ScienceDaily: Top Science News

On Jupiter's moon Europa, 'chaos terrains' could be shuttling oxygen to ocean

Posted: 24 Mar 2022 11:38 AM PDT

Researchers have built the world's first physics-based computer simulation of oxygen transport on Europa, finding that it's possible for oxygen to drain through the moon's icy shell and into its ocean of liquid water -- where it could potentially help sustain alien life -- by hitching a ride on salt water under the moon's 'chaos terrains.' The results show that not only is the transport possible, but that the amount of oxygen brought into Europa's ocean could be on a par with the quantity of oxygen in Earth's oceans today.

Do octopuses, squid and crabs have emotions?

Posted: 24 Mar 2022 11:37 AM PDT

Octopuses can solve complex puzzles and show a preference for different individuals, but whether they, and other animals and invertebrates, have emotions is being hotly debated and could shake up humans' moral decision-making, says an expert in animal minds. Most countries don't recognize invertebrates, such as octopuses, crabs, lobsters and crayfish, as sentient beings that can feel pain, but the United Kingdom is considering amendments to its animal welfare legislation that would recognize this.

Physicists create extremely compressible 'gas of light'

Posted: 24 Mar 2022 11:37 AM PDT

Researchers have created a gas of light particles that can be extremely compressed. Their results confirm the predictions of central theories of quantum physics. The findings could also point the way to new types of sensors that can measure minute forces.

Warming oceans are getting louder

Posted: 24 Mar 2022 10:03 AM PDT

Climate change is speeding sound transmission in the oceans and the way it varies over the globe with physical properties of the oceans. Two 'acoustic hotspots' of future sound speed increases are predicted east of Greenland and in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, East of Newfoundland. In these locations, the average speed of sound is likely to increase by more than 1.5% if 'business-as-usual' high rates of greenhouse gas emissions continue through 2100.

Good news for coffee lovers: Daily coffee may benefit the heart

Posted: 24 Mar 2022 07:44 AM PDT

Drinking coffee -- particularly two to three cups a day -- is not only associated with a lower risk of heart disease and dangerous heart rhythms but also with living longer, according to recent studies. These trends held true for both people with and without cardiovascular disease. Researchers said the analyses -- the largest to look at coffee's potential role in heart disease and death -- provide reassurance that coffee isn't tied to new or worsening heart disease and may actually be heart protective.

Revamped design could take powerful biological computers from the test tube to the cell

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 12:16 PM PDT

Researchers may have developed long-lived biological computers that could potentially persist inside cells. Researchers forgo the traditional DNA-based approach, opting instead to use the nucleic acid RNA to build computers. The results demonstrate that the RNA circuits are as dependable and versatile as their DNA-based counterparts. What's more, living cells may be able to create these RNA circuits continuously, something that is not readily possible with DNA circuits.

New potentially painkilling compound found in deep-water cone snails

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 12:16 PM PDT

In a new study, researchers report that a group of cone snails produces a venom compound similar to the protein somatostatin. While they continue to learn more about this venom compound and its possible pharmaceutical applications, the results show the wide variety of drug leads that venomous animals produce, which they've designed and refined over millions of years.

Rewriting the history books: Why the Vikings left Greenland

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 12:16 PM PDT

One of the great mysteries of late medieval history is why did the Norse, who had established successful settlements in southern Greenland in 985, abandon them in the early 15th century? The consensus view has long been that colder temperatures, associated with the Little Ice Age, helped make the colonies unsustainable. However, new research upends that old theory. It wasn't dropping temperatures that helped drive the Norse from Greenland, but drought.

Neuroscientists identify mechanism for long term memory storage

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 12:16 PM PDT

While studying how memories are formed and stored in the brain, a team identified a novel protein folding mechanism that is essential for long term memory storage. The researchers further demonstrated that this mechanism is impaired in a tau-based mouse model of Alzheimer's disease and that restoring this protein folding mechanism reverses memory impairment in this mouse model for the study of dementia.

Quantum sensors: Measuring even more precisely

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 09:51 AM PDT

Two teams of physicists have designed the first programmable quantum sensor, and tested it in the laboratory. To do so they applied techniques from quantum information processing to a measurement problem. The innovative method promises quantum sensors whose precision reaches close to the limit set by the laws of nature.

New study of Yellowstone National Park shines new light on once hidden details of the famous American landmark

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 09:51 AM PDT

Those who have visited the park may have asked themselves, 'Where does all the hot water come from?' A study now provides stunning subsurface images that begin to answer that question.

Dense bones allowed Spinosaurus to hunt underwater

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 09:51 AM PDT

Spinosaurus is the largest predatory dinosaur known -- over two metres longer than the longest Tyrannosaurus rex -- but the way it hunted has been a subject of debate for decades. In a new paper, palaeontologists have taken a different approach to decipher the lifestyle of long-extinct creatures: examining the density of their bones.

Humans have given wild animals their diseases nearly 100 times, researchers find

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 07:12 AM PDT

Scientists have found that humans might give viruses back to animals more often than previously understood.

