Notices by Flipboard Science Desk (sciencedesk@flipboard.social), page 56

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The U.S. suffered several lunar setbacks this week.

First, a private mission to the moon suffered a devastating fuel leak. Story from Space.com: https://flip.it/RyZZ9o

Today, NASA announced another delay for manned trips around the moon and on the surface. AP reports: https://flip.it/BKR65P

#Moon #NASA #Space #Lunar

A letter written by a Roman emperor helped lead a team of archaeologists to an ancient temple that "adds significant insights into the social changes" from pagan beliefs to Christianity in the Roman Empire, experts announced recently.

CBS News reports on the discovery in Italy: https://flip.it/3CBb_G

#Archaeology #Roman #Italy #Christianity

New study suggests some forms of life could exist in Venus's sulfuric acid clouds.

Phys.org reports: "Prior research has suggested that if there is any kind of life form living on Venus, it would likely not be on the surface (it is far too hot) but in the clouds, where temperatures are closer to those found on Earth."

https://flip.it/0aRDB5

#Venus #Space #Life #Astronomy #Science

Scientists find about a quarter million invisible nanoplastic particles in a liter of bottled water.

AP reports: "Much of the plastic seems to be coming from the bottle itself and the reverse osmosis membrane filter used to keep out other contaminants."

https://flip.it/zJw_vQ

#Plastic #Water #Health #Environment #Science

California's "singing" fish have a surprising relationship to mammals, study finds.

Salon reports: "Midshipman fish are known to hum and sing. The parts of the brain that let them do it reflects some of our own."

https://flip.it/3I-Dg7

#Fish #Animals #Science

"An unlikely citizen scientist is helping to save an endangered dolphin that lives in Pakistan's Indus River. He's a fisherman who cannot read or write."

@NPR reports on the Indus River dolphin: https://flip.it/QGF-pG

#Dolphins #Animals #Endangered #Pakistan #Conservation

Endangered jaguar previously unknown to U.S. is caught on camera in Arizona.

CBS News reports: "Authorities said Arizona jaguars are part of the species' northern population, including Sonora, Mexico's breeding population."

https://flip.it/SgpPhB

#Jaguar #BigCats #Animals #Arizona #Endangered #Conservation

Navajo Nation objects to a plan to send human remains to the moon.

NPR reports the Peregrine Mission One includes "payloads from Celestis and Elysium, two companies that allow people to pay to send their loved ones' cremated remains into the cosmos."

https://flip.it/23wPqT

#Moon #Space #NASA #Navajo #Indigenous #Religion

A person taking a walk on the east coast of the United States almost certainly wouldn't notice what satellite photos have picked up — major cities and population centers are sinking. Live Science has more, including how fast these areas are sinking and why it's dangerous. https://flip.it/AbBo5A
#Science #USA #EastCoast #Geology

Anyone who has done a fair amount of digging almost certainly has excavated discoveries (bottles, bricks, old pipes) that fall short of spectacular. That wasn’t the case last May when a shovel operator working the overnight shift at a North Dakota coal mine spotted a glint of white that turned out to be a mammoth tusk estimated to be thousands of years old. Phys.org has more: https://flip.it/SKXdt9
#Science #Mammoth #Discoveries #Animals

Turns out, we may have been mistaken in how we’ve viewed Neptune this whole time. For decades, scientists have wondered why Neptune and Uranus, extremely similar in most ways, were such noticeably different colors. Now, however, scientists have reprocessed data and revealed that the two planets are actually very close in color. Science Alert has more: https://www.sciencealert.com/new-images-reveal-the-surprising-truth-about-what-neptune-really-looks-like
#Science #Space #SolarSystem #Uranus #Neptune #SpaceExploration

Animals come in all shapes and sizes, and many have iconic features, such as a giraffe’s long neck or a hammerhead shark’s aptly named head. Live Science tells us how 10 such animals evolved their distinct features. https://flip.it/sRuXbq
#Science #Animals #Biology #Evolution

What a gorilla named Lia taught scientists about human facial expressions.

Salon reports: "It’s very rare to get the opportunity to dissect a gorilla. The delicate questions it raises about us are bananas."

https://flip.it/6atP4Q

#Animals #Gorilla #Science #Evolution

Jellyfish regenerate lost tentacles, and now we know how.

@arstechnica reports: "The process of blastema formation in some other animals has been studied, but how they form in jellyfish was still a mystery."

https://flip.it/3UlQkZ

#Jellyfish #Animals #Science #Ocean

The new canary in a coal mine is the chickadee in the snowbank.

@TheConversationUS reports on climate change in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

https://flip.it/xoyQN3

#ClimateChange #Climate #Birds #Mountains

Two companies will attempt the first U.S. moon landings since the Apollo missions a half-century ago.

AP reports: https://flip.it/5WKHnV

#Moon #Space #NASA #SpaceX

@Dtraslerwriting True, as the article states: "It was also considered something of a 'miracle cure' by the then-U.S. President Donald Trump, who said: 'What do you have to lose? Take it.'"

Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic, study finds.

Politico reports: "The anti-malaria drug was prescribed to some patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic, 'despite the absence of evidence documenting its clinical benefits.'"

https://flip.it/-LPICx

#COVID19 #COVID #Pandemic #Hydroxychloroquine #Misinformation #Health

A study using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey shows the use of hearing aids may do more than improve hearing. Restoring hearing loss with hearing aids may lengthen people’s lives. NPR has more, including the risks associated with untreated hearing loss. https://flip.it/syQA8J
#Science #HearingLoss #Health #NPR #USC