science news 22.4.2020

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.


astrobiology

ASU scientists lead study of galaxy's 'water worlds'
In seeking to learn more about Neptune-like exoplanets, an international team of researchers, led by Arizona State University, has provided one of the first mineralogy lab studies for water-rich exoplanets.


ecology

Expansion of world's cities creating 'new ecological niches' for infectious diseases

Lizards develop new 'love language'
Free from the risk of predators and intent to attract potential mates, male lizards relocated to experimental islets in Greece produce a novel chemical calling card.



This is a male Podarcis erhardii, the Aegean wall lizard.
Credit: Colin Donihue


nanoworld

Cool down fast to advance quantum nanotechnology
An international team of scientists have found an easy way to trigger an unusual state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate. The new method, recently described in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, is expected to help advance the research and development of quantum computing at room temperature.


biomedical

How SARS-CoV-2 gets into respiratory tissue -- and how it may exploit one of our defenses

A new biosensor for the COVID-19 virus
This one is based on RNA-sequence recognition and detection by surface plasmon resonance. In yesterday's news collection there was one based on whole virus detection by antibodies and electronic sensors.


food and drink

Coffee changes our sense of taste


climate change

North pole will be ice-free in summer
Summer Arctic sea-ice is predicted to disappear before 2050, resulting in devastating consequences for the Arctic ecosystem. The efficacy of climate-protection measures will determine how often and for how long.


sustainability

Penn Engineering's new scavenger technology allows robots to 'eat' metal for energy


humans

Study sheds light on unique culinary traditions of prehistoric hunter-gatherers

Human pregnancy is weird -- new research adds to the mystery
University at Buffalo and University of Chicago scientists set out to investigate the evolution of a gene that helps women stay pregnant: the progesterone receptor gene. The results come from an analysis of the DNA of 115 mammalian species.



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From the news media:

Financial Times (open access): Coronavirus could help push us into a greener way of life. For all its horror, the pandemic may change our habits when nothing else could.