science news 27.6.2019

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.


earth

Researchers discover more than 50 lakes beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet


climate change

The water future of Earth's 'third pole'
"One-seventh of the world's population depends on rivers flowing from Asia's high mountain ranges for water to drink and to irrigate crops. Rapid changes in the region's climate are likely to influence food and water security in India, Pakistan, China and other nations. NASA keeps a space-based eye on changes like these worldwide to better understand the future of our planet's water cycle."

Corals can survive in acidified ocean conditions, but have lower density skeletons


evolution

Unlocking secrets of the ice worm
... coooooool ....

Bird three times larger than ostrich discovered in Crimean cave



PaleoArt of the bird discovered in a Crimean cave.
Credit: Andrey Atuchin


ecology

Reining in the ecological effects of free-roaming horses

Honeybees infect wild bumblebees -- through shared flowers

Towards a worldwide inventory of all plants


nanoworld

Translating proteins into music, and back
"In a surprising marriage of science and art, researchers at MIT have developed a system for converting the molecular structures of proteins, the basic building blocks of all living beings, into audible sound that resembles musical passages. Then, reversing the process, they can introduce some variations into the music and convert it back into new proteins never before seen in nature."
And another take on the same paper, with a video.


humans

Neanderthals used resin 'glue' to craft their stone tools

Neanderthals made repeated use of the ancient settlement of 'Ein Qashish, Israel

The ancient history of Neandertals in Europe
"Parts of the genomes of two ~120,000-year-old Neandertals from Germany and Belgium have been sequenced at the MPI for Evolutionary Anthropology."


cycling and recycling

To increase bike commuters, look to neighborhoods
"People agree that bike commuting improves health, reduces air pollution and eases traffic, a recent survey suggests. But that wasn't enough to get most people to commute by bike. New research indicates that a person's neighborhood may play a large role in influencing the decision to commute by bike."

New unprinting method can help recycle paper and curb environmental costs