Researchers at McMaster University have developed a new technique to tease ancient DNA from soil, pulling the genomes of hundreds of animals and thousands of plants—many of them long extinct—from less than a gram of sediment. The DNA extraction method, outlined in the journal Quarternary Research, allows scientists to reconstruct the most advanced picture ever Read more about Researchers reveal a much richer picture of the past with new DNA recovery technique[…]

in a paper published on Aug. 17, in Nature Nanotechnology, Stanford scientists demonstrate a new approach to slow light significantly, much like an echo chamber holds onto sound, and to direct it at will. Researchers in the lab of Jennifer Dionne, associate professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford, structured ultrathin silicon chips into Read more about Scientists slow and steer light with resonant nanoantennas[…]

Nearly 60 years ago, the Nobel prize–winning physicist Eugene Wigner captured one of the many oddities of quantum mechanics in a thought experiment. He imagined a friend of his, sealed in a lab, measuring a particle such as an atom while Wigner stood outside. Quantum mechanics famously allows particles to occupy many locations at once—a Read more about Quantum paradox points to shaky foundations of reality[…]

In 1969, British physicist Roger Penrose suggested that energy could be generated by lowering an object into the black hole’s ergosphere—the outer layer of the black hole’s event horizon, where an object would have to move faster than the speed of light in order to remain still. Penrose predicted that the object would acquire a Read more about Experiment confirms 50-year-old theory describing how black holes could generate energy[…]

Researchers used a computer simulation to show how a flushing toilet can create a cloud of virus-containing aerosol droplets that is large and widespread and lasts long enough that the droplets could be breathed in by others. With recent studies showing the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 can survive in the human digestive tract and Read more about Flushing toilets create clouds of virus-containing particles[…]

Astronomers have finally found hard-to-detect visible matter scattered across space, left over from the Big Bang, after searching for nearly thirty years, according to a study published in Nature. “We know from measurements of the Big Bang how much matter there was in the beginning of the Universe,” said Jean-Pierre Macquart, lead author of the Read more about After 30 years of searching, astroboffins finally detect the universe’s ‘missing matter’ – using fast radio bursts[…]

A team of University of Rhode Island scientists and statisticians conducted a sophisticated quantitative analysis of a mass extinction that occurred 215 million years ago and found that the cause of the extinction was not an asteroid or climate change, as had previously been believed. Instead, the scientists concluded that the extinction did not occur Read more about Asteroid, climate change not responsible for mass extinction 215 million years ago[…]

Sweden’s death rate per million (376) “is far in advance of Norway’s (44), Denmark’s (96) and Finland’s (55) — countries with similar welfare systems and demographics, but which imposed strict lockdowns…” reports the Guardian, “raising concerns that the country’s light-touch approach to the coronavirus may not be helping it build up broad immunity.” “According to Read more about Lockdown-Ignoring Sweden Now Has Nordic Europe’s Highest Per-Capita Death Rate and only 7.3% antibodies[…]

A compendium of practical facts rendered useless. Source: Stupid Calculations

In designing electronic devices, scientists look for ways to manipulate and control three basic properties of electrons: their charge; their spin states, which give rise to magnetism; and the shapes of the fuzzy clouds they form around the nuclei of atoms, which are known as orbitals. Until now, electron spins and orbitals were thought to Read more about Scientists break the link between a quantum material’s spin and orbital states[…]

Researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, a Seattle nonprofit dedicated to neuroscience, have been painstakingly recording every brain cell and every connection between those neurons in mice for the past several years. The result represents major progress since an earlier, simpler map they released in 2016. The now-complete map encompasses about 100 million Read more about Gigantic new 3D map traces every neuron in a tiny mouse brain | Live Science[…]

Iceland’s testing yielded new leads for scientists about how the virus behaves. Early results suggested 0.6 percent of the population were “silent carriers” of the disease with no symptoms or only a mild cough and runny nose. Preliminary research suggests one-third of those who tested positive at deCODE infected someone around them, providing evidence that Read more about Iceland Has Tested 13% of Its Population for Coronavirus. They have days with 0 deaths. Here’s What It Found[…]

