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Categories: Anthropology: General, Chemistry: Thermodynamics
Published Drought encouraged Attila's Huns to attack the Roman empire, tree rings suggest
(via sciencedaily.com) Hunnic peoples migrated westward across Eurasia, switched between farming and herding, and became violent raiders in response to severe drought in the Danube frontier provinces of the Roman empire, a new study argues.
Published Mitigating corrosion by liquid tin could lead to better cooling in fusion reactors
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have clarified the chemical compatibility between high temperature liquid metal tin (Sn) and reduced activation ferritic martensitic, a candidate structural material for fusion reactors. This discovery has paved the way for the development of a liquid metal tin divertor, which is an advanced heat-removal component of fusion reactors. A device called a divertor is installed in the fusion reactors to maintain the purity of the plasma. For divertors, there has been demand for liquid metals that can withstand extremely large heat loads from high-temperature plasma.
Published Early humans may have first walked upright in the trees
(via sciencedaily.com) Human bipedalism -- walking upright on two legs -- may have evolved in trees, and not on the ground as previously thought, according to a new study.
Published Chaos gives the quantum world a temperature
(via sciencedaily.com) Two seemingly different areas of physics are related in subtle ways: Quantum theory and thermodynamics. How can the laws of thermodynamics arise from the laws of quantum physics? This question has now been pursued with computer simulations, which showed that chaos plays a crucial role: Only where chaos prevails do the well-known rules of thermodynamics follow from quantum physics.
Published Extinct 'monkey lemur' shows similarities to fossil humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Analysis of teeth of extinct lemurs has revealed fascinating clues to the evolution of humans, a new study has found.
Published Gold-based passive heating for eyewear
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have developed a new transparent gold nanocoating that harnesses sunlight to heat the lenses of glasses, thereby preventing them from fogging in humid conditions. This coating could potentially also be applied to car windshields.
Published Immune system of modern Papuans shaped by DNA from ancient Denisovans, study finds
(via sciencedaily.com) Modern Papuans' immune system likely evolved with a little help from the Denisovans, a mysterious human ancestor who interbred with ancient humans, according to a new study.
Published How intensive agriculture turned a wild plant into a pervasive weed
(via sciencedaily.com) Agriculture is driving rapid evolutionary change, not just on farms but also in wild species in surrounding landscapes, new research has found.
Published Flameproofing lithium-ion batteries with salt
(via sciencedaily.com) A polymer-based electrolyte makes for batteries that keep working -- and don't catch fire -- when heated to over 140 degrees F.
Published For 400 years, Indigenous tribes buffered climate's impact on wildfires in the American Southwest
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Devastating megafires are becoming more common, in part, because the planet is warming. But a new study suggests bringing 'good fire' back to the U.S. and other wildfire fire-prone areas, as Native Americans once did, could potentially blunt the role of climate in triggering today's wildfires.
Published Jawbone may represent earliest presence of humans in Europe
(via sciencedaily.com) For over a century, one of the earliest human fossils ever discovered in Spain has been long considered a Neanderthal. However, new analysis from an international research team dismantles this century-long interpretation, demonstrating that this fossil is not a Neanderthal; rather, it may actually represent the earliest presence of Homo sapiens ever documented in Europe.
Published Team recycles previously unrecyclable plastic
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have discovered a way to chemically recycle PVC into usable material, finding a way to use the phthalates in the plasticizers -- one of PVC's most noxious components -- as the mediator for the chemical reaction.
Published Ancient DNA from medieval Germany tells the origin story of Ashkenazi Jews
(via sciencedaily.com) Extracting ancient DNA from teeth, an international group of scientists peered into the lives of a once-thriving medieval Ashkenazi Jewish community in Erfurt, Germany. The findings show that the Erfurt Jewish community was more genetically diverse than modern day Ashkenazi Jews.
Published Researchers introduce an energy-efficient method to enhance thermal conductivity of polymer composites
(via sciencedaily.com) Thermally conductive polymer composites consist of fillers oriented in certain directions that form pathways for heat flow. However, conventional methods to control the orientation of these fillers are energy-intensive and require surface modifications that can deteriorate the quality and properties of these materials. Now, researchers have developed an energy-efficient method to control the orientation of the fillers without the need for surface modification, resulting in improvement in thermal conductivity.
Published Engineers use quantum computing to develop transparent window coating that blocks heat, saves energy
(via sciencedaily.com) Scientists have devised a transparent coating for windows that could help cool the room, use no energy and preserve the view.
Published Cooling down solar cells, naturally
(via sciencedaily.com) Too much sun and too much heat can reduce the efficiency of photovoltaics. A solar farm with optimally spaced panels facing the correct direction could cool itself through convection using the surrounding wind. Researchers explored how to exploit the geometry of solar farms to enhance natural cooling mechanisms.
Published High-performance and compact vibration energy harvester created for self-charging wearable devices
(via sciencedaily.com) A research team has developed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, which is only about 2 cm in diameter with a U-shaped metal vibration amplification component. The device allows for an increase of approximately 90 times in the power generation performance from impulsive vibration. Since the power generation performance can be improved without increasing the device size, the technology is expected to generate power to drive small wearable devices from non-steady vibrations, such as walking motion.
Published Interdisciplinary environmental history: How narratives of the past can meet the challenges of the anthropocene
(via sciencedaily.com) A new article discusses vital methodological issues for humanities-based historical inquiry and argues that the challenges of the Anthropocene demand interdisciplinary research informed by a variety of historical narratives.
Published Research unearths obscure heat transfer behaviors
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have found that boron arsenide, which has already been viewed as a highly promising material for heat management and advanced electronics, also has a unique property. After reaching an extremely high pressure that is hundreds of times greater than the pressure found at the bottom of the ocean, boron arsenide's thermal conductivity actually begins to decrease. The results suggest that there might be other materials experiencing the same phenomenon under extreme conditions.
Published A life-inspired system dynamically adjusts to its environment
(via sciencedaily.com) The system regulates its own temperature in response to environmental disturbances.