science news 15.8.2019

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

How many Earth-like planets are around sun-like stars?


evolution

What a group of bizarre-looking bats can tell us about the evolution of mammals


ecology

Hard-working termites crucial to forest, wetland ecosystems

Flashlight fish use bioluminescence to school at night




Flashlight fish (Anomalops katoptron)
Credit: D. Gruber (2019)


plants

Sticky proteins help plants know when -- and where -- to grow


environment

New study: Fracking prompts global spike in atmospheric methane


humans

Neanderthals commonly suffered from 'swimmer's ear'
"Abnormal bony growths in the ear canal were surprisingly common in Neanderthals"

A society's cultural practices shape the structure of its social networks