News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
The phrase “It’s not rocket science” is commonly used to describe tasks that aren’t difficult or complicated. But are rocket scientists really smarter than everyone else? That was a vital question that researchers sought to answer in a new study published in the annual light-hearted Christmas issue of the high-profile medical journal BMJ; the study … Read more
NASA astronaut Cady Coleman shows the habitat that golden orb spiders Esmeralda and Gladys occupied on the International Space Station in 2011. (Image credit: NASA) From insects to primates, from dogs and cats to cold-blooded reptiles, animals have played a significant role in space exploration since the first fruit flies launched to Earth’s upper atmosphere … Read more
According to Beatles singer-songwriter George Harrison, all things must pass, and according to decades of mathematical and astronomical models, these things include the sun. So, when is the sun expected to burn out? Though the ultimate death of our medium-size solar mass is trillions of years in the future, the sun’s “life” in its current … Read more
Fission in nuclear reactors forges radioactive metal by-products so toxic that they must be stored deep underground, at great cost and effort, for millennia. But a protein made by a common microbe could help ease this hazardous burden, researchers report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Two of nuclear waste’s most problematic ingredients … Read more
Governments are drafting new laws to protect your privacy online, but are people even that bothered about companies using their data? Technology 28 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes Governments are looking to control data giants Antons Jevterevs / Alamy Despite the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the Edward Snowden leaks and revelations from Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen, … Read more
Common bottlenose dolphins identify themselves with a unique call, but these whistles may carry extra information through variations in volume Life 28 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre Bottlenose dolphins are highly social creatures Brad Leue / Alamy Common bottlenose dolphins alter their volume throughout their signature whistles, perhaps as a way to communicate additional information … Read more
Have a crack at our holiday brain teasers: “Shaken, not stirred”, “Up the sprout”, “Meg’s pegs” and “Lebkuchen race”
The ability to play is being spotted in some unexpected creatures, from swans to Komodo dragons. Are they really fooling around? And if so, why do they do it? Life 15 December 2021 By Michael Marshall Graham Carter AS I write, my kitten is having a funny 5 minutes – or rather a funny 2 … Read more
By Michael Allen flafabri/Alamy YOU dip a plastic wand into a mixture of water and washing up liquid and raise it to your lips. With a gentle blow, you unleash a stream of bubbles that bob about in the air, winking a swirling rainbow of colours back at you as they reflect the light. This … Read more
Amenhotep I ruled Egypt from around 1525 to 1504 BC and his pristine mummy has never been unwrapped, but CT scans have now allowed us to peer inside Humans 28 December 2021 By Alex Wilkins Face mask of the never-before unwrapped mummy of pharaoh Amenhotep I S. Saleem and Z. Hawass One of the last … Read more