science news 9.7.2019

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

Scientists develop new method for studying early life in ancient rocks


earth

Cave droplets provide window into past climates
"The chemistry of drip waters that form stalagmites and stalactites in caves around the world have given researchers an insight into our past climate."


evolution

Ancient Saharan seaway shows how Earth's climate and creatures can undergo extreme change

The ancestor of the great white shark



A whole skeleton of the fossil shark Palaeocarcharias stromeri (total length approximately 1m) from the Jura Museum Eichstätt.
Credit: © Jürgen Kriwet


ecology

Live fast and die young, or play the long game? Scientists map 121 animal life cycles

Using an embryonic pause to save the date
"A date palm seedling can pause its development to boost its resilience before emerging into the harsh desert environment."

Climate change and deforestation together push tropical species towards extinction


biomaterials

Exploiting green tides thanks to a marine bacterium
"Ulvan is the principal component of Ulva or 'sea lettuce' which causes algal blooms (green tides). Frenc sientists and their German and Austrian colleagues have identified a marine bacterium whose enzymatic system can break down ulvan into an energy source or molecules of interest for use by the agrifood or cosmetics industries. Twelve enzymes have thus been discovered and they constitute as many tools that could transform this under-exploited polysaccharide into a renewable resource."

Just the tonic! How an afternoon tipple made from peas could help save the rainforest


sustainability

Thought experiment: Switzerland without fossil fuels. Can that succeed?"


humans

A common gut virus that maps our travels
This benign virus changes as we travel, is found in two-thirds of the world's population, and has deep implications for future drug delivery and personalized medicine."

The UC3M programs a humanoid robot to communicate in sign language


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from the news media

Watch new cities popping up from nowhere in time lapse satellite images (The Guardian).