science news 31.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


evolution

Baboons provide new insights into the evolution of the genome
"A team of researchers including scientists from Vetmeduni Vienna investigated the process of evolutionary diversification by looking at six baboon species. The results of the study provide exciting new insights into the evolution of the genome - including that of humans."


The 210-million-year-old Smok was crushing bones like a hyena
"Coprolites, or fossil droppings, of the dinosaur-like archosaur Smok wawelski contain lots of chewed-up bone fragments. This led researchers at Uppsala University to conclude that this top predator was exploiting bones for salt and marrow, a behavior often linked to mammals but seldom to archosaurs."



ecology

ARS microscopy research helps unravel the workings of a major honey bee pest

Urban biodiversity: Remarkable diversity of small animals in Basel gardens

Genes behind lager yeast's cold- and sugar-loving success revealed



Patagonian galls such as these harbor a parent of the hybrid yeast used to make lager or cold-brewed beer.
Credit: Diego Libkind, Institute for Biodiversity and Environment Research


humans

Big cities feed on their hinterlands to sustain growth

Difference in brain connectivity may explain autism spectrum disorder
Something or other that "may explain autism spectrum disorder" gets heralded several times every week, so I usually ignore these, but I like the brain connectivity bit.

Babies who hear two languages at home develop advantages in attention

Ancient Mongolian skull is the earliest modern human yet found in the region


technology

MIT robot combines vision and touch to learn the game of Jenga
Sadly, there was no video or picture of the Jenga-playing robot included with the PR.

A step closer to self-aware machines
"Columbia Engineers have created a robot that learns what it is, with zero prior knowledge of physics, geometry, or motor dynamics. Initially the robot has no clue what its shape is. After a brief period of 'babbling,' and within about a day of intensive computing, the robot creates a self-simulation, which it can then use to contemplate and adapt to different situations, handling new tasks as well as detecting and repairing damage in its body."

science news 30.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


earth

Earth's continental nurseries discovered beneath mountains


environment and climate change

China's regulations unsuccessful in curbing methane emissions

Cattle urine's planet-warming power can be curtailed with land restoration

Plastic pollution causes mussels to lose grip


evolution

Long-necked dinosaurs rotated their forefeet to the side
Dances with dinosaurs ...



These are well preserved footprints of the find site in Morocco, with clearly visible claw impressions.
Credit

© Foto: The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology


ecology

Anemones are friends to fish
"A new study sheds light on the coral reef ecosystem and suggests many species of fish rely on anemones to avoid predators."

Why do beaked whales return to a Navy sonar range despite frequent disturbance?
"Using data from underwater robots, scientists have discovered that beaked whales prefer to feed within parts of a Navy sonar test range off Southern California that have dense patches of deep-sea squid. A new study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that beaked whales need these prey hotspots to survive, and that similar patches do not exist in nearby 'sonar-free' areas."


biomedical

Columbia engineers translate brain signals directly into speech

Study identifies biomedical potential of bivalves
"Shellfish like oysters and mussels have the potential to revolutionize human health research, according to a new paper in Developmental and Comparative Immunology. The study reveals how using bivalves as model organisms offers numerous promising avenues for medical research -- from pharmaceutical development to bone regeneration."


quantum

Meet the quantum fridge -- at 3 atoms in size, it's much smaller than a minibar


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From the news media


Lions switch to seafood diet, reports the Guardian

your brain on LSD

science news 29.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


astrobiology

Missing link in planet evolution found
"For the first time ever, astronomers have detected a 1.3 km radius body at the edge of the solar system. Kilometer-sized bodies like the one discovered have been predicted to exist for more than 70 years. These objects acted as an important step in the planet formation process between small initial amalgamations of dust and ice and the planets we see today."


