Notices tagged with science, page 3

China passes energy law to 'promote carbon neutrality' https://phys.org/news/2024-11-china-energy-law-carbon-neutrality.html #science

Researchers say a fossil discovered in South America is the largest Phorusrhacid, or “terror bird,” ever discovered. A 3D analysis of the fossil showed the specimen was attacked and killed by a massive caiman. Scientists say bone fragments suggest the terror bird could have stood over 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall. Read more from @LiveScience.

https://flip.it/Ya1Uc8

#Fossil #Bird #Colombia #Science #Discovery

Our brains have to work hard when we watch movies — to observe what's happening on screen, interpret the dialogue and follow the plots. Now, Popular Science reports on MIT research into how different movies show up on MRI scans. The team used a previously collected dataset including whole-brain scans from 176 adults who watched 60 minutes' worth of clips. "When the film’s content was difficult to follow or more ambiguous like during 'Inception,' activity was heightened in executive control brain regions. However, during more easy to understand scenes, the brain regions with specific functions — such as language processing — were the most dominated," writes Laura Baisas. See the second link for the full study in the Cell Press journal "Neuron."

https://flip.it/mWghYq

https://flip.it/5chgC2

#Movies #Cinema #Film #Neurology #Science #MRI

Headline of the day: Putting vampire bats on treadmills reveals an unusual metabolism.

From Science News: "Blood-feeding bats burn more amino acids during exercise, unlike carbs or fats other mammals use."

https://flip.it/9ioxH6

#Animals #Bats #Science #Biology

Here's a little something for those of you feeling existential dread today.

From @PopularScience: Without humans, what would happen to Earth? "People have considered versions of this apocalyptic thought experiment for centuries, if not millenia. ... Ideas of human extinction and societal dissolution are rampant in religious texts and myths of ancient cultures."

https://flip.it/Cx.KUI

#Extinction #Life #Earth #Science #Humanity #ClimateChange

What a 500-year-old shipwreck can tell us about how we age.

From @JenLucPiquant at @ArsTechnica: "Henry VIII's favorite warship, the Mary Rose, sank in battle in 1545. Archaeologists successfully raised the ship in 1982, along with thousands of articles and the remains of 179 crew members—all remarkably well preserved thanks to the anaerobic conditions of the shipwreck created by the layers of soft sediment that accumulated over the wreckage."

https://flip.it/x-w9LO

Here's the original study: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0311717

#Archaeology #Shipwreck #Science #Aging

To keep my American brain from exploding today, here are some remarkable new deep-space images from JWST.

First, a celestial smash-up. JWST's infrared eyes reveal cold dust that forms the "skeleton" of these colliding galaxies, known as IC 2163 and NGC 2207.

https://webbtelescope.org/contents/news-releases/2024/news-2024-136 #space #science #nature #astronomy

Are any animals truly "immortal?"

@popsci looks at creatures who defy biological time:
"From tiny jellyfish to one-ton sharks, some animals subvert scientific expectations about aging and death."

https://flip.it/lA1I.j

#Animals #Life #Science #Death #Evolution

“Hold on, let me show you what you’re doing wrong.” What is it about know-it-alls that makes them think they know everything? There are several quirks of human psychology that help explain this behavior, and @sciencefocus takes aim at one: naïve realism. Read more: https://flip.it/YrCasu
#Science #Psychology #Brain #Human #HumanBehavior

You never know where a town might pop up — even if it was established, and later abandoned, during the Bronze Age. The remains of a town being dubbed al-Natah was recently discovered in an oasis in modern-day Saudi Arabia. al-Natah was built around 2,400 BC and home to about 500 residents. It lasted 1,000 years, but no one knows why it was abandoned. There’s more from @CBSNews: https://flip.it/y9KClc
#Science #BronzeAge #History #SaudiArabia #Archeology

A supermassive black hole from the early universe is the most voracious ever seen. Its name is LID-568 and it is devouring stuff at 40 times more than the Eddington limit (the theoretical maximum). "This black hole is having a feast," says astronomer Julia Scharwächter of Gemini Observatory and the National Science Foundation's NOIRLab. "This extreme case shows that a fast-feeding mechanism above the Eddington limit is one of the possible explanations for why we see these very heavy black holes so early in the universe." @ScienceAlert has more: https://flip.it/Hc.xQR
#Space #Science #BlackHoles #Galaxy

A bold new experiment suggests humans could help butterflies outrun global warming.

From @AnthropoceneMag: "Scientists want to grow novel higher-elevation forest for the butterflies. But it will take a half a century — and that creates a tricky balancing act."

https://flip.it/X7CMZX

#ClimateChange #Butterfly #Insects #Science #Entomology

Saturn’s moon Titan may have a six-mile-thick crust of methane ice. Could there be life under it? @LiveScience explores the possibility and how such a discovery could benefit the fight against human-driven climate change on Earth: https://flip.it/l5ToiP
#Science #Space #Saturn #ClimateChange

A chemical that's been long used in soft, flexible plastics like PVC might be messing with the sex cells of some animals and possibly even humans, a new study suggests. Read more @ScienceAlert: https://flip.it/OLTP11
#Science #Humans #Chemicals #Health

As the expansion of the universe accelerates, a radical hypothesis has been stirring up controversy among astronomers. Are black holes behind the expansion? @LiveScience tackles the question: https://flip.it/IlSphK
#Science #Space #Universe #BlackHoles

With their bladed paws, wielded by a rippling mass of pure muscle, sharp eyes, agile reflexes, and crushing fanged jaws, lions are “the biggest group-hunting land predator on the planet.” And yet, they’re not the scariest. @ScienceAlert explains how this could be: https://flip.it/YL9IBJ
#Science #Animals #Lions #Predators #Humans #Africa

What is happening with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft?

From @ArsTechnica: "Among the options NASA and Boeing are considering: A Starliner cargo flight."

https://flip.it/B5mQgG

#Boeing #Starliner #Space #NASA #SpaceX #Science

How parrot plumage gets its dazzling reds and yellows.

From @npr: "Most birds with bright yellow or red feathers — think goldfinches and cardinals — use pigments called carotenoids to make those colors. ... There is a notable exception, however — parrots."

https://flip.it/DUuIC4

Full study: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp7710

#Birds #Parrots #Animals #Science #Biology #Evolution

For years, humans have relished opportunities to kick, punch, trip, crush, and run over anything remotely resembling a robot. Sometimes it’s funny, but this penchant for machine violence could become potentially concerning as a new wave of humanoid robots is being built to work alongside people in manufacturing facilities. @PopularScience examines the history of people bullying robots. https://flip.it/kH1rAP
#Science #Robots #Technology #ComputerScience #HumanBehavior #Violence #Psychology

A team of researchers tracked 30 women who menstruate over their cycles, documenting in detail the structural changes that take place in the brain as hormonal profiles fluctuate. What’s more, the changes may extend beyond regions associated with the menstrual cycle. @ScienceAlert reports: https://flip.it/sh265K
#Science #Health #Human #Women #WomensHealth #Brain