Modern animal life could have origins in delta

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 07:12 AM PDT

The ancestors of many animal species alive today may have lived in a delta in what is now China, new research suggests.

Researchers map the movement of white dwarfs of the Milky Way

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 07:12 AM PDT

White dwarfs were once normal stars similar to the Sun but then collapsed after exhausting all their fuel. These interstellar remnants have historically been difficult to study. However, a recent study reveals new information about the movement patterns of these puzzling stars.

Migrants from south carrying maize were early Maya ancestors

Posted: 23 Mar 2022 07:12 AM PDT

Archaeologists show that a site in Belize was critical in studying the origins of the ancient Maya people and the spread of maize as a staple food.

Scientists discover when beetles became prolific

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 07:18 PM PDT

Researchers have found that beetles first roamed the world in the Carboniferous and later diversified alongside the earliest dinosaurs during the Triassic and Jurassic.

Researchers control brain circuits from a distance using infrared light

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:09 PM PDT

Scientists have developed the first non-invasive technique for controlling targeted brain circuits in behaving animals from a distance. The tool has the potential to solve one of the biggest unmet needs in neuroscience: a way to flexibly test the functions of particular brain cells and circuits deep in the brain during normal behavior.

Nature study: Ocean life may adapt to climate change, but with hidden costs

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:09 PM PDT

A new study shows that some ocean animals may be able evolve their way out of troubles caused by climate change -- but at a high cost. By artificially evolving 23 generations of a marine copepod, Acartia tonsa, a team of scientists found that the tiny creatures could adapt to the high temperatures and carbon dioxide levels forecast for the warming oceans. But to get there, the populations had to spend a lot of their genetic flexibility -- leaving them vulnerable to new stresses, like low food.

Nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine could target future infectious diseases

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 12:08 PM PDT

Just one dose of a new nanoparticle-based COVID-19 vaccine was enough to produce an immune response in animals on track with vaccines currently in clinical use. And with minor changes, researchers hope the same vaccine platform could target other infectious diseases.

Seen and 'herd': Collective motion in crowds is largely determined by participants' field of vision

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 09:28 AM PDT

Researchers have developed a new model to predict human flocking behavior based on optics and other sensory data.

Nearby star could help explain why our Sun didn’t have sunspots for 70 years

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 09:28 AM PDT

Astronomers identified a nearby star whose sunspot cycles appear to have stopped. Studying this star might help explain the unusual period from the mid 1600s to the early 1700s when our Sun paused its sunspot cycles.

Rapid peptide discovery and 'plug-and-play' technology could make personalized cancer vaccines reality

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 09:25 AM PDT

Scientists have created a pipeline for identifying, prioritizing and evaluating potential tumor antigens for the fast generation of cancer vaccines, according to a new report. The new approach could help researchers quickly identify tumor-specific antigens recognized by cytotoxic T cells, generating a powerful, durable and highly specific response against an individual's tumor.

Could the asteroid Ryugu be a remnant of an extinct comet? Scientists now answer

Posted: 22 Mar 2022 08:13 AM PDT

The Hayabusa2 mission has recently uncovered information on the physical characteristics of the asteroid 'Ryugu,' which, according to the conventional theory, forms from a collision between larger asteroids. Now, a study by scientists from Japan suggests that Ryugu is, in fact, an extinct comet. With a simple physical model that fits currently available observations, the study provides a better understanding of comets, asteroids, and the evolution of our solar system.

Engineers develop a 'magnetic tentacle robot' to pass into the narrow tubes of the lung

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 05:54 PM PDT

Engineers and scientists have developed proof of concept for a robot that can reach some of the smallest bronchial tubes in the lungs -- to take tissue samples or deliver cancer therapy. Known as a magnetic tentacle robot, it measures just 2 millimeters in diameter, about twice the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen. Magnets on the outside of the patient will guide the tentacle robot into place.

Finding ways to turn down the heat in cities

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 12:04 PM PDT

Rooftop gardens and greenery can help ease some of the severe heat in cities, according to research from climate scientists.

New enzyme discovery is another leap towards beating plastic waste

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 12:04 PM PDT

Scientists who helped to pioneer the use of enzymes to eat plastic have taken an important next step in developing nature-based solutions to the global plastics crisis. They have characterized an enzyme that has the remarkable capacity to help break down terephthalate (TPA), one of the chemical building blocks of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic, which is used to make single-use drinks bottles, clothing and carpets.

Scientists determine structure of a DNA damage 'first responder'

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 10:22 AM PDT

The results of this collaborative project overturn some conventional wisdom about how the DNA repair process works.

Ape 'vocabularies' shaped by social mingling — like in humans

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 10:21 AM PDT

Social mingling shapes and transforms the 'vocabularies' of apes, just like in humans, according to new research.

Tiny magnets could hold the secret to new quantum computers

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 08:58 AM PDT

Scientists have discovered a type of magnetic behavior that could help enable magnetically based quantum devices.