This is an artist's impression of the newly discovered object.
Credit: Ko Arimatsu


behaviour

How do fish and birds hang together without colliding? Researchers find the answer is a wake with purpose
"Fish and birds are able to move in groups, without separating or colliding, due to a newly discovered dynamic: the followers interact with the wake left behind by the leaders. The finding offers new insights into animal locomotion and points to potential ways to harness energy from natural resources."


climate change

Study: Climate change reshaping how heat moves around globe


conservation

For endangered lemurs, internet fame has a dark side
"A ring-tailed lemur named Sefo became an internet sensation in 2016 when a video of him demanding back scratches from two boys was viewed 20 million times in a week. Now, a new study of Twitter activity shows that viral videos of seemingly cuddly endangered animals can have a dark side too -- by fueling demand for them as pets."


Haiti's first-ever private nature reserve created to protect imperiled species
"In a race against time, an American professor and a Haitian CEO have teamed up to establish private nature reserves to protect Haiti's disappearing species. Now, with funding from Global Wildlife Conservation and Rainforest Trust, the first such park has been purchased: Grand Bois, a mountain in the southwest of Haiti with rare and endangered plants and animals."


evolution

Molecular analysis of anchiornis feather gives clues to origin of flight

Birds-of-paradise genomes target sexual selection


humans

Brexit could lead to thousands of extra heart disease and stroke deaths
"Thousands of extra deaths from heart disease and stroke might become a reality in England over the next decade if Britain presses ahead with Brexit on March 29, reveals research published in the online journal BMJ Open."



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fighting Ebola

Open Archive Day

A year ago, I published my second feature about Ebola virus disease, and since then the Democratic Republic of the Congo has suffered two further outbreaks of the disease. Scientific efforts geared up after the devastating outbreak in West Africa in 2014 are now beginning to bear fruit, and the past few weeks have seen some interesting developments in this field. Specifically, the hypothesis that wild bats are the natural reservoir from which outbreaks in the human population originate (especially if and when bat populations are disturbed eg by deforestation) has been strengthened by the discovery of Ebola in a West African bat. Also, there are further related filoviruses found in bats that could become a worry some day. A new genus of such viruses has now been discovered in bats in China. Meanwhile, the vaccine work is making progress, and researchers have this month reported that a candidate vaccine is safe and effective in monkeys.

And not to forget my feature is now freely accessible:

Preparing for the next Ebola epidemic

(and the first one from 2014, too, of course)

but if things continue to develop at this pace, I may have to write a third one soon ...



This is a Leschenault's rousette fruit bat (Rousettus leschenaultii) seen in a temple in Madurai, Tamilnadu, India. Researchers discovered a new genus of filoviruses in this species.
Credit: Rajesh Puttaswamaiah, Bat Conservation India Trust

partita for flute

It may not be quite as famous as the six cello suites, but JS Bach also wrote a suite of dances for the unaccompanied flute, which only survived in a single transcript, and which after its rediscovery became known as the partita for flute (BWV 1013). Like the cello suites it involves a lot of jumping around between higher and lower registers to create the illusion that the soloist can simultaneously play the tune and the accompaniment. Here is a recording of the entire partita by Peter-Lukas Graf.

I prepared the second movement, the Corrente, for this year's festival and performed it yesterday, which was a huge challenge, but I got through in one piece. In a desperate attempt to persuade my brain that it has seen the notes before and doesn't need to panic at every accidental, I memorised it, meaning that for each line I have at one point been able to play it from memory (slowly), although some lines may have faded once I moved on to tackle the next bit. Intriguingly, even though recall from memory is too slow to be useful for performing, this helped with playing it from the sheet.

I've also learned the first movement, the allemande. The main difficulty in that one is that the composer seems to be blissfully unaware of the fact that flautists need to breathe to survive. Among the references the Wikipedia article cites, most focus on the Allemande, and one, intriguingly, even on one note, the F# in bar 20: Michel, Winfried. 1992. "'Ein Ton': Das fis im zwanzigsten Takt von Bachs Flötenpartita". In Travers und controvers: Festschrift Nikolaus Delius, edited by Mirjam Nastasi, 67–87. Celle: Hermann Moeck. ISBN 3-8754-9057-6.

