science news 4.8.2020

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

ALMA captures stirred-up planet factory
Planet-forming environments can be much more complex and chaotic than previously expected. This is evidenced by a new image of the star RU Lup, made with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

Iron-rich meteorites show record of core crystallization in system's oldest planetesimals

Early Mars was covered in ice sheets, not flowing rivers


evolution

Malignant cancer diagnosed in a dinosaur for the first time

Study: Oriole hybridization is a dead end
A half-century of controversy over two popular bird species may have finally come to an end. In one corner: the Bullock's Oriole, found in the western half of North America. In the other corner: the Baltimore Oriole, breeding in the eastern half. Where their ranges meet in the Great Plains, the two mix freely and produce apparently healthy hybrid offspring. But according to scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, hybridization is a dead end and both parent species will remain separate.



Bullock/Baltimore Oriole hybrid.
Credit: Bryan Calk, Macaulay Library, Cornell Lab of Ornithology


ecology

Scientists discover secret behind Earth's biodiversity hotspots

Identifying the blind spots of soil biodiversity

Study calls for urgent plan to manage invasive weed which threatens livelihoods in Africa


neuroscience

Speech processing hierarchy in the dog brain

Humans and flies employ very similar mechanisms for brain development and function

Energy demands limit our brains' information processing capacity


nanoworld

The art of making tiny holes
It sounds like a magic trick: A highly charged ion penetrates several layers of a material. It creates a big hole in the top layer, but travels through the next layer without damaging it. This new technique can be used to modify surfaces with extremely hight precision.


humans

Ancient shell llama offering found in lake Titicaca
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dystopian futures

Novel magnetic stirrer speaks to lab equipment
A small device, called "Smart Stirrer", performed a function of a conventional laboratory stir bar, has an integrated microprocessor and various sensors capable of wireless and autonomous report the conversion of properties of a solution. Results are sent to a computer over Bluetooth, and any changes notify the user wirelessly.

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