science news 2.5.2019

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

ASU researchers find water in samples from asteroid Itokawa


evolution

Flowering plants, new teeth and no dinosaurs: New study sheds light on the rise of mammals


ecology

The hunger gaps: How flowering times affect farmland bees

Hippos, the animal silicon pumps
"The excrements of hippos play an important role in the ecosystem of African lakes and rivers. Because there are fewer and fewer hippos, this ecosystem is in danger. In the long term, this could lead to food shortages at Lake Victoria. These are some of the results of a study by an international team of researchers published in the journal Science Advances."
ooooh, this is another opportunity to reference my Megapoo feature


zoology

Narwhals have endured a million years with low genetic diversity, and they're thriving
Narwhals have also starred in my fantastic species feature and in the one about the impact of arctic shipping.

Why do birds typically live longer than mammals?
"Why do birds typically live longer than mammals? A new paper offers a hint, albeit not a conclusive answer. Assistant Professors of Biology Cynthia Downs and Ana Jimenez at Hamilton College and Colgate University respectively have co-authored a paper with nine students, 'Does cellular metabolism from primary fibroblasts and oxidative stress in blood differ between mammals and birds? The (lack-thereof) scaling of oxidative stress' in press with Integrative and Comparative Biology."


behaviour

Wolves more prosocial than pack dogs in touchscreen experiment
Disturbing news - they'll soon start spreading fake howls on social media ...


humans

Modulating a hormonal pathway improves social function in 2 clinical trials of adults and children with autism spectrum disorder
"Results from two clinical trials reveal that modulating the hormone vasopressin's biological pathway safely enhanced social functioning in 223 adult men and 30 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)."

First hominins on the Tibetan Plateau were Denisovans
An actual jaw bone with two teeth represents the first Denisovan found away from the Denisova cave, very exciting discovery.



The Xiahe mandible, only represented by its right half, was found in 1980 in Baishiya Karst Cave.
Credit: © Dongju Zhang, Lanzhou University


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The UK climate report calling for 0 carbon emissions by 2050 discussed in the Guardian.