Showing 20 articles starting at article 461

< Previous 20 articles        Next 20 articles >

Categories: Energy: Alternative Fuels, Paleontology: Fossils

Return to the site home page

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international research team has for the first time successfully isolated ancient human DNA from a Paleolithic artefact: a pierced deer tooth discovered in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia. To preserve the integrity of the artefact, they developed a new, nondestructive method for isolating DNA from ancient bones and teeth. From the DNA retrieved they were able to reconstruct a precise genetic profile of the woman who used or wore the pendant, as well as of the deer from which the tooth was taken. Genetic dates obtained for the DNA from both the woman and the deer show that the pendant was made between 19,000 and 25,000 years ago. The tooth remains fully intact after analysis, providing testimony to a new era in ancient DNA research, in which it may become possible to directly identify the users of ornaments and tools produced in the deep past.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Traces of sex hormones extracted from a woolly mammoth's tusk provide the first direct evidence that adult males experienced musth, a testosterone-driven episode of heightened aggression against rival males, according to a new study.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A recent study found that many of the fossils from Germany's Posidonia shale do not get their gleam from pyrite, commonly known as fool's gold, which was long thought to be the source of the shine. Instead, the golden hue is from a mix of minerals that hints at the conditions in which the fossils formed. The discovery is important for understanding how the fossils -- which are among the world's best-preserved specimens of sea life from the Early Jurassic -- came to form in the first place, and the role that oxygen in the environment had in their formation.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

According to researchers, a new analysis of an 80-million-year-old permineralized pollen cone found in the Campanian Holz Shale formation located in Silverado Canyon, California, offers a more accurate cycad natural history -- one where the plants diversified during the Cretaceous.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research pushes back the oldest evidence of C4 grass-dominated habitats in Africa -- and globally -- by more than 10 million years, with important implications for primate evolution and the origins of tropical C4 grasslands and savanna ecosystems across the African continent and around the world.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have developed a chemical process that can disassemble the epoxy composite of wind turbine blades and simultaneously extract intact glass fibers as well as one of the epoxy resin's original building blocks in a high quality. The recovered materials could potentially be used in the production of new blades.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Genetic analysis links 3,000-year-old bone found in cave to modern Alaska Natives.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Organic solar cells have a photoactive layer that is made from polymers and small molecules. The cells are very thin, can be flexible, and are easy to make. However, the efficiency of these cells is still much below that of conventional silicon-based ones. Applied physicists have now fabricated an organic solar cell with an efficiency of over 17 percent, which is in the top range for this type of material. It has the advantage of using an unusual device structure that is produced using a scalable technique.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Why does it feel so difficult to shout upwind? The sensation is common enough to have found its way into an idiom about not being understood. Researchers wanted a scientific explanation for the phenomenon -- and there wasn't been one. They have now shown that our common sense understanding of this situation is wrong. It isn't harder to shout into the wind; it's just harder to hear yourself.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers developed a proof of concept for a superconducting highway that could transport vehicles and electricity, cooling the necessary superconductors with a pipeline of liquid hydrogen. Most magnetic levitation designs feature the superconductor inside the vehicle, which is suspended above a magnetic track. The authors decided to flip that arrangement upside down, putting the superconductor on the ground and giving each vehicle a magnet. The result is a system with multiple uses, placing it within the realm of affordability.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Recently identified chili pepper fossils from Boulder and Denver museums challenge millions of years of global tomato evolutionary history. Now, that's some spicy science!

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of plant self-defense in wood in a 360-million-year-old fossil from south-eastern Ireland. Plants can protect their wood from infection and water loss by forming special structures called 'tyloses'. These prevent bacterial and fungal pathogens from getting into the heartwood of living trees and damaging it. However, it was not previously known how early in the evolution of plants woody species became capable of forming such defenses. Published today in Nature Plants is the oldest evidence of tylosis formation from Late Devonian (360-million-year-old) fossil wood from the Hook Head Peninsula area, Co. Wexford, Ireland.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are considered a promising candidate for next-generation photovoltaic technology with high efficiency and low production cost, potentially revolutionizing the renewable energy industry. However, the existing layer-by-layer manufacturing process presents challenges that have hindered the commercialization of this technology. Recently, researchers have developed an innovative one-step solution-coating approach that simplifies the manufacturing process and lowers the commercialization barriers for PSCs.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Organic solar cells show great promise for clean energy applications. However, photovoltaic modules made from organic semiconductors do not maintain their efficiency for long enough under sunlight for real world applications. Scientists have now revealed an important reason why organic solar cells rapidly degrade under operation. This new insight will drive the design of more stale materials for organic semiconductor-based photovoltaics, thus enabling cheap and renewable electricity generation.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

We now know more about the diet of a prehistoric creature that grew up to two and a half meters long and lived in Australian waters during the time of the dinosaurs, thanks to the power of x-rays. Researchers used micro-CT scans to peer inside the fossilized stomach remains of a small marine reptile -- a plesiosaur nicknamed 'Eric' after a song from the comedy group Monty Python -- to determine what the creature ate in the lead up to its death.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Hybrid perovskites are organic-inorganic molecules that have received a lot of attention over the past 10 years for their potential use in renewable energy. Some are comparable in efficiency to silicon for making solar cells, but they are cheaper to make and lighter, potentially allowing a wide range of applications, including light-emitting devices. However, they tend to degrade way more readily than silicon when exposed to moisture, oxygen, light, heat, and voltage. Researchers used machine learning and high-throughput experiments to identify perovskites with optimal qualities out of the very large field of possible structures.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A tiny biobattery that could still work after 100 years has been developed.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Global experts on solar power strongly urge a commitment to the continued growth of photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing and deployment to power the planet, arguing that lowballing projections for PV growth while waiting for a consensus on other energy pathways or the emergence of technological last-minute miracles 'is no longer an option.'

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers are studying radical new ways to improve solar power and provide more options for the industry to explore. Chemists are proposing to make solar cells using not silicon, but an abundantly available natural material called molybdenum disulfide. Using a creative combination of photoelectrochemical and spectroscopic techniques, the researchers conducted a series of experiments showing that extremely thin films of molybdenum disulfide display unprecedented charge carrier properties that could someday drastically improve solar technologies.

     (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have discovered how long ago the Australian Nullarbor plain dried out, with a new approach shedding light on how ancient climate change altered some of the driest regions of our planet.