I will also go through the last two movements, but at first reading they seem to be much more accessible than the Corrente.

So here comes the still life with Grandfather(ish) clock:



Again, a score found at Oxfam, and based on the copyright date it could be as old as I am.


PS: A couple of weeks after the performance, I've now decided to move from father to son ....

clarina

All our instruments series, episode 4


Here's one (out of two) instruments acquired by marriage - a Hohner Clarina from about 1973. Hohner are famous as makers of accordions and harmonicas, so even if they make simple toys, you can expect them to sound good. The clarina is essentially a melodica (which happens to be a Hohner invention as well) with the white keys only, so you can only play within one scale, which at least for this instrument is G major. The notes are arranged for the right hand to play them as on a piano, so the lower notes are on the thumb side, i.e. nearer the mouth. This is maddening for all woodwind players, and it invalidates the description as a toy clarinet. (Incidentally I had a toy saxophone as a child which probably worked the same way, but I have no idea what happened to that one.) On the plus side, however, you can play chords.

The instrument must have been the last generation of Clarinas made with metal keys - most versions I could find online have got plastic keys (eg the Clarina12). (Stop press: just found one with metal keys on ebay.)

The instrument was red with a cardboard-like surface, but for reasons that have fallen into oblivion, its young owner covered it in black insulating tape, which doesn't come off without destroying the cardboard layer, so it now looks like this (I put the original box in the picture which shows that it's a Hohner instrument):



For the video, I've had a slightly polyphonic go at the anthem of our Galician session, Fisterra:



Further Hohner instruments will be coming along in this series ...

science news 25.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


astrobiology

Environmental protection in outer space
"Should regulations for environmental protection be valid beyond our solar system? Currently, extra-terrestrial forms of life are only deemed worth protecting if they can be scientifically investigated. But what about the numerous, presumably lifeless planets whose oxygen atmospheres open up the possibility of their settlement by terrestrial life forms? Theoretical physicist Claudius Gros from Goethe University has taken a closer look at this issue."

Study of archaeal cells could teach us more about ourselves
"Researchers wanted to better understand the archaeal cell by studying Sulfolobus islandicus, an archaeal microorganism that is found in geothermal hot springs. Their results give insight into archaea's potential shared ancestry with eukaryotes and the evolutionary history of cells, while overturning previously held beliefs about what S. islandicus requires for growth."

The helix, of DNA fame, may have arisen with startling ease


botanical

An entire botanical garden of genomes
"An article in the open-access journal GigaScience provides genome sequencing data that triples the number of plant species with available genome data. To date, around 350 land plant genomes have been sequenced; this article provides multiple data types for 760 plant specimens (689 species). This includes images, raw sequencing data, assembled chloroplast genomes, and preliminary nuclear genome assemblies -- all freely available. Effectively this work is a digital representation of an entire botanical garden."
See also my recent feature on the importance of botanic gardens for conservation.


ecology

In polar regions, warm-blooded marine predators rule
"Even though diversity typically decreases from the tropics to the poles, in the frigid waters of the high latitudes, warm-blooded marine mammals and birds thrive, both in number and species richness."

Biosecurity strategy needed for China's Belt and Road Initiative, researchers say
"China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched five years ago, includes more than 120 countries, linked by six proposed land-based Economic Corridors between core cities and key ports along traditional international transport routes. But, as new evidence reported in the journal Current Biology on Jan. 24 shows, the risk of introducing invasive species into new areas is substantial as it would threaten native species and biodiversity."


evolution

A reptile platypus from the early Triassic
"No animal alive today looks quite like a duckbilled platypus, but about 250 million years ago something very similar swam the shallow seas in what is now China, finding prey by touch with a cartilaginous bill."



Artist's impression of Eretmorhipis carrolldongi. Related to the dolphin-like ichthyosaurs, Eretmorhipis evolved in a world devastated by the mass extinction event at the end of the Permian era. Its small eyes and bill suggest that like the duckbilled platypus, it hunted by touch.
Credit: Gianluca Danini


Crocodiles have complex past
A new study offers a different version to the evolutionary past of modern-day crocodiles and alligators. The study, published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, says crocodiles and alligators came from a variety of surroundings beginning in the early Jurassic Period, and various species occupied a host of ecosystems over time, including land, estuarine, freshwater and marine.

