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Categories: Anthropology: General, Physics: Optics
Published This loofah-inspired, sun-driven gel could purify all the water you'll need in a day
(via sciencedaily.com) Access to clean water is being strained as the human population increases and contamination impacts freshwater sources. Devices currently in development that clean up dirty water using sunlight can only produce up to a few gallons of water each day. But now, researchers in ACS Central Science report how loofah sponges inspired a sunlight-powered porous hydrogel that could potentially purify enough water to satisfy someone's daily needs -- even when it's cloudy.
Published Changing climate conditions likely facilitated early human migration to the Americas at key intervals, research suggests
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have pinpointed two intervals when ice and ocean conditions would have been favorable to support early human migration from Asia to North America late in the last ice age, a new paper shows.
Published Prehistoric human migration in Southeast Asia driven by sea-level rise
(via sciencedaily.com) An interdisciplinary team of scientistshas found that rapid sea-level rise drove early settlers in Southeast Asia to migrate during the prehistoric period, increasing the genetic diversity of the region today.
Published New method for generating spinning thermal radiation uncovered
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of thermal radiation, uncovering a new method for generating spinning thermal radiation in a controlled and efficient manner using artificially structured surfaces, known as metasurfaces.
Published Remapping the superhighways travelled by the first Australians reveals a 10,000-year journey through the continent
(via sciencedaily.com) New research has revealed that the process of 'peopling' the entire continent of Sahul -- the combined mega continent that joined Australia with New Guinea when sea levels were much lower than today -- took 10,000 years. Sophisticated models show the scale of the challenges faced by the ancestors of Indigenous people making their mass migration across the supercontinent more than 60,000 years ago. This pattern led to a rapid expansion both southward toward the Great Australian Bight, and northward from the Kimberley region to settle all parts of New Guinea and, later, the southwest and southeast of Australia.
Published Evolution of wheat spikes since the Neolithic revolution
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Around 12,000 years ago, the Neolithic revolution radically changed the economy, diet and structure of the first human societies in the Fertile Crescent of the Near East. With the beginning of the cultivation of cereals -- such as wheat and barley -- and the domestication of animals, the first cities emerged in a new social context marked by a productive economy. Now, a study analyses the evolution of wheat spikes since its cultivation began by the inhabitants of ancient Mesopotamia -- the cradle of agriculture -- between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Published Entangled atoms cross quantum network from one lab to another
(via sciencedaily.com) Trapped ions have previously only been entangled in one and the same laboratory. Now, teams have entangled two ions over a distance of 230 meters. The nodes of this network were housed in two labs at the Campus Technik to the west of Innsbruck, Austria. The experiment shows that trapped ions are a promising platform for future quantum networks that span cities and eventually continents.
Published Researchers devise a new path toward 'quantum light'
(via sciencedaily.com) Researchers have theorized a new mechanism to generate high-energy 'quantum light', which could be used to investigate new properties of matter at the atomic scale.
Published Passive radiative cooling can now be controlled electrically
(via sciencedaily.com) Energy-efficient ways of cooling buildings and vehicles will be required in a changing climate. Researchers have now shown that electrical tuning of passive radiative cooling can be used to control temperatures of a material at ambient temperatures and air pressure.
Published Plasma-Structural Coloring: A new colorful approach to an inkless future
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New developments for achieving structural coloring through plasma irradiation of graphite can reduce the reliance upon harmful color dyes. Colors achieved by plasma irradiation are completely erasable and can be manipulated using time exposed to the plasma irradiation, intensity of the irradiation and the thickness of the graphite layer applied. The application of plasma-structural coloring aims to lessen the environmental toll typical adverse dyes have and combat them with the technology surrounding structural colors.
Published 'Ghostly mirrors' for high-power lasers
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Laser-driven 'mirrors' capable of reflecting or manipulating light have been produced.
Published New geosciences study shows Triassic fossils that reveal origins of living amphibians
(via sciencedaily.com) A team of paleontologists have discovered the first 'unmistakable' Triassic-era caecilian fossil -- the oldest-known caecilian fossils -- thus extending the record of this small, burrowing animal by roughly 35 million years. The find also fills a gap of at least 87 million years in the known historical fossil record of the amphibian-like creature.
Published Agriculture linked to changes in age-independent mortality in North America
(via sciencedaily.com) The transition to agriculture from hunting and gathering in pre-colonial North America led to changes in age-independent mortality, or mortality caused by factors that are not associated with age, according to a new study. The team found that the intensification of crop use occurred in two phases, the first of which led to a decline in human age-independent mortality, while the second is associated with a rise in it. The study is the first to tie patterns of age-independent mortality to food production.
Published Plague trackers: Researchers cover thousands of years in a quest to understand the elusive origins of the Black Death
(via sciencedaily.com) Seeking to better understand more about the origins and movement of bubonic plague, in ancient and contemporary times, researchers have completed a painstaking granular examination of hundreds of modern and ancient genome sequences, creating the largest analysis of its kind.
Published Violence was widespread in early farming society
(via sciencedaily.com) Violence and warfare were widespread in many Neolithic communities across Northwest Europe, a period associated with the adoption of farming, new research suggests. Of the skeletal remains of more than 2300 early farmers from 180 sites dating from around 8000 -- 4000 years ago to, more than one in ten displayed weapon injuries, bioarchaeologists found.
Published Mummified crocodiles provide insights into mummy-making over time
(via sciencedaily.com) Crocodiles were mummified in a unique way at the Egyptian site of Qubbat al-Hawa during the 5th Century BC, according to a new study.
Published In the Neanderthal site of Combe-Grenal, France, hunting strategies were unaffected by changing climate
(via sciencedaily.com) Neanderthals in Combe-Grenal (France) preferred to hunt in open environments, and their hunting strategies did not alter during periods of climatic change, according to a new study.
Published How the last 12,000 years have shaped what humans are today
(via sciencedaily.com) While humans have been evolving for millions of years, the past 12,000 years have been among the most dynamic and impactful for the way we live today, according to an anthropologist.
Published Marriage in Minoan Crete
(via sciencedaily.com) An international team of researchers achieves completely new insights into Bronze Age marriage rules and family structures in Greece. Analyses of ancient genomes show that the choice of marriage partners was determined by one's own kinship.
Published Ancient Siberian genomes reveal genetic backflow from North America across the Bering Sea
(via sciencedaily.com) The movement of people across the Bering Sea from North Asia to North America is a well-known phenomenon in early human history. Nevertheless, the genetic makeup of the people who lived in North Asia during this time has remained mysterious due to a limited number of ancient genomes analyzed from this region. Now, researchers describe genomes from ten individuals up to 7,500 years old that help to fill the gap and show geneflow from people moving in the opposite direction from North America to North Asia.