News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
On the grand cosmic scale, our little corner of the Universe isn’t all that special – this idea lies at the heart of the Copernican principle. Yet there’s one major aspect about our planet that’s peculiar indeed: Our Sun is a yellow dwarf. Because our home star is what we know most intimately, it … Read more
With an atmosphere acidic enough to strip the skin from your bones, Venus is far from what we might imagine as hospitable. But a new study backs up the idea that cocoons of life could potentially exist in the planet’s corrosive clouds. Researchers have identified a chemical pathway through which the droplets of sulfuric … Read more
By New Scientist In our letter grid, which you can download here, you will find the 17 known types of fundamental particle (we have let you off the antiparticles), the 20 standard amino acids that make up life’s proteins and all 118 officially named elements in the periodic table. Fair warning: the words you are … Read more
US life expectancy dropped by 1.8 years in 2020, final official figures showed Wednesday, the steepest drop in more than 75 years driven in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Life expectancy at birth was 77.0 years for the total US population last year, down from 78.8 years in 2019, according to the Centers … Read more
By Penny Sarchet The gray partridge (Perdix perdix, left) and red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) Shutterstock / Voodison328 (L) Shutterstock / Jesus Giraldo Gutierrez (R) Hello, and welcome to December’s Wild Wild Life, the monthly newsletter that celebrates the biodiversity of our planet’s animals plants and other organisms. To receive this free, monthly newsletter in your … Read more
Deep under the ice of Antarctica’s Ekström Ice Shelf there is nothing but complete darkness. Well, complete darkness and a thriving ecosystem that’s existed for thousands of years, according to a new paper by researchers from the UK and Germany. “This discovery of so much life living in these extreme conditions is a complete … Read more
The variety of species found below an Antarctic ice shelf shows that life can survive in hostile, food-poor environments for thousands of years Environment 20 December 2021 By Adam Vaughan Hot water drilling in Antarctica Sophie Berger/AWI An astonishing variety of marine life has been discovered in the freezing darkness hundreds of metres below Antarctica’s … Read more
We have been making cheese for millennia, but researchers are only now getting to grips with how bacteria, fungi and viruses combine to create its characteristic flavours and textures Life 15 December 2021 By Alison George WHEN it comes to finding new and exotic species, there is no need to travel to the rainforest or … Read more
Yusaku Maezawa is having a lot of fun showing off what life is like on the International Space Station. The Japanese billionaire has been sharing clips of his orbital experiences on the International Space Station via YouTube, showcasing everything from how to perform ordinary activities in microgravity to the clothing he is wearing to the … Read more
Spiraling fractal branches draw connections between a staggering 2.2 million living species on Earth in the most comprehensive tree of life ever created. “It allows people to find their favorite living things, be they golden moles or giant sequoias, and see how evolutionary history connects them together to create a giant tree of all life … Read more