Showing 20 articles starting at article 381

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Anthropology: General, Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hybrid plants and animals have complicated genomes. A biologist has discovered a way to reveal their parent species.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits -- until now.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A newly published study details a novel mechanochemistry method that can produce chemicals using less energy and without the use of solvents that produce toxic waste.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Curly hair does more than simply look good -- it may explain how early humans stayed cool while conserving water, according to researchers who studied the role human hair textures play in regulating body temperature. The findings can shed light on an evolutionary adaptation that enabled the human brain to grow to modern-day sizes.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A genomic analysis of ancient human remains from Morocco in northwest Africa revealed that food production was introduced by Neolithic European and Levantine migrants and then adopted by local groups.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Newly discovered biomarker signatures point to a whole range of previously unknown organisms that dominated complex life on Earth about a billion years ago. They differed from complex eukaryotic life as we know it, such as animals, plants and algae in their cell structure and likely metabolism, which was adapted to a world that had far less oxygen in the atmosphere than today.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have created a new material derived from seaweed that can store heat for re-use. It could be used to capture summer sun for use in winter, or to store heat from industry that currently goes up the chimney, potentially slashing carbon emissions. The material is in the form of small beads made from alginate, which is cheap, abundant and non-toxic. It stores heat four times more efficiently than a previous material the team had developed.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As smart electronic devices become smaller and more powerful, they can generate a lot of heat, leading to slower processing times and sudden shutdowns. Now researchers use an electrospinning approach to produce a new nanocomposite film. In tests, the film dissipated heat four times more efficiently than similar materials, showing that it could one day be used to keep electronics cool.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have identified a method for improving the thermal conductivity of thin metal films in semiconductors using surface waves for the first time in the world.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There are many effects of climate change. Perhaps the most broadly known is global warming, which is caused by heat building up in various parts of the Earth system, such as the atmosphere, the ocean, the cryosphere and the land. 89 percent of this excess heat is stored in the oceans, with the rest in ice and glaciers, the atmosphere and land masses (including inland water bodies). An international research team has now studied the quantity of heat stored on land, showing the distribution of land heat among the continental ground, permafrost soils, and inland water bodies. The calculations show that more than 20 times as much heat has been stored there since the 1960s, with the largest increase being in the ground.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geneticists have unearthed a major event in the ancient history of sturgeons and paddlefish that has significant implications for the way we understand evolution. They have pinpointed a previously hidden 'whole genome duplication' (WGD) in the common ancestor of these species, which seemingly opened the door to genetic variations that may have conferred an advantage around the time of a major mass extinction some 200 million years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The next generation of sustainable energy technology might be built from some low-tech materials: rocks and the sun. Using a new approach known as concentrated solar power, heat from the sun is stored then used to dry foods or create electricity. A team has found that certain soapstone and granite samples from Tanzania are well suited for storing this solar heat, featuring high energy densities and stability even at high temperatures.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have identified three 4,000-year-old British cases of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria causing the plague -- the oldest evidence of the plague in Britain to date.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Study of 2,500-year-old latrines from the biblical Kingdom of Judah shows the ancient faeces within contain Giardia -- a parasite that can cause dysentery.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a nanodevice that can measure the absolute power of microwave radiation down to the femtowatt level at ultra-low temperatures -- a scale trillion times lower than routinely used in verifiable power measurements. The device has the potential to significantly advance microwave measurements in quantum technology.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Understanding that others hold different viewpoints from your own is essential for human sociality. Adopting another person's visual perspective is a complex skill that emerges around the age of two. A new study suggests that this ability first arose in dinosaurs, at least 60 million years before it appeared in mammals. These findings challenge the idea that mammals were the originators of novel and superior forms of intelligence in the wake of the dinosaur extinction.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have found what they believe to be the earliest known evidence of wine drinking in the Americas, inside ceramic artefacts recovered from a small Caribbean island.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a new reliable and durable sensor that can work in temperatures as high as 900 degrees Celsius or 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit and can be used in multiple industries.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Written sources from Mesopotamia suggest that kissing in relation to sex was practiced by the peoples of the ancient Middle East 4,500 years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In testing the genetic material of current populations in Africa and comparing against existing fossil evidence of early Homo sapiens populations there, researchers have uncovered a new model of human evolution -- overturning previous beliefs that a single African population gave rise to all humans.