MI weekly selection #368
GPS measurements help map Himalayas’ quake risk
Scientists who studied measurements from GPS stations say they’ve identified four parts of the Himalayas that could be shaken by major earthquakes with magnitudes greater than 8.5. Researchers examined fault-locking levels in the Himalayan arc by comparing the Indian and Eurasian plates’ convergence rates with their relative velocities.
Hayabusa 2 test reveals Ryugu’s age
Researchers have determined the asteroid Ryugu is about 9 million years old by creating a crater on its surface with a projectile launched from the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft. Prior to the analysis, estimates of the asteroid’s age ranged from 160 million years to 9 million.
Vampire bats form bonds to share food
Vampire bats can form cooperative relationships with other vampire bats in order to share food and help keep each other alive. Researchers gathered bats that were strangers to each other and observed their growing relationships as pairs of creatures built trust to the point one bat would share its blood meal with its friend.
Birds as engineers
Physicists are studying the engineering intricacies of nests created by birds and analyzing structural dynamics, with an eye on employing the principles elsewhere, such as in packaging, architecture and shock-absorption. Researchers are examining the “mechanical synthesis” of how the bird creates the structure with an “expectation of nest performance.”
Monkeys appear to develop immunity after COVID-19
Three rhesus monkeys that recovered from exposure to SARS-CoV-2 did not develop an infection again after a second exposure, according to preliminary results of a study posted on the preprint server bioRxiv. The finding would suggest that primates develop immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19, and reports of some people testing positive twice could be due to test inaccuracy.