science news 25.2.2020

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

1 billion-year-old green seaweed fossils identified, relative of modern land plants



A photo of a green seaweed fossil dating back 1 billion years. The image was captured using a microscope as the fossil itself is 2 millimeters long, roughly the size of a flea. The dark color of this fossil was created by adding a drop of mineral oil to the rock in which it's embedded, to create contrast.
Credit: Virginia Tech


ecology

Threatened birds and mammals have irreplaceable roles in the natural world


conservation

Solar storms may leave gray whales blind and stranded

Camera trap study captures Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards, other rare beasts

Soft robot fingers gently grasp deep-sea jellyfish


nanoworld

'Make two out of one' -- division of artificial cells


biomedical

Researchers end decade-long search for mechanical pain sensor
Researchers at McGill University have discovered that a protein found in the membrane of our sensory neurons are involved in our capacity to feel mechanical pain, laying the foundation for the development of powerful new analgesic drugs.


sustainability

Quadrupling turbines, US can meet 2030 wind-energy goals


humans

Oldest reconstructed bacterial genomes link farming, herding with emergence of new disease

Anonymous no more: combining genetics with genealogy to identify the dead in unmarked graves


dystopian futures

Research finds support for 'Trump effect'
In the years since the 2016 presidential election, many have speculated Donald Trump's racially inflammatory speech empowered people with latent prejudices to finally act on them -- a phenomenon known as the 'Trump effect.' Now, a new study from a team of political scientists at the University of California, Riverside, has found empirical support that suggests Trump's inflammatory remarks on the campaign trail emboldened particular members of the American public to express deeply held prejudices.

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From the news media:

As Covid-19 is on the verge of spreading uncontrollably in Europe and becoming an official pandemic, today's infection hotspot is a hotel in Tenerife.

Oh, and here is where the problem came from.