Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Earth-like environment likely on ancient Mars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A research team using the ChemCam instrument onboard NASA's Curiosity rover discovered higher-than-usual amounts of manganese in lakebed rocks within Gale Crater on Mars, which indicates that the sediments were formed in a river, delta, or near the shoreline of an ancient lake.

Computer Science: Quantum Computers
Published

Scientists show that there is indeed an 'entropy' of quantum entanglement      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have shown, through probabilistic calculations, that there is indeed, as had been hypothesized, a rule of 'entropy' for the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. This finding could help drive a better understanding of quantum entanglement, which is a key resource that underlies much of the power of future quantum computers.

Offbeat: General
Published

Time zones and tiredness strongly influence NBA results, study of 25,000 matches shows      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The body clock has a significant impact on the performance of NBA players. Data shows vastly better win ratio for home teams from the Western Time Zone Area (PDT) when playing an EDT team, compared to vice versa.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Webb captures top of iconic horsehead nebula in unprecedented detail      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of a zoomed-in portion of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula. These observations show the top of the 'horse's mane' or edge of this iconic nebula in a whole new light, capturing the region's complexity with unprecedented spatial resolution.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

NASA's Webb maps weather on planet 280 light-years away      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have successfully used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to map the weather on the hot gas-giant exoplanet WASP-43 b.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Zoology Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: Computers and Math Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Trotting robots reveal emergence of animal gait transitions      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A four-legged robot trained with machine learning has learned to avoid falls by spontaneously switching between walking, trotting, and pronking -- a milestone for roboticists as well as biologists interested in animal locomotion.

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

The double-fanged adolescence of saber-toothed cats      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

How did North America's saber-toothed cats hunt without breaking their unwieldy saber-like canines, which are vulnerable to sideways bending stresses? A paleontologist provides mechanical evidence that during adolescence, when young cats were learning to hunt, their baby teeth remained in place for up to 30 months to laterally buttress the emerging permanent sabers. By the time the baby teeth fell out, presumably the adult cat knew how to protect its sabers during attacks.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Nature Environmental: Biodiversity Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Fading lights: Multiple threats to North America's firefly populations      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have applied a data-driven approach to understanding firefly population dynamics on a continental scale. Key findings from this new study indicate that fireflies, part of the beetle order, are sensitive to various environmental factors, from short-term weather conditions to longer climatic trends, including the number of growing-degree days related to temperature accumulations.

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

Long snouts protect foxes when diving headfirst in snow      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

When hunting for mice in winter, red and arctic fox are known to plunge headfirst at speeds of 2-4 meters per second, but their sharp noses reduce the impact force in snow and protect them from injury, according to a new study.

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

One in eight grown-ups love extreme tartness      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

For most people, biting into a lemon would leave them puckered up and desperate to lose that sour flavor, but a new study revealed that roughly one in eight adults like intensely sour sensations. The cross-cultural study demonstrated there is a subset of 'sour likers' who enjoy exceptionally sour foods.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Gemini south reveals origin of unexpected differences in giant binary stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Astronomers have confirmed that differences in binary stars' composition can originate from chemical variations in the cloud of stellar material from which they formed. The results help explain why stars born from the same molecular cloud can possess different chemical composition and host different planetary systems, as well as pose challenges to current stellar and planet formation models.

Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Engineering: Robotics Research Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Scientists develop strong yet reusable adhesive from smart materials      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a smart, reusable adhesive more than ten times stronger than a gecko's feet adhesion, pointing the way for development of reusable superglue and grippers capable of holding heavy weights across rough and smooth surfaces. The research team found a way to maximize the adhesion of the smart adhesives by using shape-memory polymers, which can stick and detach easily when needed simply by heating them. This smart adhesive can support extremely heavy weights, opening new possibilities for robotic grippers that allow humans to scale walls effortlessly, or climbing robots that can cling onto ceilings for survey or repair applications.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Fixin' to be flexitarian: Scrap fish and invasive species can liven up vegetables      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Greening the way we eat needn't mean going vegetarian. A healthy, more realistic solution is to adopt a flexitarian diet where seafoods add umami to 'boring' vegetables. A gastrophysicist puts mathematical equations to work in calculating the umami potential of everything from seaweed and shrimp paste to mussels and mackerel.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Probing the effects of interplanetary space on asteroid Ryugu      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Samples reveal evidence of changes experienced by the surface of asteroid Ryugu, some probably due to micrometeoroid bombardment.

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

The end of the quantum tunnel      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Quantum mechanical effects such as radioactive decay, or more generally: 'tunneling', display intriguing mathematical patterns. Researchers now show that a 40-year-old mathematical discovery can be used to fully encode and understand this structure.

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

Test reveals mice think like babies      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Are mice clever enough to be strategic? A neuroscientist who studies learning in humans and animals, and who has long worked with mice, wondered why rodents often performed poorly in tests when they knew how to perform well. With a simple experiment, and by acting as 'a little bit of a mouse psychologist,' he and his team figured it out.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Computer Science: General Computer Science: Quantum Computers Mathematics: General Mathematics: Modeling Physics: General Physics: Quantum Computing Physics: Quantum Physics
Published

From disorder to order: Flocking birds and 'spinning' particles      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have demonstrated that ferromagnetism, an ordered state of atoms, can be induced by increasing particle motility and that repulsive forces between atoms are sufficient to maintain it. The discovery not only extends the concept of active matter to quantum systems but also contributes to the development of novel technologies that rely on the magnetic properties of particles, such as magnetic memory and quantum computing.

Anthropology: Cultures Anthropology: General Archaeology: General Biology: Biochemistry Ecology: Endangered Species Geoscience: Environmental Issues Offbeat: Earth and Climate Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils
Published

Ancient Maya blessed their ballcourts      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using environmental DNA analysis, an international team of researchers identified a collection of plants used in ceremonial rituals in the ancient Maya city of Yaxnohcah in Mexico. The plants, known for their religious associations and medicinal properties, were discovered beneath a plaza floor where a ballcourt was built.