Silver-Backed Chevrotain, With Fangs And Hooves, Photographed In Wild For First Time
npr.org – Scientists say their goal was to rediscover a type of chevrotain that had been "lost to science" for nearly 30 years. Chevrotains are the world's smallest hoofed mammal, or ungulate.
Source: An Nguyen, et al. Camera-trap evidence that the silver-backed chevrotain Tragulus versicolor remains in the wild in Vietnam. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2019.
An infinite loop: New research suggests the universe may be a closed sphere
digitaltrends.com – Most people think of space as a flat sheet: You travel in one direction, and you end up far from your starting point. But a new paper suggests that the universe may in fact be spherical: If you travel far enough in the same direction, you'd end up back where you started.
Source: Eleonora Di Valentino, Alessandro Melchiorri, Joseph Silk. Planck evidence for a closed Universe and a possible crisis for cosmology. Nature Astronomy, 2019.
Scientists design spider- and ant-inspired metal structure that doesn’t sink
zmescience.com – Unsinkable ships could become a reality with such technology.
Source: Zhibing Zhan, et al. Highly Floatable Superhydrophobic Metallic Assembly for Aquatic Applications. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2019.
Here’s how measles wipes out the immune system’s memory
arstechnica.com – The virus blanks out immune system’s memory cells and up to 73% of antibodies.
Source: Velislava N. Petrova, et al. Incomplete genetic reconstitution of B cell pools contributes to prolonged immunosuppression after measles. Science Immunology, 2019.
We learn best when we fail around 15% of the time
zmescience.com – We like it easy... but not too easy.
Source: Robert C. Wilson, Amitai Shenhav, Mark Straccia, Jonathan D. Cohen. The Eighty Five Percent Rule for optimal learning. Nature Communications, 2019.
New Class of Low-Mass Black Holes May Exist, Astronomers Say
sci-news.com – In a paper published in the November 1, 2019 issue of the journal Science, a team of astronomers offers a new way to search for stellar-mass black holes, and shows that it is possible there is a class of black holes smaller than the smallest known black holes in the Universe.
Source: Todd A. Thompson, et al. A noninteracting low-mass black hole–giant star binary system. Science, 2019.
Up to 630 million people could be threatened by rising seas
newscientist.com – Three times more people than we thought are living on land threatened by flooding from sea level rises by 2100, with the threat particularly severe in Asia
Source: Scott A. Kulp, Benjamin H. Strauss. New elevation data triple estimates of global vulnerability to sea-level rise and coastal flooding. Nature Communications, 2019.
High-Intensity Aerobic Exercise Enhances Memory in Older Adults
sci-news.com – High-intensity interval training results in the greatest memory performance in inactive older adults compared to moderate training or stretching, according to new research from McMaster University.
Source: Ana Kovacevic, Barbara Fenesi, Emily Paolucci, Jennifer J. Heisz. The effects of aerobic exercise intensity on memory in older adults. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2019.
Have we found the African origin of all humanity? It's complicated
newscientist.com – A study claims to have pinpointed the Okavango Delta in Botswana as the origin of humanity, but geneticists and anthropologists say the evidence is deeply flawed
Source: Eva K. F. Chan, et al. Human origins in a southern African palaeo-wetland and first migrations. Nature, 2019.
NASA’s Voyager 2 Spacecraft Sends Back New Data on Interstellar Space
sci-news.com – In November 2018, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft became only the second human-made object to cross the outer edge of the Sun’s heliosphere, the bubble of space filled by the solar wind. In a series of five papers in the journal Nature Astronomy, researchers describe what they observed during and since Voyager 2’s historic exit.
Source: John D. Richardson, John W. Belcher, Paula Garcia-Galindo, Leonard F. Burlaga. Voyager 2 plasma observations of the heliopause and interstellar medium. Nature Astronomy, 2019.
