Showing 20 articles starting at article 81

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Anthropology: General, Chemistry: Thermodynamics

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Surprisingly, the origins of financial discounting began with 17th-century English clergymen.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The molecules that make up the matter around us are in constant motion. What if we could harness that energy and put it to use? Over 150 years ago Maxwell theorized that if molecules' motion could be measured accurately, this information could be used to power an engine. Until recently this was a thought experiment, but technological breakthroughs have made it possible to build working information engines in the lab. Researchers have now teamed up to build an information engine and test its limits.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Geobiologists reported a 550 million-year-old sea sponge that had been missing from the fossil record. The discovery sheds new light on a conundrum that has stumped zoologists and paleontologists for years.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have explored how the River Nile evolved over the past 11,500 years and how changes in its geography could have helped shape the fortunes of ancient Egyptian civilization. Research reveals a major shift in the Nile around four thousand years ago, after which the floodplain in the Nile Valley around Luxor greatly expanded.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Celtic culture of the pre-Roman Iron Age in Western and Central Europe has left numerous traces to this day, not least in the form of enormous burial mounds and spectacular archaeological artifacts. Despite this rich legacy, much about this civilization remains hidden from us.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Converting home heating systems from natural gas furnaces to electric heat pumps is seen as a way to address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated the ability to engineer materials that are both stiff and capable of insulating against heat. This combination of properties is extremely unusual and holds promise for a range of applications, such as the development of new thermal insulation coatings for electronic devices.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using ancient DNA extracted from the toe bone of a museum specimen, biologists have sequenced the genome of an extinct, flightless bird called the little bush moa, shedding light into an unknown corner of avian genetic history. The work is the first complete genetic map of the turkey-sized bird whose distant living cousins include the ostrich, emu, and kiwi.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a sustainable and controllable strategy to manipulate interfacial heat transfer, paving the way for improving the performance of eco-friendly cooling in various applications such as electronics, buildings and solar panels.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Splash a few drops of water on a hot pan and if the pan is hot enough, the water will sizzle and the droplets of water seem to roll and float, hovering above the surface. The temperature at which this phenomenon, called the Leidenfrost effect, occurs is predictable, usually happening above 230 degrees Celsius. A team has now discovered a method to create the aquatic levitation at a much lower temperature.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Closing in on the theoretical maximum efficiency, devices for turning heat into electricity are edging closer to being practical for use on the grid, according to new research.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have engineered string-like resonators capable of vibrating longer at ambient temperature than any previously known solid-state object -- approaching what is currently only achievable near absolute zero temperatures. Their study pushes the edge of nanotechnology and machine learning to make some of the world's most sensitive mechanical sensors.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The discovery of thousands of stone artefacts and animal bones in a deep cave in Timor Island has led archaeologists to reassess the route that early humans took to reach Australia. Researchers dated and analysed the artefacts and sediment at the Laili rock shelter in central-north Timor-Leste, north of Australia, to pinpoint the arrival of the colonists.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Engineers have modeled a new way to recycle polystyrene that could become the first viable way of making the material reusable.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study found evidence that Indigenous groups in the Pacific Northwest were intentionally harvesting edible camas bulbs at optimal stages of the plant's maturation as far back as 3,500 years ago.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The analysis of fat traces in over one hundred pottery vessels reveals deep changes in food consumption and preparation by communities living in central Germany between the Early Neolithic and the Late Bronze Age, as well as in their relation with innovations in pottery styles and decorations. In a groundbreaking study, researchers identified a generalized inclusion of dairy products in prehistoric diets, a preference in consuming pork with the arrival of communities from the Eurasian Steppe, and the importance of dairy products in funeral rites. Central Germany was a key region for the emergence of great prehistoric cultures, such as the Linear Pottery Culture, the Corded Ware Culture, the Bell Beaker populations and the Unetice Culture, one of the first state societies in Europe.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Carbon nanotube (CNT) yarns are promising for flexible and fabric-type wearable materials that can convert waste heat into thermoelectricity. To improve the thermoelectric properties of CNT yarns, researchers dispersed CNT filaments in a highly viscous glycerol, enabling the production of CNT yarn with highly aligned bundles together with surfactants that prevent increased thermal conductivity. This innovative approach can significantly improve carbon nanotube-based thermoelectric materials, making it possible to power wearable devices using just body heat.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

From the small ossicones on a giraffe to the gigantic antlers of a male moose -- which can grow as wide as a car -- the headgear of ruminant hooved mammals is extremely diverse, and new research suggests that despite the physical differences, fundamental aspects of these bony adaptations likely evolved from a common ancestor.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Horses crossed the Baltic Sea in ships during the Late Viking Age and were sacrificed for funeral rituals. Studies on the remains of horses found at ancient burial sites in Russia and Lithuania show that they were brought overseas from Scandinavia utilizing expansive trade networks connecting the Viking world with the Byzantine and Arab Empires. Up to now, researchers had believed sacrificial horses were always locally-sourced stallions. But these results reveal horses from modern Sweden or Finland traveled up to 1,500 km across the Baltic Sea. The findings also show that the sex of the horse was not necessarily a factor in them being chosen for sacrifice, with genetic analysis showing one in three were mares.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The patterns of dispersal of early humans across continents and islands are hotly debated, but researchers have found that Pleistocene hunter-gatherers settled in Cyprus thousands of years earlier than previously thought. In examining the timing of the first human occupation of Cyprus, research found that large islands in the Mediterranean Sea were attractive and favorable destinations for palaeolithic peoples. These findings refute previous studies that suggested Mediterranean islands would have been unreachable and inhospitable for Pleistocene hunter-gatherer societies.