News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
By Chris Stokel-Walker Web3 might be the future of the internet Allan Swart / Alamy Yet another new buzzword has got the internet excited, but what exactly is Web3? Here’s everything you need to know. What is Web3? At a basic level, the idea behind Web3 is to take the world wide web as we … Read more
Two-millimetre-long gloomy octopus hatchlings move towards a source of light, possibly because it makes it easier to hunt prey Life 16 December 2021 By Christa Lesté-Lasserre A newly hatched gloomy octopus Stefan Spreitzenbarth Tiny, newly hatched gloomy octopuses seek out light – possibly to help them find their minuscule prey. Adult gloomy octopuses (Octopus tetricus) … Read more
We have a lot to thank meteorites for. Had they not instigated several mass extinction events, including wiping out non-avian dinosaurs, we probably wouldn’t be here today. But some things still don’t add up about the massive scale of decimation they can cause. “For decades scientists have puzzled over why some meteorites cause mass … Read more
The anti-seizure qualities of the cannabis plant can likely not be boiled down to a single compound, like cannabidiol (CBD), according to emerging research. Studies in Australia have recently revealed numerous other compounds in the cannabis plant that also show anticonvulsant effects. Some of them could even be more powerful than CBD. A small … Read more
In the search for “potentially-habitable” extrasolar planets, one of the main things scientists look at is stellar activity. Whereas stars like our own, a G-type (G2V) yellow dwarf, are considered stable over time, other classes are variable and prone to flare-ups – particularly M-type red dwarf stars. Even if a star has multiple planets … Read more
A vast system of canyons that dramatically scars the face of Mars could be harboring reserves of hidden water. An unusually high quantity of hydrogen has been detected in the heart of the 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) of canyons known as Valles Marineris, nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Mars. We know this thanks to new … Read more
Copper is well known for being able to kill off bacteria that it comes into contact with – the metal releases ions that are toxic to bacterial cells, punching through their outer membranes. However, this process usually takes several hours. A newly developed copper surface does the job in just a couple of minutes, … Read more
China’s 50th orbital launch of 2021 sent a new data relay satellite into orbit on Monday (Dec. 13) to support the country’s space station and crewed missions. A Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China at (1609 GMT, or 12:09 a.m. local time Dec. 14), successfully sending … Read more
Severe coastal flooding inundated islands and atolls across the western equatorial Pacific last week, with widespread damage to buildings and food crops in the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. On one level, very high tides are normal at this time of year in the western Pacific, and … Read more
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The next launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is slated for May 2022, company officials announced on Monday (Dec. 13). That is if everything goes as planned. Teams from both Boeing and NASA have spent the last four months combing over data and inspecting valves on the Starliner spacecraft in an effort … Read more