science news 11.7.2019

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.


astrobiology

Origin of life insight: peptides can form without amino acids

Astronomers expand cosmic 'cheat sheet' in hunt for life
I suppose it's about classifying exoplanets, but the summary wasn't any clearer than the title.


ecology

Caterpillars turn anti-predator defense against sticky toxic plants


zoology

Secrets of a sex-changing fish revealed
and another PR on the same paper, this time with a video.



A distinctive male (top left) defends a group of females (yellow), one of which will eventually change sex to replace him.
Credit: Kevin Bryant


Unprecedented display of concern towards unknown monkey offers hope for endangered species


climate change

Researchers discover ice is sliding toward edges off Greenland Ice Sheet


sustainability

20 overlooked benefits of distributed solar energy


robots

Robot-ants that can jump, communicate with each other and work together


quantum information technology

Puzzling on a quantum chessboard
"Physicists at the University of Innsbruck are proposing a new model that could demonstrate the supremacy of quantum computers over classical supercomputers in solving optimization problems. In a recent paper, they demonstrate that just a few quantum particles would be sufficient to solve the mathematically difficult N-queens problem in chess even for large chess boards."

Quantum sensor breakthrough using naturally occurring vibrations in artificial atoms

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from the news media:

Falcon has landed: Japan's Hayabusa2 probe touches down on asteroid