New Findings may Improve the Function of PEM Fuel Cells in Future Technologies
azom.com – Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are an energy storage technology that will help lower the environmental footprint of transportation. These fuel cells make use of a chemical reaction known as oxygen reduction.
Source: Kotaro Takeyasu, Moeko Furukawa, Yuto Shimoyama, Santosh K. Singh, Junji Nakamura. Role of Pyridinic Nitrogen in the Mechanism of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction on Carbon Electrocatalysts. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2021.
Neanderthals died out after Earth's magnetic poles flipped, causing a climate crisis 42,000 years ago, a study says
businessinsider.com – According to a new study, Earth's magnetic poles flipped 42,000 years ago, triggering dramatic changes in temperatures and radiation levels.
Source: Alan Cooper, et al. A global environmental crisis 42,000 years ago. Science, 2021.
Atlantic currents seem to have started fading last century
arstechnica.com – Another predicted impact of climate change may be here.
Source: L. Caesar, G. D. McCarthy, D. J. R. Thornalley, N. Cahill, S. Rahmstorf. Current Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation weakest in last millennium. Nature Geoscience, 2021.
We've finally figured out why there were no medium-sized dinosaurs
newscientist.com – Fossil hunters struggle to find evidence of medium-sized carnivorous dinosaur species – perhaps because juvenile forms of giants like T. rex outcompeted them
Source: Katlin Schroeder, S. Kathleen Lyons, Felisa A. Smith. The influence of juvenile dinosaurs on community structure and diversity. Science, 2021.
Scientists Talked To People In Their Dreams. They Answered
npr.org – Scientists have found that two-way communication is possible with someone who is asleep and dreaming. Specifically, lucid dreaming — dreaming while being aware you're dreaming.
Source: Karen R. Konkoly, et al. Real-time dialogue between experimenters and dreamers during REM sleep. Current Biology, 2021.
Ancient skeletal hand could reveal evolutionary secrets
eurekalert.org – Evolutionary expert Charles Darwin and others recognized a close evolutionary relationship between humans, chimps and gorillas based on their shared anatomies, raising some big questions: how are humans related to other primates, and exactly how did early humans move around? Research by a Texas A&M University professor may provide some answers.
Source: Thomas C. Prang, Kristen Ramirez, Mark Grabowski, Scott A. Williams. Ardipithecus hand provides evidence that humans and chimpanzees evolved from an ancestor with suspensory adaptations. Science Advances, 2021.
Million-Year-Old DNA Rewrites Mammoths' Evolutionary Tree
wired.com – The oldest DNA ever sequenced shows how the genus split off into new species.
Source: Tom van der Valk, et al. Million-year-old DNA sheds light on the genomic history of mammoths. Nature, 2021.
Astronomers find the fastest spinning black hole to date
livescience.com – The first black hole ever discovered just put on a lot of mass, and it has astronomers confused.
Source: James C. A. Miller-Jones, et al. Cygnus X-1 contains a 21–solar mass black hole—Implications for massive star winds. Science, 2021.
Earliest American dog hints pets accompanied first people in Americas
newscientist.com – The oldest confirmed dog remains found in North America support the idea that the first Americans – and their dogs – travelled along the Pacific coast
Source: Flavio Augusto da Silva Coelho, Stephanie Gill, Crystal M. Tomlin, Timothy H. Heaton, Charlotte Lindqvist. An early dog from southeast Alaska supports a coastal route for the first dog migration into the Americas. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2021.
We Still Don’t Know How Well Covid Vaccines Stop Transmission
wired.com – Two new studies are being hailed as proof that vaccinated people can doff masks and pod-hop worry-free. But not so fast.
Source: Noa Dagan, et al. BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine in a Nationwide Mass Vaccination Setting. New England Journal of Medicine, 2021.
Lone high-energy neutrino likely came from shredded star in distant galaxy
arstechnica.com – Provides evidence that tidal disruption events can also be cosmic particle accelerators.
Source: Robert Stein, et al. A tidal disruption event coincident with a high-energy neutrino. Nature Astronomy, 2021.
