News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
In July, DeepMind announced that its AlphaFold model had worked out how most of the proteins in our bodies fold. Pushmeet Kohli tells New Scientist that there is more to come Technology 15 December 2021 By Matthew Sparkes A 3D model of a fruit fly protein from DeepMind DeepMind IT TOOK decades for scientists to … Read more
The picturesque and remote Faroe Islands sit in the North Atlantic, between Norway and Iceland, around 200 miles (322 kilometers) northwest of Scotland. Today, almost 54,000 people live on the archipelago, but it seems the first inhabitants arrived a lot earlier than previously thought. From the earliest archaeological structures on the Faroes, we know … Read more
Hundreds of thousands of brain cells in a dish are being taught to play Pong by responding to pulses of electricity – and can improve their performance more quickly than an AI can Mind 17 December 2021 By Michael Le Page Living brain cells in a dish can learn to play Pong when they are … Read more
An experimental vaccine successfully eliminated aging cells from the bodies of mice, helping to prolong the rodents’ lives and reverse some signs of age-related disease. The researchers say the experiment is a step on the road to a similar vaccine for humans, but could it really work? “I think the data was extremely strong… I think … Read more
Horses kick and stamp on rocks to keep their hooves in good shape, and archaeologists have now realised this can result in a collection of sharp stones that look like the work of an ancient human toolmaker Life 1 December 2021 By Graham Lawton Horses climbing over rocks Shutterstock / Valentin Finaev Some stone tools … Read more
A set of 3.7-million-year-old footprints were initially thought to have been left by a bear walking upright, but have now been reinterpreted as the prints of an unidentified hominin that walked a little bit like a modern catwalk fashion model Humans 1 December 2021 By Michael Marshall One of the hominin footprints preserved at Laetoli … Read more
Until around 150 years ago, humans were relatively short – but our recent growth spurt may have more to do with social factors than dietary ones Humans 2 December 2021 By Michael Marshall A man measures a woman’s height Image Point Fr/Shutterstock For most of our history, humans have been short, a study has found. … Read more
The way dogs have come to understand the nuances of human language is incredibly impressive for an animal that doesn’t speak words itself. Just a fraction of a second after we start saying a word – like ‘walk’ or ‘treat’ – dogs can predict and respond to what we are trying to say. To some … Read more