Study reveals bat-winged dinosaurs had short-lived gliding abilities
eurekalert.org – Research Assistant Professor Dr Michael PITTMAN (Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, Division of Earth and Planetary Science & Department of Earth Sciences) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), recently showed that powered flight potential evolved at least three times and that many ancestors of close bird relatives neared the thresholds of powered flight potential, suggesting broad experimentation with wing-assisted locomotion before flight evolved.
Source: T. Alexander Dececchi, et al. Aerodynamics Show Membrane-Winged Theropods Were a Poor Gliding Dead-end. iScience, 2020.
Study: Open windows, glass screens can limit COVID-19 transmission in classrooms
upi.com – Open windows and glass droplet screens placed in front of desks significantly reduce airborne transmission of COVID-19 in school classrooms, an analysis published Tuesday by the journal Physics of Fluid found.
Source: Mohamed Abuhegazy, Khaled Talaat, Osman Anderoglu, Svetlana V. Poroseva. Numerical investigation of aerosol transport in a classroom with relevance to COVID-19. Physics of Fluids, 2020.
Why Hatred and 'Othering' of Political Foes Has Spiked to Extreme Levels
sciam.com – The new political polarization casts rivals as alien, unlikable and morally contemptible
Source: Eli J. Finkel, et al. Political sectarianism in America. Science, 2020.
In Embryos, Crispr Can Cut Out Whole Chromosomes—That's Bad
wired.com – The DNA-cutting tool has been hailed as a way to fix genetic glitches. But a new study suggests it can remove more than scientists bargained for.
Source: Michael V. Zuccaro, et al. Allele-Specific Chromosome Removal after Cas9 Cleavage in Human Embryos. Cell, 2020.
New Genome Sequences Reveal Undescribed African Migration
the-scientist.com – An analysis of the genomes of people from 50 ethnolinguistic groups in Africa spots 62 genes under positive selection and 3 million more genetic variants than previously documented.
Source: Ananyo Choudhury, et al. High-depth African genomes inform human migration and health. Nature, 2020.
Record Time Measurement is Time for Light to Cross a Hydrogen Molecule
nextbigfuture.com – There is a breakthrough in experiments studying ultrafast processes. One of the most fundamental processes caused by the light-matter interaction where a light photon causes the ejection of an electro
Source: Zeptosecond birth time delay in molecular photoionization. Science, 2020.
Pristine 'fireball’ meteorite contains extraterrestrial organic compounds
popsci.com – A meteorite that was recovered before it could be contaminated by liquid water on Earth was analyzed by scientists who found over 2600 organic compounds in the rock.
Source: Philipp R. Heck, et al. The fall, recovery, classification, and initial characterization of the Hamburg, Michigan H4 chondrite. Meteoritics & Planetary Science, 2020.
Infant feeding bottles may release millions of microplastics during formula preparation
zmescience.com – Although this may sound alarming, scientists say that parents shouldn't necessarily be concerned.
Source: Dunzhu Li, et al. Microplastic release from the degradation of polypropylene feeding bottles during infant formula preparation. Nature Food, 2020.
Canada Has Been Hiding Earth's Missing Tectonic Plate This Whole Time
popularmechanics.com – Ah, so that's where it was.
Source: Spencer Fuston, Jonny Wu. Raising the Resurrection plate from an unfolded-slab plate tectonic reconstruction of northwestern North America since early Cenozoic time. GSA Bulletin, 2020.
Pterosaurs constantly evolved into better fliers until their extinction
zmescience.com – These flying reptiles dominated the skies until they were wiped out by a killer asteroid.
Source: Chris Venditti, Joanna Baker, Michael J. Benton, Andrew Meade, Stuart Humphries. 150 million years of sustained increase in pterosaur flight efficiency. Nature, 2020.
