News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
Most studies that have used MRI machines to find links between the brain’s structure or function and complex mental traits had an average of 23 participants, but thousands are needed to find reliable results Mind | Analysis 16 March 2022 By Clare Wilson A functional magnetic resonance imaging scan of a brain taken during tasks … Read more
The war in Ukraine is the subject of much online disinformation and propaganda but fact-checking organisations are tracking down how social media posts spread and debunking them Technology 14 March 2022 By Chris Stokel-Walker Firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a chemical warehouse was hit by Russian shelling near Kalynivka village in Ukraine on … Read more
An Earthbound experiment is replicating the extreme heat found in galaxy clusters located in deep space using nearly 200 lasers. The hope is the experiment series will reveal more about the conditions within giant groups of galaxies. Here, hydrogen gas can burn at roughly the same temperatures as it does the center of our sun, … Read more
NASA and crowdsourcing platform HeroX have launched a $30,000 challenge to find better ways to analyze data relating to Mars‘ potential to host life. The deadline to make your submission is April 18, and you can review the full competition eligibility requirements, along with the HeroX challenge page, to get more information. The goal is … Read more
Locating meteorites on Earth’s surface is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but using AI to analyse images captured by drones pinpointed a tiny space rock in just four days Technology 11 March 2022 By Chen Ly The meteorite as seen by the drone and algorithm: the yellow box is 100 square centimetres … Read more
Researchers have discovered two types of human brain cells that physically help us form memories. These cells play a significant role in dividing continuous conscious experience into distinct segments that can be recalled in the future. As we move from the past, through the present, and into the future, we form autobiographical memories – … Read more
Cortisol levels in bonobo infants jumped fivefold when they got a younger sibling and stayed high for 7 months, suggesting they found it extremely stressful Life 4 March 2022 By Alice Klein A young bonobo and her mother Sean M. Lee/George Washington University Bonobo infants become highly stressed when they get a younger sibling and … Read more
This story is part of a special package being published this week about the barriers Black physicists face and potential models for change. Read more For years, Maritza Tavarez-Brown couldn’t talk about the end of her astronomy career without tears. She’d wanted to be an astronomer since high school. But she struggled in her introductory … Read more
Spacesuits tend to muffle sounds, but hearing our footsteps may provide useful cues about our environment and reduce the risk of tripping Space 2 March 2022 By Matthew Sparkes A mock-up spacesuit boot used in tests Maryam Al Kuwaitti Astronauts sent to explore Mars may be more sure-footed if their boots are fitted with microphones to … Read more
Both quantum computing and machine learning have been touted as the next big computer revolution for a fair while now. However, experts have pointed out that these techniques aren’t generalized tools – they will only be the great leap forward in computer power for very specialized algorithms, and even more rarely will they be able … Read more