A whale's tale: The story hidden in their mouths

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:37 AM PDT

Baleen plates -- the signature bristle-like apparatus toothless whales use to feed -- reveal how these large aquatic mammals adapt to environmental changes over time.

Soil erosion and wildfire another nail in coffin for Triassic era

Posted: 21 Mar 2022 07:37 AM PDT

New research has revealed that soil erosion and wildfires contributed to a mass extinction event 201 million years ago that ended the Triassic era and paved the way for the rise of dinosaurs in the Jurassic period.

Astronomers closer to unlocking origin of mysterious fast radio bursts

Posted: 19 Mar 2022 05:16 AM PDT

Nearly 15 years after the discovery of fast radio bursts (FRBs), the origin of the millisecond-long, deep-space cosmic explosions remains a mystery.  That may soon change, thanks to the work of an international team of scientists which tracked hundreds of the bursts from five different sources and found clues in FRB polarization patterns that may reveal their origin.

New form of ice discovered

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 02:05 PM PDT

Researchers have discovered a new form of ice, redefining the properties of water at high pressures.

Ancient ancestors evolved to be strong and snappy

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 01:14 PM PDT

Researchers show that the earliest jaws in the fossil record were caught in a trade-off between maximizing their strength and their speed.

Could we make cars out of petroleum residue?

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 01:14 PM PDT

Researchers have developed a way to make lightweight fibers, for possible use in the bodies of cars, out of an ultracheap feedstock: the waste material from the refining of petroleum.

When the brain sees a familiar face

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 01:14 PM PDT

Researchers have uncovered new information about how the area of the brain responsible for memory is triggered when the eyes come to rest on a face versus another object or image.

Wildfires devastate the land they burn, and they are also warming the planet

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 08:02 AM PDT

The 2021 wildfire season broke records globally, leaving land charred from California to Siberia. The risk of fire is growing, and a recent report warned that wildfires are on track to increase 50% by 2050. These fires destroy homes, plant life, and animals as they burn, but the risk doesn't stop there. Researchers detail how the brown carbon released by burning biomass in the northern hemisphere is accelerating warming in the Arctic and warn that this could lead to even more wildfires in the future.

Electron powers a weak but significant bond for building complex structures

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 06:21 AM PDT

How do you bring together two molecules that positively repel each other? A research team has developed a simple and versatile solution: Introduce an electron with a jolt of electricity, and resistance between the two is reduced and a bond formed. This fundamentally new type of catalysis will offer chemists and biologists a tool for promoting and controlling molecular recognition and self-assembly, enabling them to build complex structures.

Visible ocean plastics just the tip of the iceberg

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 06:21 AM PDT

Simulating a half century of movement and degradation of plastic waste in the ocean, a new study estimates that nearly two-thirds of ocean plastics are outside the reach of current monitoring methods. Furthermore, the study suggests that the estimated 25.3 million metric tons of total ocean plastics may represent only 5 percent of all mismanaged plastic waste to date, with the rest still on land.

New insight into the possible origins of life

Posted: 18 Mar 2022 05:02 AM PDT

Researchers have for the first time been able to create an RNA molecule that replicates, diversifies and develops complexity, following Darwinian evolution. This has provided empirical evidence that simple biological molecules can lead to the emergence of complex lifelike systems.

Smoke from major wildfires destroys the ozone layer

Posted: 17 Mar 2022 11:37 AM PDT

A new study shows that smoke from wildfires destroys the ozone layer. Researchers caution that if major fires become more frequent with a changing climate, more damaging ultraviolet radiation from the sun will reach the ground.

Rapid adaptation in fruit flies

Posted: 17 Mar 2022 11:37 AM PDT

Evolution is normally considered to be a gradual process, unfolding over long timescales. But new findings show that widespread physical and genomic adaptation to the environment can occur within just weeks.

Methane-eating bacteria convert greenhouse gas to fuel

Posted: 17 Mar 2022 11:37 AM PDT

Methanotrophic bacteria consume 30 million metric tons of methane per year and have captivated researchers for their natural ability to convert the potent greenhouse gas into usable fuel. Yet we know very little about how the complex reaction occurs, limiting our ability to use the double benefit to our advantage.

Lithium may decrease risk of developing dementia

Posted: 17 Mar 2022 11:37 AM PDT

Researchers have identified a link suggesting that lithium could decrease the risk of developing dementia, which affects nearly one million people in the UK.

Long-suspected turbocharger for memory found in brain cells of mice

Posted: 17 Mar 2022 11:32 AM PDT

Scientists have long known that learning requires the flow of calcium into and out of brain cells. But researchers have now discovered that floods of calcium originating from within neurons can also boost learning. The finding emerged from studies of how mice remember new places they explore.

Mathematical paradoxes demonstrate the limits of AI

Posted: 17 Mar 2022 09:03 AM PDT

Humans are usually pretty good at recognizing when they get things wrong, but artificial intelligence systems are not. According to a new study, AI generally suffers from inherent limitations due to a century-old mathematical paradox.