For National Geographic, Nina Strochlic and Riley D. Champine look back at the 1918 pandemic for clues about the future: The 1918 flu, also known as the Spanish Flu, lasted until 1920 and is considered the deadliest pandemic in modern history. Today, as the world grinds to a halt in response to the coronavirus, scientists Read more about Curves for the 1918 flu pandemic[…]

Observations made with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) have revealed for the first time that a star orbiting the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way moves just as predicted by Einstein’s general theory of relativity. Its orbit is shaped like a rosette and not like an ellipse as predicted by Newton’s Read more about ESO Telescope Sees Star Dance Around Supermassive Black Hole, Proves Einstein’s Theory of Relativity[…]

For most of her life, Joy Milne had a superpower that she was totally oblivious to. She simply had no idea she possessed an utterly amazing, slightly terrifying biological gift that scientists would itch to study. In fact, Joy probably would have stayed oblivious if it hadn’t been for her husband, Les Milne. […] But Read more about A Woman Who Can Smell Parkinson’s, Alzheimers, Cancer, TBC, Is Inspiring New Research Into Diagnosis[…]

A team led by UC Riverside geologists has discovered the first ancestor on the family tree that contains most familiar animals today, including humans. The tiny, wormlike creature, named Ikaria wariootia, is the earliest bilaterian, or organism with a front and back, two symmetrical sides, and openings at either end connected by a gut. The Read more about Ancestor of all animals identified in Australian fossils[…]

A happy accident in the laboratory has led to a breakthrough discovery that not only solved a problem that stood for more than half a century, but has major implications for the development of quantum computers and sensors.In a study published today in Nature, a team of engineers at UNSW Sydney has done what a Read more about Engineers rediscover electric control of atomic nuclius, get it working. Means easy quantum computer control among other things.[…]

Bioplastics date back more than 160 years, but they’ve seen a surge in interest and production in the past few decades. In 2018, the world produced 2.6 million tons of bioplastic, according to data from the Institute for Bioplastics and Biocomposites (IFBB). That’s a fraction of the 300 million tons of plastic produced, but IFBB Read more about The Truth About Bioplastic[…]

Scientists have just discovered that a jellyfish-like parasite doesn’t have a mitochondrial genome – the first multicellular organism known to have this absence. That means it doesn’t breathe; in fact, it lives its life completely free of oxygen dependency. This discovery isn’t just changing our understanding of how life can work here on Earth – Read more about Scientists Find The First-Ever Animal That Doesn’t Need Oxygen to Survive[…]

Some of Earth’s plants have fallen in love with metal. With roots that act practically like magnets, these organisms — about 700 are known — flourish in metal-rich soils that make hundreds of thousands of other plant species flee or die…. The plants not only collect the soil’s minerals into their bodies but seem to Read more about Some Farmers are Harvesting Metals From Plants[…]

A powerful antibiotic that kills some of the most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria in the world has been discovered using artificial intelligence. The drug works in a different way to existing antibacterials and is the first of its kind to be found by setting AI loose on vast digital libraries of pharmaceutical compounds. […] “I think Read more about Powerful antibiotic discovered using machine learning for first time[…]

This is a hugely holier than thou article written by a strident anti-abortionist, but it’s quite interesting in that a) you can clone your puppy commercially and b) it’s absolutely not a perfected science. You have five days after your pet dies to extract its genetic material for cloning, according to the Seoul-based Sooam Biotech Read more about People Are Killing Puppy Clones That Don’t Come Out ‘Perfect’ – wait you can clone your puppy?![…]

Two scientific studies of the number of insects splattered by cars have revealed a huge decline in abundance at European sites in two decades. The research adds to growing evidence of what some scientists have called an “insect apocalypse”, which is threatening a collapse in the natural world that sustains humans and all life on Read more about Car ‘splatometer’ tests reveal 80% decline in number of insects in last decade[…]

It’s positively balmy in Antarctica. The National Meteorological Service of Argentina announced on Twitter that its Esperanza weather station recorded a new high for the continent: 18.3 degrees Celsius (64.9 degrees Fahrenheit). The previous temperature record for Antarctica was set on March 24, 2015, when this same weather station recorded 17.5 degrees Celsius (63.5 degrees Read more about Antarctica Just Set a New Temperature Record[…]