New research has unearthed evidence that points to a strong relationship between the magnitude of mass extinctions and global temperature changes in geologic times. Abrupt climate change, accompanied by environmental destruction from large volcanic eruptions and meteorites, has caused major mass extinctions throughout the Phanerozoic Eon, covering 539 million years to the present. To date […]
Mammals became warm-blooded around 233M years ago Warm-blooded mammals evolved roughly 233 million years ago, nearly 20 million years later than previously believed, after studying tiny inner ear canals that carry a viscous fluid called endolymph, which flows more easily when warmed and requires smaller passageways. The study looked at the inner ear canals of […]
Graphene is an exceptional material with attractive properties to explore fundamental physics and for use in technological applications. While ideal graphene is non-magnetic, custom-shaped graphene nanostructures can be designed to exhibit complex magnetic phenomenology, with promising possibilities for a new generation of nanoscale spintronics devices. In fact, graphene π magnetism is more delocalized and isotropic […]
Every geography schoolbook has them: maps that look like today’s Earth, but not quite, since all continents are merged into a single supercontinent. Those maps were used to explain why dinosaurs in South America and Africa, or North America and Europe looked so alike. “Paleogeographic” reconstructions like these provide context to study the processes that […]
A common saying refers to the power of the eyes as a window inside our souls; interestingly, our eyes could also be a window into our brains, helping identify certain neurological conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Recent work published in Frontiers in Neuroscience found distinct electrical recording signatures […]
Sandy clouds swirl around brown dwarfs According to new modeling based on telescope data collected nearly 20 years ago, silicate-rich clouds swirling around brown dwarfs likely form when the chemistry and temperature –1,000 to 1,700 degrees Celsius — of the atmospheres of the substellar objects align. Full Story: Space Plant cycles affected by urban lighting […]
Twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) has taken the spotlight in the condensed matter community since the discovery of correlated phases. Now, a team of researchers studies heterostructures of TBG and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) using an atomistic tight-binding model together with semi-classical molecular dynamics to consider relaxation effects. Isolated atomic planes, two-dimensional (2D) materials, like graphene […]
We can model the motions of planets in the Solar System quite accurately using Newton’s laws of physics. But in the early 1970s, scientists noticed that this didn’t work for disc galaxies – stars at their outer edges, far from the gravitational force of all the matter at their centre – were moving much faster […]
Antidepressants are the mainstay for treating depression, but their use is clouded by doubts about their short-, medium- and long-term efficacy. This is not to say that we should not use them, as these drugs save lives in many cases, but a recent review reinforces these questions as it sees little difference in the quality […]
Robots recreate evolutionary journey of ancient ammonites By studying the dynamic interaction between maneuverability and stability in robotic ammonites, a team of researchers has traced the evolution of shell variations of live ammonite shells in response to different needs and advantages. “Throughout their evolution, externally shelled cephalopods navigated their physical limitations by endlessly experimenting with […]