News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
A light-year is a measurement of distance and not time (as the name might imply). A light-year is the distance a beam of light travels in a single Earth year, which equates to approximately 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers). On the scale of the universe, measuring distances in miles or kilometers is cumbersome given … Read more
Bird watchers in Massachusetts have been given an early Christmas present in the form of an incredibly rare sighting – a Steller’s sea eagle, which is native to Asia almost 8,000 km (5,000 miles) away. The large sea eagles are native to the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia, and also seen in Japan, … Read more
From world politics to top-ranking businesses, to the upper rungs of academia and even Nobel laureates, men outnumber women by a significant margin. One claim to such disparity has been attributed to biology. The idea there’s some kind of ‘superdiversity’ among male brains has been repeatedly cited in the scientific literature in recent decades; but according … Read more
When it comes to exercise for heart health, you don’t want to peak too early in life. Recent research suggests that if you want to protect yourself against high blood pressure as you age, you need to play the long game and keep your exercise levels up through middle age. But social factors can … Read more
If creepy crawlies make you uncomfortable, be glad you weren’t living in the Carboniferous period (around 100 million years before the dinosaurs arrived) in what is now Northumberland in the UK. Scientists have made an astonishing discovery along this part of the coast of northeast England: a 326 million-year-old fossil, showing traces of the … Read more
Dogs seem to understand the basic way objects should behave, and stare for longer if animated balls violate expectations by rolling away for no obvious reason Life 22 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A dog taking part in the study Rooobert Bayer When 3D animated balls on a computer screen defy certain laws of physics, … Read more
Young male elephants will sometimes attack humans or other animals, but seem less likely to do so if they are in the company of older males Life 22 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A male elephant acting aggressively Connie Allen Young male elephants appear to manage their aggression towards anything that isn’t an elephant by … Read more
The world’s first injectable medication to reduce the risk of acquiring HIV has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the agency announced Monday (December 20). The injectable drug – called Apretude or its generic name, “cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension” – provides an alternative to daily pills for HIV prevention, such as Truvada and Descovy. These pills are … Read more
NASA’s much-awaited next-generation space telescope is finally ready to launch — just as soon as the weather cooperates. The James Webb Space Telescope, also known as JWST or Webb, has been in the works for decades. During a news conference held on Tuesday (Dec. 21), project officials confirmed that the observatory is ready to launch. … Read more
NASA’s STEREO-A satellite caught this view of Comet Leonard as it continued to streak into the inner solar system last week. STEREO-A captured the warming comet as it cast off a gassy shroud and spiked in brightness. Named for Gregory Leonard, an astronomer at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory who discovered the … Read more