News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
This year sees no shortage of post-apocalyptic games, but light relief is available courtesy of Star Trek and a robot-loving cat, says Jacob Aron Technology 12 January 2022 By Jacob Aron Horizon Zero Dawn is due a sequel in February Guerilla Games The early weeks of the year are traditionally a slow time for video … Read more
Researchers have developed a lightweight, reusable sensor that clips onto a mask to monitor how well it’s working. The device, called FaceBit, senses leaks and records wear time while continuously measuring a wearer’s heart and breathing rate. Its developers hope it will aid research and help health care workers and others who wear face coverings … Read more
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk just gave us a great look at the “launch and catch tower” for the company’s huge Starship Mars rocket. Musk shared a drone video of the tower on Twitter Monday (Jan. 9), showing the massive structure backdropped by the testing area at Starbase, SpaceX’s facility near the South Texas … Read more
The dwarf galaxy Mrk 462. (Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Dartmouth Coll./J. Parker & R. Hickox; Optical/IR: Pan-STARRS) A newly discovered “mini” supermassive black hole could help reveal some of the secrets behind the biggest black holes in the cosmos. Researchers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory recently discovered a monstrous black hole that was “buried” in dust … Read more
Hundreds of original artifacts from NASA’s historic Apollo lunar landings are set to touch down in Miami this spring, as part of an immersive experience celebrating humanity’s first missions to the moon. “Space Adventure: The Arrival of Man on the Moon” will land at Maurice A. Ferré Park in downtown Miami, Florida on April 7, … Read more
A rare script from a language in Liberia has provided some new insights into how written languages evolve. “The Vai script of Liberia was created from scratch in about 1834 by eight completely illiterate men who wrote in ink made from crushed berries,” says linguistic anthropologist Piers Kelly, now at the University of New England, Australia. … Read more
Ocean temperatures the world over are building at a relentless rate as humans continue to alter the atmosphere around them. In 2021, according to a new summary of two international datasets, the wave of warmth in our oceans hit a new peak, eclipsing the influence of cooler regional episodes. While last year’s ocean warming … Read more
An infusion of the widely-used anesthetic ketamine could represent “new hope” in the treatment of millions of people with alcohol problems, scientists studying the drug said. People with severe alcohol problems who were given ketamine infusions alongside psychological therapy quit drinking for longer than those who received a standard treatment for alcoholism, according to the … Read more
Scientists have built the tiniest antenna ever made – just five nanometers in length. Unlike its much larger counterparts we’re all familiar with, this minuscule thing isn’t made to transmit radio waves, but to glean the secrets of ever-changing proteins. The nanoantenna is made from DNA, the molecules carrying genetic instructions that are around … Read more
Pyroptosis, a type of programmed cell death related to infection and an inflammation response, can actually be stopped and managed, according to new research – whereas it was previously thought that the process was irreversible once it gets going. Killing off cells with pyroptosis is something the body uses to stay healthy, though such … Read more