science news 24.4.2020

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

Promising signs for Perseverance rover in its quest for past Martian life
New research indicates river delta deposits within Mars' Jezero crater -- the destination of NASA' Perseverance rover on the Red Planet -- formed over time scales that promoted habitability and enhanced preservation of evidence.



NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover, expected to launch in July 2020, will land in Jezero crater, pictured here. The image was taken by instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which regularly captures potential landing sites for future missions.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Researchers use 'hot Jupiter' data to mine exoplanet chemistry
After spotting a curious pattern in scientific papers -- they described exoplanets as being cooler than expected -- Cornell University astronomers have improved a mathematical model to accurately gauge the temperatures of planets from solar systems hundreds of light-years away.


evolution

Ocean biodiversity has not increased substantially for hundreds of millions of years -- new study

Fossil frogs offer insights into ancient Antarctica

Jurassic Park in Eastern Morocco: Paleontology of the Kem Kem Group

Giant teenage shark from the Dinosaur-era

Coronaviruses and bats have been evolving together for millions of years


conservation

North Atlantic right whales are in much poorer condition than Southern right whales


biomedical

Novel coronavirus detected, monitored in wastewater
Love a bit of wastewater-based epidemiology.


sustainability

Zero-emissions Boston could save 288 lives and $2.4 billion annually: BU study


humans

Icelandic DNA jigsaw-puzzle brings new knowledge about Neanderthals
An international team of researchers has put together a new image of Neanderthals based on the genes Neanderthals left in the DNA of modern humans when they had children with them about 50,000 years ago. The researchers found the new information by trawling the genomes of more than 27,000 Icelanders. Among other things, they discovered that Neanderthal children had older mothers and younger fathers than the Homo-Sapien children in Africa did at the time.

Women's faces in Time Magazine throughout history
In a paper published in Journal of Cultural Analytics, an interdisciplinary group of researchers used machine learning to extract 327,322 faces from an archive of Time magazine issues dating from 1923 to 2014. Titled the Faces of Time project, findings reveal that more images of female faces were presented during eras where women took on an increased participation in public life, and fewer images were shown during periods characterized by a backlash against feminism.

Health impacts of pollution upon indigenous peoples

To combat COVID-19, behavioral pitfalls must be addressed



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