaws found in both Nebraska and China. Ekgmowechashala is the last primate found in the fossil record before humans.
Crust-forming algae are displacing corals in tropical waters worldwide
Over the past few decades, algae have been slowly edging corals out of their native reefs across the globe by blocking sunlight, wearing the corals down physically, and producing harmful chemicals. But in recent years, a new type of algal threat has surfaced in tropical regions like the Caribbean -- one that spreads quickly and forms a crust on top of coral and sponges, suffocating the organisms underneath and preventing them from regrowing. Marine biologists report that peyssonnelioid alga crusts, or PACs, are expanding quickly across reefs worldwide, killing off corals and transforming entire ecosystems.
European wildcats avoided introduced domestic cats for 2,000 years
Domestic cats introduced from the Near East, and wildcats native to Europe did not mix until the 1960s, despite being exposed to each other for 2,000 years, according to two recent articles.
How to eat our way out of the climate crisis
Researchers conducted a study to determine if replacing dietary fats from palm oil, soy and other agricultural crops with fats created synthetically in chemical or biological processes could help reduce climate change-causing greenhouse gases. The researchers' analysis finds a reduction in carbon emissions and other benefits, such the opening of agricultural lands to reforestation which benefits biodiversity and creates a carbon sink.
Epigenetic changes are paramount in cancer progression
The path a cell takes from healthy to metastatic cancer is mostly driven by epigenetic changes, according to a new computational study.
A step closer to injection-free diabetes care: Innovation in insulin-producing cells
A team has developed a new step to improve the process for creating insulin-producing pancreatic cells from a patient's own stem cells, bringing the prospect of injection-free treatment closer for people with diabetes.