Research shows what it takes to be a giant shark


music

Dopamine modulates reward experiences elicited by music
Don't think that's very surprising, but now you know. Wonder if they also considered the angry and sad songs of the following story:

Computer analysis shows that popular music lyrics become angrier and sadder over time
"A scientific analysis of the sentiment of popular music lyrics from the 1950s to 2016 showed that the expression of anger and sadness in popular music has increased gradually over time, while the expression of joy has declined."

PopPUNK advances speed of bacterial pathogen surveillance
"In a study published today in Genome Research, researchers developed PopPUNK (Population Partitioning Using Nucleotide K-mers), a computational tool for analyzing tens of thousands of bacterial genomes in a single run, up to 200-fold faster than previous methods." Obviously, not really music-related, but I just love the sound of that acronym.


technology

The first tendril-like soft robot able to climb
"Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia obtained the first soft robot mimicking plant tendrils: it is able to curl and climb, using the same physical principles determining water transport in plants. The research team is led by Barbara Mazzolai and results have been published in Nature Communications. In the future this tendril-like soft robot could inspire the development of wearable devices, such as soft braces, able to actively morph their shape."

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From the news media:


cod supplies to crash due to ocean warming, warns the Guardian.

science news 24.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


astrobiology

Planetary collision that formed the moon made life possible on Earth

SwRI scientist sheds light on Titan's mysterious atmosphere

Astronomers find star material could be building block of life


climate change

Climate change tipping point could be coming sooner than we think

New study establishes link between climate change, conflict, and migration


marine mammals

Humpback whales' songs at subarctic feeding areas are complex, progressive

An icy forecast for ringed seal populations

Scientists have already observed and predicted that high ringed seal pup mortality rates are linked to poor environmental conditions like early ice breakup and low snow. Researchers have now gone a step further by coupling these hypotheses with forecasts of future spring snow and ice conditions, developing a mathematical model, and following it to some stark conclusions for populations off the Amundsen Gulf and Prince Albert Sound in Canada.



A ringed seal pup, still covered in its white baby fur, lies exposed on the sea ice.
Credit: Ian Stirling


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from the news media:

a long read on the quest for a reliable flu vaccine in the Guardian

science news 23.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


astrobiology

For zombie microbes, deep-sea buffet is just out of reach
"A new study from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is beginning to pick apart how bizarre zombie-like microbes survive by examining their source of 'food' -- nearby molecules of organic carbon. The study helps further our understanding of the limitations of life on Earth and could help inform how life might exist on other planets."


climate change

Dry inland waters are underrated players in climate change


birds

Without habitat management, small land parcels do not protect birds

Possible Oahu populations offer new hope for Hawaiian seabirds

Unique camera enables researchers to see the world the way birds do

How much rainforest do birds need?



The blue-headed bee-eater is native to African rainforests.
Credit: Professor Matthias Waltert


ecology & evolution

Otago researcher contributes piece to the puzzle of baleen whales' evolution

Urbanization changes shape of mosquitoes' wings

Plants blink: Proceeding with caution in sunlight

Green fluorescence from reef-building corals attracts symbiotic algae


humans

Thirty percent fewer prostate cancer deaths with PSA screening


nanoworld

The first nucleophilic gold complex

Graphene and related materials safety: human health and the environment

Properties of 'wonder material' graphene change in humid conditions


technology

Increasing skepticism against robots

Surveillance in our schools
"ClassDojo is one of the most popular education apps in the world. Its company estimates it is used by millions of teachers and children across 180 countries. Beneath its friendly exterior lie disturbing implications."


recycling

Improved plastics recycling thanks to spectral imaging

From toilet to brickyard: Recycling biosolids to make sustainable bricks


musical instruments

Do endangered woods make better guitars?
Spoiler alert: no.

science news 22.1.2019

Today's round-up of science stories. 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.


evolution

Fossilized slime of 100-million-year-old hagfish shakes up vertebrate family tree

Ancient carpet shark discovered with 'spaceship-shaped' teeth
"The world of the dinosaurs just got a bit more bizarre with a newly discovered species of freshwater shark whose tiny teeth resemble the alien ships from the popular 1980s video game Galaga."



