science news 13.2.2019

Today's selection of science news. Links are normally to press releases on EurekAlert (at the bottom end I may also add a couple of newspaper stories). I include quotes from the summary (using quotation marks) in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without quotation marks, if I have any.


astrobiology

New study suggests possibility of recent underground volcanism on Mars


earth

Earth's magnetic shield booms like a drum when hit by impulses


life

Ancient spider fossils, surprisingly preserved in rock, reveal reflective eyes

Gory, freaky, cool: Marine snail venom could improve insulin for diabetic patients
Marine cone snails produce several versions of insulin as part of their venom cocktail used to stun prey. All of which are fast acting, hence the medical interest.

Natural selection and spatial memory link shown in mountain chickadee research
"Chickadees with better learning and memory skills, needed to find numerous food caches, are more likely to survive their first winter, a long-term study of mountain chickadees has found."

I had no idea what a chickadee was, but apparently they look like this:



University of Nevada, Reno research results provide the first direct evidence for natural selection on spatial cognition in wild food-caching mountain chickadees in one-of-a-kind in the world high-altitude field lab.
Credit: Vladimir Pravosudov, University of Nevada, Reno


Investigating cell stress for better health -- and better beer

Mom's reward: Female Galápagos seabird has a shorter lifespan than males
"Why? It's a story of rotating sex partners, the cost of being a parent and how the body falls apart in old age."
turns out they're just like us ...


climate change

Climate of North American cities will shift hundreds of miles in one generation


technology

Moving artificial leaves out of the lab and into the air
"Researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago have proposed a design solution that could bring artificial leaves out of the lab and into the environment. Their improved leaf, which would use carbon dioxide -- a potent greenhouse gas -- from the air, would be at least 10 times more efficient than natural leaves at converting carbon dioxide to fuel."


humans

What can early adulthood tell us about midlife identity?
"A recent study from the University of Jyväskylä indicates that personality style in young adulthood anticipates identity formation later in life."

Couples creating art or playing board games release 'love hormone'
aka oxytocin - more seasonal science

The unexpected creates reward when listening to music