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.
astrobiology
Is there a second planet orbiting the nearest star to the sun?
Astronomers reveal interstellar thread of one of life's building blocksPhosphorus is an essential element for life as we know it. But how it arrived on the early Earth is something of a mystery. Astronomers have now traced the journey of phosphorus from star-forming regions to comets using the combined powers of ALMA and the European Space Agency's probe Rosetta. Their research shows where molecules containing phosphorus form, how this element is carried in comets, and how a particular molecule may have played a crucial role in starting life on Earth.
evolution
New dinosaur discovered in China shows dinosaurs grew up differently from birds
A new species of feathered dinosaur has been discovered in China, and described by American and Chinese authors in The Anatomical Record. The one-of-a-kind specimen preserves feathers and bones that provide new information about how dinosaurs grew and how they differed from birds.
ecology
'The blob,' food supply squeeze to blame for largest seabird die-off
Glimpses of fatherhood found in non-pair-bonding chimps
Although they have no way of identifying their biological fathers, male chimpanzees form intimate bonds with them, a finding that questions the idea of fatherhood in some of humanity's closest relatives, according to a study of wild chimpanzees in Uganda.
Male songbirds can't survive on good looks alone, says a new study
sustainability
Bacteria and sand engineered into living concrete
environment
Air pollution from oil and gas production sites visible from space
NASA, NOAA analyses reveal 2019 second warmest year on record
humans
Neandertals went underwater for their tools
General morphology of retouched shell tools, Figs C-L are from the Pigorini Museum.
Credit: Villa et al., 2020
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