science news 19.11.2019

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 in italics in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without italics if I have any.


evolution

Are hyoliths Palaeozoic lophophorates?
Today's new vocabulary: Hyoliths are extinct invertebrates with calcareous shells that were common constituents of the Cambrian fauna and formed a minor component of benthic faunas throughout the Palaeozoic until their demise in the end-Permian mass extinction. ... recent discoveries of a tentaculate feeding apparatus ('lophophore') and fleshy apical extensions from the shell ('pedicle'), have resulted in hyoliths being placed within the lophophorates


ecology


Study measures impact of agriculture on diet of wild mammals

Mantis shrimp vs. disco clams: Colorful sea creatures do more than dazzle



A disco clam shows off its red appendages and flashing tissue.
Credit: Lindsey Dougherty


nanoworld

Protein imaging at the speed of life
A team of physicists from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee have completed the first molecular movie of the ultrafast movement of proteins at the European XFEL facility. Their findings mark a new age of protein research that enables enzymes involved in disease to be observed in real time for meaningful durations in unprecedented clarity.

Structure of a mitochondrial ATP synthase


climate change

Climate change could double greenhouse gas emissions from freshwater lakes


bio-inspired


Antibiotics from the sea


Living bridges
Dense, humid broadleaf forests, monsoon-swollen rivers and deep ravines -- in the Indian state of Meghalaya wooden bridges easily decay or are washed away in floodwaters. Bridges made from steel and concrete are pushed to their limits here as well. But bridges made of living tree roots can survive here for centuries. Prof. Ferdinand Ludwig of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has investigated these special structures and proposes integrating this extraordinary building technique in modern architecture.


sustainability

Boosting wind farms, global winds reverse decades of slowing and pick up speed
In a boon to wind farms, average daily wind speeds are picking up across much of the globe after about 30 years of gradual slowing. Research led by a team at Princeton University shows that wind speeds in northern mid-latitude regions have increased by roughly 7% since 2010.

Get over it? When it comes to recycled water, consumers won't

Switching to renewable energy could save thousands of lives in Africa

How much energy do we really need?
Two fundamental goals of humanity are to eradicate poverty and reduce climate change, and it is critical that the world knows whether achieving these goals will involve trade-offs. New IIASA research for the first time provides a basis to answer this question, including the tools needed to relate basic needs directly to resource use.


dystopian futures

Researchers bring gaming to autonomous vehicles
They must have thought AI image recognition wasn't enough of a gamble yet. Russian roulette springs to mind.

Measuring online behavioral advertising: One more step to protect users
Whose bright idea was that, anyway? If there's any use for ads it's to tell me about things I wasn't aware of, not to rehash the thoughts I had an hour ago.