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Categories: Ecology: Trees, Offbeat: General
Published Tracing the largest solar storm in modern times from tree rings in Lapland



A research group was able to measure a spike in radiocarbon concentration of trees in Lapland that occurred after the Carrington flare. This discovery helps to prepare for dangerous solar storms.
Published NASA's Webb probes an extreme starburst galaxy



A team of astronomers has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to survey the starburst galaxy Messier 82 (M82). Located 12 million light-years away in the constellation Ursa Major, this galaxy is relatively compact in size but hosts a frenzy of star formation activity. For comparison, M82 is sprouting new stars 10 times faster than the Milky Way galaxy.
Published New sunflower family tree reveals multiple origins of flower symmetry



A new sunflower family tree used skimmed genomes to increase the number of species sampled, revealing that flower symmetry evolved multiple times independently, a process called convergent evolution, among the members of this large plant family.
Published 'Smart swarms' of tiny robots inspired by natural herd mentality



Researchers gave nanorobots a trait called adaptive time delay, which allows them to better work together.
Published Giant phage holds promise as treatment for lung infections



Researchers have discovered a new bacterial killer that can target common lung infection caused by Burkholderia bacteria that has exciting potential for biotechnological applications.
Published Plastic-free vegan leather that dyes itself grown from bacteria



Researchers have genetically engineered bacteria to grow animal- and plastic-free leather that dyes itself.
Published Intelligent liquid



Researchers have developed a programmable meta-fluid with tunable springiness, optical properties, viscosity and even the ability to transition between a Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid. The first-of-its-kind meta-fluid uses a suspension of small, elastomer spheres -- between 50 to 500 microns -- that buckle under pressure, radically changing the characteristics of the fluid. The meta-fluid could be used in everything from hydraulic actuators to program robots, to intelligent shock absorbers that can dissipate energy depending on the intensity of the impact, to optical devices that can transition from clear to opaque.
Published First results from BREAD experiment demonstrate a new approach to searching for dark matter



One of the great mysteries of modern science is dark matter. We know dark matter exists thanks to its effects on other objects in the cosmos, but we have never been able to directly see it. And it s no minor thing currently, scientists think it makes up about 85% of all the mass in the universe.
Published Elastocaloric cooling: Refrigerator cools by flexing artificial muscles



There is room for just one small bottle in the world's first refrigerator that is cooled with artificial muscles made of nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy. But the mini-prototype is groundbreaking: it shows that elastocalorics is becoming a viable solution for practical applications. This climate-friendly cooling and heating technology is far more energy-efficient and sustainable than current methods.
Published Last chance to record archaic Greek language 'heading for extinction'



A new data crowdsourcing platform aims to preserve the sound of Romeyka, an endangered millennia-old variety of Greek. Experts consider the language to be a linguistic goldmine and a living bridge to the ancient world.
Published AI writing, illustration emits hundreds of times less carbon than humans, study finds



A group of scholars calculated the amount of energy used by AI tools for the tasks of writing and illustrating and compared it to the average amount of energy humans use for the same processes. Their results showed artificial intelligence results in hundreds of times less carbon emissions than humans. This does not mean, however, that AI can or should replace humans in those tasks, simply that its energy usage is less. The better approach is a partnership between humans and AI, the authors write.
Published Older trees help to protect an endangered species



The oldest trees in the forest help to prevent the disappearance of endangered species in the natural environment, according to a new study. This is the case of the wolf lichen -- threatened throughout Europe --, which now finds refuge in the oldest trees in the high mountains of the Pyrenees. This study reveals for the first time the decisive role of the oldest trees in the conservation of other living beings thanks to their characteristic and unique physiology.
Published We've had bird evolution all wrong



Genomic anamolies dating back to the time of the dinosaurs misled scientists about the evolutionary history of birds.
Published Computational tools fuel reconstruction of new and improved bird family tree



Using cutting-edge computational methods and supercomputing infrastructure, researchers have built the largest and most detailed bird family tree to date -- an intricate chart delineating 93 million years of evolutionary relationships between 363 bird species, representing 92% of all bird families. The updated tree reveals sharp increases in effective population size, substitution rates and relative brain size in early birds in the aftermath of the mass extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. And by closely examining one of the branches of this tree, researchers found that flamingos and doves are more distantly related than previous genome-wide analyses had shown.
Published Study uses artificial intelligence to show how personality influences the expression of our genes



An international study using artificial intelligence has shown that our personalities alter the expression of our genes. The findings shed new light on the long-standing mystery of how the mind and body interact.
Published Universal brain-computer interface lets people play games with just their thoughts



Engineers have created a brain-computer interface that doesn't require calibration for each user, paving the way for widespread clinical applicability.
Published Genomic research may help explain cancer resistance in Tasmanian devils



Through DNA sequencing of Tasmanian devils and their tumors, researchers have tracked the genomic interactions between the animals and the cancer.
Published Ancient DNA reveals the appearance of a 6th century Chinese emperor



What did an ancient Chinese emperor from 1,500 years ago look like? A team of researchers reconstructed the face of Chinese Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou using DNA extracted from his remains. The study suggests the emperor's death at the age of 36 might be linked to a stroke. It also sheds light on the origin and migration patterns of a nomadic empire that once ruled parts of northeastern Asia.
Published Unlocking supernova stardust secrets



New research has discovered a rare dust particle trapped in an ancient extra-terrestrial meteorite that was formed by a star other than our sun.
Published Persistent hiccups in a far-off galaxy draw astronomers to new black hole behavior



Astronomers have found that a previously quiet black hole, which sits at the center of a galaxy about 800 million light years away, has suddenly erupted, giving off plumes of gas every 8.5 days before settling back to its normal, quiet state.