science news 10.5.2019

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 (using quotation marks) in cases where the title alone doesn't reveal what the story is about. My own thoughts appear without quotation marks, if I have any.


evolution

Discovery of the photosensor for yellow-green light-driven photosynthesis in cyanobacteria
"Cyanobacteria, a type of bacteria that performs photosynthesis, utilize a photosensor to maximize their light-harvesting capacity under different light environments. A joint research team led by Toyohashi University of Technology found a new photosensor that regulates yellow-green light-harvesting antenna in cyanobacteria. Further analysis of the cyanobacterial genomes revealed that this photosensor emerged about 2.1 billion years ago or more and evolved through genetic exchange between cyanobacteria."

The bird that came back from the dead
"New research has shown that the last surviving flightless species of bird, a type of rail, in the Indian Ocean had previously gone extinct but rose from the dead thanks to a rare process called 'iterative evolution'."


life on the edge

Remarkable fish see color in deep, dark water



The Tub-eye Fish, Stylephorus chordatus. This species was found to use five different rod opsins within its eyes. The long cylindrical shape of its eyes increases light capture and also enables the fish to move the eyes from a horizontal to a vertical position.
Credit: Dr. Wen-Sung Chung, University of Queensland, Australia


ecology

Antarctic biodiversity hotspots exist wherever penguins and seals poop

Dexterous herring gulls learn new tricks to adapt their feeding habits


environment

Traces of Roman-era pollution stored in the ice of Mont Blanc


bio-inspired

New brain tumor imaging technique uses protein found in scorpion venom

Scientists discover a new class of single-atom nanozymes
These are single-atom catalytic sites inspired by enzyme active sites, apparently.


humans

Abrupt climate change drove early South American population decline

Ancient DNA suggests that some Northern Europeans got their languages from Siberia
"Most Europeans descend from a combination of European hunter-gatherers, Anatolian early farmers, and Steppe herders. But only European speakers of Uralic languages like Estonian and Finnish also have DNA from ancient Siberians. Now, with the help of ancient DNA samples, researchers reporting in Current Biology on May 9 suggest that these languages may have arrived from Siberia by the beginning of the Iron Age, about 2,500 years ago, rather than evolving in Northern Europe."

Virtual Reality can improve quality of life for people with dementia

Appendix removal associated with development of Parkinson's disease

The art of the circus
"From tightrope to trapeze, circus arts have long fascinated and inspired people of all ages. Now, research from the University of South Australia is revealing the true value of circus skills and their unique ability to deliver significant mental health benefits for Australian children."
... no mention of unicycling - bit more manageable than tightropes and trapeze ?