“Invisible” words used in stories tell a story themselves
zmescience.com – There's a common structure to most stories, going through three phases
Source: Ryan L. Boyd, Kate G. Blackburn, James W. Pennebaker. The narrative arc: Revealing core narrative structures through text analysis. Science Advances, 2020.
We’ve finally figured out where Stonehenge’s giant boulders came from
newscientist.com – Most of the 50 huge boulders used to build Stonehenge’s iconic architecture have a chemical composition that suggests they came from a site 25 kilometres away
Source: David J. Nash, et al. Origins of the sarsen megaliths at Stonehenge. Science Advances, 2020.
COVID-19 won’t impact climate much, but economic recovery could
arstechnica.com – Pollution reductions too short-lived, but where do we want to go after?
Source: Piers M. Forster, et al. Current and future global climate impacts resulting from COVID-19. Nature Climate Change, 2020.
New Zealand’s glaciers are melting faster than ever
zmescience.com – They've lost almost 80% of their historical volume.
Source: Jonathan L. Carrivick, William H. M. James, Michael Grimes, Jenna L. Sutherland, Andrew M. Lorrey. Ice thickness and volume changes across the Southern Alps, New Zealand, from the little ice age to present. Scientific Reports, 2020.
Dome A On The Antarctic Plateau Is The Ideal Spot For The Next Big Telescope
science20.com – There will never be another large telescope built in the United States, due to the influence of environmental activists, so those high-paying multicultural white collar jobs are instead going to Chile. But if we want even better conditions.
Source: Bin Ma, et al. Night-time measurements of astronomical seeing at Dome A in Antarctica. Nature, 2020.
Fossil Friday: mysterious, long-necked dinosaur species turns out to be two species that lived in the ocean
zmescience.com – This was one strange beast... Well, two beasts.
Source: Stephan N.F. Spiekman, et al. Aquatic Habits and Niche Partitioning in the Extraordinarily Long-Necked Triassic Reptile Tanystropheus. Current Biology, 2020.
Risk of Extinction Is Greatest for Large Herbivores: Study
the-scientist.com – Data on vertebrate species that have become, or are likely to become, extinct reveal plant eaters are most under threat.
Source: Trisha B. Atwood, et al. Herbivores at the highest risk of extinction among mammals, birds, and reptiles. Science Advances, 2020.
Filtration efficiency of hospital face mask alternatives during COVID-19 pandemic
eurekalert.org – Researchers performed a series of FFE (fitted filtration efficiency) evaluations for a wide range of 29 respirators and face masks used by health care facilities, including expired N95 respirators, N95 respirators that have undergone sterilization, imported respirators approved by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, respirators not listed as approved, and surgical or procedure masks with ties and ear loops in this quality-improvement study.
Source: Emily E. Sickbert-Bennett, et al. Filtration Efficiency of Hospital Face Mask Alternatives Available for Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2020.
Aging memories may not be 'worse, 'just 'different'
eurekalert.org – A study from the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences adds nuance to the idea that an aging memory is a poor one and finds a potential correlation between the way people process the boundaries of events and episodic memory.
Source: Zachariah M. Reagh, Angelique I. Delarazan, Alexander Garber, Charan Ranganath. Aging alters neural activity at event boundaries in the hippocampus and Posterior Medial network. Nature Communications, 2020.
Study points to health disparities among former NFL players
eurekalert.org – Among former NFL players, Black, Hawaiian, and athletes from other racial backgrounds report worse physical, mental health outcomes than white players. The widest health gaps emerged between Black and white former NFL players. Black former players reported worse health outcomes in all five health categories, compared with their white peers. Presence of health disparities among former NLF players reflects the deep and pervasive nature of systemic inequities that persist even among elite athletes.
Source: Andrea L. Roberts, et al. Race in association with physical and mental health among former professional American-style football players: Findings from the Football Players Health Study. Annals of Epidemiology, 2020.