Ancient Teeth Reveal Social Stratification Dates Back to Bronze Age Societies
sciam.com – Humans have a history of status division stretching back at least 4,000 years
Source: Alissa Mittnik, et al. Kinship-based social inequality in Bronze Age Europe. Science, 2019.
Scientists Implant False Memories into Bird Brains
livescience.com – And they learn new songs.
Source: Wenchan Zhao, Francisco Garcia-Oscos, Daniel Dinh, Todd F. Roberts. Inception of memories that guide vocal learning in the songbird. Science, 2019.
Double Protostar Caught in Process of Forming
sci-news.com – Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have captured a stunning image of two circumstellar disks in which two protostars are growing, fed by a complex network of filaments of gas and dust.
Source: F. O. Alves, et al. Gas flow and accretion via spiral streamers and circumstellar disks in a young binary protostar. Science, 2019.
Wrangel Island And The Last Of The Woolly Mammoths In 2,000 BC
science20.com – Global warming did once kill off a once-common species, but it was the transition from the last Ice Age to the current warming period, starting 15,000 years ago.That well-known species was the woolly mammoth but it managed to hang on until 2,000 B.C. Its last known habitat was Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean.
Source: Laura Arppe, et al. Thriving or surviving? The isotopic record of the Wrangel Island woolly mammoth population. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2019.
What if your refrigerator cooled your food by twisting wires?
arstechnica.com – Unusual cooling mechanism could be more efficient than current appliances.
Source: Torsional refrigeration by twisted, coiled, and supercoiled fibers. Science, 2019.
Food comas and long-term memories: New research points to an appetizing connection
sciencedaily.com – There may be a connection between food comas -- resting after eating -- and the formation of long-term memories, a team of neuroscientists concludes based on its study on brain activity in sea slugs.
Source: Nikolay Vadimovich Kukushkin, Sidney Paulina Williams, Thomas James Carew. Neurotropic and modulatory effects of insulin-like growth factor II in Aplysia. Scientific Reports, 2019.
An App That Can Catch Early Signs Of Eye Disease In A Flash
npr.org – After his son developed a rare eye cancer, a chemist in Texas developed a smart phone app that uses a camera and artificial intelligence to detect early signs of eye disease.
Source: Micheal C. Munson, et al. Autonomous early detection of eye disease in childhood photographs. Science Advances, 2019.
New gel lets us spread flame retardant before wildfires start
arstechnica.com – The formula coats plants thoroughly and sticks to them even through light rain.
Source: Anthony C. Yu, et al. Wildfire prevention through prophylactic treatment of high-risk landscapes using viscoelastic retardant fluids. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019.
Human Ancestors Witnessed Massive Nuclear Explosion 3.5 Million Years Ago
medicaldaily.com – A new study found that the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way caused the powerful explosion that created a light show reaching Earth and witnessed by human ancestors 3.5 million years ago.
Source: Joss Bland-Hawthorn, et al. The large-scale ionization cones in the Galaxy. arXiv: Astrophysical Journal, November issue, 2019, 2019.
Rich Counties Get More Help to Escape Climate Risk, New Data Show
nytimes.com – FEMA's buyout money goes disproportionately to high-income counties, new research shows. The findings raise concerns about fairness and efficiency.
Source: Katharine J. Mach, et al. Managed retreat through voluntary buyouts of flood-prone properties. Science Advances, 2019.
