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Biodiversity: How a rodent’s fear of big cats shapes a Central American rainforest

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As rodents called agoutis avoid areas where ocelots prowl, they spread fewer of the palm seeds they eat, which could lead to a cascade of changes in biodiversity throughout Panama’s forests Life 8 March 2022 By Jake Buehler An agouti gnawing on a palm seed Steven Paton A game of cat and mouse is playing … Read more

A Common Link Between Several Neurodegenerative Diseases Might Finally Be Identified

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There’s a hallmark of incurable neurodegenerative diseases – misfolded proteins that clump together to form sticky plaques or tangles called fibrils. Now, new research has discovered that a protein normally tasked with clearing cells of molecular debris might be a common feature of a cluster of common and rare neurodegenerative diseases, including two distinct forms … Read more

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has captured over 2200 photographs of Mars

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The helicopter is providing scientists with information about Mars, reaching places the Perseverance rover cannot traverse Space 8 March 2022 By Chen Ly NASA’s Perseverance rover captured this image of the Ingenuity helicopter NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU NASA’s helicopter Ingenuity has taken more than 2200 photographs of Mars since arriving on the planet just over a year ago. … Read more

Russia-Ukraine war: Chernobyl staff denied access to radiation monitoring lab

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Scientific monitoring of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is being affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine Humans 8 March 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Damage to infrastructure at the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology neutron source State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine Scientists monitoring radiation levels at Chernobyl are unable to access their laboratories … Read more

‘Fish’ Pet Food Could Actually Contain Endangered Shark, Alarming DNA Study Finds

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Your pet’s dinner may contain endangered shark – even if the ingredients on the label don’t explicitly include “shark”, a recent analysis of commercially produced pet foods has found.   Pet foods often describe their ocean-sourced ingredients with generic terms such as “fish”, “white fish”, “white bait”, or “ocean fish” and researchers wondered if genetic … Read more

SpaceX to launch 48 Starlink satellites, land rocket Wednesday morning: Watch live

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SpaceX will launch four dozen Starlink internet satellites and land the returning rocket on Wednesday (March 9), and you can watch the action live. A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket topped with 48 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Wednesday at 8:45 a.m. EST (13:45 GMT). If all … Read more

Russian gas: EU will cut Russian gas imports by two thirds in 2022

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The EU launched a new energy strategy to reduce the use of Russian gas imports just as the UK announced it would phase out such imports, and the US imposed a ban as well Environment 8 March 2022 By Adam Vaughan Pipes at a gas treatment facility in Russia Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg via Getty Images The … Read more

Bizarre 300-Year-Old Mummified ‘Mermaid’ Can Finally Be Explained

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Researchers in Japan are investigating the origins of a nightmarish, 300-year-old mummified ‘mermaid‘, which has been worshipped for centuries due to its supposed medicinal properties.   The haunting remains are most likely a gruesome amalgam of a monkey’s torso sewed onto a fish’s tail, potentially embellished with hair and nails from a human.  Hiroshi Kinoshita, board member … Read more

Best camera phone 2022: Smartphones with stargazing capabilities

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With multiple lenses, advanced software and gargantuan amounts of megapixels, the cameras built into the very latest smartphones are beginning to seem even more advanced than some ‘proper’ cameras.  While it’s certainly true that camera phones are getting a lot of innovation it’s important to remember that engineers trying to squeeze as much performance as … Read more