Galagadon
Credit: (c) Velizar Simeonovski, Field Museum


climate change

Greenland ice melting four times faster than in 2003, study finds


nanoworld

Broadband achromatic metalens focuses light regardless of polarization



humans

The diversity of rural African populations extends to their microbiomes

Study: On Facebook and Twitter your privacy is at risk -- even if you don't have an account


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from the news media

"If all of Greenland’s vast ice sheet, 3km thick in places, was to melt, global sea levels would rise by seven meters," writes the Guardian, in a piece about faster than expected ice loss in Greenland (see the press release for the PNAS paper above, under climate change). Note,however, that melting isn't even necessary for this catastrophic sea level rise to happen. If the ice were to slide off the landmass and float around in the Atlantic, it would cause exactly the same effect, as it displaces its own weight in liquid water.

out of the freezer

Following a helpful suggestion from one of the scientific editors at Current Biology, I looked at the scary things that can come out of the Arctic permafrost soils as they continue to thaw due to climate change. The defrosted threats include pathogens like anthrax, poisons like methyl mercury, and, as is already widely known, lots of methane, which could further accelerate global warming in a positive feedback loop.

The scary but fascinating finds out of the Earths freezer compartment are collected in today's feature which is out now:


Permafrost thaw releases problems

Current Biology Volume 29, issue 2, pages R39-R41, January 21, 2019

FREE access to full text and PDF download



The photo shows researchers from several US institutions investigating the impact of vegetation on permafrost soils (Environ. Res. Lett. (2018) 13, 105006). (Photo: Los Alamos National Laboratory.)

a question of fingering

All our instruments series, episode 3

We're now arriving at the earliest surviving instrument from my childhood (not sure what happened to the poor old toy saxophone?), namely my school recorder.

I learned to play it in primary school and still have the booklet with the tunes, and the dates of the lessons written in. Apparently it was a peripatetic teacher who scribbled the date of the next lesson into the book.

The recorder bears the trademark Schneider, so I think it was made by the company of Werner Schneider in Markneukirchen, Saxony, whose sons now trade as Gebr. Schneider. The tradition of making musical instruments in the Musikwinkel (musical corner) of the country was added to Germany's list of immaterial cultural heritage in 2014. Unlike the Hopf family, makers of my guitar, who also come from that area but moved to Taunusstein in 1948, the Schneider recorders stayed there.

Today it looks like this:



You may notice that the holes for the right hand look different from UK school recorders (and, indeed, from the grown-up recorders that proper musicians use). In fact, hole sizes are adapted to the so-called German fingering system (as opposed to the English / Baroque fingering). Although I was aware that there are two types of fingerings listed in the finger charts, it only dawned on me recently that the one I learned is a simplification. Thanks to the changes in hole sizes, I can play a scale from the lowest note (C in this case) by lifting off one finger at a time, without any gaps. By contrast, the English system requires a more complex fingering for the fourth step of the scale (F in this case).

Musicians including Hans Martin Linde have criticised the German simplification on the grounds that it makes some of the "black key" notes needed in more remote keys impossible to play in tune. I guess the tunes you learn at school carefully avoid the notes that don't work well, so I never spotted any problems until I heard about this. I can also work with the English system (several recorders with that are going to turn up later in the series).

For some weird reason, on the German system recorder I particularly like the sound of the Bb, so in the video, after a quick scale to demonstrate the fingering, I am playing a song from my primary school recorder book in F, with lots of Bb (Der Mond ist aufgegangen), followed by an attempt to remember Brahms' famous lullaby: