JP'S Blog

[johnkpringleii]

Scientists have discovered that young alligators have the ability to regrow their tails up to three-quarters of a foot -- about 18 percent of their total body length. The researchers speculate that this ability to regrow tails gives the alligators a functional advantage in their murky aquatic habitats.

A team of researchers from Arizona State University and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries have uncovered that young alligators have the ability to regrow their tails up to three-quarters of a foot -- about 18% of their total body length. They speculate that regrowing their tails gives the alligators a functional advantage in their murky aquatic habitats.

[johnkpringleii]

The missing dark matter in certain galaxies can be explained by the effects of tidal disruption: the gravity forces of a neighboring massive galaxy, literally tearing the smaller galaxy apart.

n 2018 an international team of researchers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope and several other observatories uncovered, for the first time, a galaxy in our cosmic neighborhood that is missing most of its dark matter. This discovery of the galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 was a surprise to astronomers, as it was understood that dark matter is a key constituent in current models of galaxy formation and evolution.

[johnkpringleii]

Scientists have generated a huge true random number using DNA synthesis. It is the first time that a number of this magnitude has been created by biochemical means.

True random numbers are required in fields as diverse as slot machines and data encryption. These numbers need to be truly random, such that they cannot even be predicted by people with detailed knowledge of the method used to generate them.

[johnkpringleii]

Like humans who can instantly tell which friend or relative is calling by the timbre of the person's voice, zebra finches have a near-human capacity for language mapping.

If songbirds could appear on "The Masked Singer" reality TV competition, zebra finches would likely steal the show. That's because they can rapidly memorize the signature sounds of at least 50 different members of their flock, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley.

[johnkpringleii]

Climate change is causing hurricanes that make landfall to take more time to weaken, reports a new study. Researchers showed that hurricanes that develop over warmer oceans carry more moisture and therefore stay stronger for longer after hitting land. This means that in the future, as the world continues to warm, hurricanes are more likely to reach communities farther inland and be more destructive.

The researchers showed that hurricanes that develop over warmer oceans carry more moisture and therefore stay stronger for longer after hitting land. This means that in the future, as the world continues to warm, hurricanes are more likely to reach communities farther inland and be more destructive.

[johnkpringleii]

Massive explosions of energy happening thousands of light-years from Earth may have left traces in our planet's biology and geology, according to new research.

The study, published this month in the International Journal of Astrobiology, probes the impacts of supernovas, some of the most violent events in the known universe. In the span of just a few months, a single one of these eruptions can release as much energy as the sun will during its entire lifetime. They're also bright -- really bright.

[johnkpringleii]

In the nearly two centuries since 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37.0 degrees Celsius) was established as the standard 'normal' body temperature, it has been used as the measure by which fevers have been assessed. Over time, however, lower body temperatures have been widely reported in healthy adults -- for example, in recent studies in the UK and the US. Researchers have now found a similar decrease among the Tsimane, an indigenous population of forager-horticulturists in the Bolivian Amazon.

Over time, however, and in more recent years, lower body temperatures have been widely reported in healthy adults. A 2017 study among 35,000 adults in the United Kingdom found average body temperature to be lower (97.9°F), and a 2019 study showed that the normal body temperature in Americans (those in Palo Alto, California, anyway) is about 97.5°F.

[johnkpringleii]

A new study finds that people who feel enthusiastic and cheerful -- what psychologists call 'positive affect' -- are less likely to experience memory decline as they age. This result adds to a growing body of research on positive affect's role in healthy aging.

We may wish some memories could last a lifetime, but many physical and emotional factors can negatively impact our ability to retain information throughout life. A new study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people who feel enthusiastic and cheerful -- what psychologists call "positive affect" -- are less likely to experience memory decline as they age

[johnkpringleii]

Thin tissue grafts and flexible electronics have a host of applications for wound healing, regenerative medicine and biosensing. A new device inspired by an octopus's sucker rapidly transfers delicate tissue or electronic sheets to the patient, overcoming a key barrier to clinical application.

Thin tissue grafts and flexible electronics have a host of applications for wound healing, regenerative medicine and biosensing. A new device inspired by an octopus's sucker rapidly transfers delicate tissue or electronic sheets to the patient, overcoming a key barrier to clinical application, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and collaborators.

[johnkpringleii]

A pioneering technique which captures precisely how mountains bend to the will of raindrops has helped solve a long-standing scientific enigma.

The dramatic effect rainfall has on the evolution of mountainous landscapes is widely debated among geologists, but new research led by the University of Bristol and published today in Science Advances, clearly calculates its impact, furthering our understanding of how peaks and valleys have developed over millions of years.

[johnkpringleii]

Researchers have developed a tree-ring chronology from the Amazon River basin that established a link between climate patterns in the Amazon and the Americas.

Tree growth is a well-established climate proxy. By comparing growth rings in Cedrela odorata trees found in the Rio Paru watershed of the eastern Amazon River with hundreds of similar chronologies in North and South America, scientists have shown an inverse relationship in tree growth, and therefore precipitation patterns, between the areas.

[johnkpringleii]

Scientists have shown how droughts are threatening the health of wetlands globally. Scientists highlight the many physical and chemical changes occurring during droughts that lead to severe, and sometimes irreversible, drying of wetland soils.

Published in the journal Earth-Science Reviews, the scientists highlight the many physical and chemical changes occurring during droughts that lead to severe, and sometimes irreversible, drying of wetland soils. "Wetlands around the world are incredibly important for maintaining our planet's biodiversity and they store vast amounts of carbon that can help fight climate change," says project leader Associate Professor Luke Mosley, from the University's Environment Institute and School of Biological Sciences.

[johnkpringleii]

SPARC is planned to be the first experimental device ever to achieve a 'burning plasma' -- a self-sustaining fusion reaction in which different isotopes of the element hydrogen fuse together to form helium, without the need for any further input of energy.

Now, after many months of intensive research and engineering work, the researchers charged with defining and refining the physics behind the ambitious reactor design have published a series of papers summarizing the progress they have made and outlining the key research questions SPARC will enable.

[johnkpringleii]

Genetic variants that leave their carrier more susceptible to severe COVID-19 are inherited from Neanderthals, a new study finds.

There are several factors that influence a person's susceptibility to having a severe reaction, such as their age and the existence of other medical conditions. But one's genetics also plays a role, and, over the last few months, research by the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative has shown that genetic variants in one region on chromosome 3 impose a larger risk that their carriers will develop a severe form of the disease.

[johnkpringleii]

Two new studies offer an explanation for why COVID-19 cases can be so variable. A subset of patients has mutations in key immunity genes; other patients have auto-antibodies that target the same components of the immune system. Both circumstances could contribute to severe forms of the disease.

At least 3.5 percent of study patients with severe COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, have mutations in genes involved in antiviral defense. And at least 10 percent of patients with severe disease create "auto-antibodies" that attack the immune system, instead of fighting the virus.

[johnkpringleii]

New research identifies a process that might have been key in producing the first organic molecules on Earth about 4 billion years ago, before the origin of life. The process, which is similar to what might have occurred in some ancient underwater hydrothermal vents, may also have relevance to the search for life elsewhere in the universe.

All life on Earth is built of organic molecules -- compounds made of carbon atoms bound to atoms of other elements such as hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen. In modern life, most of these organic molecules originate from the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) through several "carbon-fixation" pathways (such as photosynthesis in plants). But most of these pathways either require energy from the cell in order to work, or were thought to have evolved relatively late.

[johnkpringleii]

Global maps of places where people and forests coexist show that an estimated 1.6 billion people live within 5 kilometers of a forest. The assessment, based on data from 2000 and 2012, showed that of these 1.6 billion 'forest-proximate people,' 64.5 percent were located in tropical countries, and 71.3 percent lived in countries classified as low or middle income by the World Bank.

People who rely on forest resources for subsistence or income are commonly known as forest-dependent people. Although the number of forest-proximate people coincidently matches the 1.6 billion forest-dependent people from a widely cited estimation from the World Bank, living near the forest doesn't necessarily mean one relies on the forest for livelihood.