Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Bees use antennae to decode hive mates' dances in the dark      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have discovered how honeybees can decipher dances by their hive mates that relay directions to food.

Chemistry: General Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Scientists deliver quantum algorithm to develop new materials and chemistry      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists published the Cascaded Variational Quantum Eigensolver (CVQE) algorithm in a recent article, expected to become a powerful tool to investigate the physical properties in electronic systems.

Chemistry: General Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

The world is one step closer to secure quantum communication on a global scale      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have brought together two Nobel prize-winning research concepts to advance the field of quantum communication. Scientists can now efficiently produce nearly perfect entangled photon pairs from quantum dot sources.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers Engineering: Graphene Engineering: Nanotechnology Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Quantum interference could lead to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient transistors      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists made a single-molecule transistor using quantum interference to control electron flow. This new design offers high on/off ratio and stability, potentially leading to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient devices. Quantum interference also improves the transistor's sensitivity to voltage changes, further boosting its efficiency.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers
Published

Novel quantum algorithm for high-quality solutions to combinatorial optimization problems      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Conventional quantum algorithms are not feasible for solving combinatorial optimization problems (COPs) with constraints in the operation time of quantum computers. To address this issue, researchers have developed a novel algorithm called post-processing variationally scheduled quantum algorithm. The novelty of this innovative algorithm lies in the use of a post-processing technique combined with variational scheduling to achieve high-quality solutions to COPs in a short time.

Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Wild bird gestures 'after you'      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A small-bird species, the Japanese tit (Parus minor), uses wing movements as a gesture to convey the message 'after you,' according to new research. When a mating pair arrives at their nest box with food, they will wait outside on perches. One will then often flutter its wings toward the other, apparently indicating for the latter to enter first. The researchers say that this discovery challenges the previous belief that gestural communication is prominent only in humans and great apes, significantly advancing our understanding of visual communication in birds.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Signs of life would be detectable in single ice grain emitted from extraterrestrial moons      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Could life be found in frozen sea spray from moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter? New research finds that life can be detected in a single ice grain containing one bacterial cell or portions of a cell. The results suggest that if life similar to that on Earth exists on these planetary bodies, that this life should be detectable by instruments launching in the fall.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Tudor era horse cemetery in Westminster revealed as likely resting place for elite imported animals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Archaeological analysis of a near unique animal cemetery discovered in London nearly 30 years ago has revealed there was an international horse trading network, orchestrated by the elites of late medieval and Tudor England, which brought superior physical specimens to the UK for jousting and for use as status symbols.

Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Zoology Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Early Mammals and Birds Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Researchers name prehistoric amphibian ancestor discovered in Smithsonian collection after Kermit the Frog      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have uncovered the fossilized skull of a 270-million-year-old ancient amphibian ancestor in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The team of researchers described the fossil as a new species of proto-amphibian, which they named Kermitops gratus in honor of the iconic Muppet, Kermit the Frog.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Heat to blame for space pebble demise      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The dust of comets fills the space between the planets, collectively called the zodiacal cloud. Still, severe breakdown has reduced that dust in size so much that it now scatters sunlight efficiently, causing the faint glow in the night sky known as the 'zodiacal light.' It was long thought that high-speed collisions pulverized the comet ejecta, but now a team of researchers reports that heat is to blame.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Biotechnology Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Geochemistry Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Decoding the plant world's complex biochemical communication networks      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team has begun translating the complex molecular language of petunias. Their grammar and vocabulary are well hidden, however, within the countless proteins and other compounds that fill floral cells. Being rooted to the ground, plants can't run away from insects, pathogens or other threats to their survival. But plant scientists have long known that they do send warnings to each other via scent chemicals called volatile organic compounds.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Microbiology Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Deep Earth electrical grid mystery solved      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

To 'breathe' in an environment without oxygen, bacteria in the ground beneath our feet depend upon a single family of proteins to transfer excess electrons, produced during the 'burning' of nutrients, to electric hairs called nanowires projecting from their surface.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers
Published

Verifying the work of quantum computers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have invented a new method by which classical computers can measure the error rates of quantum machines without having to fully simulate them.

Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

Quantum talk with magnetic disks      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Quantum computers promise to tackle some of the most challenging problems facing humanity today. While much attention has been directed towards the computation of quantum information, the transduction of information within quantum networks is equally crucial in materializing the potential of this new technology. Addressing this need, a research team is now introducing a new approach for transducing quantum information: the team has manipulated quantum bits, so called qubits, by harnessing the magnetic field of magnons -- wave-like excitations in a magnetic material -- that occur within microscopic magnetic disks.

Anthropology: General Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Genetics Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Across oceans and millennia: decoding the origin and history of the bottle gourd      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have uncovered intriguing details about the origins and spread of the bottle gourd, one of the oldest domesticated crops. Their work unveils the genetic diversification and population history of this hard-shelled plant that was used to make bottles, instruments, and containers for over 10,000 years by ancient civilizations.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

In flies, a single brain cell can drive multiple movements of the body      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Motor neurons are the cells the brain uses to command muscles to act. Scientists typically thought of them as simple connections, much like the cables that link computers with their accessories. Now, in fly studies, researchers have discovered that single motor neurons can each direct an insect's body to move in far more complex ways than previously thought.

Biology: Botany Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Fairy circles: Plant water stress causes Namibia's gaps in grass      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Namibia's legendary fairy circles are mysterious, circular, bald patches in the dry grasslands on the edge of the Namib Desert. Their formation has been researched for decades and has recently been the subject of much debate. With extensive fieldwork, researchers investigated how freshly germinated grass dies inside the fairy circle. Their results show that the grass withers due to a lack of water inside the fairy circle. The topsoil, comprised of the top 10 to 12 centimeters of the soil, acts as a kind of 'death zone' in which fresh grass cannot survive for long.

Biology: Evolutionary Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Extinction Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Tanks of the Triassic: New crocodile ancestor identified      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Dinosaurs get all the glory. But aetosaurs, a heavily armored cousin of modern crocodiles, ruled the world before dinosaurs did. These tanks of the Triassic came in a variety of shapes and sizes before going extinct around 200 million years ago. Today, their fossils are found on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

Engineering: Nanotechnology Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals Physics: General Physics: Optics
Published

Backyard insect inspires invisibility devices, next gen tech      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Leafhoppers, a common backyard insect, secrete and coat themselves in tiny mysterious particles that could provide both the inspiration and the instructions for next-generation technology, according to a new study. In a first, the team precisely replicated the complex geometry of these particles, called brochosomes, and elucidated a better understanding of how they absorb both visible and ultraviolet light.