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Categories: Offbeat: Plants and Animals, Physics: Quantum Computing
Published Fishing is causing frightened fish to flee when they should flirt
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Populations of squaretail grouper face an uncertain future as new research shows fishing that targets their spawning sites is causing males to be repeatedly scared away from their territories during their short mating meet-ups. By fleeing for safety, individuals are losing valuable time to catch the eye and court female fish.
Published Social rank may determine if animals live fast, die young
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Social rank may determine whether animals prioritize immediate fitness over long-term health, according to a study. Researchers studied macaques on a Thai island and found that the animals' unusual habit of washing their food is in fact based on social rank. Dominant monkeys quickly brush their food on their fur before eating it, along with mouthfuls of tooth-degrading sand, while lower-ranked monkeys obsessively wash their food in the surf. Citing the disposable soma hypothesis, the researchers suggest that high-ranking macaques are looking to quickly consume energy to mate and fend off challengers. But food-washing monkeys may be preserving their long-term health to produce more offspring over time. The findings could shed light on how the wear observed in the fossilized teeth of early humans relates to social structure.
Published When it comes to DNA replication, humans and baker's yeast are more alike than different
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Humans and baker's yeast have more in common than meets the eye, including an important mechanism that helps ensure DNA is copied correctly, reports a pair of studies. The findings visualize for the first time a molecular complex -- called CTF18-RFC in humans and Ctf18-RFC in yeast -- that loads a 'clamp' onto DNA to keep parts of the replication machinery from falling off the DNA strand.
Published Half a billion-year-old spiny slug reveals the origins of mollusks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Exceptional fossils with preserved soft parts reveal that the earliest mollusks were flat, armored slugs without shells. The new species, Shishania aculeata, was covered with hollow, organic, cone-shaped spines. The fossils preserve exceptionally rare detailed features which reveal that these spines were produced using a sophisticated secretion system that is shared with annelids (earthworms and relatives).
Published Stacked up against the rest
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have hypothesized that moir excitons -- electron-hole pairs confined in moir interference fringes which overlap with slightly offset patterns -- may function as qubits in next-generation nano-semiconductors. However, due to diffraction limits, it has not been possible to focus light enough in measurements, causing optical interference from many moir excitons. To solve this, researchers have developed a new method of reducing these moir excitons to measure the quantum coherence time and realize quantum functionality.
Published Scientists devise method to secure Earth's biodiversity on the moon
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New research led proposes a plan to safeguard Earth's imperiled biodiversity by cryogenically preserving biological material on the moon. The moon's permanently shadowed craters are cold enough for cryogenic preservation without the need for electricity or liquid nitrogen.
Published Super-black wood can improve telescopes, optical devices and consumer goods
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Thanks to an accidental discovery, researchers have created a new super-black material that absorbs almost all light, opening potential applications in fine jewelry, solar cells and precision optical devices.
Published Researchers develop general framework for designing quantum sensors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have designed a protocol for harnessing the power of quantum sensors. The protocol could give sensor designers the ability to fine-tune quantum systems to sense signals of interest, creating sensors that are vastly more sensitive than traditional sensors.
Published Injury dressings in first-aid kits provide a new technique to reveal shark species after bite incidents
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have revealed that injury dressings found in first-aid kits can reliably be used to identify shark species involved in bite incidents by deploying medical gauze to gather DNA samples from aquatic equipment, such as surfboards.
Published Breaking new ground for computing technologies with electron-hole crystals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A team developed a novel method to successfully visualise electron-hole crystals in an exotic quantum material. Their breakthrough could pave the way for new advancements in computing technologies, including in-memory and quantum computing.
Published Platypus and chicken reveal how chromosomes balance between the sexes
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geneticists uncover new insights into how sex chromosome systems work in the platypus and the chicken -- which will lead to better understandings of our own sex chromosome evolution and gene regulation.
Published How researchers turn bacteria into cellulose-producing mini-factories
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have modified certain bacteria with UV light so that they produce more cellulose. The basis for this is a new approach with which the researchers generate thousands of bacterial variants and select those that have developed into the most productive.
Published Researchers trap atoms, forcing them to serve as photonic transistors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have developed a means to realize cold-atom integrated nanophotonic circuits.
Published Optical fibers fit for the age of quantum computing
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new generation of specialty optical fibers has been developed by physicists to cope with the challenges of data transfer expected to arise in the future age of quantum computing.
Published Atomic 'GPS' elucidates movement during ultrafast material transitions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists have created the first-ever atomic movies showing how atoms rearrange locally within a quantum material as it transitions from an insulator to a metal. With the help of these movies, the researchers discovered a new material phase that settles a years-long scientific debate and could facilitate the design of new transitioning materials with commercial applications.
Published The ancestor of all modern birds probably had iridescent feathers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Birds tend to be more colorful in the tropics, and scientists wanted to find out how they got there: if colorful feathers evolved in the tropics, or if tropical birds have brightly-colored ancestors that came to the region from somwhere else. Scientists built a database of 9,409 birds to explore the spread of color across the globe. They found that iridescent, colorful feathers originated 415 times across the bird tree of life, and in most cases, arose outside of the tropics -- and that the ancestor of all modern birds likely had iridescent feathers, too.
Published Lampreys possess a 'jaw-dropping' evolutionary origin
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Lampreys are one of only two living jawless vertebrates Jaws are formed by a key stem cell population called the neural crest New research reveals the gene regulatory changes that may explain morphological differences between jawed and jawless vertebrates.
Published 'Kink state' control may provide pathway to quantum electronics
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The key to developing quantum electronics may have a few kinks. According to researchers, that's not a bad thing when it comes to the precise control needed to fabricate and operate such devices, including advanced sensors and lasers. The researchers fabricated a switch to turn on and off the presence of kink states, which are electrical conduction pathways at the edge of semiconducting materials.
Published Ancient marine animal had inventive past despite being represented by few species
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Brachiopods were evolving in new directions but this did not turn into evolutionary success in terms of the numbers of species, researchers have found.
Published Quantum sensor for the atomic world
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source In a scientific breakthrough, an international research team has developed a quantum sensor capable of detecting minute magnetic fields at the atomic length scale. This pioneering work realizes a long-held dream of scientists: an MRI-like tool for quantum materials.