science news 14.8.2019

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

James Webb Space Telescope could begin learning about TRAPPIST-1 atmospheres in a year
There's a conference on exoplanet climates happening here at Oxford right now, live-streamed here:
http://exoclimes2019.org/ As I'm old enough to remember the discovery of the first exoplanet, I was shocked to see there are so many people studying what was the stuff of imagination just a short while ago.


diatoms

Scientists discover key factors in how some algae harness solar energy


plants

How plants synthesize salicylic acid


zoology

Interbreeding turned grey squirrels black -- study


environment

Coca and conflict: the factors fuelling Colombian deforestation

Study examines how media around the world frame climate change news

Arctic could be iceless in September if temps increase 2 degrees


quantum information

Schrödinger's cat with 20 qubits



In quantum computing, a cat state - named after the famous analogy of Schrödinger's cat -- is a quantum state composed of two diametrically opposed conditions simultaneously. Together with experts from Forschungszentrum Jülich, an international team has now succeeded in placing 20 entangled quantum bits in such a state of superposition.
Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Annette Stettien


humans

Study reveals the emotional journey of a digital detox while travelling

Apples, tea and moderation -- the 3 ingredients for a long life

---------------

from the news media

a human-sized penguin