Uncategorized
- Ecosystems
Warming water can create a tropical ecosystem, but a fragile one
Tropical fish in a power plant’s warm discharge disappeared with the plant’s shutdown, giving insight into ecosystems’ reaction to temperature shifts.
By Jake Buehler - Health & Medicine
A pill for heavy metal poisoning may also save snakebite victims
In mice, an oral medication delayed or even prevented death after a lethal dose of viper venom, a new study finds.
- Space
The closest black hole to Earth may have been spotted 1,000 light-years away
What appears to be the closest black hole to the solar system shares orbits with two massive stars, a new study finds.
- Life
Why otters ‘juggle’ rocks is still a mystery
Shuffling pebbles really fast looks as if it should boost otters’ dexterity, but a new study didn’t find a link.
By Susan Milius - Psychology
A simple exercise on belonging helps black college students years later
Black college freshmen who did a one-hour training on belonging reported higher professional and personal satisfaction years later.
By Sujata Gupta - Animals
Pug-nosed tree frogs use an auditory trick to evade predators and woo mates
A new study finds that some tree frogs exploit what’s known as the precedence effect to get females attention safely.
By Pratik Pawar - Planetary Science
Planets with hydrogen-rich atmospheres could harbor life
Lab experiments show yeast and E. coli survive and reproduce in hydrogen gas, suggesting new environments to seek alien life.
- Oceans
Deep-sea mining may damage underwater ecosystems for decades
Microbe communities in the seabed off Peru still haven’t fully recovered from being disturbed by a deep-sea mining experiment 26 years ago.
- Physics
50 years ago, superconductors started feeling the pressure
Today, high-pressure superconductors are a hot topic. 50 years ago, scientists were just starting to explore the possibilities.
- Animals
Why mammals like elephants and armadillos might get drunk easily
Differences in a gene for breaking down alcohol could help explain which mammals get tipsy.
By Susan Milius - Health & Medicine
Some existing drugs might fight COVID-19. One may make it worse
Maps of interactions between coronavirus proteins and host proteins point to drugs that may slow viral growth, but cough medicine may stimulate growth.
- Physics
A newfound superconducting current travels only along a material’s edge
In a first, scientists spot electricity flowing without resistance on the rim of a topological superconductor.