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Categories: Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology, Physics: Optics
Published The Viking disease can be due to gene variants inherited from Neanderthals
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Many men in northern Europe over the age of 60 suffer from the so-called Viking disease, which means that the fingers lock in a bent position. Now researchers have used data from over 7,000 affected individuals to look for genetic risk factors for the disease. The findings show that three of the strongest risk factors are inherited from Neanderthals.
Published First side-necked turtle ever discovered in UK
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The first side-necked turtle ever to be found in the UK has been discovered by an amateur fossil collector and palaeontologists.
Published Skipping evolution: Some kangaroos didn't hop
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Extinct kangaroos used alternative methods to their famous hop according to comprehensive analysis.
Published New material transforms light, creating new possibilities for sensors
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A new class of materials that can absorb low energy light and transform it into higher energy light might lead to more efficient solar panels, more accurate medical imaging and better night vision goggles.
Published Researchers demonstrate noise-free communication with structured light
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Scientists used a new invariant property of vectorial light to encode information. This quantity, which the team call 'vectorness', scales from 0 to 1 and remains unchanged when passing through a noisy channel.
Published Mirror, mirror on the wall... Now we know there are chiral phonons for sure
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source New findings settle the dispute: phonons can be chiral. This fundamental concept, discovered using circular X-ray light, sees phonons twisting like a corkscrew through quartz.
Published Lingering effects of Neanderthal DNA found in modern humans
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Recent scientific discoveries have shown that Neanderthal genes comprise some 1 to 4% of the genome of present-day humans whose ancestors migrated out of Africa, but the question remained open on how much those genes are still actively influencing human traits -- until now.
Published New dino, 'Iani,' was face of a changing planet
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source A newly discovered plant-eating dinosaur may have been a species' 'last gasp' during a period when Earth's warming climate forced massive changes to global dinosaur populations.
Published Researchers demonstrate secure information transfer using spatial correlations in quantum entangled beams of light
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have demonstrated the principle of using spatial correlations in quantum entangled beams of light to encode information and enable its secure transmission.
Published Buckle up! A new class of materials is here
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Would you rather run into a brick wall or into a mattress? For most people, the choice is not difficult. A brick wall is stiff and does not absorb shocks or vibrations well; a mattress is soft and is a good shock absorber. Sometimes, in designing materials, both of these properties are needed. Materials should be good at absorbing vibrations, but should be stiff enough to not collapse under pressure. A team of researchers from the UvA Institute of Physics has now found a way to design materials that manage to do both these things.
Published Flat fullerene fragments attractive to electrons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have gained new insights into the unique chemical properties of spherical molecules composed entirely of carbon atoms, called fullerenes. They did it by making flat fragments of the molecules, which surprisingly retained and even enhanced some key chemical properties.
Published The 'breath' between atoms -- a new building block for quantum technology
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have discovered they can detect atomic 'breathing,' or the mechanical vibration between two layers of atoms, by observing the type of light those atoms emitted when stimulated by a laser. The sound of this atomic 'breath' could help researchers encode and transmit quantum information.
Published X-rays visualize how one of nature's strongest bonds breaks
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source The use of short flashes of X-ray light brings scientists one big step closer toward developing better catalysts to transform the greenhouse gas methane into a less harmful chemical. The result reveals for the first time how carbon-hydrogen bonds of alkanes break and how the catalyst works in this reaction.
Published World's fastest electron microscope
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have succeeded in filming the interactions of light and matter in an electron microscope with attosecond time resolution.
Published A nanocrystal shines on and off indefinitely
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Optical probes have led to numerous breakthroughs in applications like optical memory, nanopatterning, and bioimaging, but existing options have limited lifespans and will eventually 'photobleach.' New work demonstrates a promising, longer-lasting alternative: ultra-photostable avalanching nanoparticles that can turn on and off indefinitely in response to near-infrared light from simple lasers.
Published Under pressure: Foundations of stellar physics and nuclear fusion investigated
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Research using the world's most energetic laser has shed light on the properties of highly compressed matter -- essential to understanding the structure of giant planets and stars, and to develop controlled nuclear fusion, a process that could harvest carbon-free energy.
Published Geneticists discover hidden 'whole genome duplication' that may explain why some species survived mass extinctions
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Geneticists have unearthed a major event in the ancient history of sturgeons and paddlefish that has significant implications for the way we understand evolution. They have pinpointed a previously hidden 'whole genome duplication' (WGD) in the common ancestor of these species, which seemingly opened the door to genetic variations that may have conferred an advantage around the time of a major mass extinction some 200 million years ago.
Published Fastest industry standard optical fiber
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source An optical fiber about the thickness of a human hair can now carry the equivalent of more than 10 million fast home internet connections running at full capacity.
Published Symmetry breaking by ultrashort light pulses opens new quantum pathways for coherent phonons
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Researchers have demonstrated a novel concept for exciting and probing coherent phonons in crystals of a transiently broken symmetry. The key of this concept lies in reducing the symmetry of a crystal by appropriate optical excitation, as has been shown with the prototypical crystalline semimetal bismuth (Bi).
Published Source-shifting metastructures composed of only one resin for location camouflaging
(via sciencedaily.com) Original source Acoustic source-shifters make observers mis-perceive the location of sound by reproducing a sound emanating from a location different from the actual location of a sound source. Researchers have now developed a design approach to produce high-performance source-shifters using a common polymer for location camouflage. Utilizing inverse design based on topology optimization, this development could pave the way for advanced augmented reality and holography technology.