science news 14.11.2019

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 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.

(My laptop is broken, can I do the science news on an ancient MacBook? Let's find out)


ecology

Chitin-binding proteins override host plant's resistance to fungal infection


sustainability

Chemistry -- Five-fold boost in formaldehyde yield
I'm struggling to believe the "5-fold" - did the industry really make such a basic feedstock chemical with less than 20% yield until now? To me, the important bit here is that it can be made from carbon dioxide, of which we are producing too much right now ...



Turning (more) fat and sewage into methane





humans

World's oldest glue used from prehistoric times till the days of the Gauls
By studying artefacts that date back to the first 6 centuries AD through the lens of chemistry, archaeology, and textual analysis, french researchers have discovered birch tar was being used right up to late antiquity, if not longer. The artefacts in question -- found in a region where birch is scarce, thus raising the question of how it was procured -- are testimony to the strength of tradition among the Gauls.


Climate may have helped crumble one of the ancient world's most powerful civilizations
New research suggests it was climate-related drought that built the foundation for the collapse of the Assyrian Empire (whose heartland was based in today's northern Iraq)--one of the most powerful civilizations in the ancient world. The Science Advances paper, led by Ashish Sinha at California State University, Dominguez Hills and coauthored by CIRES affiliate Adam Schneider, details how megadroughts in the 7th century BC triggered a decline in Assyria's way of life that contributed to its ultimate collapse.
The people responsible for this PR are definitely helping to crumble our civilisation and buiding the foundation for its collapse. One to keep as an example for writing workshops.

Ancient Egyptians gathered birds from the wild for sacrifice and mummification
... as opposed to domesticating ibises for these rituals.



dystopian futures

Can 'smart toilets' be the next health data wellspring?
Wearable, smart technologies are transforming the ability to monitor and improve health, but a decidedly low-tech commodity -- the humble toilet -- may have potential to outperform them all.
Here they go closing the last gap in the complete 24/7 surveillance scheme.