science news 27.8.2019

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.



earth

Utah's red rock metronome
"At about the same rate that your heart beats, a Utah rock formation called Castleton Tower gently vibrates, keeping time and keeping watch over the sandstone desert. Swaying like a skyscraper, the red rock tower taps into the deep vibrations in the earth -- wind, waves and far-off earthquakes."
As a rhythmically challenged musician, I have a conflicted relationship with metronomes, but this one sounds fascinating ...


evolution

Filter-feeding pterosaurs were the flamingos of the Late Jurassic


light and life

The secret of fireworm is out: molecular basis of its light emission


ecology

Urban living leads to high cholesterol...in crows

Wild ground-nesting bees might be exposed to lethal levels of neonics in soil



A female squash bee (University of Guelph)
Credit: University of Guelph


environment

New threat from ocean acidification emerges in the Southern Ocean

"Scientists investigating the effect of ocean acidification on diatoms, a key group of microscopic marine organisms, phytoplankton, say they have identified a new threat from climate change -- ocean acidification is negatively impacting the extent to which diatoms in Southern Ocean waters incorporate silica into their cell walls. The findings are important in the context of global climate change because of the implications for global carbon and silicon cycles and ultimately ocean productivity."


conservation

Northern white rhino eggs successfully fertilized
"After successfully harvesting 10 eggs from the world's last two northern white rhinos, Najin and Fatu, on August 22nd in Kenya, the international consortium of scientists and conservationists announces that 7 out of the 10 eggs (4 from Fatu and 3 from Najin) were successfully matured and artificially inseminated. This was achieved through ICSI (Intra Cytoplasm Sperm Injection) with frozen sperm from two different northern white rhino bulls, Suni and Saut, on Sunday, August 25th."

Beaver reintroduction key to solving freshwater biodiversity crisis


medical

Mosquito incognito: Could graphene-lined clothing help prevent mosquito bites?


humans

The beginnings of trade in northwestern Europe during the Bronze Age


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From the news media

Near-total ban imposed on sending wild African elephants to zoos